Mike took care of the possibility of a trade up yesterday, so let me go over what happens if the Texans stay put.
Judging from the recent slew of mock drafts, it looks likely that the Texans will wind up with their two main options at No. 11 being Nebraska CB Prince Amukamara and Missouri LB Aldon Smith. California defensive end Cameron Jordan or Wisconsin DE J.J. Watt seem to be potential fallback or under the radar choices.
Lance Zierlein's Draft Twitter feed provided a wealth of knowledge yesterday, as we learned that Smith was probably in the drivers seat:
Texans said to be deciding between Quinn, Smith and Amukamara, but Quinn will be gone. Amukamara the safer player. If it is Amukamara, I still expect Texans to try and add a veteran CB and move Quin to safety. Was told by one Texans source "You'll hear Prince Amukamara's name with us, but I don't see it happening."
Later reports by Evan Silva of NBCSports and Rotoworld added more smoke to the Smith rumors by affirming that the Texans were "locked in" on the Missouri linebacker.
So here's my poll for you, Texans fans. I know there are people out there who would prefer Jordan or Watt. That's fine, and I respect you guys for that, but I want to put that aside for a bit. If it comes down to Prince Amukamara or Aldon Smith, which one do you want at 11? My quickie explanation behind the jump:
For me, it's Amukamara all the way. Not only because I really dislike Smith's chances of contributing right away, but also because should Zierlein's scenario unfold where the Texans added Prince AND a veteran corner, the Texans would actually be on their way to making defensive back a position of strength. If Kareem Jackson is terrible again next year, for instance, the Texans would have players with a chance to actually play well (i.e. Amukamara) behind him.
Should Brandon Harris not fall to the Texans second round pick, I don't think there are any corners of Amukamara's status that make it to 42. Whereas I count three or four different possible players who could be there at 42 who I think at least have a good chance of outproducing Smith right away.