Houston, Texas - It might come as much of a surprise that the Houston Texans aren’t looking at Deshaun Watson to lead the offense in 2021. Instead, a league journeyman will be their starting quarterback next Monday.

Tyrod Taylor (32) will be starting under center for the Texans to kick off their 2021 season, leaving beleaguered quarterback Deshaun Watson as a benchwarmer, at least for the time being.

Texans head coach David Culley made the announcement to ESPN on Monday by simply saying, "Tyrod Taylor will start for us at quarterback, for sure."

As for Watson, who personally asked for a trade back in January, he has reported to Texans training camp each day this summer to avoid team fines, but the consensus was always that Watson’s days as a key member of the team were up.

At this moment, Watson is third on the QB depth chart, behind rookie Davis Mills, a third-round pick in the 2021 NFL draft, leaving Watson with slim to no odds of ever throwing a football this season with a Texans uniform on his back.

Whether he’s still a Texan by season’s end or he lands elsewhere, Watson’s got more important things to be concerned about, such as the 22 women who have filed ongoing civil lawsuits against him.

The Texans now have a solid veteran at the helm, as Taylor has amassed 9,770 passing yards with 54 touchdowns and 20 interceptions to go along with 1,850 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns over 10 seasons of playing for the Ravens, Bills, Browns, and Chargers before landing in Houston.