Warren Moon Labels Texans' Davis Mills 'Quarterback Of The Future'

NFL Hall-of-Fame quarterback sees long-term potential in Houston's second-year starter.

Second-year Houston Texans quarterback Davis Mills may have been the eighth signal-caller taken in the 2021 NFL Draft, but his performances caught the eye of a Hall of Famer and Houston legend.

Nine-time Pro Bowler and former Houston Oilers quarterback Warren Moon appeared on ESPN Houston's The Wheelhouse where he had his say about Mills:

"I really liked the way Davis finished the season," Moon said. "He really got off to kind of a slow start, but then he really finished strong and he showed he has a lot of potential with this team and as they build pieces around him I think he's only going to get better. He's got a really nice arm. He can move around really well, he's a really good athlete and he didn't play a ton of football in college so I think his best football is still ahead of him.

"If they build some pieces around him I think he can be the quarterback for the future."

Mills finished his rookie year with 2,664 yards, 16 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and a quarterback rating of 88.8. His 66.8 completion percentage was the second highest of his class, while he had the most 300+ yard games of any rookie, and led the league in passer rating on deep balls (20+ yards).

Mills was thrown into the deep end after starter Tyrod Taylor went down with an injury in Week 2. Through Week 8, Mills threw for 1,357 yards, seven touchdowns, eight interceptions, and four fumbles, all while the Texans suffered seven straight losses.

However, after Taylor returned and briefly started in favor of Mills, the latter was reinstated in the lineup in Week 12 and never looked back.

Mills went on an impressive run showing a marked improvement. Through Week 17 Mills threw for 1,307 yards, nine touchdowns, two interceptions, and one fumble leading to two wins. Perhaps most importantly, during this second stint Mills looked calm and composed, confident in his role, and had improved his timing with receivers. 

And while Mills may not have been the first-round headline name teams often look for in their next franchise quarterback, Moon doesn't see this as an issue.

"You don't have to be a high first-round pick to be a franchise quarterback," Moon said. "We've seen a lot of quarterbacks that did start out that way, whether it was Joe Montana who was a third-rounder, or Tom Brady who was a sixth-rounder, I can go on and on, and myself who wasn't even drafted - you can be a really good quarterback in this league without being a high round draft pick, and he's got everything it takes to be a really good one."

Having not brought in any meaningful competition for Mills this year, and with head coach Lovie Smith openly stating that he's a "believer" in Mills, the Texans clearly see eye-to-eye with Moon when it comes to the young quarterback.

The Texans may have found their guy.