The Texans have officially named QB C.J. Stroud their regular-season starter. It's the move we've all expected basically since he was drafted. But it's nice to get official word ahead of the regular season. Stroud sits low in our QB rankings, though, and shouldn't be in your sights outside of superflex or 2-QB leagues, or late in best ball tournament drafts.

Texans QB C.J. Stroud has taken “the bulk” of first-team reps for three straight days, per beat writer DJ Bien-Aime. While a near lock to start Week 1, the rookie barely cracks the top 30 of our fantasy QB rankings.

Update: Stroud will start Week 1 of the preseason on Thursday.

Texans QBs C.J. Stroud and Davis Mills remain in an “interchangeable rotation as starters during practice,” per reporter Brooks Kubena. Houston’s been serious about making Stroud earn the starting job. We see the second overall pick under center come Week 1, but we’ll watch him closely come preseason play.

The Texans are expected to hire Bobby Slowik as their new OC, according to NFL Network's Tom Pelissero. Slowik will become the latest Kyle Shanahan disciple to take over an offense. The 35-year-old has spent the past 6 seasons under Shanahan in San Francisco, actually starting out as a defensive quality control coach before moving to the offensive side of the ball in 2019. He served as an offensive assistant for 2 seasons before being promoted to passing game specialist in 2021 and then passing game coordinator last year. Slowik also worked under HC Mike Shanahan in Washington from 2011 to 2013 and spent a few years in between NFL jobs as an analyst at Pro Football Focus. It appears to be a forward-thinking hire by the Texans, although Slowik doesn't have experience calling plays at any level. The Texans are fully expected to take a QB with the 2nd overall pick of this spring's draft.

Texans HC Lovie Smith wouldn't say for sure whether both QB Davis Mills and QB Jeff Driskel would play vs. the Chiefs this weekend, but it sure sounds like he's leaning in that direction. “I thought it was effective,” Smith said. “Two different flavors, and that’s always tough for a defense to prepare with what we were doing with them. As far as what we’re going to do this week going forward, we started evaluating and seeing what we need to do against another good division-leading Kansas City football team. We’ll see how that goes, but both quarterbacks were productive." Mills and Driskel split snaps right down the middle in last week's loss to the Cowboys. Mills completed 16 of 21 passes for 175 yards, 0 TDs and 1 INT. Driskel was more Taysom-Hill lite, going just 4-for-6 for 38 yards and a TD passing but running it 7 times for 36 yards. Of course, neither guy is an option at QB in any fantasy setup. But Driskel has TE eligibility on some platforms, putting him in play as a Week 15 flier.

Texans QB Davis Mills will start Sunday's game vs. the Cowboys, insider Aaron Wilson reports. QB Kyle Allen was a disaster the past 2 weeks, averaging 5.3 yards per pass attempt with 2 TDs vs. 4 INTs. Mills wasn't very good over the first 10 games of the season, but we'd consider him a slight upgrade for the offense.

NFL Network's Mike Garafolo reports that Texans QB Kyle Allen will start Sunday's game vs. the Dolphins. HC Lovie Smith declined to name a starter at Wednesday's press conference, but QB Davis Mills is evidently getting yanked. Mills has been 1 of the worst QBs in the league this season, averaging 6.5 yards per attempt with 11 TDs vs. 11 INTs. He ranks 21st among 31 qualifiers in Pro Football Focus' passing grades. Allen doesn't project as a tangible upgrade, though. He owns a career 63% completion rate, 6.9 yards-per-attempt average and 24-to-17 TD:INT ratio. Hopefully you can avoid Houston's passing game in fantasy lineups this week. Brandin Cooks and Nico Collins would be shaky WR3 plays.

Texans HC Lovie Smith on Monday left open the possibility of shifting from QB Davis Mills to Kyle Allen. "We're not pleased with where we are," he said, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter. "Do we need to do some things differently? Yes, and we will." Mills tossed 2 INTs in Sunday's loss to Washington, his 4th 2-INT game of the year. It was also the 3rd time in the past 4 games that Mills fell short of 170 passing yards. We're not sure Allen would be an upgrade for anyone, but we'll watch to see what Houston does.

