Knowing the playbook and being able to execute it are 2 different things. Mills may not be an awful QB but he’s certainly not close to being a good one. He might be a decent plugin for a game or 3, but if he has to go a significant amount of time the Texans are done for. Not saying Mertz would be any different but I don’t believe the Texans have a backup QB that could take them places should #7 go down.
We also don’t know what this Oline is going to look like. CJ had his struggles last season with the 7th highest sack rate and the #1 highest pressure rate in the NFL. Mills wouldn’t stand a chance anywhere near those numbers. The Texans don’t have a team good enough yet to carry even an average QB, never mind a below average one.
I’ve never seen Mertz play but I have seen Mills. Mills not only isn’t good, he didn’t even have the stats in college suggesting otherwise. Mertz at least has a little bit of that going for him and in a much tougher conference.
Again though, if 7 goes down for any significant amount of time, I don’t believe it’s going to matter much who the Texans QB2 is. And didn’t the Texans, DeMeco Ryans in charge, opt for old man Case over Mills in ‘23? Just sayin’.