And just like that, the final day of the 2026 NFL Draft is upon us. Day 3.
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Things get kicked off pretty quickly as the Texans have the 6th pick in the 4th round, which they keep. So with their 4th pick of the draft, 1st of 2 scheduled in the 4th round, and #106 overall, the Texans select Oklahoma OL Febechi Nwaiwu. That would be pronounced feh-BETCH-ee WEE-woo.
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So with the Chargers pick at 123, 23rd pick of the 4th round, the Texans are back on defense and select Clemson LB Wade Woodaz, pronounced WOOD-azz. I'll go out on a limb and guess he's got a mean streak in him too. Woodaz spent all 4 of his college years at Clemson and led the Tigers in tackles in his junior season. He started as a safety but didn't become a starter until he moved to LB. He had 3 career INT including a pick 6, and 17 tackles for loss the last 2 years.
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On to the 5th round where the Texans have the 1st pick, #141 overall, and with that pick the Texans select USC safety Kamari Ramsey. Decent pickup for the Texans considering he had a 3rd to 4th round grade on him, but him falling likey has to do with injury concerns. He had a shoulder/arm injury in 2024 that caused him to miss a couple of games, and then played through the injury. That resulted in a high missed tackle rate that drop significantly the next season when he was healthy. He missed the last 3 regular season games last year with a knee injury, but participated in the Senior Bowl.
Moving on to the 6th round with the pick the Texans just got from the Chargers for moving back in the 4th. With that pick, the Texans 7th of the draft, and the 204th pick overall, the Texans select Bond, Lewis Bond, WR from Boston College. Yeah, Boston College whose HC is none other than Bill O'Brien.
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The Texans will close out their 2026 draft season with an 8th selection, the 27th in the 7th round, and 243rd overall. And with that final pick the Texans select Indiana LB Aiden Fisher. Fisher played his first 2 years at James Madison, leading the Dukes in tackles in 2023. He transferred to Indiana the following season, following his HC, where he led the Hoosiers in tackles in 2024. Fisher was named 1st Team All-Conference (Big 10), in his 2 years at Indiana. He has 3 career INT, picking up 2 last year, including a pick 6. He had 4 tackles and a sack in the National Championship game just 14 weeks ago. Last season he was finalist for the Butkus Award, given to the nation's top LB.
The Texans start the day with 4 picks remaining and finish with 5 selections. Through the 1st 3 rounds the Texans have already made 2 draft day trades, both to move up 2 spots. Day 3 will see them make one more trade, this time to move back, which allows them the extra pick.
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Things get kicked off pretty quickly as the Texans have the 6th pick in the 4th round, which they keep. So with their 4th pick of the draft, 1st of 2 scheduled in the 4th round, and #106 overall, the Texans select Oklahoma OL Febechi Nwaiwu. That would be pronounced feh-BETCH-ee WEE-woo.
Nwaiwu went to high school in Coppell, TX, was a walk on and spent 3 years, including a redshirt year, at the University of North Texas, before transferring to Oklahoma in 2024 where he started every game for the Sooners his last 2 years. Last year he earned 1st Team All-American honors. He also gave up 0 sacks and just 2 pressures in 505 snaps last season. Nwaiwu has taken snaps at every position on the OL except LT. I think the Texans see him primarily at RG and possibly C. He has a strong work ethic and a bit of a mean streak in him which seems to be the theme for the Texans in this draft.
For the Texans next pick at 117, GM Nick Caserio is answering the phone instead of dialing out and making calls. It's the Los Angeles Chargers that are calling and they want the Texans pick at 117. Caserio obliges, and the cost for LA is their pick at 123, and their 6th round pick at 204. That would be the last trade for the Texans in the 2026 draft.
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So with the Chargers pick at 123, 23rd pick of the 4th round, the Texans are back on defense and select Clemson LB Wade Woodaz, pronounced WOOD-azz. I'll go out on a limb and guess he's got a mean streak in him too. Woodaz spent all 4 of his college years at Clemson and led the Tigers in tackles in his junior season. He started as a safety but didn't become a starter until he moved to LB. He had 3 career INT including a pick 6, and 17 tackles for loss the last 2 years.
