The writing was on the wall following the Houston Texans’ 31-0 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Week 13 when it came to making a change at starting quarterback. The Texans have announced they have chosen Davis Mills as their starting quarterback moving forward, while benching Tyrod Taylor in the process.
This decision won’t change the playoff fate of Houston as they were the first team eliminated from the playoffs last Sunday, and the Texans know what Taylor offers as the starter, but with Mills it is different because this could be considered his best chance to showcase his abilities as the future of Houston at the position.
Earlier this season when Taylor was injured in Week 2 Mills made six starts, but he was winless with an 0-6 record, and this season he has made eight appearances, replacing Taylor in Week 2 and in Week 13.
Thus far in ’21 Mills has completed 65.5 percent of his passes, passing for 1,406 yards with seven touchdowns and eight interceptions. When the Texans faced the New England Patriots in Week 5 Mills went 21-of-29 for 312 yards and no interceptions. That was an impressive game because the previous week when the Texans took on the Buffalo Bills, Mills had a four-interception game.
Last week when he took over in the second half for Taylor against the Colts, Mills was 6-of-14 for 49 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. In his eight appearances this season he has been sacked 22 times which is quite a lot, so that has affected Mills’ success this season as well.
Texans: What can we expect from Davis Mills in final 5 games of 2021?
This change is exciting for the Texans, not because it makes them instant winners or anything like that, but it shows the Texans want to see what they have with Mills and if there is improvement or potential shown for next season and beyond as the top signal caller.
Even with Mills not yet having a win as a starting quarterback, there is now some excitement, and even better than that the chance for the Texans to evaluate the rookie third-round pick later in the season means more than his first stint as the starter.
Mills has to have some abilities to be a starter, or Houston wouldn’t have used a very valuable third-round pick on him in the 2021 NFL Draft, which was the first pick the Texans had this past draft.
What would be excellent to see from Mills is some success with an offense that is last place in every major category and probably the worst rushing game in franchise history.
Mills has a lot of obstacles in front of him the next five weeks, but if he can show what he’s capable of being with a bad offense, that might keep him in mind as the starter for the future as Houston rebuilds the offense starting this offseason.