Another draft grade article, another disclaimer:
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As far as the actual draft is concerned, the Texans don't get started until the 10th pick of Day 2. It was one of the picks they got in the Minnesota trade a month ago and they select DB Kamari Lassiter from Georgia. Lassiter had just 1 INT in his 3 year collegiate career, but considering he allowed just 15 catches all of last season for just 136 yards, I don't how much more of being a shut down corner you can get. It's said that he allowed more than 2 catches in a game just once in his entire career, and that was against C.J. Stroud in a national semifinal game 2 years ago. Good value here as it probably would have been too early to draft him had the Texans stayed in the 1st round, and he likely wouldn't have been on the board with their next pick at #59, and they probably would have had to burn assets and move up to get him.
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With that second 2nd round pick at #59, the Texans get back to trying to get the OL situated and select Notre Dame OT Blake Fisher. This may be a tiny bit of a head scratcher as the Texans have the tackle spot covered with Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard. But then the Texans o-line has been devastated by injuries the last couple of years and Howard, in particular, has missed quite a few games of has to be moved from his tackle spot to play inside due to injuries there. Fisher is still just 20 years old and a lot of scouts are saying had he stayed in college 1 more year, he might have easily been 1st round material. So not really room for him to get snaps for a while, save for injuries, of course, but maybe it gives him a chance to develop and become a future piece in the trenches.
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The Texans aren't finished on Day 2. Caserio decides not to wait 8 picks to get his next player and makes a deal with the Eagles to move up from #86 to #78, 14th pick in the 3rd round. The Texans give up a 4th round pick, #127. And the player the Texans wanted to trade up for was S Calen Bullock from USC. Bullock is well above average as a pass defender, with 9 career INT, including 2 pick 6's, but he is well below average as a run defender with poor recognition and taking too many bad angles to the ball.
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Day 3 gets started with the Texans using the final piece of the Deshaun Watson trade, #123 overall. May do a blog on what all the Texans got back in that deal at some point. It's the 23rd pick of the 4th round and the Texans get a familiar face, at least for Stroud, in TE Cade Stover from Ohio St. Yes, the same school Stroud went to and in fact, Stroud and Stover hooked up 36 times for 406 yards and 5 TD in 2022. Stover added 576 yards and 5 more TD, earning him Big 10 TE of the Year honors last season.
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The Texans find themselves without a 5th round pick with their next pick coming after 65 players come off the board after picking Stover. It's the 12th pick of the 6th (#188 overall), and it's spent on Oregon LB Jamal Hill. Hill is a former safety so he's a little undersized for a LB, but he has elite speed and should be a plus at spying on mobile QBs. That's provided he can overcome some of the aspects he's missing in the mental part of the game where his lack of experience at the position has him missing reads and taking inconsistent paths to the ball. At the very least, as with most late round picks, his contributions early in his career likely come from special teams.
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The Texans and the Lions swap 6th rounds picks with Detroit moving to the Texans spot at #189, and the the Texans dropping back to #205 where the Lions were. The Texans also get a 7th round pick, #249, in the deal. So with the 29th pick in the 6th round, #205 overall, the Texans take Louisville RB Jawhar Jordan. If you thought Tank Dell was small, Jordan is listed as 1" shorter, and just 5 lbs heavier. And Jordan is a RB navigating through all the giants everytime he touches the ball. I can't see him making a living as a RB in the NFL being that small, despite him rushing for 1,128 yards with 13 TD last season. Jordan does have kick return experience, with 2 return TD, and with the NFL rule changes on kickoffs starting this season, this is where Jordan may find himself contributing.
Their 1st 7th round selection is #238 overall, and they take USC DE Solomon Byrd, a transfer from Wyoming. Byrd has 6 sacks last season and led the Trojans in tackles for loss. His physicality and athleticism doesn't really stand out on tape, but when he flashes and gets to the QB, it usually ends in a strip sack.