Woodaz had an immediate impact on special teams for Clemson before playing a more prominent role on defense, and special teams will likely be where he sees most of his snaps early on for the Texans. He has good zone awareness and adequate man cover to match up with TEs. He'll have to work on his base strength which for now doesn't allow him to follow through on hits. His 6'3" frame may keep him from getting low to slip blocks. Woodaz has some work to do but he's obliviously a DeMeco guy so he'll get to work on him. Like I said though, probably a special teams player for a while.
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On to the 5th round where the Texans have the 1st pick, #141 overall, and with that pick the Texans select USC safety Kamari Ramsey. Decent pickup for the Texans considering he had a 3rd to 4th round grade on him, but him falling likey has to do with injury concerns. He had a shoulder/arm injury in 2024 that caused him to miss a couple of games, and then played through the injury. That resulted in a high missed tackle rate that drop significantly the next season when he was healthy. He missed the last 3 regular season games last year with a knee injury, but participated in the Senior Bowl.
Ramsey was a redshirt freshman at UCLA before transferring to USC his sophomore and junior years. He led the Trojans in 2024 with 5 pass break-ups, and that's with missing 2 games. He can play multiple safety spots and nickel but saw much more time at nickel last year. Dude has excellent closing speed. He can get caught out of position by smart route runners. He only had 2 career INT in college. Ramsey is regarded as a good backup with a good chance to develop into a starter.
Moving on to the 6th round with the pick the Texans just got from the Chargers for moving back in the 4th. With that pick, the Texans 7th of the draft, and the 204th pick overall, the Texans select Bond, Lewis Bond, WR from Boston College. Yeah, Boston College whose HC is none other than Bill O'Brien.
A redshirt freshman, Bond spent 5 years at BC but played in only 8 games his first 2 years. He took off in his 3rd year with 52 catches for 646 yards and a career high 7 TD. Bond had 88 catches for 993 yards for the Eagles last season but only had 1 TD. Those 88 catches were the 5th most in the nation (FBS) last season, and also a school record. Bond led BC in both receptions and yards in each of the last 3 seasons, and is Boston College's all time leader in receptions. He has a tiny bit of return experience but he only did that for 1 season in 2023 with just 10 total returns.
Bond has good hands to help him win contested catches and his dropped passes rate is very low. He's a bit slow off the line which will have him struggling against press corners. That likely limits him to a slot receiver role. He's an excellent ball tracker. He doesn't have the rocket jets for speed so corners won't have to worry too much about him getting deep on them, but he has a knack for finding openings in zone.
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The Texans will close out their 2026 draft season with an 8th selection, the 27th in the 7th round, and 243rd overall. And with that final pick the Texans select Indiana LB Aiden Fisher. Fisher played his first 2 years at James Madison, leading the Dukes in tackles in 2023. He transferred to Indiana the following season, following his HC, where he led the Hoosiers in tackles in 2024. Fisher was named 1st Team All-Conference (Big 10), in his 2 years at Indiana. He has 3 career INT, picking up 2 last year, including a pick 6. He had 4 tackles and a sack in the National Championship game just 14 weeks ago. Last season he was finalist for the Butkus Award, given to the nation's top LB.
Fisher has a good football IQ, a high motor, reads offenses well, and is almost always in the right position. He's just a little lacking in quickness and athleticism. Maybe that can be coached up, I don't know. Likely to be a coach some day.
So that does it for the 2026 NFL Draft. The Texans started the draft with 8 picks and after all the wheeling and dealing, finish with 8 picks, addressing each side of the ball equally. Voluntary OTAs begin late next month, mandatory mini-camp in the middle of June, and before you know it, training camp at the end of July will be under way with a new season on the horizon.
I will have a full recap of the draft and give it a grade coming up Monday.
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