Houston Texans Projected to Secure the First Overall Pick in the 2022 NFL Draft

The Texans exploded from Cal McNair’s womb in 2002. The NFL granted Houston an expansion team to bring the total number of teams to 32, nice and square and comfy, and giving back to Houston what Bud Adams once took away. Houston was awarded the first overall pick to start their team. They selected David Carr. Since then, one of the few things that has remained true about this franchise, is they are great at getting to first overall. They selected David Carr in 2002, Mario Williams in 2006, and Jadeveon Clowney in 2014. You can’t count on them to win big games, but you can count on them to lose the ones that matter most.

Here we are, eight years later, and the Texans are preparing for another season, that will keep us at the bottom we are accustomed to. The Texans have a shoddy roster, that is shoddy and old, and is currently held hostage by their former franchise quarterback. It’s going to be like last year, like 2013, and like 2005, the good old days.

ESPN recently published their projections for the 2022 NFL Season. They, of course, have the Texans projected to pick number one overall with a 24% chance.

1. Houston Texans

Projected record: 5-12

Average draft position: 5.2

FPI chance to earn No. 1 pick: 24%

FPI chance to earn top-five pick: 66.3%

Stat to know: David Culley takes over as head coach for the Texans. At 65, Culley will be the oldest coach at the time of his head-coaching debut in NFL history, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Culley spent the past two seasons as the Ravens’ passing game coordinator. Over that span, Baltimore ranked 31st in passing yards per game (186.4), ahead of only the Jets.

They also published each team’s ceiling and floor for this season. If everything breaks perfectly they’re going 7-10.

Ceiling: 7-10 | Floor: 3-14

Biggest variable: Does new coach David Culley have the ability to turn this team — which is expected more to have a top-five pick in the draft than make the playoffs — into a group that rallies together and is able to rebound from a four-win season? It will be a tough task for the Texans to get to seven wins, especially without QB Deshaun Watson, and much will depend on whether this new roster built with a mindset of rebuilding the culture can actually work right away. — Sarah Barshop

This is what we are accustomed to. This is the usual and the typical. The only solace for this season is they finally have their first round pick, after Bill O’Brien mortgaged it for a pass protecting left tackle. Sit on the crapper for Rattler. Raze is it down and start the rebuild. A top five pick is the most important thing we have to look forward to.