The Houston Texans had to give Davis Mills a shot in 2022. The club had to know what it had in their 2021 third-round pick. Would he develop into a solid starter, or did the organization need to invest more resources into the position?
The Texans’ 2-13-1 record has all but secured the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft. Even if the Texans “blow it” with a win over the Indianapolis Colts in Week 18, and the Chicago Bears lose to the Minnesota Vikings to overtake Houston for the top pick in next year’s draft, the Texans will still be in the market and have the positioning to draft a quarterback.
Offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton gave some clues as to what the Texans might be looking for in the offseason in their bid to upgrade the position.
“The obvious is that you touch the ball on every play when you line up behind the center,” said Hamilton. “More importantly, you look at the state of quarterback play in this league now. There’s a premium on guys that can solve problems. I’m not just talking about from a decision-making standpoint. I’m talking about solving problems with their legs and instinctively. Just making plays and creating plays, creating their own yards in some cases.”
The top two quarterbacks in the 2023 draft class are Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, both of whom fit the bill as signal callers who are able to solve problems with their legs and with instincts.
Mills is tied with Saints quarterback Andy Dalton for the 14th-lowest sack percentage in the NFL at 6.4%. However, the former Stanford product has a 6.4 yards per pass attempt, tied with Washington’s Carson Wentz for the third-lowest in the league. Mills has had to throw passes away or check them down than try to extend plays with his feet.
“The quarterback is required to be a playmaker now, just as much as someone who can facilitate the offense,” Hamilton said. “That’s our ultimate goal, to have winning quarterback play consistently for all 17 games of the regular season.”
The Texans benched Mills from Weeks 12-13 to give Kyle Allen snaps. The Texans committed eight turnovers during those two weeks before giving the starting job back to Mills.