Texans Down 'N Dirty: Mr. Irrelevant Edition

On Friday, the NFL announced the compensatory picks for the 2011 NFL Draft.  The Houston Texans were awarded the very last pick of the seventh round, otherwise known as "Mr. Irrelevant. " For those not familiar with the title, every year draft analysts hold a contest to guess who the very last person to be picked will be, and they call that man Mr. Irrelevant.  The name is a little misleading, as it makes it sound as if he was the last player picked in gym class, and it doesn't take into account the slew of undrafted free agents that get signed throughout the league.

Compensatory picks are determined by an unknown equation that takes into account the free agent(s) a team lost and those gained.  The Texans' only notable free agent lost was Dunta Robinson to the Falcons, and they gained Wade Smith from the Chiefs and Neil Rackers from the Cardinals.  John McClain of the Chronicle is on record saying that he thought the compensatory pick was going to be higher.  Several writers, including our very own Rivers McCown, were sure that it was going to be a seventh round pick.  Obviously, the NFL thought that Smith and Rackers were valuable editions despite the big deal Robinson signed in Atlanta.  For more links pertaining to the Texans, follow the jump.

The NFL Draft is now one month away, and speculation abounds.  Chris Watkins did a nice piece on taking the best player available philosophy at SB Nation Houston.

Gary Kubiak spoke at the annual owners meetings, and had some interesting things to say.  He definitely made it sound like the Texans would not take any offensive player early in the draft, and brought up an interesting question of whether Connor Barwin will play WOLB or SOLB.  My money is on WOLB, unless someone they like better falls to 11.

Some people think that that OLB may be Ryan Kerrigan.  Alan Burge doesn't sound like he likes the idea, and I know that I don't.  I get that the guy has an incredible motor, but why not draft someone with the athletic upside to warrant the pick, as there will be plenty available?

Stephanie Stradley thinks that everyone should go and vote for Chris Johnson to be on the next cover of Madden Football rather than Andre Johnson.  Do it.

I'm sorry that the links were MIA last week.  I was busy taking care of my new baby and his mother.  Also, I have a new job writing for Bleacher Report.  I know the reputation that the site has, but they have made an effort to hire selected writers for team coverage.  I won't be plugging my articles over there regularly, but I thought I would make a general announcement in case anyone was interested in reading my stuff over there.  You can find my author profile here, and you can always follow me on twitter (@JakeBRB) where I post all of my articles once their written.  Thanks a lot for the support.