Lovie Smith isn't leaving anything out of the question in his first season as Texans head coach.
Just look at the Bengals. That's what Smith will tell you when asked about the potential of his team in 2022.
“We won four games this year. The Bengals won four the year before, and this was a big year for them,” Smith told NBC Sports' Peter King. “We don’t have to wonder -- we just saw a team do it. Someone’s going to make that jump. Someone always does. Why not us?”
With this response, Smith is attracting a comparison between the two squads, so we'll oblige, starting with quarterback. Cincinnati has a budding superstar in Joe Burrow, the former No. 1 overall pick of the 2020 draft. Houston has 2021 third-round selection Davis Mills. Although Mills provided a healthy amount of reason to be optimistic about his future with the Texans, he is not on the same trajectory as Burrow -- at least not yet.
Smith isn't placing Mills on a path destined for Canton, but he's excited by the quarterback's potential.
“What gives me optimism is … I got a chance to see Davis Mills," Smith told King. "How many special quarterbacks are there out there? There’s a few. But there’s a lot of good quarterbacks. I think we will have a good quarterback for the Houston Texans. We have the third pick in the draft right now. There’s a possibility of us getting a great quarterback added to our team, or a lot of draft picks to get in more players. Something positive’s going to come out of that.”
Smith is correct about Houston's chances of landing a difference-maker in April's draft. Two of NFL.com's most recent mock drafts have the Texans selecting Oregon edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux, a hulking defender who has carried NFL potential on his shoulders since his high school days in Los Angeles. If there were a coach who could help Thibodeaux maximize his potential early in his career, it's Smith.
Houston is more than a player or two away from being a contender, of course, meaning general manager Nick Caserio will have to nail more than just one selection in April to expedite Houston's turnaround. But a lot of it depends on the quarterback position, and if Mills can carry his positive momentum into 2022, the Texans will be in a much better position than they were a year ago.
Making a run at a Super Bowl like Cincinnati did in 2021 remains a highly aspirational goal, but in February, there's no reason to set a club's sights any lower than football's highest target. The months ahead will play a major role in determining whether Smith was unrealistically hopeful or saw an improvement before most anyone else. As with most everything, time will tell.