At pick #247 overall, the Texans select Auburn DL Marcus Harris, a transfer from Kansas. Harris had career highs in sacks (7½) and tackles for loss (11½) last season. Harris was projected to go in the 5th round so for the Texans to get him deep into the 7th means they either got good value, or their might be an undisclosed issue that caused him to fall. He's a little undersized, but has good quickness to fall inside and make tackles.
The Texans wrap things up with their 3rd and final pick of the 7th round, and their 9th selection of this year's draft, with overall pick #249. Michigan OL LaDarius Henderson is selection here, a transfer from Arizona St. Henderson made All-Conference 1st team last season. He has a wingspan of over 7 feet, strong hands, quickness, and is a plus in the run game, but lacks consistency, gives up on blocks early, has trouble recognizing stunts and twists, and struggles against a strong bull rush.
Draft grades, particularly those given before players have taken a single snap, are nothing more than conversation pieces. And most of the draft grades you'll see try to actually grade those players who have never taken a single snap. I try to stay away from grading the player and instead try to grade value and execution of the draft by the GM/team. With that out of the way, here's what I think of the Texans and GM Nick Caserio's 2024 draft.
The Texans missed out on participating in the 1st round for the 4th time in the last 7 drafts. Of course last year the Texans turned the draft upside down in the 1st round when they took C.J. Stroud at #2 overall, then traded up to #3 overall to take Will Anderson. With no 1st round pick at all this year, there's no chance for those kind of fireworks, but that doesn't mean the draft is a complete loss.
First of all, those 1st rounds picks the Texans had, and they had 2 of them, were traded away before the draft, which either brought in established players or more draft picks, or both. The Texans traded one of their two 1st round picks they had for this year to move up last year to get Anderson. About a month ago they traded their second 1st round pick to Minnesota in return for 2nd round pick this year (#42 overall), which they used to draft Kamari Lassiter, a 6th rounder this year (#188 overall), which they used to draft Jamal Hill, and a 2nd round pick next year, which they traded to Buffalo to bring in WR Stefon Diggs. So the Texans missing out of the 1st round this year doesn't mean they missed out on bringing talent in. And even without a 1st round pick the Texans still drafted 9 players in this year's draft.
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As far as the actual draft is concerned, the Texans don't get started until the 10th pick of Day 2. It was one of the picks they got in the Minnesota trade a month ago and they select DB Kamari Lassiter from Georgia. Lassiter had just 1 INT in his 3 year collegiate career, but considering he allowed just 15 catches all of last season for just 136 yards, I don't how much more of being a shut down corner you can get. It's said that he allowed more than 2 catches in a game just once in his entire career, and that was against C.J. Stroud in a national semifinal game 2 years ago. Good value here as it probably would have been too early to draft him had the Texans stayed in the 1st round, and he likely wouldn't have been on the board with their next pick at #59, and they probably would have had to burn assets and move up to get him.
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With that second 2nd round pick at #59, the Texans get back to trying to get the OL situated and select Notre Dame OT Blake Fisher. This may be a tiny bit of a head scratcher as the Texans have the tackle spot covered with Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard. But then the Texans o-line has been devastated by injuries the last couple of years and Howard, in particular, has missed quite a few games of has to be moved from his tackle spot to play inside due to injuries there. Fisher is still just 20 years old and a lot of scouts are saying had he stayed in college 1 more year, he might have easily been 1st round material. So not really room for him to get snaps for a while, save for injuries, of course, but maybe it gives him a chance to develop and become a future piece in the trenches.
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The Texans aren't finished on Day 2. Caserio decides not to wait 8 picks to get his next player and makes a deal with the Eagles to move up from #86 to #78, 14th pick in the 3rd round. The Texans give up a 4th round pick, #127. And the player the Texans wanted to trade up for was S Calen Bullock from USC. Bullock is well above average as a pass defender, with 9 career INT, including 2 pick 6's, but he is well below average as a run defender with poor recognition and taking too many bad angles to the ball.
