TEXANS 2025 DRAFT GRADE

Previously lost article recreated

My annual preface about draft grades.

Mine are done more on the execution of the draft than the actual players themselves. It’s kinda stupid to grade players who’ve never taken an NFL snap so I base the grade on how the team navigated their way through it, price paid on trades, did they address needs, go with best available player, things of that nature. So in the Texans case, this is solely based on how I think GM Nick Caserio handled the draft.

This was Caserio’s 5th draft for the Texans. My grades for him have ranged from a D in 2021, his 1st draft, where he didn’t have a lot to work with, to an A- in 2023, pulling off the back to back picks, 2nd and 3rd overall with C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson Jr. 

Caserio is also known for making a ton of draft day trades. Coming into this draft he had made at least 13 draft day trades in the previous 4 drafts. He added 7 more this year, dropping down once and moving up 6 times.

The only drop down was the Texans 1st scheduled pick, that was to be #25 in the 1st round. Caserio traded that pick to the Giants for the 2nd pick in the 2nd round (#34) and pick #99. That took the Texans out of the 1st round.

The Texans used pick #34 to select WR Jayden Higgins. WR was probably 2nd behind offensive line in where the Texans needed help the most. The 99th pick would be used in the next trade, paired with #58, both sent to the Raiders so the Texans could move up to #48 where they addressed that #1 need, o-line, by taking OT Aireonte Ersery. So far, so good.

The Texans next selection was the 15th pick in the 3rd round (79th overall), a pick they received when they traded Laremy Tunsil to Washington. With that pick they not only took another WR, Jaylin Noel, but he’s a WR from the same school (Iowa State) as the 1st WR they took - Higgins. Somewhat unprecedented for a school to have 2 WRs both go in the first 3 rounds unless you’re one of the giants (Alabama, Ohio State, etc.), and rare that the same NFL team drafts both of them. But each of those dudes had 1,100+ yard seasons and combined for 17 TD last year.

Caserio did a little back and forth next. He traded their 3rd round pick at 88 and a 7th round rounder (236) to Jacksonville for their 3rd at 102 and a 5th at 142. Caserio then turned right around and traded both of those picks to the Vikings to get back into the 3rd round (#97) and picked up a 6th rounder (#187). With that 97th pick the Texans took CB Jaylen Smith. Skipping ahead to the 6th round the Texans kept pick #187 and drafted S Jaylen Reed. 

On the start of Day 3 the Texans had no 4th or 5th round picks. That changed pretty quickly with Caserio sending a 6th round pick (#179), one of 3 picks they got from the Browns in a trade, to the Dolphins, along with a 3rd pick next year, to move up to the 4th round and take a RB, Woody Marks, at #116. The Texans also got a 7th round pick back from Miami (#224) which they used to draft DT Kyonte Hamilton.

The Texans used a 2nd pick in the Cleveland deal, #216, together with pick #241 that they got in the Tunsil deal, and sent those to Denver to move up to #197 to take QB Graham Mertz. OK, moving up that far to get a 2nd or 3rd string QB is one thing, but Mertz is coming off a torn ACL from last season. An odd move up here.

The Texans final pick #255, was the 3rd pick they got back from the Cleveland deal, and they used that to take TE Luke Lachey.

The Texans biggest need coming into the draft was o-line. In the end they select just one o-lineman. They did address the WR room but they didn’t it with 2 players from the same school. Backup RB was a need but giving up a 3rd rounder next year was a little pricey. Their biggest need on defense was the d-line, particularly inside, and they addressed that with 1 pick, and a 7th rounder at that. And not really sure they needed to use draft capital to move up and draft a backup QB coming off a major knee injury.

Again, the back end of the draft is mainly just roster filler and guys who will play mostly special teams if they make the team at all, so that part doesn’t carry as much weight as the front part of the draft where you’re looking for starters or players who can contribute right away.

In the first 3 rounds the Texans drafted 2 WRs, an OT, and a CB. The WRs filled a weak spot but with 2 guys from the same school? OT certainly filled a need, and even the CB filled a need for depth behind Derek Stingley and Kamari Lassiter.

Day 3 they gave up a ton of draft capital for a backup RB, a 2nd or 3rd string QB, and some roster filler. 

So my grade for how Nick Caserio navigated the Texans 2025 draft is ……..

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