The Texans 2023 draft was the best in franchise history

Houston Texans fans, it is officially the draft season! Only there is one small problem. The squad doesn't have a first-round pick, making it something of an uneventful Thursday night for Houston, barring a trade back into Thursday's night one of the draft.

Although the Texans traded its first-round pick to the Minnesota Vikings in March, there is still a way for fans to enjoy the first night of the draft. How is that possible without a first-round pick, you ask? The answer is reliving some of the best picks of night one throughout team history.

It has been a remarkable draft history for such a short lifespan up to this point. Who can forget some of these talents? There is a range of franchise greats to all-time greats that the Texans drafted with the first-round pick over the years.

Some franchise greats include Duane Brown, Brian Cushing, Kareem Jackson, Whitney Mercilus, and Deshaun Watson, in addition to some modern budding stars such as Derek Stingley and Kenyon Green.

This is all without mentioning some of the all-time great first-rounders selected by Houston, like: Mario Williams, J.J. Watt, DeAndre Hopkins, in addition to the hall-of-fame wide receiver Andre Johnson.

That is quite a bit of talent, but there are a couple of very notable omissions to the list. Those players are last year's duo of first-rounders: C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson, who were not mentioned for good reason.

They are major parts of what is the best Texans draft class ever. Obviously, sweeping the rookie awards from the pair of first-rounders is a spectacular notch in the belt of both men and the franchise, but it goes way beyond those two players.

Second-rounder Juice Scruggs could be a long-term solution at center in Houston. In addition, third-round wideout Tank Dell looks to be a long-term contributor to an electrifying offense. A testament to the greatness of both these players is looking at how much talent Houston has brought in over the last couple of offseasons and still being projected starters.

You could stop at those four picks and conclude this is the best draft. However, if one digs deeper, there is a diamond in the rough on the third day of the 2023 draft by the name of Henry To'oTo'o. The fifth-rounder only started six games as a rookie but totaled 61 tackles.

To'oTo'o finishing just outside of the fifth most tackles on the team as a rookie last year is crazy, but to do so in such few starts is ridiculous, and he could be a key piece of this defense for years to come.

Overall, there have been many drafts that the Texans can look back upon fondly in its short life so far. However, only one can be crowned the best, and that is the 2023 class.