For the first time in the team’s history, in 2022, the Houston Texans held their draft party at Miller Outdoor Theater, over in the city’s Museum District. It was an appropriate move by the team, what with their having multiple first round picks, and honestly, any first round picks AT ALL for the first time since 2019. The party was festive and the mood was hopeful, and that was with Lovie Smith as the head coach and no quarterback to speak of on the roster.
Now, imagine what THIS season’s draft party is going to look and sound like, what with prodigal son DeMeco Ryans returning to coach this team, and with the heavy likelihood that the Texans use the second overall pick in the draft on either C.J. Stroud or Bryce Young to take over the reins at quarterback. This year’s party should be off the chain!
The only thing that could spice up the parade of food trucks, beer, Texans legends, and draft capital even more would be a trade, Nick Caserio making big moves either up or down the draft board to land another star player or reel in even more future picks. My SportsRadio 610 colleague Landry Locker laid out the possibilities in this tweet and on his YouTube channel recently:
Okay, this is an intriguing topic. Let’s power rank these possibilities based on how much buzz and fun the reaction to each one would generate out at the Texans’ draft party:
5. Trade back from 2nd overall
This would be the one option on the board that would likely be met with either apathy or anger at the draft party. Most Texans fans have their hearts set on a quarterback with the second overall pick, specifically either Stroud or Young. A trade back from the 2nd spot in the draft, while likely securing additional draft capital, would mean that there will be no Stroud or Young that night. This would take some of the starch out of the night.
4. Trade up from 2nd overall to 1st overall
This one is complex. While a trade up from the 2nd spot to the 1st spot in the draft would likely signal Bryce Young’s arrival in Houston — he is widely believed to be the Texans’ top choice on their board — the need to tie up draft picks to guarantee getting him at 1st overall would just dredge up anger from the Texans’ improbable win over the Colts in Week 18, a game that, if the Texans had lost, they’d already be picking 1st overall and would not need to trade up.
3. Trade back from 12th overall
The Texans actually did something very, very similar to this last draft when they moved back from 13th to 15th, picked up extra draft picks, and selected Kenyon Green. Green struggled his rookie year, so maybe this would give Texans fans some flashbacks, but if they moved back and still selected a player fans can get behind (say, TCU’s Quentin Johnston or Ohio State’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba), then this would be a positive development.
2. Trade up from 33rd overall
Okay, these last two are truly fun. I am putting a trade up from the 33rd overall pick (second pick of the second round, which if they kept, the Texans would use early Friday evening) right her eon the power rankings. This would mean the Texans are making a move to get a THIRD first round pick in this draft, and would make for a hell of a press conference on Friday afternoon, unveiling a quarterback and TWO first round teammates of his.
1. Trade up from 12th overall
I slot this possibility first, because if you’re moving up from the 12th overall pick, chances are the Texans are targeting someone who is in THEIR top five on the big board, and that player has likely slipped a few spots. A great example would be Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson, who has some varying assessments of his draft stock. Some see him as a tool three player, some think he is overrated. What if “overrated” wins out, but he’s there at, say, eight or nine overall? The mere report of the Texans moving UP to get somebody will elicit loud cheers!
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
