The Houston Texans are flush with draft picks after their multitude of trades over the last couple of years. This includes the trade that sent Deshaun Watson to Cleveland last week. It is a good thing that they have a slew of draft picks because they are light on talent.
The Texans currently have 11 draft picks this year. This includes five in the first 80 selections.
I used the Mock Draft simulator from NFL Mock Draft Database. For this simulation, I used the consensus big board accumulated by NFL MDD, with the realistic draft mode setting.
Let’s see how it plays out.
HOUSTON TEXANS: 7-ROUND MOCK DRAFT
1-3: Ikem Ekwonu, OT, NC State
Laremy Tunsil is back to man the left side. Now we can add a bully run blocker to the right side. Ekwonu is such a fun player to watch on tape. You can almost see him take the soul out of defenders. If they are truly going to roll with Davis Mills at QB, then it is best to do everything to protect him.
1-13: George Karlaftis, EDGE, Purdue
At one point and time, Houston had JJ Watt and Jadeveon Clowney coming at teams from both sides. Now they have Ogbonnia Okoronkwo and Jonathan Greenard. Both are good players but not something that couldn’t stand to have a little punch added to it. Karlaftis is a productive pass rusher who is also a great athlete. It would be apropos that they take a player with the Browns pick that I had often mocked to them.
2-37: Jaquan Brisker, S, Penn State
Brisker is a rangy safety that would upgrade some of the bargain signings they have made over the last few weeks.
3-68: Martin Emerson, CB, Mississippi State
Emerson had a good pro day the other day and now finds himself in the late day two range. He has great size and length. Emerson would find himself in the thick of things pretty quickly in Houston.
3-80: Jalen Tolbert, WR, South Alabama
I was a big fan of Jalen Tolbert before the combine. Then he showed off some speed I didn’t know he had and now I like him even more. Tolbert had three consecutive 1000 yard receiving seasons at South Alabama with some of the worst QB you can have. He will be an asset for the Texans’ rebuild plan.
THE REST OF THE DRAFT
4-107: Zamir White, RB, Georgia
4-108: Cade Otton, TE, Washington
6-183: EJ Perry, QB, Brown
6-205: Lucas Krull, TE, Pittsburgh
6-207: Dane Belton, S, Iowa
7-245: Jerreth Sterns, WR, Western Kentucky
PREVIOUS TEAM MOCK DRAFTS
JAX – DET – CIN – WSH – NYJ – SEA – ATL – NO – NYG – LAR – CHI – SF – MIN – MIA – CLV – LAC – CAR