When doing the MtD Live Mock with theNightOwl the first time, it seemed to me that (just like every year) a ton of "Top 20 talent" was ending up closer to the 2nd round. Which, in turn, pushes a lot of talent into the 2nd and 3rd rounds. This made me think about how the Texans might be able to get a lot of value for our minimal needs with minimal 7th round filler.

When I began to try to explain a "general strategy" that I was considering the Texans applying on draft day, it was too difficult to explain with so many variables. So, to make it easy I just made a couple of fake trades to show the overall goal of this approach.

Step 1 - Houston trades #26 to Buffalo for picks #41 & #72 (or if the team has a later pick maybe would could pry a 2013 1st rounder)

Step 2 - Houston trades #122 (4th), #154 (5th) and a 2013 4th rounder for pick #95 (3rd)

Final Picking Spots

2nd round-

#41

#58

3rd round

#72

#90

#95

6th round

#186

7th round

#218

After the jump I did a mock draft at these picks to give an idea of the value that can be had in this range.

#41 - Stephen Hill WR GT (or your personal fav 2nd tier WR)

#58- Kelechi Osemele OG Iowa State

#72- Bruce Irvin OLB West Virginia

#90- Derek Wolfe DT Nebraska

#95- Nick Jean-Baptise NT Baylor

#186- Bobby Rainey RB Western Kentucky (or your personal fav PR/KR specialist)

#218- Case Keenum (I like him as a cheap QB3 but fill this with whoever you want)

So? What do ya think?