B+
Houston Texans
The Texans let Allen fall into their laps, and walked away with a B+.
by jaytex ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 8 steals
· 0 reaches
The trade table was a mismatch, and the Texans were on the right end of it, hauling in a fortune in surplus value.
That Allen pick is the receipt they will wave around later. A whole weekend of picks and quarterback is somehow still a want.
Bottom line, more hits than misses and a roster nudged the right way.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 28th pick they get a bell-cow for the offense at a price that makes it sweeter. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In pick 29 they get a cornerstone up front, outstanding value to boot.
A top-tier interior defensive lineman at a bargain, Kayden McDonald in slot 38, plain and simple. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A linebacker of that caliber at pick No. 59 is the definition of value, full stop. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
Gennings Dunker in No. 69 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A need, and now a little less of one.
They will replay Connor Lew at the 108th overall pick for years; that is how good the value is. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Taking Jaishawn Barham in pick 141 is close to grand larceny; an edge rusher that good had no business lasting this long. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
No drama and no debate, Eric Rivers went about where he belonged in Round 5, Pick 27. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
Jadon Canady at slot 243 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.