I'll concede your point. It's a better overall offense, but the Cooks factor keeps it from being a slam dunk. Mills had Cooks. CJ does not. Who's the #1 X receiver? Robert Woods?
If I see a ton of dumb mistakes, and missing wide-open guys consistently over an extended period, I'll be calling him out too. That said, all rookies are graded on a curve from me. Which is why I was a lot harder on Mills in 22 then I was in 21. In 21, I just didn't see the physical and mental traits I'm looking for in a LT starter. In 22, not only didn't he improve - Mills went backwards. By a lot. Some on here wanted to roll him out again in 23 which is just pure insanity.
32nd in QBR, last for 2 straight years in avg. yards per drive. Lots and lots of picks. Terrible completion %. And Mills simply put - does not pass the eye test. There's no it factor whatsoever with Mills. And rarely, if ever, did he make a play when it mattered. When Payton Manning was a rookie, he threw a ton of picks. But he also made plays, became a leader, and had a certain it factor about him. You could see the wheels turning, and that he was someone that had a high chance of succeeding once he ironed out the details. That's what I'm looking for. Stats can tell A story but it's not THE story. More important than stats as a rookie is those intangible qualities. We'll see if Stroud passes the eye test and shows some moxie and some it factor this year, but my money is on yes.