Houston Texans Mock Draft Roundup 4.0

Young's small frame and shoulder injury during the 2022 season are concerns, but his field vision and anticipation skills are elite. New Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans also starred for the Alabama Crimson Tide.

He's not J.J. Watt Jr., but Van Ness has decent strength and excellent growth potential, bringing a hockey-enforcer mentality to Houston's defense. Despite not starting for the Hawkeyes, Van Ness has borderline-elite burst for his frame.

After two seasons of Davis Mills doing his best to keep the Houston Texans offense on schedule, it's clear the team needs a new direction at the most important position. Bryce Young features the intangibles and playmaking instincts necessary to be a dynamic quarterback in the NFL.

As the Texans continue to execute a slow rebuild, finding foundational pieces of the roster is essential for them to turn the corner. Bryan Bresee faced his share of adversity in college and has the makeup of a player that can be part of a team's nucleus in the NFL. He has plenty of dominant flashes and features a balanced skill set against the run and pass.

Go ahead and pick your quarterback of choice here. Sticking with one basic belief — Levis is going to destroy the offseason workouts as he grows into the possible No. 1 overall pick.

Assuming Houston doesn't trade away picks to move up to the 1, and assuming it goes with a quarterback with its first selection, here's the shot to get a potentially elite safety valve receiver.

The debate as to who QB1 will be might end up being something that gets decided just minutes before Commissioner Roger Goodell takes the stage. Stroud might be a slightly safer pick after a masterful performance in his final game and with better measurables than Young.

There are no shortage of issues with the defense in Houston, which means they could go just about any direction with this pick. Murphy has a high motor and a huge amount of upside, which should make him a great selection for the incoming coaching staff looking for a building block in the trenches.

By the same logic as Chicago above, Houston has options. There's no guarantee the Texans take a quarterback at No. 2 (even if they absolutely still need a franchise QB). The Texans have the best haul of draft capital available and they're incredibly young as a team, so they could wait until next year if they want. Young, however, is a mature leader with a strong football IQ. He'd be tough to pass up if he slips past the top spot.

Dane had Carolina moving up for Stroud and, perhaps, that's true north for the Panthers: whatever it takes to get a starting QB. If that's not possible or doesn't come to pass, the next item on the agenda might be receiver. In this draft, No. 9 could be too high to address that position.

So, instead, Carolina trades back here and Houston moves up for Skoronski, who can play guard and tackle and probably do so for a really long time in front of Young. And the Texans still would have a bucket of picks left.

The big question Young faces his draft season is his size. There are already reports that he is looking to weigh around 210 pounds at the Scouting Combine, and his height will be highly scrutinized as well. On the field, Young is accurate, athletic, and has the ability to quickly work through reads and break a defense down with his mind.

In this scenario, the Texans draft Bryce Young at the top of the board.

Now they add someone to protect him.

Johnson slid to left tackle for the 2022 season after spending the 2021 campaign as the Buckeyes' starting right guard. He settled into the role with ease, perhaps not a surprise given that he was a five-star recruit as a tackle. Johnson has the athleticism and footwork to handle life on the left side in the NFL and can mix up his pass sets to keep opposing pass rushers off-balance.

Bryce Young might be historically undersized by successful NFL QB standards, but we don't care. He's been that good for Alabama, dragging that team to victory just about every week. And he did it with none of the playmakers who made life so much easier for Tua Tagovailoa and Mac Jones in previous years.

Jordan Addison isn't a big target, but he's one of the most dynamic players in the country who can line up anywhere. The Texans drafted their QB of the future second overall, and now they give him an explosive playmaker. The only question is whether Addison or Quentin Johnston will be WR1. Two different body types, two different playing styles -- both dominant.

In my first 2023 mock draft, I had the Texans selecting Young at the top. I have the same here a month later, but it will cost Houston a bit more this time. ESPN's Todd McShay recently said he believes the Texans will do "everything they can" to get up to No. 1, a spot they held until the final week of the season. It'll cost them more than one might expect due to a potential bidding war with the likes of the Colts, Raiders, Panthers and others looking to move up for a quarterback. But the Texans can boast that their offer allows the Bears to still get any defensive player they want. Plus, they have two first-round picks in each of the next two drafts.

Of course, such a move would be for a quarterback, and there is no better quarterback in this class than Bryce Young, who earned elite PFF grades of 92.2 and 91.0 in back-to-back seasons.

Let me just start by admitting that this year's wide receiver class is not comparable to last year's. No matter who you ask, if you wanted to know where the top receiver in 2023 would rank versus the 2022 list, you wouldn't find many, if any, who would say their WR1 would crack the top five.

However, that doesn't mean this class lacks receivers who could help a team's passing attack, and the 6-foot-4, 215-pound Quentin Johnston is one of them. He's a good vertical receiver who can provide plenty of explosive plays. Plus, he moves well for a bigger receiver and is dynamic enough to rack up yards after the catch. The Texans' pass-catching group looks barren right now, especially if Brandin Cooks remains disgruntled. They'd need all the help they can get.

Houston just fired coach Lovie Smith, and the franchise's clear offseason priority has to be upgrading at the quarterback position. Davis Mills really struggled in his second season as the Texans' offense was among the league's worst in several statistical categories. With two top-12 picks in this draft, they have to get quality starters as they continue their rebuild.

I see Stroud as the best fit here as the Texans could get their pick of the top passers. He's extremely accurate, can make every throw and has excellent touch at every level of the field. I usually don't put much stock into a single game evaluation, but Stroud's performance in the narrow loss to Georgia in the College Football Playoff semifinals showed me something. He was spectacular against an elite defense, carving up the Bulldogs with his arm and using his legs to maneuver the pocket and find receivers. Houston still has several needs, but it should start with Stroud. I have Stroud just barely behind Will Levis (Kentucky) and Bryce Young (Alabama) in my rankings, but Stroud gets the nod here because of how he would fit.

I gave the Texans their quarterback of the future with the No. 2 pick, and general manager Nick Caserio should go with the best prospect on his board with this selection, which was acquired in the Deshaun Watson trade. Don't get picky and try to plug a hole -- this roster has to improve in several spots. Van Ness is a versatile and productive defender who made an impact at end and tackle for the Hawkeyes, even as he never actually started a game. He had 13.5 sacks over the past two seasons, 9.5 from the interior and four from the edge. NFL teams covet that sort of positional flexibility. He would get lots of early snaps for Houston.

Despite the concerns around Young's size, the Texans opt for the most polished passer in the draft.

Checking in at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds (school measurements), the super-sized speedster is a natural WR1 with big-play potential.

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