In the last 48 hours, two teams in the AFC, one of whom is in the Houston Texans’ division, named their starting quarterbacks. The Cleveland Browns named 40-year-old Joe Flacco the winner of a four way competition for first string quarterback, and the Indianapolis Colts named Daniel Jones the victor over Anthony Richardson on their QB battle.
Here’s the thing — Flacco and Jones both stink, and yet they start for NFL teams. I bring this up as a reminder for you to give thanks and praise to the football gods for blessing us with C.J. Stroud.
Now, here’s the other thing — the football gods can be cruel, as we found out in 2023, when Stroud was knocked out for two games while sitting in concussion protocol. In the two games Stroud was absent, the Texans found a way to go 1-1, and keep their successful quest for an AFC South title alive. Sometimes, in the NFL, you’re going to need your backup quarterback.
Fortunately, the Texans have an experienced backup in Davis Mills, who is entering his fifth year in the league, all of them with the Houston Texans. In fact., some of you, those who haven’t had 2021 and 2022 erased from your memory, will recall Mills starting 26 games combined over those two seasons.
In evaluating where exactly Mills sits on the power rankings for backup quarterbacks in the NFL, here are three things you need to take into account:
Mills has had a very good 2025 training camp
There was the opening drive of the preseason opener against the Vikings, where Mills took the Texans on a 10-play, 74-yard jaunt for a touchdown. Then, in the second preseason game, Mills led the team on a drive right before halftime, in which they scored a field goal. I can also tell you, as someone who’s been at nearly every minute of practice, he has had the most “WOW” throws of any of the Texans’ quarterbacks in practice. In short, Mills is inspiring confidence.
Mills has experience in multiple systems, including the ones OC Nick Caley is steeped in
Part of the reason why Mills has gotten up to speed so fast in the new system, authored by new OC Nick Caley, is because he’s been forced to learn brand new systems three times now in his NFL career, prior to Caley’s arrival. Also, Caley’s system has been branded by some of the longtime Texans players as being similar to Bill O’Brien’s offensive system, a system in which Mills played in 2021, under O’Brien understudy Tim Kelly as the OC.
We do need to remind everyone about Mills getting passed over in 2023
On the downside, the team did have a chance to turn to Mills when Stroud suffered his concussion in 2023, and after a season of grooming Mills as the backup, they turned to Case Keenum instead, and Keenum led the Texans to a last second win over the Titans. I’d like to think Mills has grown since then, and that DeMeco Ryans' confidence in Mills has grown, otherwise, Keenum might still be in Houston.
So, who do we rank ahead of Mills?
In looking at the full list of backup quarterbacks in the National Football League, here is how I would place the upper half of those backups into tiers:
TIER ONE
GARDNER MINSHEW, Chiefs
KIRK COUSINS, Falcons
JIMMY GAROPPOLO, Rams
TIER TWO
ANDY DALTON, Panthers
JAMEIS WINSTON, Giants
TANNER McKEE, Eagles
DAVIS MILLS, TEXANS
MAC JONES, Niners
JACOBY BRISSETT, Cardinals
TIER THREE
MARCUS MARIOTA, Commanders
MALIK WILLIS, Packers
KENNY PICKETT, Browns
JAKE BROWNING, Bengals
COOPER RUSH, Cowboys
SAM HOWELL, Vikings
So there you go. I think Mills has elevated his game to where the Texans can easily go 2-2, if Stroud had to miss a month, and I think Mills would be capable of going 9-8 over a full season for a team with the Texans’ defense and coaching staff.
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