B-
Houston Texans
The Texans let Nwankpa fall into their laps, and walked away with a B-.
by Powerful ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 6 picks
· 3 steals
· 1 reaches
Thirty-one other rooms let Xavier Nwankpa slide, and the Texans were the ones holding the card at the 239th overall pick. Highway robbery. Good, not great, and the B- says as much.
The running back hole is the one line item this class does not answer. The Ratledge pick is the one the value grade keeps tripping over.
They went 3 of 8 on their needs, which is most of what a draft is for. The trenches got the money picks, top to bottom.
In short, they left a little better than they arrived, which is the whole idea.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 19th overall pick they get a long-term starter on the line, reach and all. A real need, handled.
Jalon Walker at pick 55 is the steal of the weekend, a first-round talent at a bargain-bin price. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
No edge and no loss on Donovan Jackson in pick No. 86; it is a wash and a sensible one. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Steal is underselling it; Kevin Winston Jr. at the Round 4 slot is a heist with the alarm still ringing. Not urgent, but hardly pointless.
They paid sticker price for Eli Stowers in the 164th pick, and that is fine. A need, and now a little less of one.
Xavier Nwankpa at No. 239 is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. A want dressed up as a pick, at a spot they had covered.