Some draft gurus believe that Josh Simmons is the best OT in the draft, which may or may NOT be the case. What nobody seems to know is whether or not he'll be fully healed. I prefer to draft someone else. With that said, just watch. K.C. will take him at 31 and he'll be a freaking 10-year all-pro.
Josh's 2023 tape was better than any OT draft tape from 2024. He is extremely agile and nimble for a guy his size. Unfortunately he suffered a torn patellar tendon injury to his knee at the beginning of the 2024 season. This is worse than tearing your ACL.A lot of athletes retire after this type of injury because they lose agility and speed. Many athletes will experience discomfort and pain at the knee for the remainder of their athletic career. At this point, there are medicals on Simmons but we are left speculating on how he will come back from the injury. Nobody will see him do drills or athletic activity until later in the summer.The Texans have taken gambles on players with injuries in the draft before like Stingley, Green, and Metchie with mixed results.
OK. This is a little different format. We already took Tyler Booker at 25. We're now selecting at 58 and our next selection is at 79. Using PFN, these are our anticipated choices between 58 and 78. 41.Benjamin Morrison CB Notre Dame - Definitely not an area of need, but perhaps the BPA. 44.Mason Taylor TE LSU - Not a position of focus, but may be an unspoken one in our new offense. He is a traditional TE with skills at both eceiving and blocking. 52.Kaleb Johnson RB Iowa - Excellent prospect, but might be limited as a 3 down back which is his strength. 56.Quinshon Judkins RB Ohio State - Also an excellent RB, but who has already performed well sharing duties and might be perfect situationally. 57.Jalen Royals WR Utah State - Would be a needed receiving weapon, but is in a deeper receiving class. 61.Tate Ratledge OG Georgia - A mix of upside, experience and risk from both body type and injury history in an are of high need. 64.Jayden Higgins WR Iowa State - Another dynamic prospect in a deep class of WRs 65.Bradyn Swinson EDGE LSU - A good prospect in an area where we are strong already. 66.Darius Alexander DT Toledo - A player who fits a position of desire in short yardage situations facing beefy gap offenses. 67.Darien Porter CB Iowa State - Another prospect in an area of strength. 68.Emery Jones OT LSU - We need Tackles in a class short in quality or depth. All have flaws, so we need to focus on upside. 69.Andrew Mukuba S Texas - Good prospect, but more of a future need than a present one. 70.Kyle Williams WR Washington State - Good Prospect in an area of need, but with multiple candidates. 71.Alfred Collins DT Texas - Another candidate for a specialized area of desire. 72.Harold Fannin Jr. TE Bowling Green - Another TE candidate which might be a hidden area of need or desire based on the new offense. 73.Jared Wilson OC Georgia - This is an OL candidate whose desirability may be based on hidden information including Scruggs and Patterson evaluations. 74.Jack Bech WR TCU - I want his versatility and excellence, but don't know whether to hope he falls to 79 for value. 75.Kevin Winston Jr. S Penn State - Not an area of immediate need, 76.Ozzy Trapilo OT Boston College - An area of need from a smaller school with BOB influence. Might he fall to 79? 77.Denzel Burke CB Ohio State - Not an area of Immediate need. 78.Barrett Carter LB Clemson - Not an area of immediate need. 79.Elic Ayomanor WR Stanford - Would be a good player in an area of need, but might be there at 79 and depth in the WR class. I'm really uncertain, but a slight lean toward Judkins because he might be the best acquisition psychologically to support the existing room and thrive. I'm fairly certain there will be regrets because no mater how well this pick does, another potential pick will have the opportunity to perform more spectacularly.
I think it's definitely possible. What's more likely if your picking two offensive lineman is that one of them, can play both guard and tackle.
No way I would want to be the team to take him in the 1st. If he didn't have the injury, he would be a top 5 pick in the draft.
You take Best Player available. So that's Morrison according to your rankings. The Texans need a third outside CB so this actually works to the Texans favor.
There are many OT as well a a couple of OG prospects who project as better fits elsewhere and some who are experienced at multiple positions. Mbow is an example of either experience or projection at every position on the OL. I was far more of a Ratledge fan before I saw his history of lower body injuries. Then I have to figure out if having the injuries and still performing overcomes having them in the first place.
That's usually best in the long term. But when there are glaring needs, I sometimes deviate from that wisdom. But I also may be placing too much faith in the new OL room succeeding. I like the FA acquisitions more than many fans. It looks like a smaller scale repeat of the early FA signings last year before the more spectacular signings. Think of the Autry signing before the Hunter signing. Or penciling in Metchie before signing Diggs. Metchie wasn't as much a bust as replaced. I still have high hopes for him returning to elite play two years out from beating cancer.
I think Booker is the target for the Texans, but I can't see Booker making it to 25. If Booker makes it to 24, either the Rams or the Eagles are going to trade up with the Vikings for Booker.
So either your fine with Donovan Jackson or Gray Zabel at 25 or you trade one of your third rounders with Tampa Bay to move up and take him.
I was really pulling for Metchie to be a bigger part of the offense, but he has not worked out as well as we hoped. At Alabama he was a big yards after catch receiver. But here he has struggled to get open, so the yards after catch really hasn't mattered. A lot of Metchie's touches here were designed plays for him.
