B-
Houston Texans
Nothing loud, just a tidy B- for the Texans.
by Kenny proctor ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 5 steals
· 2 reaches
Some picks age like wine; Emmett Johnson at the 59th overall pick will need to, sitting 49 spots clear of his grade. Nothing here to lose sleep over; call it a B-.
For all the activity, edge rusher went untouched, which is hard to explain. The Fitzgerald value carries more weight than any single miss elsewhere. On the needs board they went 4 of 8, with running back the one that mattered most.
All told, a solid class that does its job everywhere but edge rusher.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 28 they get a blindside protector, though the board says they badly overpaid. A real need, handled.
A straight-up fair deal on Emmanuel Pregnon at pick No. 38, value and slot in agreement. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
A real head-scratcher, Emmett Johnson in the 59th pick is miles ahead of his ranking. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Christen Miller in No. 69. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Good things come to war rooms that wait, and Bryce Lance at the 106th overall pick is the proof. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
Value with a capital V on Bishop Fitzgerald in the Round 5 slot, a genuine coup. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
They read the board right and Tim Keenan III was the payoff at the 167th pick. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
TJ Hall at Round 7, Pick 27 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.