D
Houston Texans
The Texans let Mondon Jr. fall and pounced. Final grade: D.
by Powerful ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 7 steals
· 1 reaches
The Texans clearly saw something nobody else did in Donovan Jackson, taking him 33 picks ahead of his grade. The board is not convinced.
The Mondon Jr. pick alone nudges the whole weekend up a notch. They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back. That wide receiver hole did not close this weekend, and it was the biggest one on the wall.
On the needs board they went 5 of 8, with running back the one that mattered most.
Bottom line, they will need several of these picks to beat their grades just to break even.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick No. 19 they get a lead back with juice at a price that makes it sweeter. Exactly the need they had to hit.
Taking Kenneth Grant in Round 2, Pick 13 is close to grand larceny; an interior defensive lineman that good had no business lasting this long. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
They left a pile of value on the table to take Donovan Jackson this early at pick 53. A need, and now a little less of one.
Colston Loveland at the Round 3 slot is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Xavier Watts in slot 84 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
Steal is underselling it; Jake Majors at Round 4, Pick 19 is a heist with the alarm still ringing. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Circle this one: Smael Mondon Jr. at pick No. 164 is a fall that decides a draft. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Somehow Cam Skattebo was still sitting there in No. 235, and they pounced on premier running back value. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.