So long as the Houston Texans possess twin first-round picks through the 2024 NFL draft, and the team is still missing the playoffs, it will always be draft season.
According to Mark Schofield from the Touchdown Wire, who released a patented “way too early” 2023 mock draft, the Texans use their two Round 1 picks to address their passing game.
Giving up on the Davis Mills era, Houston goes with Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud with the No. 1 overall pick.
If the Texans’ own pick in the first round — they have two thanks to the trade with the Cleveland Browns — has them atop the board, then quarterback is likely on the to-do list. This will certainly be a fascinating draft class to study, but from where I sit, C.J. Stroud from Ohio State enters the 2022 campaign in the driver’s seat.
For Houston to take Stroud, he would have to prove himself as the absolute best signal caller in the 2023 class. Furthermore the Texans would have to be the worst team in the NFL throughout the 2022 season. Of course, Schofield’s mock doesn’t provide for the Texans trading future picks to move up to No. 1 overall, but that could also be a possibility.
The Browns somehow finish well enough in 2022 to have their pick achieve No. 20 overall, which the Texans use to select Oklahoma receiver Marvin Mims.
As a true freshman in 2020, Marvin Mims caught 37 passes for 610 yards and nine touchdowns. Last season, Mims caught 32 passes for 705 yards and five scores. Despite the departure of Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams to USC, Mims remained with the Sooners and will catch passes from Dillon Gabriel in the fall. With a huge campaign next season, Mims will put himself into the first-round mix.
If the Texans are using a first-round pick on a receiver, it means either Brandin Cooks is gone or the club has given up on Nico Collins. Otherwise the Texans have a pretty stable trio in Cooks, Collins, and 2022 second-rounder John Metchie.
Alabama edge defender Will Anderson, who could end up being the best player in the draft, goes No. 2 overall to the Atlanta Falcons. If the Texans can solve quarterback and get in the Anderson sweepstakes, it will provide an effective upgrade along the edge once Jonathan Greenard’s contract expires at the end of the 2023 campaign.
