The final five games of the Houston Texans’ 2021 season was an interesting data set for rookie quarterback Davis Mills.
The five starts provided the former third-rounder from Stanford the chance to show what he had learned after sitting behind Tyrod Taylor for four games after starting off with an 0-6 record.
Jake Asman from “The Wheelhouse” on ESPN 97.5 Houston posed a fascinating question that has been alluded to on the “Texans Talk Podcast” occasionally: if Mills is the next Kirk Cousins, is that a success?
“If you take Davis Mills’ last five games of the season and you project that out over a full 17-game season, he would finish with 4,277 yards, 31 touchdowns, seven interception, a 68.4% completion percentage, and a [passer] rating of 102.4. Sounds pretty good, right?
“Those stats are identical to what Kirk Cousins of the Vikings put up this past year. Cousins threw for 33 touchdowns against seven interceptions, 66% completion, 103.1 rating, and 4,221 yards. Those are identical stats essentially to what Kirk Cousins just did for a Vikings team over a 17-game season.”
The stats in Davis Mills' final 5 games last season looked an awful lot like a certain #Vikings QB.
On #TheWheelhouse today, @JakeAsman asked if the #Texans should be happy with Mills becoming Kirk Cousins. @BradKellner wouldn't be, would you? pic.twitter.com/nJF0L5E6vs
— ESPN 97.5 Houston (@espn975) May 19, 2022
Cohost Brad Kellner said if Mills in his second season is able to replicate a full Cousins season, it would be a success.
“If you’re telling me Davis Mills is going to put up prime Kirk Cousins numbers in his first full season as a starting quarterback in the NFL, then I absolutely want it because I’m going to assume that Davis Mills is only going to go up from there,” Kellner said.
However, if the ceiling for Mills’ potential is to literally be Cousins, then Kellner wanted no part.
“If you’re asking if I’m cool with a Kirk Cousins ceiling for Davis Mills, the answer is no,” said Kellner.
Cousins was a fourth-round pick for Washington in 2012, and eventually became the team’s starting quarterback in 2015. After three full seasons in Washington, including the last two on the franchise tag, Cousins signed with the Vikings at the start of the 2018 free agency. For his career, Cousins has a 59-59-2 record with a 1-2 playoff ledger.
What Cousins has done for both Washington and Minnesota is solve the starting quarterback problem and allow the front office to allocate resources to add complementary pieces. The coaching staff also doesn’t have to waste offseason workouts and training camp determining who is the winner of a quarterback battle.
If Mills can achieve any of those objectives while on his rookie contract with the Texans, and push for the playoffs along the way, then it would have to be a success.
