Houston Texans Draft: Bryan Edwards would bring great value

The Houston Texans draft could bring great value and much-needed depth at wide receiver in Day 2 of the 2020 NFL Draft.

All wide receivers should be scouted heavily for the Houston Texans draft because without DeAndre Hopkins leading the way, and the uncertain health that follows Will Fuller around, nothing is a lock when it comes to the depth of wide receivers for the reigning AFC South champions.

Let’s get one thing straight, none of the wide receivers involved in the Texans draft will replace Hopkins on day one after joining the team, or maybe even in the first year, as it is tough filling the shoes of an All-Pro.

One player in this selection process who should be mentioned during this entire Houston Texans draft process is Bryan Edwards of South Carolina, as he was a four-year starter for the Gamecocks, and played in the tough SEC, which in all honesty does help prepare players for the NFL with its high-level football.

Edwards played in 48 games with South Carolina throughout his four-year career at the collegiate level and in doing so recorded 234 career receptions for 3,045 yards and 22 touchdowns. A breakdown of his collegiate numbers looks like this:

• 2016: 12 games, 44 receptions, 590 yards, four touchdowns
• 2017: 13 games, 64 receptions, 793 yards, five touchdowns
• 2018: 13 games, 55 receptions, 846 yards, seven touchdowns
• 2019: 10 games, 71 receptions, 816 yards, six touchdowns

Also for his career, Edwards averaged 13 yards per reception, including 11.5 ypr. his senior year. Edwards’ best yards per reception average for a season was his junior year at 15.4. ypr. Against Vanderbilt this past season, Edwards totaled 14 receptions for 139 yards and one touchdown.

Now where would a player like Edwards — who is 6’3 and 212 pounds — really fit in with the Texans wide receivers and the rest of the offense? For starters, Lance Zierlein of NFL.com has Edwards graded at 6.29 for the upcoming 2020 NFL Draft, and that means for their draft scale that the South Carolina wide receiver is “a good backup who could become a starter.”

From reading various scouting reports on Edwards, the Houston Texans draft process must include Edwards because he’s being projected as a potential WR2. That could be huge for the Texans with the contracts, age, losses and injury questions that surround most of their receivers this offseason, especially now without Hopkins anymore.

If Edwards were to be drafted by the Texans, he would become the tallest wide receiver on the roster, and not only that, the two outside wide receivers for the Texans in Fuller and Kenny Stills are no taller than 6’1 and weigh no more than 194 pounds.

Kyle Yates of Fantasy Pros wrote very highly of Edwards and expects him to be a big sleeper in the third round by whichever team selects him, as he wrote the following in a recent article:

"“He cut down his size dramatically and gained explosiveness and twitch to become a more well-rounded receiver. I had high expectations for Edwards and had him ranked within my Top-7 at the position at one point this offseason.”"

The reason for the small change of heart was a knee injury to Edwards late in the season, and that means the Houston Texans draft process is probably well aware of that injury situation as well. There was also a broken foot injury, which also forced Edwards out of the NFL Combine this past February.

The Texans need an athletic and taller wide receiver on this roster who has a chance to be built into the player they need him to become. Houston has a nice group of veterans and solid leaders on both side of the roster for him to work hard to be a success in the league.

As with most wide receivers, patience is the key because they really do need time to develop into a player that possibly the Texans draft process believes they become. The Texans have two chances in the second round to draft a wide receiver, but Edwards could be a third rounder, which is still a Day 2 selection.

Houston should be doing their homework, and if Edwards does last until the third round — which is where he’s being projected — then all bets are off and the Texans should do what they can to select the 6’3 receiver, unless they decide to take a receiver with one of their two second-round picks.