The guy who does this for a living and gave him a seventh round grade (Lance Zeirlien) also said he would trust Caserio and Ryans over himself given their track record. That seems like a fair perspective that you might want to consider.
I like Noel as a player but I felt we needed to draft OL. He wasn't a need at that point. In terms of Smith I feel he was a huge reach who would have been there later. He had a 7th round grade. I obviously won't deny we've had success in drafting the secondary
By no means am I implying that I know better than Nick or Demeco. I don't. I was merely giving my opinion. I realize it's not important. I'm just frustrated we didn't address the OL
They drafted Ersery, currently they've got Robinson/Brown Ersery/Tomlinson Patterson/Scruggs Scruggs/Ingram Fisher/Howard That's 10 OL which is 2 too many come gameday. Which ol did you want drafted? Last yr when Diggs/Tank went down for the 2nd consecutive year this team was screwed in the playoffs. Drafting Higgins/Noel makes that extremely unlikely to happen again. I would say drafting 2 talented WR's was a smart thing to do.
I Loved the Ersery pick. Great selection. I'd have to look at the draft board when we drafted Noel. I loved the Higgins pick too. He's not OL but I wouldn't have minded Mason Taylor because we also need a TE. Schultz isn't it. I won't argue losing Diggs and Tank really hurt us. I respect your opinion and see where you're coming from. I just wish we had paid more attention to the OL. Scruggs and Fisher are huge weak links if we're basing it off their performance last season and I didn't like the Smith pick at all.
Agreed about Scruggs and Fisher. Hopefully there will be growth in their games. If there isn't I feel comfortable with this Ol. Robinson Ersery Patterson Tomlinson Howard Hopefully Brown is healthy and playing well, if so my OL would look like this (Think they might be able to run the ball behind Ersery/Brown?) Robinson Howard Patterson Ersery Brown
Yeah I'm skeptical and I was pretty high on Fisher but you're right. Well have to hope both Scruggs and him show some development and had good off seasons. Seeing you put out those two scenarios it seems a little better. Especially if Ersery is what we think he can be. I agree they can run behind a Ersery and Brown
Here's another thought on not drafting a second lineman. Last year, I think part of the problem was the culture of the line, but also you have a lot of inexperience on the line. With just one rookie lineman, you now have four young guys that are potentially playing key roles on your line. That, coupled with a young quarterback, can be somewhat troublesome. Someone has to make the calls to adjust to defenses at the line. That was an obviously huge flaw last year that was exploited earlier in the year by Brian Flores, and became a continuous theme with defensive coordinators throughout the year. This led to CJ getting rattled because of extremely poor line protection. I for one would have liked the guy like Ratledge, but I'm also fairly happy that they didn't invest heavily in linemen early in the draft. Especially when you consider Nick's track record with them. I would much rather have invested in known quantities in free agency, even if I somewhat disagree with the guys that they signed. Honestly, if these first few picks hit, Nick has absolutely nailed this off-season. I couldn't be happier.
Great post, I'm just happy he's got the 2026 draft setup so well, in addition to having a great 2025 draft IMHO.
As Texans fans, we should all be thrilled by the job he and Demeco are doing. I think Nick is absolutely establishing himself as a top 10 GM in the league, if not top five. The more we win, the more other people will realize that. Obviously, the last pick of the night last night seems like a bit of a head scratcher, but this staff has shown the ability to pluck out these secondary guys and hit on them. As fans, we should absolutely give the benefit of the doubt on that pick as well, even if we're somewhat underwhelmed by it.
Last two post are great. Well said. People that want to draft 3-5 offensive lineman also have to understand we can’t get weak in other areas trying to improve one problem. I understand protect the franchise but it is very difficult to replace on 5 offensive starters in one offseason.
I think they did their homework on the available OL in the upcoming draft and determined that this was a fairly weak class for the type of linemen they wanted. That is why they hit the OL hard in FA. As a fan, I know we want more certainty, but this team has more than one problem area. WR was one of them. Through FA and the draft, they were trying to address their weaknesses and hit both OL and WR hard. I think Cam and/or Brown are going to surprise some people. My main concern is Scruggs and Patterson as starters, but maybe their issues were with coaching and we already have the right guys. Who knows? Certainly not this fanbase that overwhelmingly wanted Bryce Young over CJ Stroud. We will see.
I am good with the picks so far…. Can’t get caught up with chasing after a single position group needs hard…. On top of that, Nick and Ryan’s track record for finding talent in the draft especially in the secondary needs to be noted… Also, this team also had needs in the WR and Secondary as well. Those can not be overlooked for either especially in a weak OL draft. Outside of Sting , Bullock, and Lassiter. Our secondary was weak. WR depth was weak after our injuries as well…
Getting Higgins over burden was the right call and I am actually surprised he didn’t go in the first. getting Noel when he dropped that far; he was the best guy on the board and he’s legit. I still can’t believe no other team took him. I was over the moon pairing Higgins and Noel up
CJ shined behind an injury ridden OL as a rookie. A line which was a little below average at best. Both Scruggs and Patterson held their own that first year when they were in. Besides Mason deteriorating and the insistence of giving Green too many chances, I feel the main problem was coaching (or lack there of). It's been reported that the players wanted to try a different system but were mostly rebuffed. I feel confident that Caley has watched film and thinks we can go with what we have now. What doesn't work can be addressed in the next draft. As we all witnessed in his first year, CJ doesn't have to have a top 5 OL to work his magic.
After the Higgins pick, I heard the radio team day-dreaming about Tank returning late in the season for a playoff push. I admit I got a little excited. This second ISU pick may signal they don't expect Tank back but that isn't going to stop the young man from trying. Edit: replied to wrong post. Sorry
If Tank ever plays football again, it is a win. Love the man, but coming back from those injuries is gong to be a long and hard process.
