Making The Case For Steelers To Sign Brian Hoyer
During last year’s offseason, I made a strong case for the Steelers to pursue Michael Vick as a backup quarterback, after Bruce Gradkowski had been placed on injured reserve.
Fast forward to this offseason: Vick and Gradkowski are both free agents, and the Steelers are left with only Landry Jones as a backup to Ben Roethlisberger.
While I defended Jones time and again, even I agree with Coach Mike Tomlin that I don’t feel most comfortable with Pittsburgh’s current backup QB conversation. That’s why when I heard the Houston Texans released QB Brian Hoyer, I about jumped out of my shoes.
For listeners to the SCU Podcast, I had earlier advocated that the Steelers look into what it might take to acquire Hoyer from the Texans. The Texans made a huge deal for former Denver Bronco Brock Osweiler a month ago, and combined with their other resources the position, it was obvious that Hoyer was a liability for Houston.
However, I didn’t feel Pittsburgh had enough collateral to make a trade with Houston. They lack draft picks in the upcoming 2016 NFL Draft, and have no other bargaining chips, at least any they may part with, in which to dangle as trade bait to the Texans. Hoyer’s 2016 contract ($4.8 million) would also be a trade obstacle to high for the Steelers to overcome.
But now that Hoyer is a free agent, I’m “all in” for Kevin Colbert and the Rooneys to give the former Texan a strong look. Hoyer is younger than Vick or Gradkowski, and brings similar experience with him. He’s not too much unlike former acquisitions Charlie Batch and Byron Leftwich either.
Below I will compare the former Steelers backups, with Hoyer, to make a case for why he would be a terrific fit for the team. (Other than the fact that Mike Tomlin is on record as being impressed with him, and Hoyer, himself, is a former Steeler.)
Brian Hoyer
| Year | Tm | G | GS | QBrec | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Rate | GWD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career | 43 | 23 | 15-11-0 | 580 | 999 | 58.1 | 7163 | 38 | 26 | 82.2 | 6 | |
| 2 yrs | CLE | 17 | 16 | 10-6-0 | 299 | 534 | 56.0 | 3941 | 17 | 16 | 77.6 | 5 |
| 1 yr | HOU | 11 | 9 | 5-4-0 | 224 | 369 | 60.7 | 2606 | 19 | 7 | 91.4 | 1 |
Hoyer was 5-4 during the regular season in 2015, helping lead the Texans to an AFC South division championship. However, in Houston’s playoff game, Hoyer had a nightmare game, committing 5 turnovers in a 30-0 loss.
Hoyer has been a member of 5 teams over the span of 7 NFL seasons. He was first signed by the New England Patriots in 2009, as an undrafted free agent. Over his career, Hoyer has thrown for 7,163 yards, 38 touchdowns and 26 interceptions with a 15-11 record.
Oddly, he finds himself without a job after his best QB rating of his career, and having a winning record in both Cleveland and Houston.
Charlie Batch
| Year | Tm | G | GS | QBrec | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Rate | GWD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career | 81 | 55 | 25-30-0 | 908 | 1604 | 56.6 | 11085 | 61 | 52 | 77.2 | 11 | |
| 8 yrs | PIT | 33 | 9 | 6-3-0 | 165 | 278 | 59.4 | 2069 | 12 | 12 | 79.0 | 3 |
| 4 yrs | DET | 48 | 46 | 19-27-0 | 743 | 1326 | 56.0 | 9016 | 49 | 40 | 76.9 | 8 |
Charlie Batch’s career was up and down in Detroit for many reasons. The telling statistic is his 19-27 record and 56.0 completion percentage before the Steelers signed him. In his Steeler career, Batch went 6-3 as a starter, but threw as many touchdowns as he did interceptions.
