Who exactly will the Houston Texans take in the first round of the ’22 NFL Draft?
A national mock draft by CBS Sports has made the picks for the Houston Texans in their most recent mock draft, and the results are a bit interesting.
The mock draft for the Houston Texans was by Will Brinson of CBS Sports as he had the Texans selecting offense with the third pick and defense with the 13th overall choice in the first round of the 2022 NFL Draft.
The picks made by Brinson had the Texans pick Eval Neal of Alabama— the top-rated offensive tackle — with the third overall pick and Derek Stingley Jr. of LSU, a cornerback with the 13th overall selection in his CBS Sports mock draft:
Here is what Brinson said about the third overall pick, Neal:
"“Tunsil’s still only 27 so it might feel early for a right tackle, but this fortifies the offensive line and gives them some flexibility moving forward if they change their mind on Tunsil.”"
Here is what was written about selecting Stingley at No. 13:
"“The Texans have a whole host of needs. I think Stingley or Jordan Davis (absurd blue-chip upside if it works out) make sense here for a team rebuilding.”"
The mock draft has the Texans passing on defensive line with the 13th pick because the 14th pick in this mock draft has the Baltimore Raves taking defensive tackle Jordan Davis of Georgia which would be a great choice for the Texans as well.
Houston Texans Draft: Who should the Texans take in the first round?
When it comes to the third pick it has the Texans passing on players such as Ahmad Gardner (better known as Sauce Gardner) of Cincinnati as the cornerback seems to be the best of the best at that position entering the draft. He has Gardner going No. 4 to the New York Jets which is a win for that franchise, but don’t be surprised if he goes third overall as the Texans do have a need at cornerback too.
Making two first round picks isn’t an easy thing to do in mock draft, so the pressure the Houston Texans must have at this moment in “real life” has be be boiling over too. It the real life decisions of who will be joining the rebuild of the Texans is “franchise changing” to say the least.
The predictions of Neal and Stingley with the third and 13th picks isn’t awful, in fact, the Texans would have their strongest offensive line in years with Tunsil at left tackle, Howard at one of the guard spots, and Neal at right tackle. That offensive line would protect the quarterback, no doubt.
Stingley is a solid pick as well, and at one time was spoken about as a Top 5 choice, including some mock drafts joining the Texans at No. 3 overall, but if there is a certain wide receiver from Alabama at No. 13 on the board the Texans must take a long look at him, and we can’t forget about an EDGE pass rusher either.
Again, mock drafts and actual NFL drafts aren’t easy, and if these are the two players the Texans do select next month, they should be in solid hands with those two moving forward in the rebuild, but can the franchise do better in the ’22 NFL Draft?