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Day 3 gets started with the Texans using the final piece of the Deshaun Watson trade, #123 overall. May do a blog on what all the Texans got back in that deal at some point. It's the 23rd pick of the 4th round and the Texans get a familiar face, at least for Stroud, in TE Cade Stover from Ohio St. Yes, the same school Stroud went to and in fact, Stroud and Stover hooked up 36 times for 406 yards and 5 TD in 2022. Stover added 576 yards and 5 more TD, earning him Big 10 TE of the Year honors last season.
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The Texans find themselves without a 5th round pick with their next pick coming after 65 players come off the board after picking Stover. It's the 12th pick of the 6th (#188 overall), and it's spent on Oregon LB Jamal Hill. Hill is a former safety so he's a little undersized for a LB, but he has elite speed and should be a plus at spying on mobile QBs. That's provided he can overcome some of the aspects he's missing in the mental part of the game where his lack of experience at the position has him missing reads and taking inconsistent paths to the ball. At the very least, as with most late round picks, his contributions early in his career likely come from special teams.
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The Texans and the Lions swap 6th rounds picks with Detroit moving to the Texans spot at #189, and the the Texans dropping back to #205 where the Lions were. The Texans also get a 7th round pick, #249, in the deal. So with the 29th pick in the 6th round, #205 overall, the Texans take Louisville RB Jawhar Jordan. If you thought Tank Dell was small, Jordan is listed as 1" shorter, and just 5 lbs heavier. And Jordan is a RB navigating through all the giants everytime he touches the ball. I can't see him making a living as a RB in the NFL being that small, despite him rushing for 1,128 yards with 13 TD last season. Jordan does have kick return experience, with 2 return TD, and with the NFL rule changes on kickoffs starting this season, this is where Jordan may find himself contributing.
That brings us to the 7th round. If 40-50% of 1st rounders can bust, imagine what those numbers are for 7th rounders. And the Texans find themselves with THREE 7th round picks. It's just the 2nd time in team history that the Texans make three 7th round picks, the last time coming in 2004, their 3rd year of existence.
Their 1st 7th round selection is #238 overall, and they take USC DE Solomon Byrd, a transfer from Wyoming. Byrd has 6 sacks last season and led the Trojans in tackles for loss. His physicality and athleticism doesn't really stand out on tape, but when he flashes and gets to the QB, it usually ends in a strip sack.
At pick #247 overall, the Texans select Auburn DL Marcus Harris, a transfer from Kansas. Harris had career highs in sacks (7½) and tackles for loss (11½) last season. Harris was projected to go in the 5th round so for the Texans to get him deep into the 7th means they either got good value, or their might be an undisclosed issue that caused him to fall. He's a little undersized, but has good quickness to fall inside and make tackles.
The Texans wrap things up with their 3rd and final pick of the 7th round, and their 9th selection of this year's draft, with overall pick #249. Michigan OL LaDarius Henderson is selection here, a transfer from Arizona St. Henderson made All-Conference 1st team last season. He has a wingspan of over 7 feet, strong hands, quickness, and is a plus in the run game, but lacks consistency, gives up on blocks early, has trouble recognizing stunts and twists, and struggles against a strong bull rush.
So that will do it for the 2024 Draft. With no 1st round pick the Texans still make 9 picks, 4 on offense, 5 on defense. Only once did Caserio move up in the draft, and that was 8 spots to get Bullock, and they only move back once. So not the kind of wheeling and dealing we're used to seeing from Caserio in this his now 4th Texans draft. So as far as the strategy, value and execution of the draft went, there really wasn't much to bring it down. Lassiter was a solid pickup. Fisher was a little questionable as far as timing and the players in front of him, but considered to have risen to 1st round with another year in college. Bullock appears to be a ball hawk. Stroud gets reunited with his TE from college, and the rest save for Harris who was a projected 5th rounder by many, who the Texans got in the 7th, are just roster filler that they didn't waste assets to go get.
In the end, I'm not real sure the Texans drafted a single starter in this draft. At least anyone who will start this season. 2025 and beyond? Possibly. Is the roster that much better now that these new draftees won't be able to crack the starting lineup, or are they really not as talented? We'll soon find out, of course.
So my grade for Nick Caserio and his execution of the Texans 2024 Draft is .....
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