Grading the entirety of the Houston Texans 2024 NFL Draft
By Chad Porto
The 14th pick of round 3 (78th overall) - S Calen Bullock, USC
The Texans opted to take former USC safety Calen Bullock next and while he's far from a super prospect, he has shown enough to maybe be an upgrade for this defense. He had pretty solid measurables, with a solid 4.48 40-yard dash and a pretty impressive 1.51 10-yard dash, making him a really fast player off the snap but not someone you're going to want to match up on a speedster on one.
He's a good zone coverage safety, putting up a PFF grade of 82.2 for his coverage abilities. However, he does come with a significant downside, he's not a good run run-stopper. While safeties aren't required to be great against the run, you still want someone who can lay a lick on a running back when they're coming up out of the backfield. He tends to miss a lot of tackles as well, making him a work in progress.
However, in round three and on, you're lucky to find a fringe starter, which is what Bullock is. He's a fringe starter and according to DraftBuzz.com was actually ranked higher than Cole Bishop, who went a few spots ahead of him.
Grade: B+