The Day After the Day After…when the raw, immediate emotions from the aftermath of a game diminish into the realm of clarity and the proverbial (or literal) hangover no longer haunts the mind. With that, a review of the Houston Texans and the 2026 NFL Draft.
Zaniness in the 1st Round…yep: With all the mock drafting that goes on out there and all the endless analysis of what is a glorified hiring fair, you would think that any and all possibilities would be accounted for coming into the 1st night of the draft. Yeah, about that…Sure, you probably had the Cardinals taking Love at 3. Maybe you didn’t quite see the Titans picking Tate at 4, but a Buckeye receiver going in the top 5 of the Draft is almost as constant as death, taxes, Caesar and the Northern Star. However, all of the trades went wild after that. Dallas, Kansas City, Philadelphia, Buffalo, the New Jersey/New York Jets, San Francisco and the Houston Texans moved up, down and all around that night. Seemed to be enough for Caserio to feel a sense of FOMO with the trades, hence trading up two spots. Was someone going to take Rutledge before 28? Rumors indicate that a lot of teams liked this IOL, and maybe Houston received intel that another team was going to make a move. Need I mention Ty Simpson and the Rams? All in all, placing any faith in a mock drafts is roughly akin to building a house on loose mud.
Did Houston outfox Tennessee? Dunking on the BE-SFs is a Texans’ tradition. Again, if rumors are to be believed, the Texans received word that other teams, particularly the Giants and Titans, were looking at Jayden McDonald. That he slid to the 2nd round was one of the big headlines coming into Night 2 of the Draft. The Giants certainly would have loved him to replace Dexter Lawrence, who they just traded to the Bengals, and the Titans, with Robert Salah, would also desire him along their D-line. Thus, Houston made another Draft Day deal, sending picks to get that #36, which gave them McDonald and allowing them to beat out the Titans yet again.
Texans Theme: Toughness. Most of the picks were either defense or positions associated with physicality. That was by design. Rutledge and McDonald are renown for tough playing as interior Oline and DT, respectively. The TE (Klein), well, a head-scratcher for the 2nd round’, but in theory, he could be a tough blocker. Then another guard (Nwaiwu), LB (Woodaz) and safety (Ramsey) in the 4th/5th round. The team did throw in a sure-handed slot receiver (Bond) but then closed out the draft with a LB from the National Champion Hoosiers (Fisher). Will these all pan out? Too early to call now, but it won’t be for lack of trying from the Caserio regime.
Speaking of Marlin Klein: Of all the picks by the Texans, his selection might be the one that gave most pause. A 2nd round pick on a guy like Klein, with only 12 starts in his career? Maybe Houston wants to enter the German market, but unless the Texans are playing in Berlin next season, but no one will be more under the microscope than this guy. Possible that he evolves into something special, but he doesn’t scream Gronk or pre-murder Hernandez, if that is what Caserio was thinking. Of course, one hopes Klein does not follow in the footsteps of another 2nd round Michigan TE taken by Houston: Benni Joppru. (Kids, ask your parents about what this TE did not do for the Texans, or in the NFL for that matter).
Any UDFAs worth watching?: While most of the football headlines about player movement ended with the drafting of Mr. Irrelevant, there is still quite the market in Undrafted Free Agents (UDFAs). Houston is no exception. As of now, they are filling out the rosters with these hopefuls that didn’t hear their names called this weekend. Many will not make the cut, but that is not always the case. Long-time Houston fans recall Arian Foster, Jonathan Weeks and AJ Boyne. Maybe a name to consider: P Jack Stonehouse. Why the punter? Well, Houston did make a deal with the Saints for Kai Kroeger, sending a 2027 6th rounder for him. However, he did not exactly set the world afire punting in the Superdome. Townsend wasn’t perfect, and Frank Ross is one of the best special team coaches out there, but Kroeger doesn’t have that big an investment in him. Stonehouse may not have a lot of hype (how many punters do?), but he should get more than a fair shake at the punting job this preseason.
30: Number of Draft trades executed by Nick Caserio during his tenure: For those that had some money riding on Caserio making a trade, you didn’t have to wait too long. Caserio made a deal with the Bills on Night 1 to move up two sports in the 1st round to get Rutledge to main the offensive interior. He followed that up with 4 trades over the next two days. Perhaps the best trade was the one to move up two spots with Las Vegas to draft McDonald.
6: Total picks for Houston in the 2027 Draft. For those who can’t quite get over their draft porn fix, here is looking ahead to 2027. Houston has a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th as of now but does anyone think it will remain that way in 12 months (see previous FUN WITH NUMBERS entry).
Kayden McDonald: A legit first round talent, but one of two players who did not hear his name called in the Green Room on Night 1. Goodell apparently asked him to come back for Week 2. His reward: Going to a team that now might have the best overall DL in the NFL. With Will Anderson, Jr and Danielle Hunter as his bookends, McDonald is going to get every chance to feast like he did last season at Ohio State. If he can channel his disappointment at not being a 1st rounder into his play, everyone associated with Houston is going to be very, very happy.
The City of Pittsburgh: Even if they got trolled hard (see below), they did put together one heck of a draft celebration. When you are home to one of the iconic franchises in the game, you have to rise to the occasion, and they did. Good for the Yinzers, even if Iron City Beer will always be second best to its Texan counterpart,
Our Men on the Ground: Yes, we at Battle Red Blog got a couple of our guys right into the maelstrom, even getting the chance to ask questions of our future stars.
Our very own @FizzyJoe got to ask a question of the Houston #Texans' latest addition to the defense!Here's Joe Critz with Kayden McDonald. pic.twitter.com/LXoOkmAXKl
SHOULD BE FORCED TO LISTEN TO MEL KIPER JR AND STEPHEN A. SMITH IDIOCITIC RANTS ON THEIR LACK OF ACTUAL, ACCURATE NFL DRAFT KNOWLEDGE ON REPEAT UNTIL THE SCHEDULE RELEASE
Steelers’ Front Office in the 1st Round: Bad enough that their 1st round pick got swiped by Howie Roseman and the Eagles. However, to have that happen while you are on the phone with the draft pick, and have the Eagles call him while you are talking, only to see that the Eagles moved up, by dealing with their mortal enemy (Dallas) to get the pick to take your pick…that is some serious gettin’ trolled in public. Perhaps the Steelers still made a good pick, but that will go down in draft lore, and maybe not in a good way.
Mel Kiper, Jr.: Why hasn’t he retired, especially when he said he would years ago?
Mike Vrabel/Dianna Russini: You would think that both of these people have seen enough crises/trainwrecks in their business associations to figure out what to do and what not to do. Apparently, they didn’t get the memo. The Patriots won’t fire Vrabel, but the trolling he is about to receive on the road will be epic, and very well deserved. Russini, well, perhaps it is most telling when Nancy Armor and Christine Brennan, usually staunch defenders of their female sports reporting colleagues, are ripping her a new one. All of this right before the draft. It got drowned out with the picks and commentary, but would it shock anyone to see yet more leaked photos come out soon?
With that, the NFL Draft leaves Pittsburgh, with Washington D.C. on the clock for the 2027 Draft. Now we turn our attention to the next big event on the calendar, the schedule release, currently slated for mid-May (tentatively the 13th). More to follow when that comes out.