Plummer and Texans a perfect match

By Clayton Wendler  |   Tuesday, February 13, 2007  |  Comments( 11 )

Houston Texans
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It's not often in today's free-agent market that a player and a team form a perfect match -- especially when that player is technically not even a free agent.

But Jake Plummer might as well be. It's almost accepted fact league wide that he'll be removed from Denver this offseason. The reins have been handed over permanently to Jay Cutler, last year's 11th pick in the first round.

Whether the Broncos cut Plummer or work out some kind of a deal, he's gone. Will his exodus from the Mile High City land him closer to sea level -- Houston?

At 32 years of age and coming off a subpar season that saw him complete only 55 percent of his passes en route to a 68.8 quarterback rating, it would be easy to see why most NFL teams might avoid Plummer -- but these are the Texans we're talking about.

Time might finally have run out on the David Carr experiment. There was hope last season that new head coach Gary Kubiak could turn things around for the fifth-year pro, but Houston stumbled to a 6-10 record, and Carr threw only 11 touchdown passes in 16 starts. In his five-year career as a Texan, the former first overall pick has just 59 scoring tosses.

Enter Plummer.

The Texans don't have a quarterback of the future on the roster. While they will surely draft one in the near future (in the event they dump Carr, probably via trade), it's unlikely they'll be interested in handing the reins to any of the other signal callers on the roster - Sage Rosenfels, Bradlee Van Pelt and Quinton Porter.

Plummer is the perfect caretaker while Kubiak finds the star talent at quarterback the Texans so desperately need. After all, their Web site lauds middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans as the team's star attraction. Never has the leader of a 24th-ranked defense been so pumped up.

The Texans need a player who can elude the rush -- they still haven't fixed a porous offensive line that has been a problem ever since they came into existence. Plummer, even at 32, fits the bill.

And it's not just about mobility. For all the talent in his legs, Carr has never really seemed to grasp the concept of pocket presence. Few quarterbacks have been more proficient at it than Plummer. He was sacked only 69 times over the last four seasons.

Then, of course, there is Kubiak. No NFL coach has gotten more out of Plummer, who, like Carr, was the savior-turned-goat of another football franchise. Kubiak, the Broncos' former offensive coordinator, literally resurrected Plummer's career after he left Arizona, helping him establish career highs in aerial yardage, touchdown passes and quarterback rating in Denver, not to mention three consecutive trips to the playoffs.

Kubiak's absence in Denver last season was evident, as the team's scoring offense dropped into the bottom half of the NFL for the first time since 1999. Plummer also suffered. It's clear Plummer might need the Texans and Kubiak as much as they need him.

But this potential marriage should also be attractive to Plummer. In Denver, he was constantly playing in the shadow of John Elway, and even last year the added pressure of Cutler's status as the heir apparent weighed heavily.

In Houston, that all goes away.

He'll also be working with one of the rising stars among NFL wide receivers, Andre Johnson. While Plummer's numbers declined in 2006, he clearly established a rapport with Javon Walker, who posted 1,084 yards receiving and eight touchdowns. Surely Johnson, who made the Pro Bowl, could surpass the five touchdowns he posted in '06 should Plummer replace Carr.

In the end, this scenario just makes too much sense for both parties involved. The Texans have been in the toilet bowl of the NFL for five seasons. A Plummer is just what they need to flush away the waste.

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