Houston Texans 7-Round mock draft: Defensive focus with offensive surprises

The Houston Texans need to fix the defense, but not forget about the offense in this latest mock draft.

When it comes right down to it, there are many directions the Houston Texans can travel when it comes time to make their picks for the 2022 NFL Draft, and with the draft being in Las Vegas, it won’t be a surprise if this franchise takes a gamble or two with some of their choices as they currently have nine picks in their arsenal.

General manager Nick Caserio did pretty well last season with the choices he made in his first year with the Texans, and now in the second year of his rebuild of the roster, the first choice the team makes — which is currently the No. 3 overall pick — has a lot of pressure and excitement surrounding it.

Caserio has also taken part in many drafts of the storied run of the New England Patriots, which is why he’s leading the Texans’ decision makers in the front office as the GM, but with this being his second draft with the Texans, Caserio and Jack Easterby really need to make sure they make the right decisions for this franchise.

With this latest Toro Times mock draft concerning the Houston Texans, the focus is on rebuilding the defense, but the offense wasn’t completely ignored, either.

Though the Texans have a defensive-minded head coach being Lovie Smith, everyone knows teams need to score points to win, and that is also something the Texans had issues with last season.

Next is the newest Toro Times mock draft as some of the times recorded in various drills were used when deciding on a player to be selected in this mock draft.

This pick is tricky not because of the talent level of Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux, but because he could already be off the board when the Houston Texans make their pick at No. 3 overall.

With the Jaguars and Lions picking ahead of them, and with those two teams having issues on defense like the Texans, Thibodeaux could be the player they covet the most.

With the NFL Combine taking place, Thibodeaux had a 4.58 40-yard dash time and did 27 reps at 225 pounds on the bench press. He stands at 6’4″ tall and weighed in at 254 pounds.

NFL.com graded Thibodeaux as a year one starter with a number of 6.72 out of 8, and his Next Gen Stats number was 92 (out of 100), which is “elite.”

Thibodeaux has gone on record saying he likes the Texans’ defense and said glowing things about head coach Lovie Smith, who will be in charge of everything on the defense.

If Thibodeaux falls to No. 3 overall, it would be tough for the Texans to pass on the EDGE rusher, right?