The Houston Texans have been a part of the NFL Draft since 2002, but which selections are the best of all time?
With the 2020 NFL Draft less than a full week away, the Houston Texans are in the process of making franchise-changing decisions as they select the next group of players to help achieve franchise-changing goals they’ve yet to reach.
Last season, the Texans finished 10-6 overall, won the AFC South championship and won a playoff game, but that seems like ages ago, and some of the names listed on this all-time list are from years gone by for the Texans.
There were many Texans players deserving of being noted as one of the greatest Texans draft pick by round, as we all know players like Andre Johnson, Duane Brown, J.J. Watt, Jadeveon Clowney, Mario Williams, DeAndre Hopkins, and Deshaun Watson all have had their names called as a first round pick for the Texans.
Of those players, only one can be the best first-round choice. The same can be said in the second round with players like Brooks Reed, DeMeco Ryans, Ben Tate, D.J. Swearinger, and Benardrick McKinney who have been selected in that round.
On to the third round, there were players such as Jacoby Jones, Eric Winston, Brandon Brooks, Justin Reid and Earl Mitchell all selected in the round. The fourth round saw players such as Domanick Davis (who is second all-time in Texans rushing) and Owen Daniels (the best tight end in team history), so some of these decisions weren’t easy to make.
Every round for the Houston Texans in their draft history has seen very good to great players have their name called during the draft, and in the continuing history of the Texans franchise, we all want to know who are the best players the Texans have selected in each round of the NFL Draft.
Here is one attempt to figure out the all-time list of best Houston Texans draft choices by round in franchise history from 2002-2019.
Round 1: J. J. Watt (2011)
The Houston Texans have drafted a few superstars in the first round such as Andre Johnson, DeAndre Hopkins, Duane Brown and Deshaun Watson, but their best player drafted in the first round must be defensive end J.J. Watt, whom the Texans drafted 11th overall in the 2011 NFL Draft.
In all, the Texans have made 18 selections in the first round, and even as great as those players mentioned before Watt were, the story is Watt is the best first-round pick ever in Texans history, with Andre Johnson a close second.
In his nine seasons with the Texans, Watt has played in 112 regular-season games for the Texans, all being starts, and in that time frame from 2011 to present day the defensive end has a career total of 479 tackles, 373 of those being solo tackles, along with 158 tackles for loss, 96 sacks, one safety, 265 QB hits and 15 fumble recoveries. Watt even once had an 80-yard interception return for a touchdown in 2014.
All of his accolades have led Watt to being a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, as the Houston Texans star even has dabbled before with the offense by scoring three touchdown receptions on the goal line in ’14 as well.
Watt is the face of the Houston Texans on the field and off the field. He’s won the Walter Payton Man of the Year award, helped many folks in need with fundraising and charitable contributions, led the league in sacks twice (’12, 15), been to five Pro Bowls, been the Player of the Week seven times and has been selected as a first-team All-Pro by the Associated Press on five different occasions, with that honor coming as recently as 2018.
Maybe there is even more to come from Watt, as he’ll be 31 years old this upcoming season and this will be his 10th year with the franchise. If Watt is able to recover completely from his injury suffered last season, it will be exciting to see what awaits him this season.
Round 2: DeMeco Ryans (2006)
Described in a 2018 article on HoustonTexans.com as one of the “greatest players in team history,” linebacker DeMeco Ryans tops the list for second-round draft picks (33rd overall) in Houston Texans history, and for good reason.
When he left the Houston Texans in free agency to join the Philadelphia Eagles, Ryans was the all-time leading tackler in franchise history. In six seasons with the Texans (2006-11), Ryans started at linebacker for the team in all 86 games played, making him a very reliable player for the franchise.
As a linebacker during his entire tenure with Houston, Ryans totaled 8.5 sacks as a middle linebacker, with 636 tackles (479 solo), along with eight fumble recoveries and two interceptions. Ryans also collected 26 passes defensed, six forced fumbles, eight fumble recoveries, one touchdown (2007), 43 tackles for loss,and 25 QB hits.
That is a career in itself, but Ryans went on to play four more seasons with the Eagles from (2012-15). As a rookie in ’06 with the Houston Texans, Ryan had a career-high 126 solo tackles, as he earned NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors and was named to the NFL All-Rookie Team that season.
Ryans was selected to the Pro Bowl in ’07 and ’09, was the Player of the Week once in his career (Week 13, ’06) and was the Sporting News first-team All-Pro in ’07, and that same season he was voted second-team NFL All-Pro by the Associated Press.
Ryans had a heck of career and is one of the great draft selections even by the Texans, and to get him in the second round proved to be great value for the franchise as he’s one of the all-time best.
Round 3: Eric Winston (2006)
The Houston Texans as a franchise seem to love making draft choices in the third round of an NFL Draft, as eight times they’ve had at least two selections in the round since 2002.
In 2006 ,the Houston Texans selected right tackle Eric Winston, and he played for the franchise from 2006-11. Besides his rookie season, he was never graded lower than 78.6 by Pro Football Focus.
Winston played over 1,000 snaps in his final four seasons on the offensive line with the Texans and was penalized three or fewer times in a season on three occasions, and he never had more than nine penalties called on him for a season in his six seasons with the Houston Texans franchise.
In three different seasons with the Texans, Winston allowed five or fewer sacks and never allowed a double-digit sack season while with the Texans.
