B
Houston Texans
The Texans did the meat-and-potatoes work well: B.
by Davidssson ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 5 steals
· 3 reaches
Every so often the board makes a mistake, and the Texans were there to profit. Justin Joly, the No. 122 name on the board, should have been long gone before the 167th pick. Call it a sensible B, earned the boring way.
Reaching for McGowan left real value on the table behind him. Leaving edge rusher unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall.
On the needs board they went 5 of 8, with running back the one that mattered most.
Bottom line, more hits than misses and a roster nudged the right way.
Pick-by-Pick
In pick 28 they get an anchor for the defensive front at a price that makes it sweeter. Exactly the need they had to hit.
Jadarian Price at Round 2, Pick 6 is an overdraft of the loud, memorable kind. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Emmanuel Pregnon at the 59th overall pick is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
They will replay Caleb Banks at Round 3, Pick 5 for years; that is how good the value is. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Jude Bowry in pick No. 106 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
The board screamed and they did not listen, reaching into the next round for Seth McGowan. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
The board fumbled Justin Joly all the way to the Round 5 slot, and they scooped it up. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
They let Kaden Wetjen come to them and pounced at slot 243. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.