Touchdown Wire mocks Texans taking Oregon DE Kayvon Thibodeaux with 2022 No. 1 overall pick
What if the Houston Texans selected an edge defender with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft? It could either be the year 2006 or the year 2014, which means also that either Gary Kubiak or Bill O’Brien is about to take the reins on the sidelines.
According to Mark Schofield from the Touchdown Wire, that is precisely what the Texans do with the No. 1 overall pick the 2022 NFL draft. Instead of taking a look at Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler or North Carolina’s Sam Howell, the Texans take Oregon defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux.
Certainly if the Houston Texans indeed select first-overall in the 2022 NFL draft, there is a chance that the quarterback situation — or more specifically the Deshaun Watson legal situation — necessitates that Nick Caserio address the quarterback position.
Assuming that is not the case, and the involved parties are all entitled to their day in court, then Caserio likely goes in a different direction. Things can certainly change, but Oregon pass rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux looks like the real deal with his technical skills and explosiveness off the edge.
For Houston to even pass up on upgrading the quarterback position would have to mean that either someone emerged out of the three-man group of Tyrod Taylor, Ryan Finley, or Davis Mills as a viable starter for the near future, or that the situation with Deshaun Watson amicably resolved. Either of those outcomes is unlikely in 2021.
Part of why the Texans went with Mario Williams in 2006 and Jadeveon Clowney in 2014 was due to the anemic quarterback class. While Vince Young and Jay Cutler were Pro Bowlers in their careers, they weren’t exactly can’t-miss prospects the way Watson was in 2017. The 2014 quarterback class had decent late-first prospects in Teddy Bridgewater and Derek Carr, but they weren’t worthy of the No. 1 overall pick.
If the 2022 quarterback class is similarly anemic, that would be the only plausible reason to take an edge defender — again — at No. 1 overall. Otherwise, Houston needs to use their premium resources to complete the great reset at quarterback.
