FanPost

Your First Texans NFL Draft Discussion Thread -- It Must Be January Soon

There'll be a lot of draft coverage coming up later in the offseason, but for now lets just have a little fanpost thread for all of it.

As of Week 16, the Texans are slotted at #8. They can be as high as #2, and if they win, could be as low as #13. Lotta parity among the non-playoff teams this year. Either way, it's a premium pick for Houston.

These are my opening thoughts on the first round pick, should we choose to keep it:

- If Patrick Peterson is on the board, I think we have to take him first and foremost and worry about the youth at CB later. I just see him as a superlative prospect, and one of the two surefire guys coming out (with Luck being the other). I don't think he and the other first round CB's grade anywhere close to each other.

-There are a lot of high round defensive tackles this year: that seems to be the best match of need and talent on the board for the Texans. I know a lot of people are big on Nick Fairley and Marcell Dareus. I prefer Stephen Paea because he's more of a pure nose tackle, and if we've established anything, it's that nose tackles : BRB "braintrust" :: feet : Rex Ryan. Your mileage may vary.

-The position of most need for the Texans, safety, really isn't represented this high by anybody unless you want to pick Peterson and move him there...which some scouts have suggested.

- If the Texans are stuck in their slot and Peterson and the tackles are off the board, one place I like the talent/need matchup for the Texans is at WR. If A.J. Green leaves for the draft, it'll be him, Julio Jones, and possibly Justin Blackmon as Top 15 caliber picks. If the Texans dump Jacoby Jones, they will need another receiver, and this could re-invigorate the offense and burn teams for playing too close to Andre Johnson.

-Another area where talent and need could intersect might be outside linebacker. I think the Texans think highly enough of Darryl Sharpton that he's probably earned his way into the reps next season, but between DeMeco Ryans, Sharpton, and Brian Cushing's fall off this year, there is enough uncertainty there for me to consider it an area that needs solidifying. In this case, players like Akeem Ayers, Travis Lewis, and maybe Von Miller (though I think he's more of a 3-4 OLB) would make sense.

- Positions I wouldn't spend a first round pick on: QB (barring Luck being available, which he shouldn't), RB, FB, TE (har-har!), DE, MLB, non-Peterson CB, K, P.

But that's just my cursory first look. Your thoughts BRB? Don't rush, we've got a long winter to debate this.