What positions should the Texans focus on in the draft?

Everyone seems to think we’ll go for a RB in the first round, but I very much doubt that we will.

And why would we let Taylor Mays slip to the Ravens, that is just CRAZY!!

On a positive note, Draft Dog has us picking at 20, which means we should be a Wildcard team this year.

I agree in taking the best player available (or picking conservatively) in the first round because the team cannot afford to draft a dud. However, all other rounds should place a heavy emphasis on the needs of the team.

Just as the salaries of players drop off rapidly throughout the draft, so too does the probability that the pick is going to be a solid NFL player. Unless the team is well established at each position, it is wise to draft players at positions of need. After all, it is unlikely that there will be a large gap between the most talented player on the board and the player at the need position in later rounds.

probably in that order.

Some of the most highly decorated draft prospects fizzle once they get to the NFL. I think this is largely because the position is drafted largely based on height/weight and combine numbers but the freakish athleticism that gets them drafted early on the first day of the draft really goes unnoticed when surrounded by 300lbers on all sides who are at least slightly compareable athletically. In college they’re bigger/faster/quicker than everyone they face to a severe degree, in the NFL not so much. So you see alot of mid/low round DTs who were picked over because they’re 2-3" too short or a tenth of a second too slow running a 40 yard dash, yet come to find out they’re pretty damned good DTs. I just think it’s a little risky to go DT in the first round, OL on the other hand very rarely “miss”. The same things that make an O-lineman good in college will translate to the NFL, especially on the interior. But again, you can usually find quality linemen later in the draft as well. I guess if you really stop to think about it, it’s risky to pick anyone in the first round heh. You’re paying them alot of money, yet they’re still unproven rookies who haven’t done squat in their professional careers yet. If you draft a guy in the 5th round and he doesn’t pan out no one notices, but if you draft a guy in the 1st round and he’s out of the league in 3 years, you’ll never live it down.

Heck it’s almost impossible to do accurately a week before the draft even, but as of now Mike Iupati is considered a 2nd or 3rd round prospect by most “experts” at this point and guards in general aren’t rated particularly high this year. And with Pollard playing as well as he is for us this year at SS and being that he’s a young player still himself, it doesn’t make alot of sense to me to draft his replacement in the 2nd round unless Pollard isn’t on next year’s Texans.

At this point, based on where I think players will be drafted, i’d go with.

1. Joe Haden CB Florida Probably will be the best CB in a weak draft at the position, but will probably be picked in the mid to late first round. He has decent speed and agility and while he doesn’t have great height he’s uber strong for his size and tends to bully recievers in college.

1. Nate Allen FS South Florida Would probably be a 1st rounder in most years, but with the strength in the safety position he’ll probably slide well into the 2nd round unless he has a lights out combine.

1. Boo Robinson NT Wake Forest At 6’2 340lbs, he’s probably the 2nd best pure NT in the draft there are some other good DTs but most will be pass rushing DTs as opposed to run stuffing NTs.

1. Jeff Byers OG USC He’ll slide in the draft due to his size (6’3 290lbs), but with his athleticism he’d be an almost perfect fit for our zone blocking scheme.

1. Charles Scott RB LSU He doesn’t have great speed but at about 5’10 and 230lbs he might finally be the hammer we need inside.

we need guards, and the top rated OG is rated as a early to mid 2nd round pick atm.