Sticking with the board is a great strategy for a franchise to follow throughout a draft.
In an effort to stay faithful to the board, the Snapchat DM equivalent would be a roster with a glaring need at quarterback.
Enter the Houston Texans. Since January 2021, the Texans have been in desperate need to establish a franchise quarterback with Nick Caserio as general manager. In 2021, they weren’t picking until Round 3. In 2022, there was a paucity of talented passers. In 2023, they covet Alabama’s Bryce Young, but so do the Carolina Panthers, who leadoff the 2023 NFL draft.
The next-best quarterback is Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud, but he is not immediately below Young on most big boards.
If the Texans are faithful to the board, they can’t take Stroud at No. 2 overall; they have to consider Alabama defensive end Will Anderson.
NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah appreciates the conundrum the Texans are in.
“Yeah, I mean, Will Anderson is my second player,” Jeremiah said on a conference call Thursday. “Bryce Young is my first player. We assume Bryce Young goes No. 1. Maybe taking best player available. From that standpoint, I couldn’t argue.”
However, Jeremiah is a realist and understands the Texans’ current crop of quarterbacks — Davis Mills, Case Keenum, and E.J. Perry — won’t lead the team out of its rebuilding phase. With no guarantees the Texans are picking in the top-5 of a talented quarterback field in next year’s draft, Jeremiah thinks Houston must act.
“I love Will Anderson as a player, but there’s no guarantees you are going to be picking up here again, and you have an opportunity to take a quarterback,” said Jeremiah. “I really like C.J. Stroud. He is my seventh overall player. To me, if it’s me in that situation, I would take C.J. Stroud. I think he is better than anybody you have on your roster right now. It’s an upgrade. You can look to next year all you want. There are absolutely no guarantees you’re going to get one of those guys next year.”
Houston also has the No. 12 overall selection in Round 1, yet it may be too far back to take Stroud.
