ESPN has the Houston Texans taking a cornerback in the first round

The Houston Texans need a lot of help heading into the 2024 season. One of those positions, at least in the eyes of national pundits, is cornerback. Personally, we don't think it's the most dire position, but Field Yates of ESPN (via KXAN.com) sure thinks so. Despite needing help at every major skill position imaginable, Yates has the Texans taking Ennis Rakestraw out of Missouri. Rakestraw can play both cornerback and safety, so if you believe the secondary is a priority, the move makes sense.

The Texans likely will play him at corner if they were to take him and would pair him up with Derek Stingley Jr. The Texans had a four-deep crew, but Steven Nelson, Desmond King, and Tavierre Thomasd are all free agents, leaving Stingley the loan holdover of all the core players from last season's squad.

Still, is a cornerback that pressing that they need to ignore other positions to address it in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft? I don't think so. Not when the core of winning in the modern NFL is the success of the quarterback. C.J. Stroud is the focus of the team and he needs help, especially on the offensive line. The Texans can and will likely re-sign some of their current free agents, and it's not out of the realm of possibility that they sign all the guys they need to or trade for someone.

By the time the draft arrives the Texans may not need any cornerbacks, but regardless of that, the Texans are going to need an offensive linemen or a few (dozen). The team lacked any real consistency outside of Laremy Tunsil, and it's time to improve things. The Texans already saw one franchise quarterback destroyed by not having a good offensive line (David Carr), there's no reason to see a second go that route.

The Texans should focus on an offensive tackle in the first round and address the defensive back position in later spots in the draft, especially while re-signing a few of the corners whose contracts are up.