For the 2nd time in the last 4 years, the Texans don't get their draft party started until the 3rd round. In 2018 they had no 1st round pick because they traded it the year before to Cleveland to get Deshaun Watson. They had already given up their 2nd round pick to the Browns to take Brock Osweiler off their hands after 1 year of suckiness.
I've got to admit, with all the needs the Texans have, and even though they've got issues at QB, I did not see this coming. Mills is a 4 year college player who was injured his freshman year. He played in 1 game in his sophomore season, and he was the backup to K.J. Costello in his junior season before Costello got injured. Mills took over and played in 8 games. Costello transfered to Mississippi St. the next year, officially turning over the starter role to Mills for his senior season. That season was, of course, the COVID 2020 season where Stanford played just 6 games with Mills starting just 5 of those. So Davis Mills college career consists of 13 games. That's it. That's barely 1 full season under normal circumstances.
In an era of the scrambling, dual threat QBs, Mills is not that. Mills is a prototypical pocket passer who is very accurate and can get the ball out with some zip, particularly in the short passing game, and who needs to rely more on play action. His mechanics will get away from him occasionally which will cause him to sail balls over his receivers heads. He also has a tendency to stare down his receiver and force the ball.
With that newly acquired pick, the Texans select Michigan WR Nico Collins. Collins hasn't played football since 2019, as he opted out of his senior season last year because of COVID. The last time Collins did play, in that 2019 season, he wasn't even the Wolverines top receiver. His 37 catches for 729 yards his junior season, were both 2nd behind sophomore Ronnie Bell, though he did lead the Big 10 in yards per catch (19.7). He also led the team in TD catches with 7.
Fast forward to 2021, and the Texans again find themselves with no 1st or 2nd round picks, both dealt to Miami in the deal involving Laremy Tunsil and Kenny Stills. Stills was released last season. In 2018, the Texans saw 67 players drafted before they got to make a pick. This year they improve to only seeing 66 players come off the board before making their 1st pick.
So after watching the first 2 rounds of the draft on TV, and/or Twitter, like the rest of us, the Texans finally get to be actual participants in the draft, and make a selection. And with their 1st pick in the 2021 draft, 3rd pick in the 3rd round, and the first draft pick by new GM Nick Caserio, the Texans select Stanford QB Davis Mills.
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| QB Davis Mills - Stanford |
I've got to admit, with all the needs the Texans have, and even though they've got issues at QB, I did not see this coming. Mills is a 4 year college player who was injured his freshman year. He played in 1 game in his sophomore season, and he was the backup to K.J. Costello in his junior season before Costello got injured. Mills took over and played in 8 games. Costello transfered to Mississippi St. the next year, officially turning over the starter role to Mills for his senior season. That season was, of course, the COVID 2020 season where Stanford played just 6 games with Mills starting just 5 of those. So Davis Mills college career consists of 13 games. That's it. That's barely 1 full season under normal circumstances.
In those 13 games, Mills threw just 18 TD passes to go with 8 INTs. That is not a very good ratio for a college QB these days. In his 5 starts last season he had 7 TD and 3 INT. Mills had just 1 game last season where he threw more than 1 TD pass in a game, and the game he did, with 3 TDs, he also threw 3 INT in that game. And that was in the very last game of his collegiate career.
In an era of the scrambling, dual threat QBs, Mills is not that. Mills is a prototypical pocket passer who is very accurate and can get the ball out with some zip, particularly in the short passing game, and who needs to rely more on play action. His mechanics will get away from him occasionally which will cause him to sail balls over his receivers heads. He also has a tendency to stare down his receiver and force the ball.
Not only was the selection of Mills a surprise to me, it was to Mills himself, as well. He says he had very little contact with the Texans and was surprised when they called him. That doesn't instill much confidence in me about this new Texans brass.
I get that the QB situation for the Texans is in shambles thanks to Deshaun Watson massages, but with limited draft capital, i.e. no 1st or 2nd round picks, and with tons of other needs, particularly on defense and more so in the secondary, taking a not very mobile, not very experienced, definite project QB with your 1st pick, may not have been the way I would have liked to have seen them go.
And Davis Mills is a project. There's just not a lot to go on with only 13 career collegiate games under his belt, and not really having the numbers to suggest he's anything more than a project. He's been given a comparison grade equivalent of Patriots 3rd string QB Jarrett Stidham. That's not saying much, and Stidham started 37 games in college. So definitely some growth and development would need to take place, and with the Texans in rebuild mode, maybe this is the best time for that to happen, but I sure wouldn't have used my limited resources to go the route the Texans decided to go with this pick.
The Texans started Day 2 with just that 1 pick. They end up with a 2nd pick when Caserio calls the Carolina Panthers looking to move up. This one is going to be a head scratcher too, more so in what they gave up to move back into the 3rd round, than the player. The Texans give up their 4th round pick (#109 overall), a 5th round pick they got from the Patriots in bringing OL Marcus Cannon here (#158) AND a 2022 4th round pick, to the Panthers, to move up to #89, the 26th pick in the 3rd. That's a pretty hefty price.
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| WR Nico Collins - Michigan |
With that newly acquired pick, the Texans select Michigan WR Nico Collins. Collins hasn't played football since 2019, as he opted out of his senior season last year because of COVID. The last time Collins did play, in that 2019 season, he wasn't even the Wolverines top receiver. His 37 catches for 729 yards his junior season, were both 2nd behind sophomore Ronnie Bell, though he did lead the Big 10 in yards per catch (19.7). He also led the team in TD catches with 7.
Collins spent his opt out season training for the NFL. Not the same as game reps, but we'll see how a year away from that goes. He is said to have good downfield speed, and good hands to challenge the 50/50 balls, and he tracks the deep ball well. He is said to struggle getting separation underneath on intermediate routes, and has a tendency to give away his intentions at the top of routes. Not anything that can't be coached up. It should also be noted that Michigan's style of play really wasn't condusive to taking advantage of their receivers abilities and creating mismatches with them. So this pick at least has the potential to break out, and soon.
It just really boils down to what they gave up to get him. Again, the Texans are a team that needs help at almost every position, so a WR here isn't really the issue. It's just that they're a team with limited draft capital because of the past trades they've made. Now this new regime (Caserio) seems to be doing much of the same. 2 picks this year and a future pick next year, for a player that will not have played organized football in nearly 2 years when/if he takes the field in September. Not to mention the defense last year was one of the worst on the planet and as it stands now, they won't be able to address that until the 5th round, as they no longer have a 4th round pick. Unless, of course, they give up even more draft capital to move up again.
Oh well, at least the Texans finally make it to the draft party and there's actually something to talk about. I'd much rather see this team moving back in the draft and collecting more picks, than moving up and giving up the limited picks they do have. But that's just me. On to Day 3.
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