One of the things DeMeco Ryans has to get used to as the Texans head coach is being responsible for an entire team rather than just the defense.
A big part of that change is going to be figuring out who will be handling the quarterback job in Houston for the 2023 season. Davis Mills started for most of the 2022 season and didn’t do much to convince anyone he’s the long-term answer at the position, so it came as no surprise that Ryans said the team has to bring in others at the position at a press conference on Thursday.
Given his experience with the 49ers, it should have also been unsurprising that Ryans placed equal weight on building the entire roster.
“We understand. We have one quarterback here on our roster, and we have to add more at that position,” Ryans said. “We know everybody gets excited about the quarterback. The quarterback is one piece to a team. As I’ve seen in San Francisco, what happens when you don’t have that one guy. Is the season over? Are you just booking it? No. How do you build around that quarterback? Yes, we want a great quarterback, but no, we need a great offensive line to protect the quarterback. We need great running backs, great tight ends, great receivers. We need a great defense, special teams. We all play together. That’s the awesome part about football is it’s not on one guy’s shoulders to go out there and win the game for us. It’s all about building around each other and playing together. That’s how we’ll win games.”
Ryans isn’t wrong about the need to build up every position, but the 49ers’ ability to thrive despite an unsettled quarterback position makes them a definite exception in the NFL and it would be a tough path to emulate successfully in his first head coaching job.
