Dane Bugler's latest mock draft. https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6170788/2025/03/04/nfl-mock-draft-2025-shedeur-sanders-giants/
25. HOUSTON TEXANS: T JOSH SIMMONS, OHIO STATE Simmons would go much higher in this mock draft if he weren't rehabbing from major knee surgery. But according to him, rehab is going great — so great that he might even have a personal pro day before the draft. That is huge news, as he looked like one of the top players in this class before getting hurt. The Texans need interior offensive line help, but they could take the top talent in Simmons to play opposite Laremy Tunsil and move Blake Fisher inside. Don’t force needs; pick good players.
Right now, I'm thinking I will throw up if that was the Texans' pick at 25. I want to puke now for someone justifying it with, 'He says his rehad is great.'
PFF latest mock. As mentioned in the OL thread, they project us to take T Josh Simmons, Ohio State. https://www.pff.com/news/draft-post...zTzGZRm2zNqm8fu6BWD7UUy-nnNx923F9p1LIs.U7MhhG Scouting report on Simmons from NFL Draft Buzz: Simmons isn't just a good athlete who can move in space - he's a tone-setter who brings legitimate power and finishing ability to pair with his high-end movement skills. The explosiveness shows up early in drives when he's fresh, where he'll absolutely bury edge defenders on down blocks and drive linebackers 15 yards downfield in the screen game. That combination of traits makes him an ideal fit for teams running wide-zone concepts that ask their tackles to reach 4i-techniques and climb to the second level. The knee injury muddies his evaluation, but the tape from his six games in 2024 was nothing short of exceptional. He showed the ability to mirror Penn State's speed rushers, anchor against Michigan's power players, and consistently reach defensive tackles on wide zone - three critical boxes for projecting NFL success. His pass protection technique and hand usage took a massive leap forward from 2023, suggesting he's still ascending as a player despite the limited 2024 sample size. Teams drafting between 15-25 should be sprinting to the podium if the medical checks come back clean. You're getting a day-one starter with Pro Bowl upside who plays with genuine meanness in the run game while showing the feet and anchor to handle NFL edge rushers in protection. The improvement trajectory from San Diego State to his final games at Ohio State points to a player who could develop into one
The weirdest mock is Lance Z's latest. Texans trade up with Arizona to get Banks when all they had to do was wait with the way he had it set up. He was probably bored. https://www.nfl.com/news/lance-zier...illan-at-5-shedeur-sanders-will-johnson-slide
I will say one of the disheartening things is seeing other team making OL moves while we stand still. I know we have limited cap space, but I like what the Bears are doing. They realize their OL was a sieve last year and made a few trades to make that happen. What is annoying is seeing them only pay a 4th and 6th round pick combined for those two players. If we could get a little breathing room in doing that this year for CJ, we'd free up at least one of the high picks in capital to use on another weapon. I think we're making a big mistake solely waiting on the draft to hope we pick a good OL this time given our track record at picking the position.
Maybe this will help. The cost to the team is two-fold. One it the cost of the rights AND OBLIGATIONS to the rights to the player and second is the cost to the team of that player both in cash and compensation. If we focus ONLY on the first and ignore the second, it is an Apples and Oranges comparison like the actual cost of freeing up CAP space for this year if you ignore future hits against the cap.
Yeah that was my note on the cap portion and makes sense. It is always a balance and I suspect our limited cap number means a trade for a player that'd really help here outside of the draft might not be feasible, because we'd have to give a higher pick to get the trade partner to keep more of the compensation. That's still pointing to our front office as missing on some of our players too, unfortunately. Of our 6 highest contracts going into next year, these are four of them : Tunsil (1), Howard (4), Schultz (5), and Mason (6). Some big swings and misses there and I think those guys will especially hold us back from what we could have been without those investments. (and yes restructurings and changes are still possible naturally....)
I just thought of a scenario. FA WR Kupp (after cut by Rams before Roster Bonus is triggered) ~ $11M and FA DT Sheldon Rankins ~ $4.5M. Draft WR Golden, OL Conerly, WR Bech, DT Phillips and OG Webb. This gives us a mixture of veterans needing to prove themselves and Rookies learning the ropes.
