STOOTS ON TEXANS

Texans training camp: Davis Mills bounces back after struggling against Rams

Texans training camp: Davis Mills bounces back after struggling against Rams
Hopefully, Mills will play better against the 49ers on Thursday. Photo via: Cody Stoots.

The Houston Texans hit the field after their preseason victory against the Rams. Here are 11 observations from the practice.

1. Davis Mills failed to impress on Friday against the Rams. Sure, he had a few nice plays but overall, I was left wanting more from his performance. Practice on Monday saw Mills bouncing back. He was whipping the ball wherever he wanted. It was a solid bounce-back performance overall for Mills.

2. Davis Mills connected on a bomb to Brandin Cooks down the sidelines. This offense needs Cooks to be good and Mills relies on him quite a bit as almost a safety net. There is potential for Cooks to have one of his more statistically impressive seasons.

3. Phillip Dorsett is making this team. Dorsett had the hard grab on Friday before the touchdown and just seems to find an open area. He has the chance to be the yards after catch leader on this team. It was a slow start due to injury, but Dorsett has come on nicely.

4. Nico Collins had a few more highlight reel plays in practice. He makes some hard stuff look easy. It will be interesting to see how the dynamic of Collins and Brandin Cooks develops when both are on the field. Cooks has yet to play in the preseason.

5. Brandin Cooks did Derek Stingley dirty on Monday. It was almost like the recent weeks of praise for Stingley annoyed Cooks. It was a few moves and Cooks made it past the rookie for a score. Mills put the ball right on the spot. Cooks, remains, un-guardable in camp.

6. Derek Stingley is so smooth. He moved off a player he was covering to close the distance on Brandin Cooks coming across the middle. It was non-contact but assuming he makes the tackle it would have been stopping Cooks short of a first down, forcing a fourth down.

7. Rookie linebacker Christian Harris is still not practicing. Lovie Smith said he won’t play this week. With injuries to Harris, Garrett Wallow, and Kevin Pierre-Louis, undrafted free agent Jake Hansen has gotten a lot of work. Hansen played for Lovie Smith at Illinois.

8. The Texans have two players competing for fullback. Paul Quessenberry and Troy Hairston are the remaining options for that position. The team cut veteran fullback Andy Janovich. Hairston is a special teams ace capable of playing on almost every special teams unit. I’d think he has a shot to surprise and make the team.

9. Rookie tight end Seth Green made a fantastic play Monday. He caught a deep pass over his shoulder as he was headed out of bounds. Both feet in. There is room for Green on the practice squad, but the likelihood he can make the initial roster feels slim.

10. Steven Nelson had some very nice plays Monday. The combination of Nelson and rookie Derek Stingley is far superior to last year’s situation. I don’t know where it is compared to every top cornerback tandem, but they are so much better than last year.

11. Lovie Smith continues to say the third preseason game will be the main one for starters playing time. The 49ers could see Brandin Cooks, Jerry Hughes, and others who have yet to play in the preseason.

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The Texans are the class of the division. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.

The Houston Texans received a lot of praise for their moves in free agency across various outlets. And for good reason, most people believe the team got significantly better with the additions of Danielle Hunter, Azeez Al-Shaair, and Denico Autry among others.

But there's another factor to consider this offseason. How much have the other teams in the AFC South improved?

When looking at the PFF grades in free agency, the Colts received a B-minus. Most of the Colts moves this offseason involved spending a lot of money re-signing their own players. Which is great in theory, but it's hard to improve the overall quality of your roster when you're bringing back players that were already there to begin with. A lot will be riding on player development for the Colts to see a big jump this season. A healthy quarterback wouldn't hurt either.

The Jaguars have made some big additions financially this offseason by signing receiver Gabe Davis and defensive tackle Arik Armstead. They also lost the top receiver on the market, Calvin Ridley, to the Titans. Gabe Davis wasn't able to establish himself as a reliable No. 2 receiver with Josh Allen throwing him the ball in Buffalo. So it's hard to believe he'll take the next step in Jacksonville. Their best move of the offseason might have been retaining edge rusher Josh Allen by using the franchise tag on him. So what did PFF think of Jacksonville's offseason? They received a B-minus, just like the Colts.

The Titans have a lot of turnover heading into the 2024 season, and not just on the roster. They have a new head coach in Brian Callahan, who's looking to revamp Tennessee's offense. Early in free agency, they agreed to terms with former Cowboys running back Tony Pollard, signing him to a 3-year deal at $8 million per season. Which is more money than the Ravens are paying for Derrick Henry, who left the Titans in free agency. Calvin Ridley was the most notable addition to the squad, he received a 4-year, $92 million deal. And while this could be viewed as an overpay, at least he gives the Titans' offense some upside. Their receiving corps looks a lot more dangerous with Ridley added to DeAndre Hopkins and Treylon Burks.

They also spent big at the center position, adding Lloyd Cushenberry on a 4-year, $50 million contract.

Because the Titans spent a lot of money on some highly coveted players, PFF gave them a B.

Now that brings us to the Texans. The Texans re-signed some of their own players like Dalton Schultz and Noah Brown. But they also made some big splashes with Hunter, Autry, Al-Shaair, and Joe Mixon. But the Texans spent their money in a more conservative way by not handing out many contracts over two years in length.

The Texans managed to add the best pass rusher in free agency with Hunter, but it's only a two-year deal. The overall talent level is going up on this roster, and GM Nick Caserio isn't having to sign players to long contracts that could come back and haunt him.

That's why we're seeing post-free agency power rankings coming out with Houston in the Top 10. And that's also why PFF gave the Texans an A for their moves in free agency.

Be sure to check out the video above as Craig from Sports Talk Extra takes an in-depth look at PFF's grades for the AFC South, and much more!

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