For the 2nd year in a row the Texans find themselves with two 1st round picks in the annual NFL Draft. Thanks to the continued benefit of the Deshaun Watson trade, and the Texans having the 2nd worst record in the NFL last season, they find themselves with the #2 pick overall (their own), and the #12 pick overall (Cleveland's). The Texans would have had the #1 pick overall but they messed around and won their last game of last season in the last minute of that game, and blew having a shot at #1, a position they held for about 8 weeks going into that final game. Thanks Lovie.
Stroud is more of a pocket passer, but I think that's more by design as Ohio St. didn't really allow a whole lot of pressure for him to deal with. Just 25 sacks in 25 games the last 2 years. That said, he showed in the National Semifinal game against Georgia this past January that he can use his feet to extend and make plays. I think we'll need to see a little more of that in the NFL because if he's hesitant to use his legs, it makes it easier for NFL pass rushers to zero in on him. Stroud has a big arm, has shown he can get through progressions, has the abilty to lead and throw open his receivers, and has an accurate deep ball. His 50% completion percentage on throws of 20+ yards was #1 in this year's QB class.
Anderson is said to have a high football IQ, is quick off the snap, and has speed to get around the edge. Because of that speed though, he tends to try and run around the edge too much. Anderson can be very disruptive when applying pressure up the middle. He's shown great gap discipline so that he's not biting on misdirection and running himself out of the play. A couple of the hard to find negatives are that he likes to lunge when making a tackle which leads to some missed tackles, and that he's going to need to improve and develop more pass rush skills because the athleticism he can get away with in college, will not be the case in the NFL where everybody has that athleticism.
For the 3rd year in a row, the Texans will be conducting their draft with a new head coach, as DeMeco Ryans takes the reigns. It's also the 3rd draft for 3rd year GM Nick Caserio.
Thanks to the debacle with regards to Watson, the Texans find themselves with plenty of draft capital, but they've struggled to find an on-field replacement for Watson at QB. The Davis Mills experiment seems to be going nowhere fast, with Mills taking a regression in his sophomore season last year. So QB has been a major point of emphasis leading up to this draft. And most experts, which means nothing really, haven't been big on this year's QB class. But thanks to the Texans screwing around and winning their last game last season, they enter the draft not in control of their own destiny. Instead, the Carolina Panthers get that #1 pick after making a trade with the Bears to move up from #9 to the top spot.
Leaks, smokescreens and rumors are pretty much what the months and weeks leading up to the draft are. Teams leaking information trying to mislead other teams about certain players looking for every advantage they can get when it comes to possibly making a trade with a desperate team, and trying to get more draft capital. After the Panthers moved to #1, they were rumored to be willing to trade that pick for more picks. For what seemed like an eternity, the thought was they were trying to dupe the Texans into trading up from #2 to #1, which would have been the dumbest thing the Texans could have ever done as an organization. And they've done a lot of dumb things. You have the #1 pick in your hands for 8 weeks of the season, lose it on the final day in the final minute, and then trade valuable draft capital to move back up to #1? That would have been so Texans. Anyway, it was believed that the Texans would be going QB at #2 so the Panthers had to try and make the Texans think they were going to pick the QB the Texans really wanted. But then, nobody really knows much about anything. Like I said, smoke and mirrors.
So the moment finally comes, the 88th Annual NFL DRAFT. The Texans come into the draft with 12 picks. Thanks to a 1st and 3rd from Cleveland in the Watson deal, they come into the draft with 5 picks out of the first 73. The Texans forfeit their original 5th round pick because of a salary cap reporting violation last year, but they get that back from the Cowboys in the Brandin Cooks trade. They picked up three 6th round picks in deals involving Charles Omenihu (to the 49ers), Ross Blacklock (to the Vikings) and Keion Crossen (to the Giants), along with a 7th rounder in the Shaq Mason deal from Tampa Bay. The Texans also pick up a compensatory 7th round pick, which turns out will be the final pick in the draft, better known as Mr. Irrelevant. The chances the Texans stay put with all 12 of those picks are slim to none.
With the #2 pick in the draft it doesn't take long for the Texans to be on the clock. Do they keep it or do they move it? After weeks of speculation that the Panthers were interested in the QB they thought the Texans were interested in, to try to get the Texans to trade up to #1, the Panthers do in fact take the QB it was believed the Texans liked the best, selecting Alabama QB Bryce Young with the #1 pick. Thanks again Lovie for winning that 3rd and final game last year.
That left the Texans with some decisions to make. They either take the QB who has the same agent as Deshaun Watson, who just screwed the Texans out of $37M and forced them to trade Watson months after signing a mega deal with them, or do something else, including possibly passing on QB, which they desperately need.
So with the #2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the Houston Texans do indeed select Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud.
