The free agency frenzy has come and gone. That means the next opportunity teams get to upgrade their roster comes in the NFL Draft later this month. With that in mind, the Last Word on Sports NFL department will be breaking down teams’ top three positional needs heading into the draft. We will be focusing on the Houston Texans here.
The Texans were busy this off-season signing Brock Osweiler and Lamar Miller from the Broncos and Dolphins respectively. They also swapped guards by seeing Brandon Brooks head to the Eagles and signing Jeff Allen to replace him. Lastly, starters Jared Crick and Chris Meyers left via free agency and they really have not found much of a replacement for either. With the movement it pushed a few positional needs up and down the totem pole from when the off-season season started.
This year the Texans pick 22nd overall after a playoff season. The Texans have seven overall draft picks, however they do not have a seventh round pick. They have two fifth round picks due to the Keshawn Martin trade, and therefore have picks 22nd, 52nd, 85th, 119th, 159th, 166th, and 195 overall in 2016.
Houston Texans 2016 NFL Draft: Top 3 Needs
Wide Receiver
You can group tight end in here and just say that the Texans need a pass catcher. They need someone to take the pressure off of DeAndre Hopkins. Last year the New England Patriots set a game plan in how to defend the Texans by putting your best corner on the Texans second best pass catcher, and then focus the rest of the defense on Hopkins. It actually worked, and that should be a major red flag for Houston.
They have Jaelen Strong and Keith Mumphery, two late round additions in the draft last year. But neither has come alive on the field. Strong has decent upside, and recorded a three touchdown game last year, but has consistency issues, and in this off-season had already been arrested for marijuana possession. The only other name on the roster is Cecil Shorts. The 29-year-old veteran that only played in 11 games last year, has missed three per season since 2012, and only recorded 484 yards in 2016.
It means that receiver will have to be addressed. A lot of mock drafts have them taking one in the first round, and based on the way this draft may break it would make a ton of sense. It seems as though at least one of the top tier guys, Laquon Treadwell, Josh Doctson, Corey Coleman and Michael Thomas will be available for them. Coleman seems to be the one many tie to the Texans and it makes sense because he can take the top off, and free the over the top coverage for Hopkins, but really any of those guys could fit in next to Hopkins. If all four were off the board, you could see them looking to hit that position in the second round, maybe even tight end Hunter Henry at that point, but it would be a surprise if they did not grab at least one pass catcher in the first two days.
Defensive Line
When you have a guy like JJ Watt, there are times where you start to forget you still have to focus on the defensive line elsewhere. They went out and signed Vince Wilfork, but he is now 34, and his 2015 tape showed that he has seen better days. Aside from that there really is not an influx of talent on the defensive line. Brandon Dunn is their starter beside Watt and Wilfork, and Devin Still, Christain Covington, and Jeoffrey Pagan fill out some depth, but this is really just a group of guys and Watt at this point.
Whitney Mercilus and Jadeveon Clowney are almost strictly on the line pass rushers, so it makes it easier to locate the type of lineman needed, and it would probably be an interior type. This just so happens to be a deep class for interior lineman. Versatility would be nice with guys like Watt and Clowney who can line up in different positions, so guys like Sheldon Rankins, Jonathan Bullard, Robert Nkemdiche, and Jihad Ward stand out as some targets to look into early on. If they were looking for a straight up Wilfork replacement, Andrew Billings of Baylor, Kenny Clark from UCLA or Javon Hargrave may be other options the Texans look to when beefing up the line.
Safety
The Texans lost Rahim Moore and Quintin Demps and both of them saw significant playing time last year. Moore eventually lost his job to Andre Hal last year, and Hal will take the free safety job into training camp. However, they really did not go out and find a replacement for Demps. In Hal you only have a guy with 11 career starts, and 44 career tackles, in 30 total NFL games.
With Hal being just a bit unknown still, and little to nothing around him at safety it makes sense that this team will have to draft one at some point. There really is not a safety that would be worth selection 22, although they may take a look at Karl Joseph from West Virginia. He fits the scheme, but may not be ready for the season off of an ACL injury. In the second round it really becomes a choice of about five or six guys who could fall to their selection at 52. You could assume there is a good chance that either at pick 52 or 85 is when the Texans will address this position in the draft.
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