What Schools Produce The Players On The Texans’ Roster?

Predicting the Texans’ drafting pattern has been all but impossible. That isn’t to say they don’t favour certain players from certain schools more than others, just like many teams around the NFL. Alabama and Ohio State have a lot of players drafted because those teams are often in high pressure/high profile games that NFL teams like to scout to see how certain players react. That, and those schools also tend to be stupidly talented. What’s worth asking, however, is just how much the Texans value where their talent comes from. So today we’re going to break down the entire 90 man roster and see where the Texans get their talent from.

• Naturally, the “Power Five” conferences are where most of the NFL’s talent come from. The Texans’ roster is no different, with 61 of the 90 roster spots occupied by players from a team in one of those big conferences.
• The Big 10 has the distinction of producing the most Texans, with a grand total of 17, beating out the SEC (14) and the PAC-12 (13). The Big 12 makes up the smallest amount of the Texans’ current contingent from the “Power Five” with only 5 roster members.
• No single college has more than four players on the Texans’ current’ roster, with Michigan State, Clemson, Oregon, and Illinois all having the most.
• Since Rick Smith took over in 2007, the Texans have selected four players from the ACC in the first round. That’s the most of any of “Power Five” conference.
• Ohio State and Alabama make up a large chunk of the NFL’s total population, but on the Texans, they are a minority, with only one player from each school.
• Of the nine defensive players who played more than 60% of the team’s snaps in 2016, five were from the SEC.
• Since the introduction of the College Football Playoffs in 2014, the Texans have had twenty draft selections. Only four of those have played in the College Football Playoffs. Of those four, three of them were on championship-winning teams. There is another member of the Texans’ 90 man roster who played in the College Football Playoffs but wasn’t drafted—Tony Washington, who played in the 2014-2015 playoffs for Oregon.

It’s rather interesting to consider these facts. For example, the SEC is clearly the place the Texans frequent whenever they want to get defensive talent. The Big 12 is clearly the place the Texans don’t really want to go at all. What else stands out about these numbers to you?