2021 NFL Mock Draft: The Houston Texans Select...

In just nine short days, the 2021 NFL Draft begins. While your Houston Texans don’t currently own a first day or second round pick because they sent their first and second rounders to the Miami Dolphins in the Laremy Tunsil trade, they do own the 67th overall selection.

Houston went a nearly unprecedented seventeen straight seasons with a future Hall of Famer as their #1 wide receiver. That all came to an end when Jack Easterby and Bill O’Brien traded DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals for a bag of cactus candy and a tourist map to Yukon Cornelius’ buried gold.

As it stands right now, speedster Brandin Cooks is the best pass catcher on the team. Houston also has major uncertainty under center. However, no matter who lines up at quarterback, that player will need some options to throw to in order to matriculate the ball down the field.

Enter USC phenom and Pro Day workout warrior Amon-Ra St. Brown. With mock draft season in full effect, several mockers have Amon-Ra wearing Battle Red.

Sports Illustrated

The Texans, having robbed themselves of premium picks by virtue of habitually lopsided trades, are in the unenviable position of not choosing until pick No. 67 (third round). Even more unsettled is their QB dilemma centered around the gifted-but-beleaguered Deshaun Watson. And of course, J.J. Watt is gone as well. Houston probably wishes it could get a do-over; instead, new general manager Nick Caserio will be overseeing a start-over.

The pick: WR Amon-Ra St. Brown, USC

Amon-Ra:

Slow feet don’t eat!

“Slot-Alignment Receiver with great body control, high-point ability, toughness.”

During his three year, 31 game career at USC, St. Brown caught 178 passes for 2,270 yards and 16 touchdowns—including four in one quarter. His longest catch went for 95 yards. The son of a professional weightlifter, St. Brown’s older brother, Equanimeous St. Brown, plays for the Green Bay Packers; his other brother, Osiris, plays for the Stanford Cardinal.

Often praised for putting in the work, St. Brown would fit well in the Houston Texans “lunch pail” culture. NFL.com ran a great piece on Amon-Ra yesterday; you can read the whole thing here. An excerpt:

At USC, St. Brown was an immediate starter as a five-star recruit, overtaking veterans on the depth chart with a team-high 60 catches his freshman season. He punctuated his three-year college career with four touchdowns in a single quarter against Washington State last December — on a slant, a deep ball, a jet sweep and, finally, a fade.

Houston has gone long enough without a future Hall of Fame wide receiver on the roster. Could Amon-Ra be the next one? What do you think?