Houston Texans say goodbye to Ross Blacklock in trade with Vikings

The top Houston Texans pick from 2020 has been traded to the Minnesota Vikings

In another move distancing themselves from the Bill O’Brian era, the Houston Texans traded 2020 second round pick Ross Blacklock, plus a ’23 seventh round pick, to the Minnesota Vikings for a 2023 sixth round pick on Wednesday, in a move to help finalize their 53-man roster.

Blacklock seemed like a good pick at the time, with the Texans taking him 40th overall in the ’20 NFL Draft, but he never made much of an impact for the defense.

Blacklock’s draft spot was apart of the infamous DeAndre Hopkins trade that sent Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals, while David Johnson, the 40th overall pick and another fourth round pick (which the Texans traded) joined Houston.

Blacklock was apart of the five-player draft class for Houston in ’20, which also included: Jonathan Greenard (Round 3, Pick 90), Charlie Heck (Round 4, Pick 126), John Reid (Round 4, Pick 141), and Isaiah Coulter (Round 5, Pick 171).

In two seasons with Houston, Blacklock totaled 24 solo tackles, 12 assisted tackles, three tackles for loss, eight QB hits, two passes defensed, one forced fumble, two sacks and he made a total of three starts.

It wasn’t a memorable two years for Blacklock, and to be honest he was sort of doomed from the start by being apart of the Hopkins trade, because that trade turned out to be the very worst trade in franchise history.

Again, the hopes and expectations were high for Blacklock as he could have been the player to replace DJ Reader, but obviously that didn’t happen. It is a shame because the pick at the time seemed to be one where a big need was filled on the roster.

Who will start at defensive tackle for Texans?

It seems like the current unofficial depth chart for Houston’s defensive tackles include Maliek Collins, Michael Dwumfour, Roy Lopez, Thomas Booker IV, and Kurt Hinish.

This is a nice collection of defensive tackles for the Texans, and with Collins and Lopez probably penciled in as the starters in Lovie Smith’s 4-3 Tampa 2 defense, Blacklock was expendable and the Vikings needed a player to fill a void in their roster.

This trade could be the start of something better for Blacklock because a new location can’t hurt him with all that he’s been through with the Texans since joining the franchise in ’20.

Hopefully this deal eventually turns into a win-win for both Houston and Minnesota, and the Texans benefit from the future sixth round pick.