A
Houston Texans
The Texans fleeced the room on the phones and earned a A.
by GMaster ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 9 steals
· 3 reaches
The Texans went off the board in a big way for Junior Tafuna, 102 picks early. Conviction is one thing; this is another. They executed a plan and it shows in the A.
If one pick saves this weekend, it is Fortune. They won the margins on every swap, and it adds up fast.
Leaving edge rusher unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall.
Bottom line, they did the job about as well as it can be done.
Pick-by-Pick
Taking Malaki Starks in pick 49 is close to grand larceny; a safety that good had no business lasting this long. Depth more than a fix, but depth they can use.
They will replay Josh Conerly Jr. at slot 58 for years; that is how good the value is. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
The board fumbled Isaiah Bond all the way to the 72nd overall pick, and they scooped it up. Better still, it is exactly the hole they had to fill.
Mason Taylor at the 89th pick is a sensible buy, a touch better than market for the tight end. The roster fit checks out.
You do not let an interior defensive lineman like Omarr Norman-Lott reach the Round 3 slot and blink. They did not. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Value with a capital V on Cam Skattebo in pick No. 119, a genuine coup. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Tez Johnson in Round 5, Pick 10 is the kind of fall that makes a whole class. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Smael Mondon Jr. at the Round 5 slot is daylight robbery; nobody expected him to last. It fills a real need, too.
Luke Kandra in pick 153 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
They barely believed it either: O'Donnell Fortune still on the board at the 203rd pick. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
A big swing on Jaylin Smith at pick No. 235, well ahead of any board in the building. They added to a strength when a need was still open elsewhere.
They talked themselves into De'Corian Clark at No. 242, and the board did not agree. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Junior Tafuna well ahead of where he belonged. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.