Houston Texans Mock Draft 3.0: Do surprises await at 2019 NFL Draft?

Round 3 (87th Overall): Khalen Saunders, DT, Western Illinois

At 6-0, 324 pounds and being a redshirt senior, defense tackle prospect Khalen Saunders of Western Illinois could be a nice player to put into the interior defensive line rotation of the Houston Texans to play alongside J.J. Watt and others.

This 2019 NFL Draft, the Texans need to add greatly to their defensive tackle depth, and Saunders is a third- to fourth-round graded player. With the Texans not having a fourth-round pick this year, if they want Saunders and don’t want to make any trades, this would most likely be the round to take him off the board at 87th overall.

At the combine, he ran a 40-yard dash time of 5.01 and had a bench press total of 27 reps, and with time Lance Zierlein of NFL.com believes Saunders could become a very solid player for whichever team that drafts him:

"“If he can improve his conditioning to become more disruptive for longer stretches, he’ll have a chance to become a solid rotational defender and eventual starter.”"

Playing on a strong defensive line as it is, Saunders would have some time to learn, make mistakes and become a better player as the Texans defense would be able to back him up as he learns the NFL level of play.

This past season, Saunders had 6.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss and totaled 72 tackles. He also had one forced fumble and a fumble recovery, along with five QB hurries.