Rifling passes while operating a more free-wheeling offense during the final game of his rookie season, Texans rookie quarterback Davis Mills delivered an encouraging last note in a season finale against the Tennessee Titans.
Although the third-round draft pick from Stanford ultimately fell short in a comeback attempt Sunday during a 28-25 loss to end the season against the top-seeded AFC South champions, Mills was extremely impressive in passing for three touchdown passes and zero interceptions. The performance continued Mills’ upward trend as he sparked the offense and made his case to enter the 2022 season as the Texans’ starting quarterback.
While Mills went 2-9 in 11 starts as the replacement for veteran quarterback Tyrod Taylor, Mills had his moments. He completed 66.8 percent of his throws for a franchise rookie record 2,664 yards to pass former top overall pick David Carr for 16 touchdowns and 10 interceptions for a respectable 88.8 passer rating.
Mills was as advertised in terms of being a big pocket passer with arm talent and sufficient mobility and scramble to create passing lanes when under duress.
Was it enough for Mills to be declared the 2022 starter? Not exactly as Texans general manager Nick Caserio isn't inclined toward making those types of statements at this early stage of the offseason. Caserio was noncommittal on Mills' status, but he was complimentary of how Mills performed and noted that veteran backup Tyrod Taylor, whom Mills replaces, is a free agent, and Pro Bowl quarterback Deshaun Watson, of course, has a standing trade request and unresolved legal issues.
"I think Davis made a lot of progress this season and he’s under contract,"Caserio said. "He’s one of the few quarterbacks we have under contract. Tyrod is a free agent and the Deshaun situation is something we’re going to have to deal with, but he made a lot of progress and strides. Any rookie quarterback would be put in a tough spot, but when you look at the body of work and some of the things he was able to accomplish, he made a lot of progress. When you look at him relative to some of the other rookie quarterbacks that played last season, you can make an argument that he was just as good or better than any one of them.
"What does that mean for next year? That doesn’t really mean anything. We felt Davis was a good player when we drafted him and some of the things that you saw from him this season were confirmation of that. He’s got a long way to go as well and he’d be the first to tell you that. He’s got to learn, more than anything, defenses and what the other team is trying to do. When you take it out of what are we running, I think for any quarterback the ability to understand what’s going on on that side of the ball helps you as much as anything about here’s the play call and here’s what this guy’s doing on this play.”
For the 4-13 Texans, Mills finished strong.
He completed 68.9 percent of his throws to go 2-2 in the final four games of the season for 927 yards, eight touchdowns, two interceptions and a 106.1 passer rating during that span. In home games at NRG Stadium, Mills passed for 12 touchdowns with one interception. Mills had four games with 100 or higher passer ratings, including a 141.7 in a loss to the New England Patriots, 130.6 in an upset victory over the Los Angeles Chargers, 128.5 against the Titans on Sunday and 106.2 against the Los Angeles Rams.
“I think the biggest thing was probably that I know I’m able to compete at a really high level in the NFL," Mills said. "I think it took a couple games at the start of the season for me to get a really good grasp of the game at this level. But I think really ever since I came back into the starting role in the second half of the season, the game started to slow down a little bit for me. The better I knew the offense, I just felt more confident out there playing with all my teammates. I think some of the wins later in the season showed that. Also, I think we started to find our identity as an offense when we’re out there really just having a great time on the field competing together.“I think just being in the offense, in the scheme for longer, I was able to get a better understanding for it. Really focused on what we needed to do on specific plays and certain situations in the game. There were things that I learned, in-game experience that I was able to kind of pull from later in the season when making decisions and kind of managing the clock, managing the whole game. I think just the experience from those reps early in the season allowed me to grow as a player.”
The Texans were stagnant in the first half against Tennessee,falling behind 21-0 as Mills completed just 7 of 14 passes for 61 yards and a 61.9 passer rating. In the second half, Mills rallied the Texans despite a moribund, last-ranked running game. Mills completed 23 of 33 passes for 301 yards, three scores and zero interceptions for a 128.5 passer rating.
Just twice this season, a rookie passed for 300 yards with three touchdowns and zero interceptions in one game. Both times it was Mills, who hit those marks in a loss to the New England Patriots and the Atlanta native again during the season finale.
Mills isn't the type to pat himself on the back, but he knows he's on the right track. He got vastly better at reading defenses and in his understanding of the nuances of the game.
“I don’t know if I’m at mastery level of anything yet," Mills said. "I think I definitely have improved. I hope I get to that mastery level at some point. I think a lot of it, just being more efficient breaking the huddle, getting up to the line and making sure we’re in the right protection, pointing to the correct person, things like that where I’m able to see maybe the linebackers are bossed one way, but the safeties are showing that they’re in a two-high shell, but being able to anticipate that a safety might roll down and add into the box. Just kind of being able to work all that in your brain a lot quicker because you’ve seen it before, a bunch of different stuff like that has really allowed me to improve later in the season.”
Mills plans to devote himself this offseason to spending a significant amount of time in Houston throwing to wide receivers and tight ends, including Brandin Cooks.
“We’re excited for it," Mills said. "I think everyone knows that we can improve in a lot of ways. Everyone’s working their butt off to do that, so I’m really looking forward to this future.”
The way Mills played, he showed he’s more of a solution than a problem for a rebuilding franchise.
“You can tell he is just getting way more comfortable,” Texans linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill said. “I was very happy and impressed with how he played, him slinging it around, throwing touchdowns. And there's been a lot of glimpses where he just flashes like an elite-level quarterback. I'm excited for his future.”
Mills had the most 125.0 or higher passer ratings among rookie quarterbacks, ranking first among rookies with four 300-yard passing games.
“He’s coming along,” wide receiver Danny Amendola said. “He’s a great quarterback. He’s going to be a good player here for a long time. He can spin it. He’s getting all of the operations down. He’s a great teammate. I’m rooting for him.
“ It was definitely a stepping stone in the right direction for Davis, great learning experience. He’s going to take this into his second and the sky is the limit, honestly. He’s going to be great. He’s a great quarterback.”
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