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| Ohio State - QB C.J. Stroud |
So the Mulugheta effect apparently had no bearing, at least for now, check back in 4 or 5 years, but the Texans get their newest QB of the future. This is the highest the Texans have drafted a QB since David Carr in their inaugural season (2002). With 2 full seasons with the Buckeyes, Stroud, 3rd in Heisman voting last year, completed a hair under 70% of his passes (69.3%), with an 85/12 TD/INT ratio in 25 starts. He had 40+ TD passes with just 6 INTs in each of the last 2 seasons making him Big 10 Offensive Player of the Year and Big 10 QB of the Year in both seasons. He's the 1st Big 10 QB all-time to have 30+ TD passes in conference play in back-to-back seasons.
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| Stroud |
Stroud is more of a pocket passer, but I think that's more by design as Ohio St. didn't really allow a whole lot of pressure for him to deal with. Just 25 sacks in 25 games the last 2 years. That said, he showed in the National Semifinal game against Georgia this past January that he can use his feet to extend and make plays. I think we'll need to see a little more of that in the NFL because if he's hesitant to use his legs, it makes it easier for NFL pass rushers to zero in on him. Stroud has a big arm, has shown he can get through progressions, has the abilty to lead and throw open his receivers, and has an accurate deep ball. His 50% completion percentage on throws of 20+ yards was #1 in this year's QB class.
The biggest knock on Stroud will be how he handles NFL pressure. As mentioned, other than really that one game against Georgia, he doesn't use his legs a lot. Just 136 rushing yards on 80 attempts the last 2 seasons. He's not as accurate throwing the ball on the run when he does scramble. His total passer rating of 182.4 drops to 76.0 when he's under pressure, and again, with just 25 sacks in 2 seasons, he hasn't been pressured that much. That will change in the NFL, especially considering he'll be working behind the Texans o-line, which could be improved if last year's 1st rounder makes the jump and/or depending on what else they do in the draft.
Other than that, there's really not a lot not to like about Stroud. Adjusting to NFL pressure will likely be his biggest hurdle.
So the Texans make their pick at #2. That put the Arizona Cardinals on the clock at #3 with the Texans next pick coming at #12. Well, that was until Caserio lit up the Cardinals phone lines to trade up to #3. What?? Yes, the Texans swap picks with Arizona to move from #12 to #3 also giving the Cardinals their 2nd round pick at #33, a 1st round pick next year, of which they had 2, and a 3rd round pick next year. A pretty expensive price to pay, but with the pick they make, it could very well be worth it. By the way, the Texans also get back the Cardinals 4th round pick this year, #105.
So for only the 3rd time in the common draft era (1967) a team will make 2 picks within the 1st 3 picks of a draft. In 1992 the Colts drafted #1 and #2. In 2000, the Redskins drafted #2 and #3. In 2023 the Texans will also draft back-to-back at #2 and #3, and with the #3 pick of the 2023 NFL Draft, the Houston Texans select Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. Not only do the Texans finally address getting a much, MUCH needed pass rusher, many have Anderson being the top rated player in the entire draft.
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| Alabama - Edge Will Anderson Jr. |
Anderson is a 2 time SEC Defensive Player of the Year. His 34½ sacks in his 41 game college career is the 2nd most in Alabama history behind Hall of Fame LB Derrick Thomas. Anderson had a monster 2021 season. Not only did he have 17½ sacks, he also had 31 tackles for loss, 81 pressures, 55 hurries, and 11 QB hits. Last season was still impressive but the numbers were much lower than the year before where he had 10 sacks, 17 tackles for loss, 59 pressures, 36 hurries, and 9 QB hits. Anderson had 58½ career tackles for loss for the Crimson Tide, but in 41 games and all of the sacks and QB hits he had, he only had 1 forced fumble. Not really a big deal but that is a somewhat surprising stat to see with the numbers he's put up.
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| Anderson |
Anderson is said to have a high football IQ, is quick off the snap, and has speed to get around the edge. Because of that speed though, he tends to try and run around the edge too much. Anderson can be very disruptive when applying pressure up the middle. He's shown great gap discipline so that he's not biting on misdirection and running himself out of the play. A couple of the hard to find negatives are that he likes to lunge when making a tackle which leads to some missed tackles, and that he's going to need to improve and develop more pass rush skills because the athleticism he can get away with in college, will not be the case in the NFL where everybody has that athleticism.
Again, though, Anderson was the top rated player in this draft and he is now a Houston Texan, and with the moves the Texans make to start the 2023 draft, the Texans clearly stole the show. Weird to be saying that about a Houston Texans draft, but Caserio and company came out swinging for the fences and it appears, at least on paper, that they knocked a couple out of the park.
And that wraps up Day 1. The Texans were supposed to get it started early on Day 2, with the 2nd pick of the 2nd round, but they no longer have that pick and have Anderson instead. So, unless there are more moves made, the Texans won't get Day 2 going until the 2nd pick of round 3 (#65). Hopefully they can keep the momentum going.
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