Day 2 of the 2024 NFL Draft and we can finally start talking about newly drafted players, since our Texans, who missed out on the 1st round, finally get their draft underway. It was interesting to see where the Texans were going to go with all the trades and free agent moves they've already made to try and improve the team. We find out pretty early on as the Texans had the 10th pick of the 2nd round, a pick they got from the Vikings in some of their previous dealings. This was the first of two 2nd round picks the Texans were scheduled to make.
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| DB Kamari Lassiter - Georgia |
There wasn't much in the way of obtaining secondary help pre-draft, and with the potential loss of Steven Nelson, who is still a free agent, the Texans go secondary with their 1st pick. So with the 42nd pick overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, and the 1st selection of the draft for the Texans, they take Georgia DB Kamari Lassiter. Lassiter played 3 years in college, playing in every game. He was a backup in his freshman year and played a lot of special teams, but he's started all 29 games the last 2 seasons on defense.
Lassiter was 2nd team All-SEC last season and led the Bulldogs with 8 PBUs (Pass Break Ups). He has the athleticism to play press man and zone. Though his listed at 186 lbs. he's good in run support, more importantly, a good tackler. Something the Texans desperately need. However, CB isn’t a big run stuffing position. That’s more of a LB or safety thing.
Lassiter allowed just 15 catches for 136 yards last season. There's an unconfirmed report that Lassiter allowed more than 2 catches in a game just once, and that was against C.J. Stroud 2 years ago in the national semifinals. A lot of hand fighting with receivers could have him drawing flags early on. Lassiter had just 1 career INT, and that was the season he was a backup. Despite that, he's pretty good at the catch point. I mean, keeping a receiver from catching the ball is important too. It's not just about INTs. So he probably won't get the recognition of a being a big playmaker, but could still be a solid, shut down defender, and he has the dog in him that HC DeMeco Ryans likes.
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| OT Blake Fisher - Notre Dame |
The Texans have another 2nd round pick, this one is their own at #59 overall. With this one the Texans go offense and once again spend assets on the offensive line by selecting Notre Dame OT Blake Fisher. Fisher can play both tackle spots, but with the Texans pretty much locked up at tackle with Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard, drafting a player this high to be a swing tackle might not have been the way to go. Maybe the Texans are thinking that if Kenyon Green, the 15th overall pick 2 years ago doesn't come around, Fisher could play some guard? Of course, with the way injuries have devastated the Texans OL recently, you never know if he could be needed to contribute right away.
Fisher was a redshirt freshman in 2021. He's started all 25 games the last 2 seasons for the Fighting Irish. Fisher is just 20 years old and the consensus is that had he stayed in college another year, he'd be one of the top tackles taken in next year's draft. One AFC personnel director is quoted as saying, "Fisher is the more naturally talented of the Notre Dame tackles, but Joe Alt is much more consistent and technically sound." Joe Alt was the 5th overall pick on Thursday. Fisher can drive blockers which could desperately help the Texans in their run game, and he can mirror edge rushers with his athleticism. Playing at a consistent level is likely to be Fisher's main hurdle. That and finding a place to get snaps. However, Tytus Howard, the Texans RT, the same position Fisher has started at Notre Dame the last 2 seasons, has only had 1 season of his 5 where he's played every game. Including playoffs, Howard has missed 27 of 88 games, including 12 last year. Howard could also be a cap casualty after the 2025 season.
Texans GM Nick Caserio was reportedly trying to move back up into the 1st round on Thursday night, but nothing came to fruition. probably a good thing because it wouldn't have made much sense to trade out of the 1st round a month earlier, then try to trade back up. And after the 2nd round goes by with Caserio staying put with his 2 picks, the phone lines light up in the 3rd round. The Philadelphia Eagles are on the other end of the line and the Texans want their spot at #78. In return the Eagles get the Texans pick at #86, which originally belonged to the Eagles, and Philly gets one of the Texans 4th round picks, #123, which is the final piece of the Deshaun Watson trade.
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| S Calen Bullock - USC |
And with the 14th pick of the 3rd round, #78 overall, the Texans go back to the secondary and select S Calen Bullock fron USC. Bullock had 9 INT, including 2 pick 6's in his 3 year career with the Trojans. With 5 INT in 2022, including a pick 6, Bullock only made 2nd team All-Pac 12. Just 2 INT last year, with another pick 6, and he makes 1st team All-Pac 12.
Bullock's tape is a bit Jekyll & Hyde. He's shown to be very, very good in coverage and very, very bad against the run. He has great athleticism to line up over the slot and has great ball skills, but has poor recognition and takes bad angles to the ball as a run defender. His biggest hurdle is going to be how he can improve on processing the game. He's very, very talented, but as we've learned many, many times, everybody in the NFL has talent, so it takes getting the mental part down to make a difference.
So that will do it for the Texans on Day 2 (Day 1 for them). They will go into the 3rd and final day with 5 picks left, 1 in the 4th round, and 2 each in the 6th and 7th rounds. The chances of Caserio make all 5 of those picks where they are are slim to none.
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