About 14 hours later, I straggle out of my draft-induced haze to discover that we actually have 9 new players on our roster and the time of talking about what the draft will bring is over. We can stop talking about the potential team and start refocusing our eye on what we have (and lack).
The plan here at BRB includes detailed look-ins at all of the picks eventually. if you missed them, DreKeem wrote up a piece on Kareem Jackson, Kerns officially divorced Bernard Pollard as his mancrush for Ben Tate, and BFD slaughtered many innocents in protest of Earl Mitchell.
My initial analysis of the picks follows the jump.
Jackson: Absolutely fine with the value of the pick and the player, yet extremely disappointed the Texans didn't take Dan Williams for reasons that I'm positive anyone who has visited this blog for more than the last two days understands.
Tate: Dig the pick, dig the player. The only guys on my board rated over him at the time of the trade back were Morgan Burnett and Terrence Cody. Lets be honest, there was no way we were taking Cody. Ergo, to move back and essentially pick up a free early fourth rounder after all the math is done was pretty smart.
Mitchell: I'm hopeful he can surprise us, but I think the game has changed to the point that you need someone big inside. I, like BFD, am also distrustful of Bill Kollar. This is my least favorite pick of all of them.
Darryl Sharpton: A sleeper at the WLB spot, where he has the motor and coverage skills that the Texans are looking for, if maybe not the instincts. He could beat out Zac Diles, and if not, he provides depth should DeMeco ever be forced from the game (like that will ever happen). This is our strongest sign yet that Xavier Adibi is on the roster bubble.
Garrett Graham: The important thing Graham brings to the team is that in addition to his red zone skills, he's also supposedly a good blocker. A big part of the Texans struggles in the run game last year was that the team had problems running out of the two tight end sets. Between Owen Daniels' poor blocking, a down year from Joel Dreessen, rookie mistakes from James Casey, injury problems, and Anthony Hill, they were never able to properly establish the run out of that 2 TE set. That is a big factor in the Kubiak offense. Graham also might be a signal that between the multiple surgeries to Hill and Daniels, they aren't sure they can count on them for a full season. I like this pick a lot more than I did when it was announced.
Sherrick McManus: He seems to have terrific ball skills, if maybe not top quality speed. Some people were asking where the FS was, I think this might be the person you were looking for. Also, should you find yourself doubting why we hadn't picked someone like Myron Rolle or Donovan Warren, remember that the Texans should have earned your trust on small school DB's last year between Brice McCain and Glover Quin. This pick probably sealed Fred Bennett's fate.
Shelley Smith: I'm not as excited about this pick. I like that we tried to address the interior line, and he seems like a scheme fit, but we already had a subpar level of performance pretty much locked in at guard between Wade Smith, Antoine Caldwell, Mike Briesel, and Kasey Studdard. We needed someone with higher upside than this, in my mind. Time will tell and hopefully Rick Dennison saw good things in him, but I could take or leave this pick.
Trindon Holliday: This was a pretty stellar pick. Not only does it pave the way for Andre Davis to be released, but it also has the potential to free Jacoby Jones up for more work on offense and less on special teams. As someone who thinks Jacoby's offensive production is the x-factor of the 2010 season, I come down very much in favor of this.
Dorin Dickerson: I don't think he's a wide receiver, despite what Texans brass has said. I think that's just to get some local overreaction to the tight end insurgency under control. He's a mismatch; that's his position. He can't block enough to play tight end, but he's taller than any defensive back and quicker than most linebackers. Put it together and I think you have a really nice seventh round steal.
What do you think, BRB? Regrets? Kudos? I'd give us about a B/B- myself, noting that while I like most of the picks, the continued lack of beef in the middle of the interior line (either of them) scares the crap out of me.