TEXANS OUTLOOK
How complex stakes uniquely position the Houston Texans this season
Aug 1, 2022, 5:00 pm
Will Davis Mills take the next step? Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images
Davis Mills apart of the Texans' future: in what capacity?
Houston Texans training camp is underway, and as it is for most football teams, all the city’s eyes are on second-year quarterback Davis Mills.
Mills, who played in 13 games for the Texans in 2021 and started in 11, will likely be QB1 when Houston takes the field on Sept. 11 against the Indianapolis Colts. For Texans fans that have had to sit through the past two seasons of agony, the near certainty of who the starting quarterback is should bring a sense of optimism around the 20-year-old franchise.
Houston fans know the story by now. The 6-4 quarterback closed the 2021 season with nine touchdowns and only two interceptions after his subpar, and at times, brutal first six career starts.
Let’s look at a possible best-case scenario for Mills. What if the Stanford product leads Houston to eight, nine or even more wins, heck even playoffs, while putting together a 25-touchdown or more season and limiting his interceptions to 10 or less.
That would certainly be enough for the Texans to confidently say they have “the guy” in Mills and go forward with the 23-year-old. He will be 24 by the time the 2022 season ends.
The exciting part for fans is that a 25-touchdown; 10-pick or less season is not that far-fetched either. Mills ended 2021 with 16 touchdowns, 10 interceptions and 2,664 yards. Six of those interceptions came against the Buffalo Bills and Colts, two of the NFL’s top defenses in the NFL in 2021.
Now in Year 2, throwing nine more touchdowns in six more starts while holding off on the multi-interception games is not asking Mills to reinvent the wheel. The exciting thing is if Mills does take that next step, it will likely mean the surrounding pieces took a leap as well.
Of course, let’s slow down. There is a worst-case scenario for Mills. He could fail to build on his final five games in 2021; struggle to play a consistent 2022 season; and the Texans win 4 games or less for the third consecutive year. NFL defensive coordinators will figure out Mills’ weaknesses in 2022. He could fail to adjust.
So what? If that scenario plays out then the Texans can cut their losses and go in a different direction in the 2023 NFL Draft. The Texans are in a no-lose scenario.
Even if Mills plays well enough to show improvement but not enough to declare him the next franchise quarterback in a six-or-seven-win season, Houston also has the draft capital to be flexible.
Texans fans struggled to watch the Bill O’Brien-era end with the 24-0 debacle against Kansas City, which was followed by DeAndre Hopkins being shipped out for a second-round pick and running back David Johnson, and well the list goes on. Everyone knows what happened with Deshaun Watson, and even JJ Watt left for greener pastures.
After what seemed like years of not having a first-round pick, or in the case of 2021, what seemed like a punt of a season, the clouds have parted over the city of Houston.
The Texans have the rebuild off the ground. While there is a lot of work left to do, Houston is playing with house money at quarterback, and for that reason, fans should be excited for the 2022 season.
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Left-hander Mitchell Parker threw seven shutout innings, and Luis Garcia Jr. had three singles and two RBIs and the Washington Nationals beat the Houston Astros 6-0 on Sunday.
The Nationals have won three of their past four series after starting the season 2-6.
After allowing two runs over five innings last Monday in his major league debut, a 6-4 win over the L.A. Dodgers, Parker (2-0) was even more effective in his second major league start, allowing three hits, striking out eight and walking none, throwing 57 of his 73 pitches for strikes.
“He has so much poise," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. "He’s ready. He gets the ball, ready to get back on the mound. I watched him today. He threw a ground ball. The play was made and he got right on the mound and was holding his glove up as if, ‘hey, come on, give me the ball, like I’m ready to get back on there’. It was cool to watch. He understands what he wants to do.”
Parker mixed his 85-87 mph splitter, 81-82 mph curveball and 92 mph four-seam fastball. He struck out Jose Altuve and Jeremy Peña a combined four times. Dylan Floro and Matt Barnes each added a scoreless inning for Washington.
Parker was thrilled to be able to throw the splitter for strikes, something that did not come as easy against the Dodgers.
“100 percent, yeah," Parker said. "We were able to get in there for more swings and misses. They were more competitive pitches. Going to keep working on it, seeing if we can keep it where it is at.”
Astros right-hander Hunter Brown replaced scheduled starter Cristian Javier, who was scratched from Sunday’s series finale with neck discomfort. Javier was placed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to April 14, and right-hander Spencer Arrighetti was called up from Triple-A Sugar Land.
Manager Joe Espada said they have not decided yet on an MRI for Javier.
“Neck discomfort, started a few days ago,” Espada said. “He tried to work through it but just couldn’t happen. This kind of just came out of nowhere. So, we are going to see what happens here.”
Brown allowed three runs and three hits and a walk in the first but then settled down, lasting four innings when his pitch count reached 84.
“Even in the first I felt like made some good pitches," Brown said. "Came to the outing prepared. Kind of did what I wanted to and it just didn’t fall our way there.”
García Jr.’s two-run single to center field highlighted the three-run first inning for the Nationals.
“We try to score every inning,' Garcia Jr. said through a translator. "But definitely when we score the first inning it gives you a different kind of sense of confidence throughout the game and it carries on through the games a different feeling.”
Joey Meneses had a bases-loaded two-run single to right field off Shawn Dubin in the fifth to make it 5-0. Nick Senzel hit his first home run of the season in the sixth to close out the scoring.
The Astros' tailspin continues, having lost five of their past six and nine of their past 12.
“It is not ideal in the situation that we are in but we are in this situation,” Espada said. “And we got to fight through this. We have guys in there who are capable of giving us innings and some of them are doing that. We are going back to playing the style of baseball that everyone sees the Astros play. We feel pretty good about the guys that we have in there to get us some good innings."
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros left-hander Framber Valdez threw again Sunday and has a chance of starting one of the games in Chicago his week. “We will see how he feels,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “Once we see how he feels, we will start talking about the possibilities if he can pitch in Chicago or not.”
Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz said he is about “90 percent” recovered from the flu that placed him on the 10-day injured list on April 12. Nationals manager Dave Martinez said Ruiz will go on a rehab assignment this week to play a couple of games before returning to the club.
UP NEXT
Houston travels to Chicago to begin a three-game series against the Cubs on Tuesday. Espada confirmed JP France and Justin Verlander will start two of the games, but did not specify the order. Spencer Arrighetti, who was called up for Javier, is an option for the opener.
Washington has a day off before hosting the L.A. Dodgers on Tuesday night. Left-hander Patrick Corbin (0-3, 8.06 ERA) faces the Dodgers for the second consecutive start.