The Houston Texans’ 2020 draft class was the first of the general manager Bill O’Brien era, and it showed.
O’Brien signaled ahead of the draft that he anticipated 2020 would be a “veteran type of year” due to the impact of the COVID-19 lockdowns. Houston also had their draft capital impacted thanks to the trade for Laremy Tunsil at the end of the 2019 preseason. As a result, Houston had a five-man draft class.
According to Pete Prisco from CBS Sports, the Texans originally earned a C grade for their class of DE Ross Blacklock, OLB Jonathan Greenard, OT Charlie Heck, CB John Reid, and WR Isaiah Coulter.
The Skinny: The Texans traded their first-round pick this year as part of the deal to get left tackle Laremy Tunsil from the Dolphins. Tunsil has been their best offensive lineman. They had five picks the rest of the draft, but just one is a starter. That is third-round pass rusher Jonathan Greenard, who was limited to eight games last season because of injury. He had eight sacks in 2021. They missed badly on second-round defensive tackle Ross Blacklock, who was traded to the Vikings last August. The only other player still on the roster from this draft is backup tackle Charlie Heck, who has started 17 games over his three seasons.
How I did: I liked the pick of Blacklock, who I thought could develop into a quality insider rusher. He didn’t. I questioned making the trade for Tunsil — they gave up a ton — and then paying him. I said to keep an eye on Greenard, which was right.
Prisco gave the 2020 class a new grade of C-minus, which is a lot better than what it could have been.
The Texans fired O’Brien after an 0-4 start and named executive vice president of football operations Jack Easterby interim general manager. At the end of the season, the Texans hired Nick Caserio as general manager and thus began an entirely new era.
