Top 3 Houston Texans players to watch against Rams in preseason

Houston Texans player to watch vs. Rams: Davis Mills, QB

He might not play a ton — it could be the Jeff Driskel show against Los Angeles — but in the second preseason game, you typically expect to see more of the starters than potentially any of the other preseason games these days. The third preseason game has effectively become what the fourth used to be: An opportunity for guys on the back end of the roster to compete for spots.

The second preseason game can serve as a “dress rehearsal” of sorts for teams like Houston that have solidified a lot of starting spots, but still have players in the starting lineup like Davis Mills who could use the live reps.

Mills is coming off of a very impressive rookie campaign with Houston in which he was outstanding throwing on the run and throwing the ball deep. He finished with 16 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while completing almost 67 percent of his passes. It was nothing short of a shocker when the Texans made Mills their top pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, even though it was a third-round selection, because of the fact he had barely played at Stanford.

A lot of NFL Draft analysts liked Mills’ projection to the next level, but in much more of a developmental type of role than Mills ended up playing. You love the coaching continuity the Texans kept for him by keeping Pep Hamilton around. You love the fact they went and extended Brandin Cooks, one of the more underrated receivers in the league.

You also love that they’ve now got the potential to be even more balanced offensively with the emergence of Dameon Pierce. I think Mills is going to have a very fun season and hopefully against the Rams we get to see perhaps our most extended look at him so far in 2022.