The Houston Texans aren’t picking No. 1 overall in the 2023 NFL draft. Instead they can be reminded of their 10th win over the Indianapolis Colts in series history as the Chicago Bears are picking No. 1 overall.
Common sense says the Texans aren’t going to miss out on their first-round goals as the Bears already have a franchise quarterback in Justin Fields. Their roster needs will warrant a selection along the defensive line, which means Houston can still take their prime target at No. 2.
Doug Farrar from the Touchdown Wire poses an interesting scenario: what do the Texans do if another team trades with Chicago to move up to No. 1 overall and take their quarterback?
The Texans will most likely take whichever of the top two quarterbacks they prefer between Alabama’s Bryce Young and Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud… unless another team moves up to the Bears’ spot. Do the Texans then take the other top quarterback, or do they declare their openness for a trade as well?
The Texans aren’t strangers to trading, and general manager Nick Caserio referenced that fact in his Monday night presser.
“It could be 10 [picks],” said Caserio. “It could be 12. It could be 11, what it is now. It could be 14. Who knows? It’s going to be an accumulation of a number of things over the course of a, call it 12-month period.”
In the 2022 draft, Houston moved down from No. 13 overall in Round 1 to No. 15 thanks to a trade with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Texans selected Texas A&M guard Kenyon Green.
The last time the No. 1 overall pick was traded was in 2016 when the Los Angeles Rams traded their 2016 first-round, two 2016 second-round, a 2016 third-rounder, and their 2017 first- and third-round picks for the Tennessee Titans’ first-, fourth-, and sixth-round picks in 2016. The Rams used that selection to take quarterback Jared Goff No. 1 overall.
