B
Houston Texans
The Texans fleeced the room on the phones and earned a B.
by jaytex ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 4 steals
· 1 reaches
Nobody else had Austin Barber anywhere near No. 59. The Texans did, by 50 spots, and that gap is the whole story.
They robbed the room blind at the table, and it lifts the grade on its own. If one pick saves this weekend, it is Dixon.
A whole weekend of picks and edge rusher is somehow still a want.
A workmanlike haul that should hold up just fine.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 28th pick they get a sideline-to-sideline linebacker. A real need, handled.
Olaivavega Ioane in pick 29 is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. It fills a real need, too.
Kenyon Sadiq at Round 2, Pick 6 is a first-round grade at a bargain-bin price, no notes. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
Austin Barber at the 59th overall pick is a steep price for a hunch, hard to square with any board. A sensible fit for a spot that needed help.
Mike Washington Jr. at slot 69 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Logan Jones at the Round 4 slot is money in the bank, a offensive lineman taken below his worth. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Bud Clark is a better player than pick No. 115 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
Eric Rivers at the Round 5 slot is neither steal nor reach, just the going rate. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
Circle this one: Thaddeus Dixon at slot 243 is a fall that decides a draft. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.