C
Houston Texans
Flashes of a plan, unevenly run, for the Texans: C.
by Powerful ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 2 steals
· 4 reaches
You can fall in love with a player. You are not supposed to marry him in the wrong round. The Texans did exactly that with Julius Welschof in the Round 7 slot. It washes out to a C, no better and no worse.
It is not that Smith is a bad player; it is that the Texans had louder needs to answer first. Leaving interior defensive lineman unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall.
The Turner pick alone nudges the whole weekend up a notch.
Not a disaster, not a triumph, just a middling class.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 23 they get a premier pass rusher, outstanding value to boot. Exactly the need they had to hit.
In pick 24 they get juice off the edge, and a steal at that. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
The eyebrow-raiser of the weekend. They went DT-EDGE with Maason Smith while clear needs at interior defensive lineman, offensive lineman and other spots sat open.
Malachi Corley in No. 90 lands just on the right side of the ledger. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
Khyree Jackson in the 123rd overall pick is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. A minor need, but a need all the same.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Malik Mustapha well ahead of where he belonged. It adds depth where they could use a little.
A premium they did not need to pay, Ty'Ron Hopper a notch or two before his time. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They did well to land Blake Watson in the Round 7 slot, just ahead of his grade. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Julius Welschof at pick No. 247 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.