B
Houston Texans
The Texans robbed the room for Wheatley. Final grade: B.
by Hitman ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 9 picks
· 6 steals
· 0 reaches
The board owed the Texans one, and it paid up: Zakee Wheatley, the No. 90 name on the board, sitting there at No. 122 like a gift left on the doorstep. They moved the roster forward and banked a B for it.
They will regret leaving edge rusher for another day if the season turns on it. Job largely done: running back settled and 6 of 8 of the wish list covered.
Their trades came out a wash either way.
All told, a solid class that does its job everywhere but edge rusher.
Pick-by-Pick
Somehow Olaivavega Ioane was still sitting there in pick No. 38, and they pounced on premier offensive lineman value. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Blake Miller in Round 2, Pick 16 is fair value, right on his grade. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
Lee Hunter slid further than he should have, and pick 59 is lovely value for the interior defensive lineman. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
They stopped a slide they were happy to see, landing Eli Stowers in the Round 3 slot. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Good price on Mike Washington Jr. in slot 79, a hair ahead of his grade with no real quibbles. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A slide stopped in the 106th overall pick, with Logan Jones worth more than the price. It shores up a spot that genuinely needed the help.
Zakee Wheatley in No. 122 should not have been possible, and that is the whole point. A minor itch, scratched.
A reasonable price with a little left over, Harold Perkins Jr. in the 141st pick. It fills a real need, too.
You do not let a wide receiver like Malik Benson reach the 167th pick and blink. They did not. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.