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Now that the excitement for the draft has subsided, we are called on by the NFL Gods for the time-honored tradition of draft grades, not even 24 hours since the conclusion of the draft. These "experts" have DEADLINES, people! Who are we to ignore the singles of minutes it took for them to analyze all 32 teams' entire draft classes?
Let's take a tour of various media who have obviously spent at least seven minutes putting a grade on the Houston Texans 2016 NFL Draft Class, shall we? I'll also include a short excerpt from their analysis, but please visit their prospective sites for the full write-up.
Remember, these folks are on television - or at least on the internet - making theirs a voice that is something that is... on the internet?...and deserves?... your respect?... and attention?
Day 2: Houston filled a major hole at center with Martin, who is a good zone blocker who run-block grade ranked fifth in the class. He only gave up five hurries all of last season, good for a pass-blocking efficiency of 99.2 that ranked second in the class. Miller is an intriguing third-round pick, as he's dangerous with the ball in his hands (he forced eight missed tackles on just 28 catches) but has a lot of work to do as a route-runner.
Miller also will keep secondaries on their toes, especially if the Texans find ways to move him around in the formation. Ervin is a third-down back and special teams contributor who brings even more quickness to the table. Martin should be Brock Osweiler's starting center for years to come, and he wasn't that far removed in talent from Ryan Kelly, the Alabama center who went in Round 1.
Miller was, personally, one of my favorite players in the draft. He can be a special player if he continues to develop as a receiver. At running back they got a third round back that compliments Miller. He's a big play athlete who can break big plays.
Tania Ganguli, ESPN: "Thumbs Up"
Fourth-round pick Tyler Ervin is fast, too, with a 4.41 40-yard dash and quick times in other agility drills. A lack of speed hurt the Texans offense last season, and that shouldn't happen again with additions from this draft class and free agency.
Houston is clearly trying to do everything it can to help new starting quarterback Brock Osweiler. Notre Dame WR Will Fuller should stretch the field working opposite DeAndre Hopkins.
Third-day gem: Fifth-round safety KJ Dillon was overshadowed playing next to Karl Joseph at times, but he is a talent. The Texans were said to love Joseph, so they must have spent a lot of time watching West Virginia tape to come to this pick.
John McClain, Houston Chronicle: B+
The Texans went from having one of the slowest offenses to one of the fastest with receivers Will Fuller and Braxton Miller and running back Tyler Ervin.
Mel Kiper, ESPN: B+ (no excerpt, as this is behind the paywall)
Generally, a very positive reaction from the national folks on Houston's 2016 draft haul. That said, while looking through these grades, they were overwhelmingly more positive than negative for pretty much all teams. For instance, the individual team writers for ESPN (like Tania Ganguli above) did their grades based on "thumbs up" vs. "thumbs down". 30 of 32 teams received a "thumbs up" grade (sorry, Oakland & San Francisco).
Feel free to weigh in with your draft grades in the comments section below. You will almost certainly have more familiarity with the Texans' needs than most of those who handed these grades out.