2017 Houston Texans’ Draft & OTA Review

The Texans were in the playoffs last year after three 9-7 seasons and if they had a consistent quarterback, chances are they would have beaten New England in Foxboro and the Texans would have been in the Super Bowl. Oh “if its and buts were candy and nuts we’d all have a Merry Christmas”. Tom Savage knows the system and Brock Osweiler was jettisoned to Cleveland. Savage is the guy until the 12th pick in the first round, Deshaun Watson is ready to go. The Texans have been aggressive trying to fill the quarterback position and they traded up from number 25 with the Browns to get their guy. Watson has been inconsistent throwing pass routes down the field in OTAs. The former Clemson All- America looked sharp in goal-line drills making decisions and cutting the ball loose quickly. Did his best work between the hash marks. Watson has been throwing well on bootleg and waggle routes. Zach Cunningham impressed observers in OTAs by manning up on second year speedster Tyler Ervin and covered him like a blanket. Most likely the ex-Commodore will be a backup to starter Benardrick McKinney and often injured Brian Cushing. Cunningham took advantage of Cushing’s absence at OTAs and flourished in the extra reps. D’Onta Foreman brings a mixture of size and speed to the Texans’ running back position. The 2016 college rushing leader has dropped 16 pounds which helped his quickness in OTAs. The one-year starter is a tackleto- tackle runner with good finish speed, especially for his size. He has been working on learning the offense, his blocking, and catching the ball out of the backfield. Foreman missed rookie mini-camp and one week of OTAs with hamstring issues. Julie’n Davenport was drafted with the idea he may be able to take over the right tackle spot from Derek Newton. Newton has struggled since signing his new deal in 2015, but Davenport is going to have to make a meteoric leap to get on the field this season. Davenport continued to play high in OTAs with inconsistent knee bend. A raw athletic talent. Carlos Watkins joins former Clemson line mate DJ Reader in the Houston front. Reader is projected to take Vince Wilfork’s nose tackle spot and Watkins will fill the defensive spot Reader vacated and also play a 3-4 defensive end. Watkins excels at pushing the pocket so he may also get reps at nose tackle. He is tough to move and can be disruptive versus the run. Treston Decoud is the tallest defensive back on the Houston roster and his length comes in handy as a press corner. Practice by practice, his footwork on the line of scrimmage has improved. He closes quickly for an angular corner. Not afraid to mix it up on run support which gives him a shot at safety as well as corner. Kyle Fuller is an athletic offensive lineman who played for four years in a spread offensive system and is in the process of learning new terminology and line calls. A developmental talent who needs more functional anchor strength. Most likely headed to the practice squad barring injury from Nick Martin and Greg Mancz. GRADE: ABOVE AVERAGE.

FREE AGENCY: Tight end Ryan Griffin was re-signed to a three year deal totaling 3+ million in guaranteed money. The Texans only laid out 3.2 million in guaranteed money in 2017.

NOTABLE UNDRAFTED COLLEGE FREE AGENTS: Dare Ogunbowale (Wisconsin) RB, Dylan Cole (Missouri State) IB, Matthew Godin (Michigan) DT, and Dayon Pratt (East Carolina) OB.

This entry was posted in 2017 NFL Draft, Houston Texans and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink.

Comments are closed.