B
Houston Texans
Larceny in the Round 5 slot lands the Texans a B, Singleton and all.
by andrewschoppe ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 7 picks
· 3 steals
· 3 reaches
The value of the weekend has a name and a slot: Nicholas Singleton, pick No. 164, roughly 64 picks past where he belonged. More right than wrong, and a B to match.
The cost of the Smith reach is exactly the players who went right after him. They covered a lot of ground and still skipped edge rusher, which is a strange place to end up.
In sum, a sturdy weekend with one asterisk, the edge rusher spot they never got to.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 19th overall pick they get a go-to option on the outside at a price that makes it sweeter. The biggest hole, addressed.
Dylan Fairchild at Round 2, Pick 23 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Ajani Cornelius at pick No. 94 is a conviction pick that outran the value. A need, and now a little less of one.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Howard Cross III. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
You do not let a linebacker like Deontae Lawson reach slot 133 and blink. They did not. The roster fit checks out.
The board fumbled Nicholas Singleton all the way to pick 164, and they scooped it up. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
A wild overpay on Tim Smith in the Round 7 slot, the sort that defines a class for the wrong reasons. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.