Texans Opt for Depth-Filled Draft But Not Always at Expected Positions
The Draft Grade is In
The Houston Texans added nine draft picks from the 2025 NFL Draft to their team this past weekend. Friday was the highlight with two pass catchers from Iowa State and a potential left tackle of the future. Saturday was filled with players who need to hit their ceiling to pay off for the Texans.
Houston drafted just one offensive lineman, which was surprising. The offensive line was a need for this team.
There’s that word. Need.
“This whole concept of drafting for need, honest to God, I don't know what it means,” Nick Caserio said Friday night. “If someone can tell me that I would love to hear it.”
Improving the offensive line for the Texans was essential. When something is defined as essential, it can also be defined as a need. It was an obligation for this offseason.
Thus, a need.
Minnesota tackle Aireontae Ersery joined Cam Robinson, Laken Tomlinson, and Ed Ingram as new offensive linemen acquired this offseason. DeMeco Ryans has preached competition as a priority for this upcoming season. Multiple times, it was stated that the best five will play.
The future at left tackle was a need the team hopefully could address, and Ersery may do just that. He played nearly all his snaps at left tackle. If the rookie outplayed Robinson or incumbent right tackle Blake Fisher to start, that would be nice. It didn’t sound like Ersery was headed for the interior.
“He's only played tackle,” Caserio stated. “What can he do? Nobody thought Tytus [Howard] could go inside and play guard until he went in and did it. Never going to put limitations on what a player can or can't do. He's a tackle until he's not.”
I’m not sure Tytus Howard was the best example, but the Texans have shown a fondness for Howard that many don’t share.
The interior of the offensive line was the weakest part in 2024. Multiple culprits, Shaq Mason and Kenyon Green, are gone. Howard, Juice Scruggs, and Jarrett Patterson remain. The new direction on offense and the new offensive line coach were supposed to help with the blocking. Are Tomlinson, Ingram, and a new direction on offense enough?
“There's no list that says we need to go find a guard,” Caserio said on Saturday after the draft concluded.
After the Texans drafted their second wide receiver, shoring up what most people believed was a need for the team, they didn’t add any player with a legitimate chance to win a starting spot.
Cornerback Jaylin Smith won’t beat out Kamari Lassiter and Derek Stingley at cornerback. Smith won’t outplay Jalen Pitre to start at nickel. I like running back Woody Marks, but Joe Mixon is the team’s unquestioned starter. Jaylen Reed will be relegated to special teams work as he fills in on the depth chart at safety. Quarterback Graham Mertz might not make the team. Defensive tackle Kyonte Hamilton is new to the position and will need to learn down the depth chart. Tight end Luke Lachey could have a role, but not over the team’s current rostered tight ends.
A guard drafted nearly anywhere would have had a chance to start.
Houton traded the pick that became West Virginia guard Wyatt Milum to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Less than 10 picks later, the Texans would use all the picks from the Milum trade to move up five spots and draft Smith. They’d also acquire the pick later used on Reed.
It would be two rounds before another guard came off the board. Four players were selected at guard in the latter half of the fifth round. The Texans didn’t own a selection in the fifth having traded the fourth pick in the fifth round to Minnesota to draft Smith.
Three guards were drafted after the Texans unnecessarily took a quarterback.
There’s always a gem or two later in the draft. Trey Smith of the Kansas City Chiefs is one of the better guards in football. He was selected in the sixth round. An extreme example, but Kansas City hasn’t drafted a quarterback since they acquired Patrick Mahomes.
Harping on late-round selections has and will always be an easy target. Most players are far better on paper in April than in September when the whistle blows. The Texans passed on the interior altogether, regardless of the round.
While he didn’t know what drafting for need meant, Caserio knew he needed to fix the offensive line. His route to a fixed offensive line doesn’t seem to include any young interior options. Need or not.