He was drafted 66th overall in the ’06 NFL Draft, and for being a third-round selection, he did a very nice job while with the franchise. In two of his seasons with the Texans, Winston didn’t have a single holding penalty.
Winston went on to play one season with the Kansas City Chiefs, one season with the Arizona Cardinals and wrapped up his career with four seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, retiring at the conclusion of the 2017 season with 165 regular-season games played overall for the four teams, with 92 of those being with the Houston Texans.
Round 4: Owen Daniels (2006)
If anyone ever wants to discuss value in a draft pick, here is one with Owen Daniels, the greatest tight end in franchise history being selected with the 98th overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. The Texans got a steal with this fantastic selection, as Daniels played his first eight seasons in Houston.
Where does one start with Daniels? In his time with the Texans, the tight end Daniels collected 100 regular-season games played, with 96 of those games being starts. Daniels totaled 385 receptions (602 targets), and those receptions turned into 4,617 yards, 12.0 yards per reception and 29 touchdowns.
Of his 385 receptions, 261 of those receptions went for a first down, and his career long reception was 44 yards, which came in the 2009 season. Daniels averaged 46.2 yards per game receiving, and his ’09 season saw him averaged 64.9 ypg receiving in just eight games played before injuries stopped an excellent season.
In ’08, Daniels collected a career-high 862 yards on 70 receptions (101 targets) with two touchdowns, and in ’12, Daniels had a career-high six touchdowns. Though Daniels played a full 16 games in a season with the Texans in just two of his eight years with the franchise, there were three other seasons where he played in at least 14 games and six total seasons where he played in at least 10 games.
Though injuries slowed down Daniels at times, when he was on the field, he made the Houston Texans a much better football team than without him. Daniels being selected in the fourth round was a great choice made by the Texans, and overall it worked out pretty well for Daniels and the Houston team.
Round 5: D. J. Reader (2016)
This was yet another nice job by the Houston Texans front office when they found D.J. Reader in the fifth round of the 2015 NFL Draft, and what a player he turned into during his four seasons with the team from 2016-19. Reader this offseason left the Texans in free agency to sign with the Cincinnati Bengals, who made him the highest paid nose tackle in the league.
That contract was well-deserved by Reader as he signed a four-year, $53 million deal, and everyone should be excited for him because how often does a fifth-round pick (166th overall) go on to be the highest-paid player at his position in the history of the league?
Since joining the NFL in ’16, Reader has career totals of 6.5 sacks as a nose tackle, with 2.5 of those in ’19. Also last season, Reader finished with 52 combined tackles, 28 of those being solo, along with six tackles for loss13 QB hits, plus his PFF.com grade was 86.7.
The Texans are losing a player that made others around him better, and the defensive line will be affected without him on the roster for the 2020 season and beyond. Reader was an excellent selection in the fifth round, and at least the memories are still with the Texans.
Round 6: Alfred Blue (2014)
There have been some memorable names selected in the sixth round by the Houston Texans in the sixth round, and though this franchise has never had the luck the New England Patriots had in the sixth round with Tom Brady — which is the gold standard of all sixth-round picks — the Texans have been able to draft players who made some starts and contributed to the team.
The player selected here for the Texans in their greatest sixth-round pick is running back Alfred Blue. Others considered for this spot were Drew Henson (’03), Ryan Griffin (’13), Christian Covington (’15) and Jordan Thomas (’18).
Some might believe Covington belongs here as in his four season he played in 50 games (nine starts) with 7.5 sacks, 39 solo tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 16 QB hits. Also with Covington, in his final season with the Texans he had 3.5 sacks.
As for Blue, he played in 72 games with the Houston Texans, making 16 starts, and in mostly a reserve role he became the fourth all-time leading rusher in team history with 2,407 rushing yards on 673 regular-season carries.
Blue also rushed for eight touchdowns in his five seasons with the Texans after being drafted 181st overall in the 2014 NFL Draft. Blue did what he did with the Texans, put in some quality outings and should be remembered as the best sixth-round pick made by the Texans since they joined the league in 2002.
Round 7: Derek Newton (2011)
A second offensive linemen makes the list in tackle Derek Newton, and it was a tough choice for finding the best seventh rounder for the Texans. Thee other serious choice to choose from was cornerback (216th pick in ’14) Andre Hal.
Hal has a great story as he battled back from cancer, then eventually retired from the league. Hal was the ultimate inspirational story that had a great outcome. In his time with the Houston Texans, Hal totaled 69 games played (40 starts) with 12 career interceptions, one touchdown, 31 passes defensed, one sack, 189 total tackles (130 solo), six tackles for loss and two QB hits.
The reason Newton was selected as the all-time best Texans seventh-round pick was the fact how hard is it to find an offensive tackle who will start 68 of the 82 games played with the franchise? The answer is simple, it is very tough, and when they selected Newton 214th overall (2011 NFL Draft), the Texans made a very outstanding decision.
After one season of just 17 snaps to start his NFL career, Newton took off with season snap totals of 755, 830, 1,108 and 1,161 in his five total seasons with the Houston Texans offensive line.
Newton never allowed more than six sacks in any season played, and in 2014 the tackle made 16 starts with 1,108 snaps, as he was penalized only five times and allowed just two sacks for his career-best PFF season grade 78.7.
Maybe this year the Texans can add to this list, and one day we’ll all know if the Texans have selected someone who can surpass the players listed as the Houston Texans all-time draft-by-round list.