For weeks, heading into Thursday night’s first night of the three day NFL Draft, the biggest story was the fact that there were exactly NO stories coming out of NRG Stadium from the Houston Texans as to what they planned to do with the second overall pick in the NFL Draft. In my 16 years of covering the team, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a front office so zipped up and leak-free when it came to rumor smoke.
By the time the Texans’ draft party rolled around Thursday evening at Miler Outdoor Theatre, I was ready for the Texans to make their pick, more because I was just tired of getting bombarded with texts from people asking what they were going to do with the second overall pick than anything else. That said, it was ultimately worth the wait and all the agitation, as the Texans made history on Thursday night, injecting life into their forlorn fan base by maneuvering to take two of the top three players in the draft.
First, it was the Texans’ next big swing at a franchise quarterback, when they drafted Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, and then, just minutes later, the Texans traded up from the 12th pick (one of the first round picks they received for Deshaun Watson) to the 3rd pick in the draft and selected the best defensive player in the draft. Alabama’s Will Anderson, a supreme edge rusher.
Make no mistake, this was a monumental night for the Texans’ franchise in their dual rebuilds, the rebuild of the franchise’s roster and the rebuild of the goodwill with their fan base. Let’s start with what this means to the roster and start with Stroud. The Texans absolutely had to come away with a franchise quarterback in this draft, and Stroud was widely considered the second best one in this draft behind Alabama’s Bryce Young.
Stroud’s draft stock had fluctuated in recent weeks, largely because of a leaked score on his S2 cognitive test administered by a handful of NFL teams. (NOTE: The Texans were not one of them.) Reportedly, Stroud finished in the 18th percentile on the test. However, ultimately, it was Stroud’s arm talent that won the day. Stroud is represented by David Mulugheta, the same agent that repped Deshaun Watson, so that’s an interesting wrinkle, but ultimately GM Nick Caserio has said that would never be an impediment to drafting Stroud.
In Anderson, the Texans get one of the most productive edge rushers in college football over the last three seasons, and a player who has been earmarked as a top three pick in the draft from the time he stepped on the field as a freshman in Tuscaloosa. On top of some really special physical tools, Anderson is considered one of the best leaders and locker room culture guys in this draft. In essence, the Texans drafted a DeMeco Ryans-like leader.
Then, there’s the fan base. This beleaguered group has needed a big day ike this for a long, long time, and Caserio gave it to them. Here was the culmination of the ten minutes from the Stroud selection through the trade and then the Anderson selection:
The approval rating for the night was through the roof:
If there is a criticism to be doled out for the Texans, it’s that they may have given up too much draft capital to move up from 12th overall to 3rd overall in the draft, as they gave the Cardinals their 2nd round pick this year, and 1st and 3rd round picks next year in the trade. The 1st round pick they gave Arizona was her own pick, so they retain Cleveland’s, which keeps a strong reason to root against Deshaun Watson in place! Win, win!
But that’s about it for negativity on this glorious night. For the first time in a long time, on the morning after the NFL Draft’s first night, the Texans will wake up Friday morning as the story of the draft. The arrow is pointed up.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
