If you have listened to Texans general manager Nick Caserio, then you are very familiar with what BPA means.
Best Player Available.
And if you believe Caserio, that is the exact mission the Texans are on to find as the seven-round NFL Draft kicks off today and lasts through Saturday. Regardless of need, Caserio’s public stand is that the Texans will draft the best player available based on the grading system.
“The draft is the draft. We’ll grade the players,” Caserio said. “Ultimately, we’ll take the best football players, regardless of the position. That’s what we’ve always done. That’s not going to change this year relative to previous years. We’re a ‘BPA’ team.”
But for a Texans team that has glaring needs in the trenches of the defensive and offensive lines and depth in the secondary, what does that really mean? The reality is that the Texans will likely draft the best available players at those positions, beginning with their first pick of the night at No. 28 in the first round.
The only position the Texans aren’t evaluating and are up front about not caring about the BPA is at quarterback because they recently picked up C.J. Stroud’s fifth year and are intent on staying the course.
So the strong likelihood with the Texans’ first pick is to think offensive or defensive line.
Think Georgia defensive tackle Christen Miller. Think Alabama offensive tackle Kaydn Proctor. Think Oregon guard Emmanuel Pregnon. Think Arizona State offensive tackle Max Iheanachor.
These four players fit the Texans’ most glaring needs in the trenches along the offensive and defensive lines.
No doubt the Texans addressed their offensive line needs in free agency with the acquisitions of tackle Braden Smith, guard Wyatt Teller, and center/guard Evan Brown. But players like Proctor, Pregnon, and Iheanachor help build depth and plan for the future more cost-effectively.
Along the defensive line, Miller seems like he would be a good catch to pair alongside Sheldon Rankins in the interior of the defensive line, with defensive ends Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter bringing the heat from the outside. Miller seems more sensible and is definitely more economical than the recent rumors that the Texans might be in play for Giants defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence, who comes with a king’s ransom of player and draft equity, not to mention salary.
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans, however, insists that the goal of the draft is to improve at all positions. So the key is to stay flexible at all positions.
“That’s how we keep it open for the draft. I don’t think there is just one particular area where we’re going in saying, ‘Hey, we have to do a certain thing,’” Ryans said to the Defender this week. “You see how everything shapes out. The draft, as we know, there’ll be a lot of movement. A lot of things happen throughout draft weekend. It’s hard to predict where you’re going to be. We just have to be ready.”
In being flexible, the Texans could also surprise everyone and trade either up or down with the 28th overall pick. They have four picks in the first 100 picks, and they have eight overall picks in the three-day draft.
From there, look for the Texans to address depth needs in the secondary, particularly at cornerback, and also improve depth at tight end and maybe even linebacker.
“I think we’re prepared for anything,” Caserio said. “I don’t know if there’s a, ‘Well we’re going to do this.’ We could go both ways. Again, it’s always who are you trading up for. How far are you going and what do you have to give up in return?
“If you get past a certain cohort of players, ‘What’s the next tier? Well, we’re comfortable with these five or six, or you know what, maybe we’d rather have this player as opposed to that player.’ Look, I’m not trying to be cute here. We could go either way, but again, a lot of it is driven.”
But even if the Texans move up or down, it doesn’t seem like it will change the positions they will look to target in the first couple of rounds of the draft, where they enter with three early-round picks.
Caserio, however, says it’s all about the BPA and the grades in the Texans’ war room.
“I would say other than quarterback, there’s no position that we wouldn’t consider drafting if that’s what the board told us,” Caserio said. “That’s why we set the board.”
Whatever players the Texans take throughout this draft, Ryans says, it is due to the hard work and diligence of all involved in the evaluation process.
“I want to give credit to our scouting department, Nick, for all the prep and all the work that they’ve done leading up to the draft to make sure that we have as much information as possible on all of the guys,” Ryans said to the Defender. “Our team has done an outstanding job of just diving in, getting the information that we need to make the best decision possible. The draft doesn’t happen without all the work that our road scouts do. Those guys are on the road the entire year trying to gain as much information, as much insight on players to come back and deliver that information to us as coaches so we can digest it, look at the film, and see which way we want to go.
“My hats are off to those guys because they don’t get the spotlight a lot, but there’s a lot of work that goes behind the scenes with the draft that those guys definitely deserve a ton of credit for.”
Texans Draft Order
Round/Order/Overall
1/28/28 Houston Texans
2/6/38 Houston Texans from Washington Commanders
2/27/59 Houston Texans
3/5/69 Houston Texans from New York Giants
4/6/106 Houston Texans from Washington Commanders
5/1/141 Houston Texans from Las Vegas Raiders via Cleveland Browns
5/27/167 Houston Texans re-acquired via Philadelphia Eagles
7/27/243 Houston Texans from San Francisco 49ers
