Mel Kiper Jr. goes 3 rounds as the Texans GM in latest mock draft

Taking a quarterback in the second round might make the most sense for the Houston Texans.

Todd McShay of ESPN recently posted a three round mock in which he acted as the general manager of every NFL.

Now ESPN NFL draft expert Mel Kiper Jr. has released his own three round mock draft.

Kiper established some rules as he made it clear that he’s acting as if he’s the general manager.

"The ground rules:– At each slot, I make a pick in the best interest of only the team with the pick. I won’t pass on a player at No. 4 just because I like the team at No. 5 better.– No trades unless they have already happened. I try to address team needs, but as with the actual draft, value can supersede need.– Once again, I’m not projecting. It’s more a look at where I see value up and down the board, based on my rankings."

As you can see below Kiper doesn’t have the Texans taking a quarterback until the second round.

"Houston TexansRound 1 (25): Cam Robinson, OT, AlabamaRound 2 (57): Nathan Peterman, QB, PittRound 3 (89): Taywan Taylor, WR, Western KentuckyOnce again, the 25 spot is a reach for quarterbacks, according to my rankings. I’ll give Bill O’Brien’s squad an eventual replacement for Duane Brown in Robinson, who is a powerful run-blocker but needs to clean up some things to reach his potential. That means I’m going with a quarterback in the second round, and it’s Peterman, my No. 4-ranked signal-caller. He doesn’t have big-time arm strength, but that should improve when he gets into the league. He’s a steady QB with room to grow into a starter and could compete with Tom Savage. Taylor, who had 34 touchdown catches the past two seasons, doesn’t have ideal size (5-foot-11, 203 pounds) or speed (4.50 40), but he could develop into a reliable No. 3 receiver."

I would prefer Garrett Bolles over Cam Robinson in the first round.  But that’s because I think Bolles will be a better left tackle down the line.

Right now the Houston Texans need a right tackle and Robinson should do just fine in that role.

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The Nate Peterman pick in the second round is a good one.  Former NFL head coach and ESPN analyst Jon Gruden seems to really like him.

Gruden said the following on a conference call with the media on Wednesday:

If the Texans do end up with Peterman and Tom Savage goes down with an injury, it would be interesting to see if they let the rookie start at some point next season.

Kiper’s third round pick of wide receiver Taywan Taylor is a head-scratcher since the Texans don’t need to draft another young receiver.

Now signing a veteran like Victor Cruz or Anquan Boldin would make sense, but not drafting another receiver after taking both Will Fuller and Braxton Miller in the 2016 draft.

Leave a comment below and let us know what you think about Kiper’s latest mock.