Texans Gearing Up For Massive Haul In 2022 NFL Draft

Last week, Mighty Matt Weston detailed ESPN’s projections for the 2022 NFL Draft, with your Houston Texans believed to have the inside track in securing the #1 spot. While they’ll have to vie with the Detroit Lions, New York Jets and a few other bottom feeders for the best of the worst, if Houston can manage to not screw up losing, when Roger Goodell takes the podium to announce who’s on the clock on April 28th, the Texans should be sitting pretty for a rebuild.

You can’t make an omelet without breaking a few eggs.

One of the things the New England Patriots are known for is “The Patriot Way.” It’s a selfless, team-first culture that’s paid massive dividends for the Boston based franchise, including 9 Super Bowl appearances, with 6 victories, in the last 20 years. Stories of players coming in and failing to embrace this culture usually come to light after a player finds himself an ex-Patriot. It’s easy to see this is exactly what former Patriots staffer, now Houston Texans general manager, Nick Caserio is building here in H-Town (re: Patriots South).

Caserio:

I’ll probably put my foot in my mouth for saying this, but it’s not as much outcome-oriented as process-oriented, and that’s what we’re trying to do and build. What we’re trying to do is create a foundational culture where we have players who are tough-minded, who are selfless, who are going to work hard every day, and they’re going to compete their ass off. That’s what we’re trying to do. How does that manifest itself on a field on Sunday? That’s going to be about execution and how we play.

This is probably a key undercurrent of the whole “Competition” mantra Caserio and head coach David Culley have been spewing since the offseason began.

According to Mark Lane of Texans Wire (who is continually delivering some of the best Texans content of 2021, BTW), the Texans currently have 7 picks heading into next year’s draft.

The Texans potentially have 3 picks in the Top 100 of the 2022 NFL Draft:

Round 1 - #1 overall (?)

Round 2 - #33 overall (?)

Round 3 - #65 overall (?)

All of these ire the Texans’ original picks.

Round 4 - no pick

Round 5 - no pick

Round 6 - original pick

Round 6 - Green Bay Packers pick acquired in trade for Randall Cobb

Round 6 - New York Jets pick acquired in trade for Shaq Lawson

Round 7 - Dallas Cowboys pick acquired in trade for Eli Ankou

Draft picks the Texans had and traded away:

Round 4 - traded to Carolina Panthers in 2021 to move up and take Nico Collins

Round 5 - traded to Chicago Bears to acquire Anthony Miller

Round 7 - traded to Green Bay Packers for Ka’Dar Hollman

From what we’ve seen of Nick Caserio to date, odds are this list will look very different when next April rolls around, particularly if the Texans find a suitable trade partner for Deshaun Watson. Based on current rumors, expect the Texans to add at least one first round pick, if not a #1 and a #2 in 2022 if Watson is moved.

If they can just stay the course and not let the Lions, Jets, or a dark horse team out-lose them, the future could look very bright indeed.