Texans HC Lovie Smith a 'believer' in QB Davis Mills

Even before the Houston Texans traded star quarterback Deshaun Watson to the Cleveland Browns last month, new Houston head coach Lovie Smith offered a public vote of confidence for Davis Mills. He said in February that the 2021 third-round draft pick is "our quarterback going into the season." 

The Texans then didn't acquire a replacement at the sport's most important position, such as Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston, Mitchell Trubisky, Jimmy Garoppolo or even Baker Mayfield from the Browns. While Houston could still get a new starting signal-caller either before or during the upcoming draft that opens on April 28, Smith suggested at the start of the team’s offseason program on Monday that he and offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton will get the best out of Mills. He added that he's a "believer" in the 23-year-old. 

"I believe in him, Pep Hamilton, second year in system, so many good things that he did," Smith said of Mills, according to Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. "And that’s as a rookie. The improvement you see from year one to year two is normally a big improvement and that’s what we’re going to see from him."

For what it's worth, the Texans currently possess pick No. 3 in the draft and, per five different CBS Sports analysts, would have their choice of to-be rookie quarterbacks at that point of the player-selection process. None of those five individuals currently predict Houston will spend that asset on a signal-caller. 

Mills completed 66.8% of his passes for 2,664 yards with 16 touchdowns and 10 interceptions across 13 games and 11 starts during his rookie season.