Would it be a surprise if the Houston Texans take an EDGE player at No. 3 overall?
This entire Houston Texans offseason the consensus seems to be the franchise is going to select an EDGE rusher with the No. 3 overall selection of the 2022 NFL Draft. As the draft is nearly a month away that isn’t 100-percent fact because cornerback is a need as well. Even more than that some new players have got into the mix as to who could be selected by the Texans.
One of those players is Travon Walker, a defensive end from Georgia who is ranked sixth overall in Daniel Jeremiah’s — of NFL.com — top 50 players in this year’s draft. Walker is the second-highest ranked EDGE player by Jeremiah with only Michigan’s Aidan Hutchinson ahead of the Georgia player.
Jeremiah’s list also has EDGE players such as Oregon’s Kayvon Thibodeaux at 10th overall and Purdue’s George Karlaftis ranked 18th on the list of top 50 players.
Remember the Houston Texans have not only the third overall pick in the ’22 NFL Draft, but they also have the No. 13 pick as well, which they received from the Cleveland Browns in the Deshaun Watson trade, which that is where an EDGE player could be drafted.
As for Walker and the possibility of him being picked third overall, here is some of what Jeremiah wrote about him on NFL.com in the top 50 list of players going into the draft:
"“As a pass rusher, he isn’t ultra-explosive, but he’s smooth and powerful. He loves to widen the offensive tackle with his upfield rush before using his inside arm to jolt and walk him back to the QB. He also flashes a quick swipe move to create pressures.”"
Jeremiah went on to talk about how Walker did leave some sacks on the field, but he also said Walker “has his best football ahead of him.”
Houston Texans Draft: What did Trevon Walker accomplish in college?
In three seasons with the Georgia Bulldogs — including a national championship season in ’21 — Walker played in 29 games from 2019-21 and in that time he had the following career totals: 9.5 sacks, 13 tackles for loss, 32 solo tackles, 61 total tackles, one interception, three passes defensed, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble.
Of his 9.5 career sacks, six of those sacks were from this past season, plus Walker in his junior year (2021) totaled 7.5 TFL.
This would be an interesting choice as Walker is a talented player, but him joining the Texans depends on what kind of player general manager Nick Caserio and even head coach Lovie Smith want on the defense.
Walker might not be “ultra-explosive” when it comes to his pass rush, but he does create pressure up front, and that’s important to any defense, especially a Houston Texans defense that wasn’t very good at that a season ago.
Here is a question … What if the Texans draft Walker at No. 3 overall, then go EDGE again at No. 13 overall as one of the bigger names will most likely still be on the board at that point? Could you imagine that scenario with the Texans taking Walker and possibly Thibodeaux if he were to drop to 13th overall?
It is something to thing about as Smith is a defensive-minded coach first, and the defensive pressure wasn’t very good in ’21. Again, this is just a thought as anything can happen when it comes to the NFL Draft.
The Houston Texans can do a lot with their first two choices of the ’22 NFL Draft with those picks being first round selections, plus they also have an early second round pick coming in at 37th overall. That’s three picks in the first 40 selections, so if Walker is in fact the second best EDGE rusher in this draft, and he’s not selected first or second overall, the decision by the Texans is even more stressful than before.
Caserio must make the right choices for the Houston Texans franchise as decisions like this is why he was hired in the first place, so selecting the perfect EDGE rusher or player who can change the defense is of off-the-charts important.
Walker is an excellent player, and if he’s still left when the Texans take the third overall pick, with the calendar about to flip over to April, this potential choice isn’t such a surprise anymore.