D-
Houston Texans
The Texans won the night they stopped Muhammad III from sliding. Grade: D-.
by Drane04 ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 13 picks
· 3 steals
· 5 reaches
Nobody else had Tahj Brooks anywhere near No. 154. The Texans did, by 41 spots, and that gap is the whole story. The process wobbled, and the D- is where it lands.
They handed away value on the phones that the picks cannot earn back. Landing Muhammad III that late papers over a lot of smaller sins. The Texans indulged a want in Smith while a need in edge rusher stayed open.
A whole weekend of picks and edge rusher is somehow still a want.
Add it up and it is a weekend the front office will hope everyone forgets, edge rusher very much included.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 31 they get a disruptive interior force. The biggest hole, addressed.
Nice patience on Emeka Egbuka, who had no business lasting to pick 33. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
Cooper Beebe at the 37th pick is the pick scouts circle, and not in a good way. A need, and now a little less of one.
Javon Foster in the Round 2 slot is exactly on the number, no argument either way. It plugs a real leak on the depth chart.
A curious use of Round 3, Pick 13. Edge rusher needed the pick; a DT-EDGE in Maason Smith did not.
They took D.J. James at par in slot 79, which is nothing to complain about. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
A big swing on Junior Colson at the 97th pick, well ahead of any board in the building. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.
James Williams at the 126th overall pick is right where the board had him, plain and simple. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Cade Stover in No. 127 is early enough to raise a brow, if not a full objection. It fills a real need, too.
A real head-scratcher, Tahj Brooks in the Round 5 slot is miles ahead of his ranking. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
Connor Colby is a better player than pick 166 suggests; smart patience, rewarded. Another box on the needs board, quietly ticked.
Sam Hartman in pick No. 234 is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
They robbed the room for Moose Muhammad III here, a fall nobody at the table saw coming. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.