Texans to weigh all options should they move up in the draft
If not for the trade that acquired offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil and former wide receiver Kenny Stills, the Houston Texans would have been picking No. 3 in this year’s NFL Draft.
Unless there is a significant trade involving disgruntled quarterback Deshaun Watson, the Texans’ first selection will come with the 67th overall pick in the third round. And for a team looking to begin a rebuild after a 4-12 season, missing out on the first 66 prospects is not an ideal situation.
The Texans can look to trade up in an attempt to improve their draft position, but not before weighing all of their options.
“When you look at the draft in general, there is a multitude of strategies that you can employ base on resource allocations,” first-year general manager Nick Caserio said during his pre-draft press conference Friday via Zoom. “A part of our draft preparation is to look at different scenarios and see how far we can move up [with] the resources we currently have in place.”
In total, the Texans are entering the 2021 NFL Draft with eight selections. The sixth round will be the Texans’ most active with picks No. 195th, No. 203 and No. 212.
“The most important thing is to always be prepared whenever you are scheduled to pick,” Caserio said. “If there is an opportunity to move up or down, we will be flexible and open-minded — making best use of the resources that we have. You try to weigh everything and make a good decision whenever you have to pick.”
In August 2019, the Texans obtained Tunsil, Stills and a fourth-round pick from the Miami Dolphins in exchange for two first-round picks, a second-round pick, Johnson Bademosi and Julien Davenport.
The San Francisco 49ers now own the No. 3 pick after a blockbuster trade with the Dolphins in March.
