Texans comfortably at No. 32 in USA TODAY’s NFL power rankings
The Houston Texans haven’t done much to improve their situation as one of the bottom-tiered teams in the NFL.
According to USA TODAY, the Texans’ five-man draft class did not help their place in the latest NFL power rankings. The 4-12 AFC South club from a season ago saw no change in the rankings.
32. Texans (Previous: 32): For a team with so many questions, new GM Nick Caserio somehow managed to create more during the draft … while predictably sidestepping meaningful answers to any of them.
Of course, even though the placement is fair, the assessment isn’t entirely accurate.
How many questions did Caserio really open up over a draft weekend that saw the team unable to make its first selection until Round 3 at No. 67 overall? The best quarterback prospects from the draft were already off the board by that point. Picking that late into the top-100, the Texans would be fortunate just to find a player who could be a solid starter throughout the term of his rookie contract.
What “meaningful answers” could the Texans even cultivate with their pick selection? Albeit they had eight picks coming into the draft, the majority of them were on day three. Houston would have been picking up developmental or special teams contributors for 2021 at that point in the draft. Even if they technically addressed a roster need with a seventh-round pick, that player may not be the answer in 2021 to give the Texans any competitive advantage.
Caserio took the route Bill O’Brien took in 2020, the first draft after the Laremy Tunsil trade: focus all the picks into targeted selections to bring players with the right mindset to change the culture. For a perennial playoff contender, that was a bad approach. For a team rebuilding with a new coach, that may be a viable course of action.
