Texans Plot Improvements with Incoming 2019 Draft Picks

Photo by Houston Texans / CC0 1.0

Houston is filling a number of positions and adding depth this offseason

Spring is officially here, which means it’s time for the football universe to ramp up speculation about the upcoming 2019 NFL Draft kicking off in Nashville, TN on April 25. The annual extravaganza lights up a stretch of Music City spanning the honky-tonk haven of Lower Broadway to Nissan Stadium, home venue of the Tennessee Titans.

In all, the 32 NFL teams will pad their rosters with the top 254 college players in a selection process running seven rounds over three days.

The Houston Texans enter the draft with six picks dispersed throughout the rounds. For head coach Bill O’Brien’s squad, it’s a chance to improve on the 11-5 regular season showing the team posted last year before being knocked out of the playoffs in a 21-7 AFC wild card game loss to the Indianapolis Colts on January 5.

Houston fans hope the Texans field a productive draft class that drives the team deeper into the playoffs in 2019. They will need help; Oddschecker places the Texans towards the middle of the pack in their Super Bowl LIV predictions.

Here’s a look at where the Texans stand in the draft order and how the incoming class of 2019 can make an immediate impact when training camp opens in late July.

Draft Positions

Houston will have seven selections in the 2019 NFL Draft, one pick each in Rounds 1, 3, 5, 6, and 7, and two picks in Round 2.

This is how the selections breakdown:

Round 1: No. 23 overall (April 25)

Round 2: Nos. 54, 55 (April 26)

Round 3: No. 86 (April 26)

Round 5: No. 161 (April 27)

Round 6: No. 195 (April 27)

Round 7: No. 220 (April 27)

The 54th overall pick in Round 2 stems from a 2017 trade with the Seattle Seahawks. The 220th overall pick in Round 7 comes from the New York Giants via a trade with the Denver Broncos.

Photo by dconvertini / CC BY-SA 2.0

Nashville, TN is the host city of the 2019 NFL Draft

Building is the Mantra

The Texans camp has vocalized a theme of building the team through cost-effective acquisitions this offseason. The strategy relies heavily on the outcome of the draft, where Houston hopes to pick up the bulk of its newfound leverage.

O’Brien doubled-down on this mantra at the NFL Annual Meeting in Phoenix on February 19 saying, “We’re not going to build our team through free agency. We try to build it through the draft.”

While the coach and front office give lip service to the draft, the Texans have waged a quiet campaign in the free agency market this offseason picking up six players so far. The acquisitions of A.J. McCarron (QB), Tashaun Gipson Sr. (S), Matt Kalil (OT),  Darren Fells (TE), and Tashas Bradley Roby and Briean Boddy-Calhoun (CBs) provides reassuring roster depth.

Possible Selections

Analysts and armchair quarterbacks alike love to throw out mock draft predictions in the weeks leading up to the NFL’s rookie christening ceremony. Of course, there are no absolutes until draft day, but a survey of mocks sheds light on the positions and priorities Houston plans to fill.

Chief among them is shoring up the offensive line. Deshaun Watson (QB) is a dynamic young playmaker, but a vulnerable one having been railed for a league-leading 62 sacks in 2018.

Look for Houston to upgrade the protection around their most valuable offensive asset. Out of 45 recent mock drafts by NFL insiders, 71.1-percent pointed to an offensive lineman going to the Texans early in the draft. The names most frequently cited are Washington State’s Andre Dillard (OT) and Cody Ford (OT) from Oklahoma. O-line specialist Greg Little out of Ole Miss is also in the mix.

Beyond the offensive line, CBS Sports has Houston priority shopping in the tight end, safety, cornerback, running back, and pass rusher positions.

‘Defending’ might be the single best word summing up Houston’s wishlist this draft season–whether it’s defending Watson better in the pocket or on the defensive side of the ball.