Great day of free agency. Best single day in franchise history as far as free agency goes, in my opinion. If you're GM, where do you go from here? Here's my draft thoughts: With the lineman we've signed, and Quessenberry coming back, I doubt we take more than one. I'd guess it'd be someone like Max Tuerk in the third or fourth. There's so many ways to go. I'd love something like this: 1. Trade back and pick up an extra second round pick. Draft a Nose that falls. 2A. Hunter Henry 2B. Carl Nassib 3. Hackenberg 4. Tuerk 5. Random RB (Paul Perkins or Prosise if they fall) 6. BPA 7.BPA Osweilers contract most likely allows you to cut him after two years if he's not worthy. Drafting Hackenberg is a good backup plan in case he pans out or Brock doesn't. Cut or trade Hoyer. Getting a tight end completes our offensive puzzle. We don't need a WR yet, IMO. Strong and Shorts will be fine. Nassib could be great player in the league, IMO and immediately is better than Crick. The Nose would be great value. There are many good ones and we could get someone that could be a pro bowler quickly after Wilfork retires. Tuerk could be a day one starter. Not sure about the RB. Still not sold on Blue- would rather have Grimes. I like Hunt as a change of pace. If either of the two guys I listed somehow fall to the fifth round, you take them, IMO. Then BPA with what's left. Also, don't underestimate Cliett coming back. His role with this team was going to be an interesting one last year, I think. The staff really liked him, and I think he'd have gotten some good time as a hybrid safety/linebacker. One thing that I'm extremely excited for is this: This is the year we really start to see O'Brien's stamp on the entire team. The makeover is starting to be completed. Some team speed seems to be something we're looking for, and I think it'll help in O'Brien's offense a lot.
Depends on who is there when they draft. Could see them going best available at ot, dl in the first, other one or interior like in the second, etc. through the first three rounds depending on who fell. Personally I hope they get a qb in first three rounds personally
They are still going to be looking for an OT to mentor behind Duane Brown. I'm pretty sure they'd love Jack Conklin to fall to #22, but I doubt that happens. Vernon Butler is a great athlete at NT and this is right where he's supposed to go. I know a bunch of people are on the Will Fuller train, but he is so one dimensional. Send him on a go or a post, or you might as well not send him at all. He'll be murdered if you try and send him over the middle in the NFL. He doesn't even do it in college. He also has little baby hands (8.25") and body catches almost everything. One from left field - Texans met with Jalen Smith at the combine. Would you drop a second rounder on a guy who might have been the best player in the draft before injury, knowing he's going to sit out the year? I think this is right about where teams start to think about him, depending on the medical evaluation. Austin Hooper is an ideal "move" tight in to fit in with the inline guys. Physically, his dimensions are more like Owen Daniels than the longer mostly blocking guys like CJ Fiedorowicz. I think he is in play for their second if he's there. Maybe Chris Jones at DE here, who physically is a perfect 3/4 DE, but needs someone like RAC to whip him into shape. See what RAC did with Dontari Poe. O line should be in play for their 3rd if they don't go first. Maybe even an interior guy even if they draft a OT earlier. C Jack Allen of Michigan St. is supposed to go right around here. At OT, Le'Raven Clark is built like Frankenstein's tackle and this is his range. He doesn't look that great to me but O line coaches supposedly think he has tools to be coached up into a really good tackle. Watching games, I've fallen in love with Justin Simmons from BC as a safety. If I was drafting for the Texans I'd look at him here. Not sure if he's even on their radar. If they haven't taken a center by now, they should think about it in the 4th or 5th. Deep class at that position.
Good teams build through the draft. This is part of the reason I hated to see Brooks and Jones go. Only Mercilus and Crick are left from that draft and Crick might be gone this offseason. It's not their fault that other teams want their players more but they need to keep drafting well to make sure they're not depleted. Get their own guys and develop them and keep them as much as they can while at the same time drafting their replacements. I hope players like McKinney, KJohnson, Strong, Hal, Lonnie all work out and keep the team strong.
"good teams build through the draft". That's only true because it means you have guys on friendly contracts who are contributing to the rest. Brooks and Jones wouldn't have been on friendly contracts, so they just have to replace those guys one way or another
I posted that it is not their fault that other teams want to pay more for those guys but they need to keep drafting well to alleviate the impact of their losses.
Rd1. Robinson DT Alabama Rd2. Dodd DE Clemson Rd3. Jerell Adams, TE, South Carolina Rd4. BPA Rd5. BPA Rd6. BPA Rd7. BPA A draft like that would okay with me LOL!!!
1. DT Billings 2. C Ryan Kelly 3. OT Murphy 4. WR Listenbee 5. ILB Martinez and TE Okwara 6. FS Powell 7. TE Griswold
Names I like in the first few rds Jack Conklin, Jason Spriggs, Ryan Kelly, Corey Coleman, Vernon Butler, Vonn Bell, Carl Nassib, Karl Joseph, Hunter Henry, Christian Hackenberg
Within one day, the draft became 10x more important while simultaneously becoming 10x less interesting.
I used to be annoyed by OBrien wanting "versatile players" that can play multiple positions. I wasn't a fan of jack-of-all-trades types. But now with the o-line the way it is they Texans have the flexibility to simply draft the best lineman on the board and work around him. Brown/ Newton or Rookie at tackle XSF/ Allen/ Newton or Rookie at guard XSF or Rookie at center Mix and match and find the best combo.