Texans QB Davis Mills threw for 319 yards, 1 TD and 1 INT on 22-of-37 passing in Sunday's loss to the Giants. He found Nico Collins for his lone score while spreading the completions among 8 receivers. It marked just the 2nd time Mills has reached 300 yards this season. His other 7 outings have all checked in under 250. The 2nd-year QB will face a pass-funnel Commanders defense in Week 11 that could boost his numbers.

Texans QB Davis Mills threw for 302 yards, 2 TDs and 1 INT on 28-of-41 passing in Sunday's loss to the Raiders. He threw 41.7% of his pass attempts toward RBs, with Dare Ogunbowale factoring in much more than in any other game. Mills also lost WR Nico Collins to injury. But he found WR Chris Moore and WR Phillip Dorsett for TDs and spread his attempts around. Nine Houston players finished with 3-7 targets. This marked Mills' 1st game of more than 246 passing yards this year.

Texans WR Brandin Cooks saw just 6 targets and caught 4 balls for 20 yards in Sunday's win over the Texans. The 6 looks did constitute 25% of Davis Mills' 24 attempts for the game. Cooks' biggest issue was Houston going run heavy (31 rushing attempts vs. 25 dropbacks). WR Nico Collins matched Cooks in targets and receptions, gaining 65 yards on his 4 catches. A Week 6 bye will be followed by a visit to the Raiders and then a home date with the Titans.

Texans HC Lovie Smith says he's a fan of QB Davis Mills. "If you look at all of my comments about Davis, I am a believer in him and what he's going to do," Smith said Monday, according to NFL.com. "If you just go back and look at the plays that he made, throwing the ball downfield last year, so many good things that he did, and that's as a rookie." Smith also sounds confident in Mills leading the 2022 offense. "The improvement that you see from year one to year two is normally a big improvement, and that's what we're gonna get from him." Words don't necessarily mean commitment, of course. And we'll see whether Houston adds a QB at any stage of the upcoming NFL Draft. But combine Smith's comments with what had to be considered an impressive debut for a 3rd-round pick in a bad offense, and we're betting Mills leads Houston's offense for at least the coming season. He's available very late in early fantasy football drafts and not highly rated in dynasty right now.

Lovie Smith has been named Texans HC. He has 11 seasons of NFL HC experience -- 9 with the Bears, 2 with the Bucs -- compiling an 89-87 record. Smith left the NFL from 2016 to 2020 to coach Illinois, where he went 17-39. He returned to the pros this past year to serve as Texans DC. Houston is expected to promote passing-game coordinator Pep Hamilton to OC, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo.

The Texans fired HC David Culley and OC Tim Kelly. These guys were set up to fail with an expansion-level roster and might have actually overachieved by winning 4 games this season. GM Nick Caserio is expected to tap into the Patriots pipeline for his next HC.

Texans HC David Culley named QB Davis Mills his starter for the rest of the season. "He gives us the best chance to win," Culley said, suggesting that QB Tyrod Taylor's wrist injury didn't factor into this decision. Taylor has struggled lately -- but Mills managed just 6.6 yards per attempt with 6 TDs vs. 7 INTs in 6 starts earlier this season. WR Brandin Cooks at least averaged 8.2 targets, 6.2 catches and 62.5 yards in those Mills starts. Cooks remains the only Texan worth using in fantasy lineups.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reports that Texans QB Tyrod Taylor "is believed to have suffered possible torn ligaments" in his left wrist. That's awkwardly worded, and Rapoport adds that Houston has yet to rule Taylor out for even Week 14. But the injury is at least a mark against a veteran who played so poorly in Sunday's shutout loss to the Colts that he got yanked for rookie Davis Mills. HC David Culley said Monday morning that no decision has been made on the Week 14 QB starter yet, but it's tough to see what Houston would gain by going back to Taylor. This decision, of course, carries minimal fantasy importance.

Update: Rapoport reports the team now considers Taylor "week-to-week" and expects to start Mills in Week 14.

Texans HC David Culley said after Sunday's loss to the Colts that QB Tyrod Taylor hyperextended his left wrist. Taylor was yanked in the 3rd quarter and never announced with an injury. We'll see if he's available for Week 14 -- and whether Houston goes back to Taylor or with rookie QB Davis Mills. Either way, it's a situation to avoid in fantasy lineups.