HOUSTON – COUNTDOWN TO THE NFL DRAFT
As I write this early on Thursday we are now one week away from the start to the NFL Draft. How are you feeling about the Texans and what direction they may go? Nervous or confident they will get it right?
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In DeMeco and Nick do you trust? I definitely believe the buzz for this team is back in our city for the first time in a while. Yes the rebuilding project continues into Phase Two, but if they can hit on a few of these picks next week that progress can ramp up more than you think.
You with me?
The Texans have 12 picks as of now, although that can easily change with trades between now and next Thursday April 27 through the end of the draft late Saturday afternoon.
Let’s now take a look at where the Texans sit with regards to upcoming draft picks.
Texans Draft position:
Round 1, Pick 2
Round 1, Pick 12 (from CLE)
Round 2, Pick 33
Round 3, Pick 65
Round 3, Pick 73 (from CLE)
Round 4, Pick 104
Round 5, Pick 161 (from DAL)
Round 6, Pick 188 (from NYG)
Round 6, Pick 201 (from MIN)
Round 6, Pick 203 (from NO)
Round 7, Pick 230 (from TB)
Round 7, Pick 259*
The big news from this week has been the media session from Texans GM Nick Caserio. He held court for 30 minutes and began by clarifying the bogus reports locally and national that he was exiting. As we told you on Click2Houston.com, there was no truth to the reports and Caserio was not going anywhere.
Here are some of his top quotes from Monday’s news conference:
Opening Statement
“Exciting time for the organization, for the city, for a lot of people involved. We think we’ve had a fairly productive spring to this point. I think everybody is excited about the opportunity next week to add players to our team. I think before we move forward with anything, just a few thank-yous, I think, are in order.
“Anytime you do something of this magnitude, there are a lot of people that are involved in that process from the beginning. As far back as -- let’s call it last August, last June being last May, I think we’ve had a really, I would say productive and collaborative effort this spring between scouting staff and the coaching staff. Even with the changes that have taken place on the coaching front, we’ve had really a lot of constructive discussions with everybody involved. This process isn’t about one person. It’s not about one player. It’s a collective effort, and that’s our mindset organizationally.
“Before we take any questions, quite frankly I’m also embarrassed that I have to say anything. I feel like Leonardo DiCaprio in ‘The Wolf of Wall Street.’ I’m not leaving. There has never been any substantive discussions of the sort. Grateful and appreciative of the opportunity that my family and I have here in Houston. We understood when we arrived, when we got here, that there was a lot of work to be done, and I think when you look across the NFL landscape there is work to be done in every organization. I think we’ve made some progress. We still have a lot of work in front of us. Certainly it’s been a joy to work with DeMeco (Ryans) in concert as we build the team and continue to build the staff. Unfortunately, I think this time of year, there is a lot of information and a lot of topics that are discussed. Some are more accurate than others, and I think it transcends multiple landscapes. I’m honestly almost embarrassed that I have to say anything, but I feel like I have an obligation to make that statement.”
How important is it to get your quarterback issues solved?
“Yeah, I think there are a lot of different ways to go through the team. We’ll look at everything. I think DeMeco (Ryans) made some comments, I want to say he spoke last Monday or something like that and was asked some questions. We want to have a good football team. I think building a team is the most important thing. How that all comes together, there is always multiple moving parts, so we’ll do whatever we think is best for our team and try to make good decisions. The goal so to try to make good decisions over the course of time. Next opportunity is next Thursday night, so we’ll continue the team-building process and build on some of the things we’ve done here in the spring.”
I know you’re obviously not going to tell us what position you’re looking to draft or who you’re going to draft, but are there a couple positions as you enter the draft where you’re like, these are our biggest needs?
“I think we’ve been pretty consistent from the beginning that we just want to try to add good football players. You know, if you look at where we are as a team here today, I think we have 69, 70 players on the team. If we had to go out there and play a game today I think we would be able to field a team and put a team out there. We’re always trying to add players throughout the course of the draft that we think are going to help us in some capacity. I would say some players are going to be more right than others to participate. There is going to be competition, regardless of who we draft, and those players are going to have to earn their role and kind of find their niche on the team.
“So going back to what I said a little bit earlier, we’ve had a lot of very constructive substantive discussions with the coaching staff, with the offensive staff, with the defensive staff, factor in the kicking game, identify different pods and different I would say groups of players, and then you have to look at where is the likelihood of us being able to add these players to the roster, and they’re probably going to come at different points in the draft. One thing I think we’ve learned, that I’ve learned in 23 whatever it is years in the league, is good football players can come in a lot of different areas, a lot of different parts of the draft.
“As a matter of fact, I was reading an article the other day about the first round. You start to look at even going back to 2020 and some of the fifth-year options and some of those I would say players. I mean, again, not that the draft is a coin flip, but the draft is a coin flip. Our philosophy and goal is to try and make good decisions, get the right players with the right traits and characteristics, bring them into our building, simulate them to our culture, and then the competition bear itself out in terms of who is going to play. We don’t have to play a game until September, so we have a lot of work in front of us. There will be plenty of opportunities, plenty of players to prove that they’ve earned the role that they deserve to have.”
You denied that report that you’re leaving, but do you know where that kind of thinking originated from?
“You guys know more than I do. Again, I mean, my first inclination -- people are reaching out to me last week. and I’m like literally laughing. So I can’t speak for anybody else other than myself. So, I mean, again, like maybe you can do some digging on that. I mean, my focus is on the draft, the team, the people in this building. It’s on the coaching staff. My responsibility is to the people that are here.”
Do you feel like you have flexibility with the draft because of the free agents you’ve added?
“I think to your point, I think we’ve created some optionality in a multitude of ways, so we’re fairly well positioned the first, four, five picks in the first 75. Then we have a pick at the top the fourth round, actually a pretty valuable pick. So between that grouping of picks where we’re positioned, there probably will be some movement up or down through the course of the draft.
“So what we try to do in free agency is just add players we feel are good football players that we think can help our football team in some capacity, that are the right players, right fit for what we want to be and how we want to play. So we really won’t know the answer to the question about how that’s all going to go, but I would say right now we feel pretty good about where we are. We just want to try to continue to add good players with the right traits and characteristics to the building and just to build on some of the things we’re trying to do.”
Ok, that was the highlight statements from Nick Caserio and the work continues at NRG. Keep it locked in with us here at KPRC 2, KPRC 2+ and Click2Houston.com through the next week and through the draft for all of your Houston Texans draft coverage!
See all of you at Miller Outdoor Theatre Thursday night! Join us for our live coverage at 4 p.m., 5 p.m., and 6 p.m., as well as our LIVE special at 6:30 p.m. on KPRC 2+!