If there is one thing we’ve learned about Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio in his six years in Houston, he loves to make trades, especially on draft weekend. He’s practically addicted to it. No GM does it more than him. Since arriving in Houston, Caserio has made 25 trades on draft weekend, with the 25th happening on Thursday night.
It took a while for it to come down, but with the Bills on the clock, set to pick 26th overall, Caserio swooped in and sent the 28th, 69th, and 167th pick to Buffalo for the 26th and 91st overall picks. The Texans then made Georgia Tech offensive lineman Keylan Rutledge the newest Houston Texan. Here are my thoughts on that and three other things that went down on Night 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft:
What does Rutledge bring to the table?
The building of a viable offensive line for the Texans has been a project that has spanned multiple seasons and multiple tear downs. This year, in free agency, the Texans were shopping for veteran players in a more expensive aisle and came away with Wyatt Teller and Braden Smith. They still have a hole at center, and that may be where they envision Rutledge, who has the capability of playing center or guard. As a player, Rutledge is a nasty, physical finisher, who loves football and loves destroying people. Caserio made the point in his post draft press conference that Rutledge’s mentality should fit in perfectly with the Texans.
Jeremiyah Love is as far away as possible, thankfully
Several teams had Love, the best running back in the country at Notre Dame the last couple seasons, as the top player on their board. If you follow the consensus mock draft websites, where they compile all of the mock draft results, Love was most likely to go to Tennessee at 4th overall. Instead, Love went to the Cardinals one pick ahead of the Titans. Thankfully, the Texans won’t have to face Love twice a season. Instead, Love goes about as far away from the Texans as possible, going to the worst team in the NFC West, a division the Texans don’t play again until 2029. All in all, the Love sequence of events could not have gone better for the Texans.
Ty Simpson to the Rams at 13th overall was unexpected
One thing that may not have worked out for the Texans was the Ty Simpson journey. The Alabama quarterback went to the Rams with the 13th overall pick, which was a major surprise. The pick does make some sense, as the Rams will need a QB in the next few years to succeed Matthew Stafford. However, 13th overall does feel a little high for Simpson. Either way, the Texans (and other teams) were likely hoping Simpson would drop to the back end of the first round so they could put their pick on auction for QB hungry teams. The Rams squelched that.
The Cowboys actually had a nice draft
Ever since the Cowboys decided to move on from Micah Parsons, trading him to the Packers for multiple first round picks, they’ve had draft weekend circled on the calendar, as they had the chance to operate with a surplus of draft capital. They came into the night with the 12th and 20th overall picks, and ended up moving off of both those picks. They moved up one spot to the 11th pick, and took one of the five best players in the draft in Ohio State safety Caleb Downs. Then, later in the first round, they moved back three spots and took UCF edge rusher Malachi Lawrence with the 23rd overall pick. The Cowboys needed help on defense and got two nice pieces.
