HOUSTON, TX - NOVEMBER 23: Ryan Mallett #15 of the Houston Texans during second half action against the Cincinnati Bengals at NRG Stadium on November 23, 2014 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)

HOUSTON (CBS HOUSTON) – There is one person to blame if you don’t like the Texans decision to start Brian Hoyer at quarterback against the Chiefs in a few weeks.

Ryan Mallett.

The fan favorite in the quarterback competition has been relegated to the backup spot on the depth chart much to the chagrin of fans of the Texans. Brian Hoyer will start under center and, should he play well, stay there.

It’s certainly not Bill O’Brien’s fault. He simply let the two battle it out from OTAs to the first few weeks of training camp and then picked a quarterback at the conclusion. Make no mistake, one guy didn’t blow the other one away. O’Brien himself commented at how tough it was to choose, likely because he was just trying to pick the lesser of two mediocre situations.

Brian Hoyer is QB1. That’s not because Brian Hoyer won the competition.

It’s because Ryan Mallett lost it.

Look, I’m a Ryan Mallett guy.

I like him. I thoroughly enjoyed his work in college for the Razorbacks. I was disappointed when on draft night 2014 the Texans didn’t somehow end up with the 6’6″ gunslinger. I knew there was a glimmer of hope when he arrived via trade towards the end of training camp last year. I felt the despair when an injury cut short his season.

He went out there and flat out blew it.

Momentum was on Mallett’s side. The team kept him. His teammates know him. They didn’t bring in a star to compete with him, they brought in a journeyman quarterback who was playing for his fifth team since he was undrafted in 2009.

He wasn’t good enough.

I wasn’t at every Texans training camp, but I was at most. I didn’t see every quarterback throw from Hoyer and Mallett, but I saw a lot. Hoyer was better. He wasn’t blow you away good, but he wasn’t bad either. Mallett had great days, sure. He also had horrible days where he looked like it wasn’t even close between he and his competition.

Mallett’s ceiling very well might be higher, but that doesn’t mean much right now. Potential doesn’t mean anything if you can’t tap into it.

When it mattered, Mallett did cut it. Don’t believe me? Ask the decision-maker.

“I don’t put a whole lot of stock in the games,” O’Brien said Monday after the starter announcement. “I put more stock in what’s been going on in practice and things like that.”

Practice was where the competition was decided, and if you watched enough you would know who to pick too.

Tuesday Ryan Mallett faced the media and said a lot of the right things. He was disappointed, hurt, and mad. He didn’t agree with the decision. And he shouldn’t by the way.

He did say one thing that irked me, though.

“I thought I had a pretty good camp. I thought I was consistent. My completion percentage every day, didn’t turn the ball over a lot, had three incompletions so far in the preseason so I thought I was playing alright.”

Alright doesn’t win you the job and the preseason games matter little to none. If you have to think you were consistent, you weren’t.

The Texans are trying to win football games now. Right now, as in week one against the Chiefs at NRG stadium, they have a better chance to win with Hoyer. That’s why he is the quarterback and that’s why Mallett isn’t.

Blame Ryan Mallett for Brian Hoyer starting, not anyone else.

Follow Stoots on Twitter – @Cody_Stoots