B
Houston Texans
The Texans let Mondon Jr. fall and pounced. Final grade: B.
by Powerful ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 6 picks
· 4 steals
· 2 reaches
Somebody in Round 7, Pick 23 was going to get robbed, and it turned out to be the rest of the league. The Texans sat still while Smael Mondon Jr., the No. 106 name on the board, slid all the way to them, then sprinted to the podium.
The Stowers reach is the anchor dragging on the value grade. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped running back, which is a strange place to end up.
Interior defensive lineman was the priority and it is no longer a question, which is most of the job. Building through the lines is a philosophy, and they stuck to it.
All told, a solid class that does its job everywhere but running back.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 19 they get a disruptive interior force at a price that makes it sweeter. The biggest hole, addressed.
They barely believed it either: Tyler Booker still on the board at Round 2, Pick 23. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
The board had Deone Walker higher than the Round 3 slot, and the interior defensive lineman fell to them anyway. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
Eli Stowers at the 122nd overall pick is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Xavier Nwankpa at No. 164 is the kind of overdraft that needs everything to break right. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
Smael Mondon Jr. at the 239th pick is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.