(SportsRadio 610) -- To hear Stanford coach David Shaw speak of Texans third-round draft pick Davis Mills is to hear more than the usual coach-speak.
It’s more than cursory compliments about potential and likeability, or what could happen if things go well.
Shaw, who joined SportsRadio 610 Monday, sounds more like a coach who desperately wishes he had one more year with the talented quarterback more than one who wishes him the best.
Shaw sees something in Mills that the Texans also clearly saw. And that is, a player who if not for circumstance and fate could well be on his way to a special kind of senior season where everything falls at his feet, rather than the uncertainty of starting his professional career with gaping holes in his resume.
It begs the question – albeit a somewhat unfair one: Did the Texans just draft Joe Burrow after Burrow’s junior season at LSU?
It is an obvious and huge leap into a Butterfly Effect fantasy world, but one worth exploring considering the similar paths Burrow and Mills took until the COVID-19 pandemic sent Mills’ career down a starkly different path.
Both were among the nation’s best quarterback prospects coming out of high school – Mills the No. 1 rated quarterback in the nation.
After Burrow’s junior season, he was considered a likely mid-round NFL prospect, like Mills.
Their numbers were startlingly similar, Burrow passing for 2,894-yards, 16 touchdowns and five interceptions, while Mills passed for 3,098-yards, 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions in his final 12 games.
Burrow returned for his 2019 senior season and ultimately led the Tigers to a national championship, becoming the consensus No. 1 pick with head-spinning numbers and the confidence of a player who polished his skills at the college level.
Could Mills with another season at Stanford have followed that path? We’ll never know. The Pandemic and uncertainty by the Pac-12 if a season even would be played drastically set back Mills’ development. Still, in just five games he completed 66-percent of his passes and had his best per-game yardage average.
What if.
The Butterfly Effect is real and was epitomized by Burrow in 2019.
Surrounded by an experienced team that included future NFL skill players Clyde Edwards-Helaire, Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson, Thaddeus Moss and Terrace Marshall Jr., Burrow reached another stratosphere and became the confident, polished player he showed as a rookie in Cincinnati.
Burrow went back to LSU for a final season. Mills did not, choosing to enter the draft as uncertainty on how much and when California would transition back to normalcy lingering well into the spring.
Burrow captured NFL scouts and coaches’ attention by winning a National Championship and the Heisman Trophy. Mills will not.
Burrow had a full uninterrupted season to add statistics and production to his resume. Mills had only 11 starts because of the shutdown, even forced to play “home” games outside of California.
“I’ll put him up against any quarterback in the draft,” Shaw said. “If Deshaun Watson isn’t there for whatever reason, I’m not sure (Mills) is going to be sitting on the sidelines. He might be the starting quarterback for the Houston Texans … Do I think he’s ready, do I think he’s capable? The answer to both of those is yes.”
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