There are plenty of words that could be used to describe the temperament of the offseason surrounding the Houston Texans—most notably around the quarterback situation as Deshaun Watson’s situation has gone completely quiet since the draft, but prior to that it, it was the lead story for most media outlets. The team has clearly laid out their intentions and secured insurance no matter the outcome by signing Tyrod Taylor and Jeff Driskel as well as acquiring Ryan Finley from the Cincinnati Bengals. The move that caught the most eyes, though, was the selection of Davis Mills in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Containing a small sample size as he’s only started in 11 games and participated in 14 total, Mills is a traditional pocket passer that the word “upside” will be attached to a lot. Because of the handful of games that he played in while with the Cardinal and the promise shown, it has created intrigue about his timeline of experiencing true playing time.
During his latter portions of his career, Taylor has become the bridge gap to a younger option. The trend began in Buffalo when he was overtaken by Josh Allen, then Cleveland with Baker Mayfield, and most recently with Justin Herbert during his brief stint with the Los Angeles Chargers. Excluding Watson, what’s working in Taylor’s favor is the fact that he doesn’t have an expected heir apparent first-round pick breathing down his neck atop the depth chart.
With the Texans, a roster that has a strong argument for being the league's worst, their timeline of becoming an actual contender again seems to be in the distant future. With that in mind, there likely won’t be a rush to thrust Mills into any type of important role during the early stages of his career, but if the timeline of the team is somehow expedited, there is a scenario where the team could want to see what they may have in Mills.
Also, oftentimes, what we see with new regimes and young quarterbacks is that they want to grow together, but another twist to this interesting situation is that with Mills being a mid-round selection and the team possibly having a high draft pick in 2022, the team could elect to start Mills in order to assess the state of the position for the future.
If the Texans somehow gain a top-three selection, the franchise could be staring in the face of drafting another signal-caller high in the draft. It’s difficult to predict possible outcomes a year from now, but considering the talent on the roster and potential draft position next year, Mills could be on the field sooner rather than later in order to illuminate that the team could get more at the position even with Mills still being in the premature stages of his development.
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