Houston Texans Draft: Final look at various mock drafts

The great thing about the Houston Texans draft is when it comes to mock drafts none are alike, and that is the case this year.

The best weekend of the year has arrived and that is the 2020 NFL Draft begins this evening with the three-day event kicking off with the first round starting on Thursday night. Though the Texans draft board currently doesn’t have a first round pick, that doesn’t mean day one of this draft isn’t important.

One has to keep close attention of this draft on Thursday night for the fact the Texans could trade back up into the first round, or even better, maybe a targeted player makes it out of round one, and the Texans can draft that player with the 40th overall pick on Friday night.

As for all of the time before Houston makes a selection, mock drafts involving the Texans draft projections have been very solid with a variety of outlets giving their opinion on who they believe the Texans will select.

We were no different here at the Toro Times, as in our most recent and final mock draft we had the Texans draft choice at 40th overall be defensive tackle Ross Blacklock of TCU.

Blacklock would be an excellent addition for the Texans in the second round, but if they really want to add him to the roster, they might have to move up a few spots in the round to select him.

There have been other selections made this past week in varying Texans drafts, including John McClain and Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. Their selections at 40th overall in the 2020 NFL Draft were Marlon Davidson (DT, Auburn) by McClain, and Neville Gallimore (DT, Oklahoma) by Wilson. Also predicting Davidson in their mock draft at 40th overall was Battle Red Blog.

It is no secret that the Texans draft really needs to include a defensive tackle to replace D.J. Reader, and the best bet of finding that player is in the second round, but it will be interesting to see if that is in fact the Texans choose to do.

Houston Texans Draft: More defense projected in mock drafts

Draft Wire of the USA Today Network has the Texans drafting defense, but selecting cornerback A.J. Terrell of Clemson with the 40th pick. If some of the better defensive tackles are off the board by this point, then the secondary is the place to be. Houston does need to add to their secondary, and Clemson defensive backs in the NFL are usually pretty solid.

Conor Dorney of FanSided.com also has the Texans draft going in the direction of the secondary in the second round with Utah’s Jaylon Johnson being taken by Houston. Again, the Texans could use help at cornerback, and if things turn out where a solid defensive tackle can wait until the third round, well, there are no issues in focusing on the secondary in Round 2.

Staying in the FanSided network, over at NFLSpinZone, Cody Williams has an excellent mock draft of all seven rounds, where in the second round for the Texans he has A.J. Epenesa, an edge rusher from Iowa being drafted.

Anytime the Texans draft a player for their defensive line it is tough not to like that selection. As much as the Texans need a defensive tackle, if Epenesa is still around at 40th overall, well that changes everything. The Texans would be very smart to select him here because Epenesa is one of the better edge players in this draft.

Houston Texans Draft: Don’t forget about the offense in Round 2

Another aspect of the second round for the Houston Texans draft is offensive players are also being mocked to the Texans, and in a CBS Sports mock draft by Josh Edwards on draft day he has the Texans selecting Denzel Mims, a wide receiver from Baylor with the 40th pick.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a very nice choice and player in the second round, but it is tough to believe a wide receiver like Mims will still be on the board at 40th overall. If Mims is, well that means most of the defensive players listed above have already been selected, so why not add to the offense and make Deshaun Watson happy.

Mims would be an exciting addition to the Texans at wide receiver as the franchise tries to somehow replace DeAndre Hopkins, so again, this isn’t a bad way of thinking either.

The main point of these mock drafts are knowing the Texans have a great opportunity in front of them to select a player — on offense or defense — who can contribute early on in his career. Hopefully all involved with the Texans draft this year can make the right decisions this weekend, and make the Texans a better overall team.