The Houston Texans come into this NFL draft in the beginning stages of a massive rebuild. The Texans have maybe one to three blue-chip talent-level players on the roster currently and need to hit on their first five selections, all following within the first 75 picks of the draft.
Many analysts and draft pundits have clamored for the Texans to draft a quarterback in the first round, specifically with the number two overall selection. However, there are many rumors circulating that the Texans don't want to draft a quarterback if it's not Bryce Young. Many people have asked the question, "Can the Houston Texans really afford to avoid drafting a quarterback in this year's draft?"
In short, yes. In fact, If they really only like Bryce Young, it's smarter for this franchise to pass on the quarterback selection in the first two days of the draft. I know this will upset some fans, but drafting a quarterback for the sake of drafting a quarterback has shown itself to be the worst draft strategy possible.
I hear over and over that drafting a quarterback is like a lottery and you just want more lottery tickets. I disagree, how many of those lottery tickets that are question marks pan out? For a quarterback to succeed in the NFL, they need talent, intelligence, the right coach fit, and sometimes even just the right timing.
Take a look at the 2017 NFL draft, one that I believe gives us good insight into this year's class, as it was the last and only draft to have four quarterbacks selected in the top ten. How did it work out for the Jets, Browns, and Cardinals? Well, their quarterbacks were no longer starting within two seasons.
Sure, Josh Allen worked out, but it took two years for him to blossom, and he mainly blossomed due to the patience of a good franchise that put great talent around him to help him with those early growing pains. But Allen walked into a better situation than every other QB from that first round.
What would those other franchises look like if they would have drafted players such as All-Pros Quinton Nelson, Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Roquan Smith? Just to put it into perspective.
The Texans have more "are not" than "are"
The Texans are not a quarterback away from being a contender. In fact, the Texans were never just a quarterback away from being a contender, even when they traded up in 2017 to draft Deshaun Watson. Watson is the only franchise quarterback the Texans have had on the field, and yet they weren't a quarterback away.
Despite having all-time Houston Texans DeAndre Hopkins, JJ Watt, and Duane Brown, to name a few, the Texans couldn't support their franchise QB. In the end, Watson's last full season as a Houston Texan ended with the same number of wins as last year's putrid squad.
Drafting a quarterback doesn't pan out 80% of the time. If you're the Houston Texans and you want to build a good roster, draft the best players available first. Then start your search for a quarterback. The Chiefs and Eagles showed us in this year's Super Bowl what building a roster should look like.
You need a quarterback to win, yes, but if the Houston Texans go with the rumors and draft the number one player on everyone's board in Alabama edge defender Will Anderson Jr we should all be excited.
We should be excited first because the Texans are seeking to build up a roster that is lacking elite talent. But we should be most excited because in drafting Will Anderson, this new Texans regime is showing us that they want to do things differently. I don't know about you, but I'm all for different when the history has been fluke contenders who peak a year early and falter due to horrendous roster management.