The NFL holds their 91st draft and it’s only the 25th time the Houston Texans have participated. Of course the 1st NFL draft was in 1936 and the Texans have only been around since 2002, but still. General Manager (GM) Nick Caserio conducts his 6th draft for the Texans making him the 2nd longest tenured GM in Texans history.
The Texans start the 2026 draft with 8 picks, but Caserio, in his 5 previous drafts, has made 18 draft day trades, so there’s usually no telling where on the board they will be or how many picks the Texans actually come away with, and it will be no different in this draft as Caserio starts it off with a trade with their very first pick.
The Texans started Day 1 with the 28th overall pick. Caserio decides to move up instead, so he gives the Bills a call. Caserio decides to give the Bills their 28th pick, plus their early 3rd round pick at 69, AND their 5th round pick at 167, to move up TWO spots to 26 with the Bills throwing back a late 3rd rounder at 91. So the Texans swap 1st round picks, move from the front to the back of the 3rd round, and give away one of their 5th round picks, to move up 2 spots.
And with their 1st pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, #26 overall, the Houston Texans select Georgia Tech OL Keylan Rutledge.
Rutledge was projected to be an early 3rd to late 2nd round pick but there was a lot of talk in recent days of him quickly moving up the board where some had him sneaking into the 1st round. Well, that’s exactly what happened.
Rutledge played most of his career at RG, but he does have experience at C. The consensus is that’s where the Texans are looking to plug him in at. Rutledge is strong and his tape shows he can get some push against the opposing DL, something the Texans have struggled with for quite a while now. Keep in mind though, this tape shows him at RG, not C. I honestly haven’t seen any tape of him at C. What I have seen though is that he is very athletic, very physical with a mean streak in him, can sustain blocks as long as he needs to, and again, has that push off the line the Texans run game so desperately needs.
Rutledge’s pass pro is said to be average despite giving up zero sacks and just 6 hurries last year with the Yellow Jackets, and in his 4 year college career, 2 of which he spent at Middle Tennessee State, he is said to have given up 3, possibly 4 sacks in over 3,000 snaps. Granted, somewhere in the ballpark of 50% of those 3,000 snaps were not pass plays, but still. Also keep in mind that this is against college talent, most of which will have careers that have nothing to do with football, but that’s true of every single player ever drafted.
Rutledge has been relatively injury free throughout his college career. He did suffer a broken big toe in a car accident at the end of the 2023 season. That turned into an infection that required multiple surgeries. He missed offseason and spring practices in 2024 because of it, his 1st year at Georgia Tech, but he did not miss a single game in 2024 or 2025. In fact, he was first team All-Conference (ACC) both seasons. He was also 1st team All-CUSA in 2023 at Middle Tennessee St.
As always, when I grade a draft I grade on the execution of it, not the player who hasn’t played a single down of NFL football. Occasionally a player’s injury history plays a role, but generally it’s about the execution by the team.
At first glance it looks like the Texans gave up quite a bit just to move up 2 spots to take Rutledge, keeping in mind he was originally projected to be a Day 2 pick. Again though, talk late was that he was quickly moving up the board. Buffalo, originally at 26, weren’t interested enough in him since they traded back with the Texans, or thought it was a reach to take him there. Buffalo ended up trading that pick as well so who knows what their thinking was. That left the 49ers at 27, a pick before the Texans original spot at 28. After the Texans selected Rutledge at 26, having moved up to do so, the Niners traded back. So there’s a possibility that the Niners were eyeballing Rutledge, thinking he would be available. After the Texans swooped in and took Rutledge, the Niners traded their pick and got out of the 1st round. If that’s the reasoning behind how it played out, then it shows Caserio had his guy in his sights and did what he needed to do to make sure he was a Texan. Of course that’s purely speculation.
After Day 1 the Texans went from 8 total picks to 7. Provided there’s no movement (yeah right), the Texans will get Day 2 started early as they currently hold the 6th pick in the 2nd round, a pick they got from Washington in the Laremy Tunsil deal a couple of years ago. Then they will have their own 2nd rounder at 59, then the 3rd round pick they just got from the Bills at 91. Very slim chance it stays that way.
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