Experience is a good teacher, but sometimes sitting behind Tom Brady can be helpful for a young quarterback.
Anthony Holzman-Escareno from NFL.com conducted an interesting exercise of what the best team money could buy would look like while also working with the salary cap. While Holzman-Escareno settled on Brady being the starting quarterback for the dream team, he went with Houston Texans second-year quarterback Davis Mills as his backup.
Although five first-round quarterbacks (seven total) were selected before him, Davis Mills trailed only Mac Jones in passing yards and passing touchdowns among rookies in 2021. His 68.8 completion percentage and 228.5 pass yards per game as a starter paced all first-year quarterbacks. Mills is the only rookie in NFL history to have three games with a passer rating of at least 125.0 (min. 25 pass attempts in each game). The third-round pick also improved with time, throwing 14 touchdowns and five interceptions in his final 10 games of the season after tossing just two scores and five picks in his first three career games. He won two of his final four starts with a Texans team lacking in talent.
Mills started out his career as a backup. Tyrod Taylor was the signal caller atop the depth chart, and led Houston to a 1-0 start with a victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars to inaugurate the David Culley era.
The former 2021 third-round pick was inserted into the lineup at halftime of Week 2 at the Cleveland Browns when Taylor strained his hamstring. Although the Texans would lose the next six starts under Mills, Taylor was no better. The former 2015 Pro Bowler looked washed up, and a hyperextended left wrist (non-throwing) provided a chance for Mills to redeem himself in the final five games of the season — and he showed he had learned from his mistakes while riding the pine.
If Mills learned adequately behind Taylor, imagine how much he could learn behind Brady.
