A palpable desperation has hit the Houston Texans heading into this draft for one reason, they don’t have a quarterback. As much as anyone wants to talk up Tom Savage, make no mistake. If he they really thought he could be the guy they wouldn’t have brought in Brock Osweiler last season.
Now, the “thinkers” in Houston aren’t bright ones, so they might have stumbled on their guy. Certainly teams in the past have reached hard for a quarterback or brought one in via free agency when they already had a true franchise guy on their roster. The San Diego Chargers shipped Drew Brees out of town for Philip Rivers and the then St. Louis Rams brought Trent Green in to be the starter with Kurt Warner slated in as his back up. Warner will be inducted into the the Pro Football Hall of Fame this summer. Brees will get that nod as soon as he’s eligible after he hangs up his cleats.
Rivers and Green aren’t (and weren’t) bums by any stretch. But to think what the Chargers gave up to take Rivers with Brees already on their roster seems crazy. And all the Rams had to do with Warner is hand him the keys.
Can Tom Savage lead this Texans team back to the playoffs? He’ll get every chance, but the Texans are taking a QB in this draft and nobody available where they pick is ready to lead an NFL team. Maybe not for years.
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Round 1, Pick 25: DeShone Kizer, QB, Notre Dame
2016: 58.7 completion percentage, 2,925 yards passing, 26 touchdowns, nine interceptions, 472 rushing yards, eight touchdowns
Pundits and media talking heads have cooled on Kizer as the draft approaches and a lot of it probably has to do with his coach, Brian Kelly, verbally shitting all over him in the media. I’ve never been high on Kizer and ranked him No. 5 behind Patrick Mahomes, Brad Kaaya, Mitchell Trubisky and DeShaun Kizer in my pre-draft rankings. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Texans go Mahomes here, but I still feel like they’ll pull the trigger on Kizer. Obviously, the potential is there for the Notre Dame QB, but bringing in Mahomes immediately starts a QB controversy the minute Savage struggles. And he will struggle. No one with any working brain cells thinks Kizer is ready to step in year one. Head coach Bill O’Brien probably got a guaranteed firing the minute Tony Romo decided to retire, but at least he won’t have to deal with full page ads and billboards calling for Mahomes to take over at quarterback.
Round 2, Pick 57: Tim Williams, OLB, Alabama
2016: 31 tackles, 16 for a loss, nine sacks, two passes defended, one fumble recovery
Williams is a prototype outside linebacker for a 3-4 defense and the Texans are looking at a huge whole in that spot with John Simon jumping ship to the Indianapolis Colts. Williams will line up right over J.J. Watt on the right side and that should give him tons of opportunities to make plays at the line of scrimmage and in the backfield. Williams is 6-4 and 252 pounds and racked up 18.5 sacks and 27.5 tackles for a loss over the last two seasons. Williams picked up a second team All-SEC selection to go with his second-team All-American nod from the Associated Press.
Round 3, Pick 89: Ahkello Witherspoon, CB, Colorado
2016: 23 tackles, one interception, 19 passes defended, one fumble recovery, one forced fumble
Witherspoon is a tall corner at 6-3 and 195 pounds and his pass defense stats show he’s nearly impossible to throw over. The Texans lost A.J. Bouye in free agency, but still have a couple of solid starters in Kareem Jackson and Johnathan Joseph. Both those guys are getting up there in years and it’s time to bring in some new blood. Witherspoon can contribute in the slot on nickle downs as a rookie and develop into a starter next season. Witherspoon is a smart kid too, majoring in Pre-Med at Colorado. He was a second team All-PAC 12 selection.
Round 4, Pick 130: Carlos Watkins, DT, Clemson
2016: 50 tackles, 12.5 for a loss, 10.5 sacks, four passes defended, one fumble recovery
For the life of me, I can’t see how Watkins has a fourth round grade. It’s certainly not his size at 6-3 and 305 pounds and his production on a national championship team should at worst put him in second round consideration. But here he is and the Texans win the lottery, getting a starting-level talent to plug into their defensive line rotation. Watkins finished the season a first-team All-ACC selection and a second team Associated Press All-American.
Round 4, Pick 142: Josh Reynolds, WR, Texas A&M
2016: 61 catches, 1,039 yards, 12 touchdowns
Here’s another mystery. Here’s a 6-4, 190-pound wide receiver who has spent a career lining up against the best NCAA defensive backs in the country and posted a 1,000-yard, double-digit touchdown season isn’t slated to be taken on the draft’s first two days. It seems nuts to me, yet here we are. The Texans are set at starting wide receiver with Will Fuller V and DeAndre Hopkins, but Reynolds can be an instant contributor in multi wide receiver sets and downright deadly in the red zone. Reynolds is a tremendous athlete and actually got a track scholarship he turned down from Texas A&M coming out of high school.
Round 5, Pick 169: Damien Mama, OG, USC
Mama has started all but two games for the Trojans over the last two seasons. He’s 6-3 and 334 pounds, which is the prototype guard frame int he NFL. He’s struggled with consistency at the college level, but that could be more about the coaching shake ups at USC while he was there and any real problem. He was a second-team All-PAC 12 selection in 2016.
Round 7, Pick 243: Collin Buchanan, OG, Miami (Ohio)
Buchanan is a three year starter at right tackle for the Redhawks and at 6-5 and 316 pounds, has the size and athleticism needed to play that spot in the pros. Still, the draft gods, and his agent, are shopping him as a guard and that’s probably smart. Buchanan was named to the All-MAC second team.
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