Are the Bears eyeing Stanford QB Davis Mills as a Day 3 option?

With the Bears rumored to select a late-round quarterback, could Stanford’s Davis Mills be their selection?

With rumors of the Chicago Bears showing interesting in drafting a Day 2 quarterback, that would eliminate guys like Mac Jones, Trey Lance, and Justin Fields from the conversation as Chicago’s next quarterback. That would bring in players like Kyle Trask, Kellen Mond, and a surprise pick, who is likely a Day 3 selection, Davis Mills.

A few days ago, Adam Hoge mentioned that Bears quarterback coach John DeFilippo was at the Stanford pro day watching Davis closely. He even requested a specific throw.

Now, this doesn’t mean that he is the player the Bears are going to draft, but they’re definitely interested, to an extent.

At 6-foot-4, 225-pounds, Mills fits the size of an NFL quarterback. The big issue comes with his lack of playing time in college.

Mills only saw the field in 14 games, starting 11 of them. In comparison, that’s fewer college starts than former Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky, who had 13 at North Carolina.

Even with the lack of playing time, the good news is, Stanford ran a pro-style offense. That’ll help ease Mills’ transition to the next level. That transition needs to be slow, he can’t be rushed to the field in Year 1. That’s what Andy Dalton is for – the bridge to the Bears’ next quarterback.

With Mills having an impressive pro day his name has been thrown around as a sleeper pick in the 2021 NFL draft. Statically speaking, he completed 287 of his 438 attempts (65.5%) in college. He passed for 3,468 yards, throwing 18 touchdowns and 8 interceptions in 14 games, (11 starts).

To finish his college career, Mills won his last 4 starts, throwing 6 touchdowns, 3 interceptions, and passing for 1,181 yards.

Looking at his tape, the comparison to Jimmy Garoppolo jumps off the screen. They’re both players with strong arms, who are athletic enough for today’s NFL but aren’t dual-threat quarterbacks.

Garoppolo ran a 4.97 at his combine, I expect Mills to be around the same, maybe a split second faster.

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