Houston Texans quarterback Davis Mills made his third straight start in place of starting quarterback C.J. Stroud on “Thursday Night Football” against the Buffalo Bills at NRG Stadium. Mills did just enough to lead the Texans to a 23-19 win over the Bills, helping the Texans improve to 6-5 on the season.
Mills finished Thursday night against the Bills by going 16-of-30 passing for 153 yard and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Mills is no stranger to starting NFL games, but he’s definitely lost more than he’s won. Still, Mills had a collegiate career before entering the league.
Davis Mills’ College Football Career
Mills played three seasons for the Cardinal when Stanford was in the Pac-12 Conference. He redshirted in his freshman career in 2017, then only appeared in one game as a sophomore as a backup to K. J. Costello in 2018.
Mills, in 2019, entered the season as a backup to Costello but ended up starting six of eight games after Costello was injured. He played in only five games in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season for Stanford.
Against Washington State in 2019, Mills set a Stanford school record by posting 504 passing yards. In his college career, Mills was 287-of-438 passing for 3,468 yards, 18 touchdown passes, and five interceptions. He had a 65.5% pass completion percentage for Stanford.
How Did Stanford Land Mills?
Mills was born in Atlanta and went to Greater Atlanta Christian School in Norcross, Ga. He was a five-star recruit coming out of high school.
Eventually, he committed to Stanford University.
Mills made his NFL debut back in 2021 as a backup to then-Texans quarterback Tyrod Taylor. He then started his first NFL game the following week against the Carolina Panthers. In 2022, Mills was the Texans’ starting quarterback. Unfortunately, the Texans finished 3-13-1 behind Mills.
Once the Texans drafted C.J. Stroud as their starting quarterback, Mills went back to being the team’s backup. But he’s come on the field with Stroud out right now due to a concussion and started Houston’s last two games.
Mills, once again, is being asked to fill in during a key time for the Texans. Entering Thursday night’s game against the Bills, the Texans were 5-5 on the season. Houston has gone 5-2 in its last seven games after starting the season 0-3.
Because Mills has previous NFL starting quarterback experience, he’s been able to step in admirably for Stroud. According to the PFSN NFL QB Impact metrics, Mills has a QB Impact Score of 64.4 and grades out to a D.
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His college career helped prepare Mills for a job in the pros. Coming from being a five-star recruit in high school, attending Stanford, and eventually joining the Texans, Mills has proven to be a steady hand when called upon by his coaches. At some point, Mills might even be seen by some NFL teams as a potential starter for their teams.
For now, though, Mills helped lead the Texans to victory on Thursday night.
