T.J. Yates may be the most unlikely starting quarterback in the NFL this year — one of the most unlikely this decade. A rookie third stringer, a fifth-round draft pick to boot, on the Houston Texans, who came into the season with one of the most secure quarterback situations in the entire league.

When's that guy ever going to see the field?

The answer is all too real for Texans fans of course: When an 8-3 team loses Matt Schaub to a crushed foot and his backup Matt Leinart to a broken collarbone in consecutive games, that's when. To expect Yates to keep Houston in contention for the No. 1 seed in the AFC, or even to keep the starting job for the rest of the year, one would almost have to believe in magic.

Luckily for Yates, he does. At least, quarterback magic.

For when Yates found himself getting booed during his junior year of college at North Carolina, he went to Atlanta to attend the SEC Championship Game, even though the Tar Heels are in a completely different conference and weren't going to play either Florida or Alabama. Yates went, in part, because he wanted to check out Tim Tebow.

This was in 2009, during the heart of Tebow Mania in college football, eye black messages and all. Tebow didn't perform any miracles on that day, in fact his Gators got drilled by Nick Saban's soon-to-be national champion Crimson Tide 32-13. But Yates still soaked up everything he could.

"I was kind of mesmerized," Yates told the Greensboro News & Record at the time. "I had good seats, so I was studying everything Tim Tebow did, how he carried himself throughout the game. It was definitely a good experience. It gives you motivation to want to play in a game like that on a big stage like that."

Hey, if you're looking for quarterback magic, you check out Tebow. With Tim now Tebowing the NFL, going 5-1 as the Denver Broncos starter despite passing stats that would make most Texas high school coaches toss in their sleep, Yates comes across as ahead of the curve. He knew the way Tebow carried himself in the huddle (notice, he didn't say he studied Tebow's passing motion) was extraordinary. Worth going to school on.

Lessons Learned?

Now two years later, Yates find himself starting a big NFL game sooner than even he ever could have expected. He'll be going up against Atlanta Falcons quarterback and Schaub buddy Matt Ryan — who's still one of the top young quarterbacks in the league, no matter what his critics think — at Reliant Stadium Sunday afternoon. While no one expects Yates to win a quarterback duel with Ryan (who has a nine to two touchdown-to-interception ratio the last four weeks) — in fact, the Texans cannot win that way — the 24-year-old making his first career NFL start could bring a little Tebow to the table.

No, not in playing style. While more mobile than Schaub (you can also say that about some cement trucks), the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Yates is not anywhere close to the running weapon that Tebow is.

But where he might be able to bring some Tebowing is in the unnatural composure part.

Remember how Yates made his Texans debut last week? Getting rushed onto the field for a two-minute drill and completing three of four passes for 39 yards to set up a successful field goal? Before Houston coach Gary Kubiak scaled things down to rely on Wade Phillips' Miracle Defense in the second half (and, admittedly, also before the Jaguars had time to adjust their defense either), Yates showed command.

His understanding of the need to lean on tight end Owen Daniels (still the Texans' most dangerous downfield passing weapon until Andre Johnson shows he's completely back) on that rushed-on drive is also encouraging.

“He’s fine," Schaub said of Yates going into the game. "His state of mind . . . he has a calm presence. He has good poise and composure.

"He’s not going to be deer in the headlights or anything like that."

None of this guarantees that Yates will play well against the Falcons. Or even that he won't be benched for veteran Jake Delhomme, who the Texans just signed off the farm this week, by the fourth quarter of Sunday's game. There are few grace periods in the NFL and an 8-3 team cannot wait for anyone — even if that someone has near-Tebow grace.

Yates is used to making quick decisions. He gave up on football his junior year of high school, convinced that he'd make a better major college basketball player. But when the schools he expected to want him in hoops showed little interest, he went back out for football his senior year — and became a four-year starting quarterback at North Carolina, one of those schools where he always wanted to play basketball.

This is a man who can adjust on the fly. That SEC title game trip shows he knows who to study too. But now the Texans want to know: Does T.J. Yates have any magic of his own?