2019 NFL Draft: Best Players Available After Round One

To summarize Thursday night: The draft broke perfectly for the Texans. The Jaguars took Josh Allen, Atlanta took Chris Lindstrom, Carolina took Brian Burns, and Minnesota took Garrett Bradbury. It looked like Houston would be able to pick between Andre Dillard and Jawaan Taylor, two of the best, if not the two best, offensive tackles in the 2019 NFL Draft. Then the Eagles gave up a fourth and a sixth to swap spots with the Baltimore Ravens and took Dillard ahead of Houston. There he’ll learn from Jason Peters as Philly teaches him how run block.

Damn. Well, at least Taylor is a really good all around tackle. He handled multiple first round picks last season, locking down Allen, Burns, and Montez Sweat. He could start at right tackle immediately.

Instead Houston took Senior Bowl darling and Alabama State superhero Tytus Howard. After failing to add offensive line talent this offseason, with Deshaun Watson on his rookie contract and with plenty of cap space, the Texans needed to find someone who could start at offensive tackle immediately. The team that has developed exactly one offensive lineman under Bill O’Brien took a developmental pick who they probably could have selected in the second round anyways.

Even if the Howard selection works out in two seasons, it’s a horrible pick today. The Texans need a starting tackle now. Howard can’t sit and learn. He needs to start right away and overtake either Seantrel Henderson at right or beat out Matt Kalil or Julien Davenport at left.

Anyways, there is still plenty of talent on the board whenever pick #33 comes up. The Texans have selections #54, #55, and #86 as of right now. Jawaan Taylor, Cody Ford, Dalton Risner, and Greg Little are still available if Houston wants to double dip at tackle. Greedy Williams, Rock Ya-Sin, Julian Love, Justin Layne, and Byron Murphy are left after Deandre Baker was the only cornerback selected in the first round. Eric McCoy and Connor McGovern are the top rated interior offensive linemen left. And there are other big names like D.K. Metcalf (WR), A.J. Brown (WR), Irv Smith (TE), and Deebo Samuel (WR) still around.

Expect for the Texans to grab a cornerback or two tomorrow night and maybe even another tackle.