Battle Red Blog Groupthink: Benching Davis Mills

Sitting at 1-5-1, the Houston Texans are down bad. Their offensive game plan has been figured out, and what hasn’t been identified is utterly desperate pleas for anything but quality football. If you are of the mind that the Houston Texans should continue to try to win games, then you believe something must happen.

On the other hand, at their current record, they have no reason why not to try every possible avenue to success. Throw the kitchen sink out, ala Elon Musk, and see what you have on the roster. Every player on the roster deserves their day in the sun, even at quarterback. Which brings us to this week’s Groupthink...

Davis Mills reminds me of a second year Daniel Jones. Now, Jones is leading a division leading team. Do you think it is better for the Texans to continue to wait on Mills or pull the plug and see what Jeff Driskel can do?

Vballretired:

Can we go with door number three? Seriously though, I think we know what we have. I think you play out the string and draft your quarterback with your top pick. Daniel Jones is still not a good quarterback. The Giants are just asking less of him. The bigger question moving forward will be what you do with Lovie and Pep. I think the decision on Mills has been made.

L4blitzer:

At this point, the season is pretty much set in motion. This team is not going to compete for anything of significance. Driskel or Allen, or some beer truck driver off the street, is not going to make a difference. Honestly, the main issue with Davis is, can he still be a bridge QB before the next great Houston QB Hope is deemed ready? Maybe that new QB starts right away, and Mills can at least be a backup. Still, unless the team is looking to completely purge the coaching staff (always a possibility), then may as well keep Mills on as a backup as the long rebuild continues. Don’t figure on this squad competing until, maybe, 2024 at the earliest at this rate.

Corydlg:

We have one of the worst rosters in the league, hands down and the Tennessee game erased all doubt about that fact. In every statistical category we were a near match to the Titans coming into the game (pts for, pts against, yards, defense etc) and they had their way with us for four long painful quarters. I think aside from the rookies, you keep almost no one long term. This team is in bad shape and the new regime has a lot of work ahead of them.

Patrick.Haughton:

I think my answer depends mostly on what “better for the Texans” means. If we’re talking long-term, then I kind of reject the premise. Because leaving Mills in or switching for Kyle Allen or (shudder) Jeff Driskel kind of doesn’t matter for this season since we’re not in contention for anything but the top draft pick next year. The long-term answer isn’t on the roster yet. If we’re talking who do we put in short-term, I’m sticking with Mills. He’s not a good option. I don’t expect him to develop appreciably between now and the point where we have to fish or cut bait with him vs. our new QB draftee. But if Jeff Driskel (or Kyle Allen) had anything to show, they’d be starting quarterbacks elsewhere already. And don’t point out the whole Geno Smith renaissance going on, that’s entirely different from our backup situation.

I’m sticking with Mills, but that’s mainly just a default position as opposed to any kind of faith in his abilities or in his development.

Kenneth L.:

I asked this question to evaluate where everyone was in terms of throwing out this season. Do we truly care about the performance of this roster, or is this simply a group of players to get us to the next group of players? It’s an honest question. Literally, do any of these players matter? If you think so, then you need to see beyond practice what they’ve got. You’ve seen the Texans roll out Dare Ogunbowale a couple of plays each game among other long-term projects. Why can’t we add Jeff Driskel to that list? Not that he’s shown anything deserving of a starting role, but one or two rounds at QB are necessary. We are going to be drafting another QB soon, why not continue the learning process with Driskel? I’m asking a lot of questions because I want the Texans to take advantage of these useless snaps in the 2022 season. If we’re not going to win, let’s learn. If we’re not going to learn, we’ll continue to be bad forever.