It was the extra preseason game the Houston Texans received. It was rather meaningless, all things considered.

But, football. is. back.

The Texans may have dropped the Hall of Fame Game to the Chicago Bears, but the final score meant nothing in the grand scheme of things. One of the biggest takeaways fans had in this one happened to be all about the quarterback position.

For those who might not have watched, no, C.J. Stroud didn’t play in this one. In fact, none of the starters on either team played. But, the Texans did give ample playing time to backup quarterback Davis Mills and third stringer Case Keenum.

Let’s actually start with Keenum, who has been around a while now. Keenum was plenty efficient, going 7-for-9 on the night for 78 yards and a touchdown. He didn’t throw a pick and only took one sack, while playing like the savvy veteran he is. As a third string quarterback, you can’t do any better than what the Texans have on their depth chart in Keenum.

Davis Mills is paying off in a way the Texans may not have seen coming

On the other hand, you have a guy who is a former third-round pick for this Texans team. Mills has started a total of 25 games in his pro career since entering the league out of Stanford in 2021. He’s seen some rough days already, as a Texan, and of course everything changed last year when the team drafted C.J. Stroud

As a backup to Stroud now, Mills can comfortably settle into his role. He has a ton of experience under his belt, already, and can use that to his advantage. A backup quarterback needs to be ready to answer the call at a moment’s notice, and because of Mills’ experience, he can do just that.

Thursday night, Mills went 10-for-13 for 102 yards, a touchdown and no interceptions. He did not absorb a sack, either.

If anything, fans came away from this game feeling confident about their quarterback room. Stroud is already a top-10 guy in the eyes of many, but looking at how this team would fare if he went down is a whole different ball game.

Being able to lean on players like Mills, especially, in those times, is a huge advantage for a team with Super Bowl aspirations. The Texans realistically go three-deep at quarterback. You can’t get much better than that.