Grading the Houston Texans Draft

Randy Gurzi, Editor

Round 1 – WR Will Fuller (B)

The player they picked will fit nicely in Houston and makes a ton of sense. What didn’t make sense was moving up one slot and surrendering a future 6th Round pick only to pick the less polished of the three receivers available.

The Redskins took the Texans pick and grabbed TCU product Josh Doctson who was my top receiver in the draft. The number two receiver to me was Laquon Treadwell who went later to Minnesota.

It felt like GM Rick Smith had Fuller or Corey Coleman in mind purely for speed reasons. The pick was good, but the trade and value could have been better.

Round 2 – C Nick Martin (A+)

This guy will start from day one. Excellent prospect with pro pedigree. Martin will make the loss of Ben Jones feel like nothing and he was easily the second best center in the draft after Ryan Kelly who went with the 18th pick.

Round 3 – WR Braxton Miller (C-)

I may be alone in this, but I thought this was a rather poor allocation of their assets. After drafting two receivers in 2015 and one in Round 1 this season, the move for Miller seems like a waste. Either he, or the guy they traded up for in 2015 (Jaelen Strong) will hardly see the field without an injury. Just feels like this pick coulda gone to defense.

Round 4 – RB Tyler Ervin (C)

Ervin put up big numbers for San Jose State, but much like Miller he felt like a specialty pick. He most likely serves as a decent third down back, which hopefully ends the terrible run by RB Alfred Blue in Houston, but it feels like after grabbing a specialty guy in Round 3, they should have looked for a player who could develop into something more.

Round 5 – S K.J. Dillon, NT D.J. Reader

Grade A

Dillon was part of a solid duo of safeties at West Virginia, and although he was overshadowed by 14th overall pick Karl Joseph, he can hold his own. This late in the draft, he is an incredible value.

Reader is the heir apparent to Vince Wilfork now and may have been the steal of the draft. He’s athletic as can be for a 330-pound man and comes from a solid defensive unit. He was the perfect selection to finish the draft on.

Overall grade B

All the players picked by Houston should be able to contribute, with most of them doing so in 2016. They addressed both center and defensive tackle which had big holes which helped a lot, but the thing keeping this from an A draft was them ignoring defensive end where they are thin after losing Jared Crick this offseason.