The Houston Texans came into the 2024 NFL Draft lacking a first-round pick. Essentially trading it away in a series of moves for what would become Stefon Diggs. Diggs as the team's defacto first-round pick is not a bad thing at all. Especially with the Houston Texans clearly favoring a pass-first offense over a more well-balanced one.
While receiver wasn't a need, the Texans couldn't pass on that. So while it's not ideal, it did give the team a major player. Still, that didn't mean that the team didn't still have holes to fill, and they needed to utilize the rest of the draft nearly perfectly. The team needed to address the secondary, primarily the safety position, inside linebacker, defensive tackle, offensive line depth, and running back. We'd like to see a running back get taken but as this is prior to the draft starting, we'll have to see if they end up taking one.
It may be hard to get starters at all of the positions above, but even if they add depth to those positions, that'll be enough to warrant a thumbs-up from us. For those new to this though, we have expectations for the type of player the Texans get per round.
A first-rounder is an immediate starter, no ands or ifs about it. The second round should get you a starter assuming he's at a posfirst-rounderition of need. Third-rounders are guys you should expect to see a lot of action, even if they don't start. Fourth-rounders are similar but you expect more special teams out of them.
Fifth-rounders are almost specifically special teams, and guys with that x-factor that you hope can turn into something good. Sixth-rounders are your prospects, guys with one tantalizing skill usually who you hope to be able to mold into a football player. Seventh-rounders are guys you just hope make the team.
So keeping in mind those expectations will help us paint a better picture of why we have the grades we do for each player.