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The race is on. As the new season approaches, Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans has yet to decide on who will take up the QB1 role for the squad. At this point, it's a toss-up between incoming third-year quarterback Davis Mills and No. 2 overall pick CJ Stroud, and the developments in the coming weeks will determine who takes up the mantle for the Texans once the new season starts.
Ryans recently spoke honestly about the QB1 battle between Stroud and Mills. The veteran play-caller heaped praise on Stroud after the young stud quickly made up for a mistake during practice. According to Ryans, this type of resiliency is exactly what he's looking for:
“For a quarterback, you have to have a short memory. You can’t let one bad play become three bad plays, right? Put that behind you. You’re going to make some bad plays, but as long as it doesn’t matriculate into other bad plays, then I’m fine with that,” Ryans said, via DJ Bien-Aime of ESPN. “To see him and see his resolve, the way he was able to come back, compete, drive the offense down for a touchdown there at the end of practice — that was pretty cool to see.”
“We'll see where their process goes in training camp and see as the competition continues. We'll see who separates themselves.”
The Texans coach isn't giving us anything in terms of who's leading the race. However, if you ask Mills, the 24-year-old is determined to steal away the spotlight from the highly-touted Stroud:
“I'm competing for that starting job. Since I've been drafted in the NFL, I've been in a competition. I don't think anything is going to change,” Mills said. “It's been great getting to know C.J. so far. He's an extremely hard worker, and it will be good to see how we go out there every day and make each other better.”
There's obviously no animosity between these two young quarterbacks, but there's also no denying that both will do whatever they can to make sure that they are able to outperform the other — at least on the practice field.
Stroud himself has been very appreciative of how the Texans have welcomed him with open arms. However, the former Ohio State standout is well aware of the fact that nothing's going to be handed to him on a silver platter:
“This team has been very accepting of me, very honest, and very transparent. What I love about it, man, nothing has been given to me,” Stroud said. “I have to earn everything, which I love. It's been like that my whole career.”