Byron Leftwich
| Year | Tm | G | GS | QBrec | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Rate | GWD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career | 60 | 50 | 24-26-0 | 930 | 1605 | 57.9 | 10532 | 58 | 42 | 78.9 | 10 | |
| 4 yrs | JAX | 46 | 44 | 24-20-0 | 789 | 1344 | 58.7 | 9042 | 51 | 36 | 80.5 | 10 |
| 4 yrs | PIT | 8 | 1 | 0-1-0 | 51 | 96 | 53.1 | 617 | 2 | 1 | 75.7 | 0 |
| 1 yr | ATL | 3 | 2 | 0-2-0 | 32 | 58 | 55.2 | 279 | 1 | 2 | 59.5 | |
| 1 yr | TAM | 3 | 3 | 0-3-0 | 58 | 107 | 54.2 | 594 | 4 | 3 | 71.2 |
Leftwich was a formidable starter in Jacksonville and boasts the best completion percentage of the four QBs being compared here, before those players joined Pittsburgh. His seasonal QB ratings also favorably compare with those of Michael Vick.
Note: Leftwich appeared for the Steelers for 1 season in between stints with the Atlanta Falcons and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, before returning to the Steelers for his final 3 NFL seasons.
Bruce Gradkowski
| Year | Tm | G | GS | QBrec | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Rate | GWD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career | 38 | 20 | 6-14-0 | 375 | 709 | 52.9 | 4057 | 21 | 24 | 65.8 | 7 | |
| 2 yrs | CIN | 4 | 0 | 13 | 29 | 44.8 | 174 | 1 | 1 | 61.6 | 2 | |
| 2 yrs | OAK | 13 | 8 | 3-5-0 | 165 | 307 | 53.7 | 2066 | 11 | 10 | 73.3 | 2 |
| 2 yrs | TAM | 18 | 11 | 3-8-0 | 190 | 352 | 54.0 | 1791 | 9 | 10 | 65.0 | 3 |
| 1 yr | CLE | 2 | 1 | 0-1-0 | 7 | 21 | 33.3 | 26 | 0 | 3 | 2.8 |
Gradkowski, who was the current backup, gets mostly an incomplete, having not started in a game since 2010. His 2 years in Cincinatti, prior to joining the Steelers, were the worst numbers of his career (save for his short time with the Browns, in which he lost his only start 31-0… against the Steelers.)
Note: Gradkowski has not played in the regular season for the Steelers. Bruce’s was 2 of 3 for 22 yards in the Steelers Wildcard loss to the Baltimore Ravens on January 3rd.
Michael Vick
| Year | Tm | G | GS | QBrec | Cmp | Att | Cmp% | Yds | TD | Int | Rate | GWD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career | 138 | 112 | 59-50-1 | 1767 | 3151 | 56.1 | 22093 | 131 | 87 | 80.4 | 14 | |
| 6 yrs | ATL | 74 | 67 | 38-28-1 | 930 | 1730 | 53.8 | 11505 | 71 | 52 | 75.7 | 8 |
| 5 yrs | PHI | 54 | 42 | 20-20-0 | 773 | 1300 | 59.5 | 9984 | 57 | 33 | 87.7 | 6 |
| 1 yr | NYJ | 10 | 3 | 1-2-0 | 64 | 121 | 52.9 | 604 | 3 | 2 | 68.3 |
Vick has the best TD-INT ratio of the 4 quarterbacks: before, during and after joining the Steelers.
His 14 game-winning drives are the most of anyone in this conversation and his completion percentage in Philadelphia is also the best of any of the QBs runs with any specific team. (I’m using Philadelphia as the benchmark, since we know the dumpster fire that the New York Jets offense was last season. Also, Hoyer had a better percentage with the Patriots, but he only attempted 43 passes as a member of their team; hardly a figure that is reliable for a review of this nature.)
Conclusion
I really like Hoyer as a backup for Roethlisberger. He gives the Steelers an accurate passer with the ability to comeback and win games. Imagine if the Steelers had a player capable of making touch passes to Antonio Brown or Le’Veon Bell against the Chargers and the Ravens last season (rather than Mike Vick or even Landry Jones, who had a little bit better success.)
If you can picture something better, as I can, then signing Brian Hoyer seems like a no-brainer, provided the two parties could come to financial terms.
