The 2018 NFL draft has come and gone and for the Texans it was the cliché, “Hurry up and wait.” Because of the Deshaun Watson and Brock Osweilder deal with the Cleveland Browns last season, the Texans did not have a first- or second-round selection in 2018.
Despite operating as spectators for the first day and a half of the draft, the Texans feel they did well when their number was finally called.
First-year GM Brian Gaine was patient and prepared by the time the franchise used its first of three third-round selections. He described how odd it was to be an innocent bystander as the draft evolved before him and called it a “unique” circumstance.
“Twenty years of doing this, and I’ve never had that experience before,” Gaine said. “In a way, after [the first day], it allowed us to kind of reposition ourselves and think about what’s already occurred, measure the supply and demand at the positions with 32 players already gone. As the draft evolved…we just let the board talk to us about what our decision should be.”
Working without a first or second round Gaine was faced with an inevitable question: Would they draft a player to fill a specific need or take the best player available?
“The best selection is when the best player available meets need, and perhaps that happened for us,” Gaine said.
The Texans officially joined the 2018 draft with the fourth pick in the third round (68thoverall), selecting safety Justin Reid (6-feet-1, 207 pounds) from Stanford. Justin is the younger brother of former LSU and San Francisco 49ers standout Eric Reid, a fact that was not overlooked in the decision-making process for Gaine and company.
“That’s certainly something we’re aware of, the football pedigree in the family,” Gaine said. “What I will tell you about Justin is No. 1, [he has] the prototypical body type, height, weight and speed for the positon.
“No. 2, he graded well in terms of production. No. 3 was the versatility and interchangeable ability in terms of playing strong safety, free safety, ability to play the run and ability to play the pass. We feel like he’s a fully dimensional safety at the position.”
With their second pick in the third round, 80thoverall, the Texans picked Martinas Rankin (6-feet-4, 308) a versatile offensive lineman from Mississippi State.
“Hopefully, the best five will play wherever that unravels here once he gets here,” Gaine said. “He was a starting left tackle in the SEC, so I hope he has the ability to do that, but we also believe that if he has to play guard, right side, left side, wherever we need him, that this guy has the versatility to do that based on the composition of our own roster right now.”
With their third pick in the third round the Texans selected Central Florida tight end Jordan Akins (6-feet-3, 249).
A former minor league baseball player, Adkins brings a mature attitude along with his skill set on the gridiron.
“I have experience on the pro side and I know the game as a business side,” Adkins said. “I now have the opportunity to showcase my talent on the gridiron rather than the diamond.”
Rounding out the Texans draft were:
- Round four – 103rdoverall, Texas Tech receiver KeKe Coutee (5-feet-10, 181).
- Round six – 177thoverall, Wake Forest defensive end Duke Ejiofor (6-feet-3, 264); 211thoverall, Mississippi State tight end Jordan Thomas (6-feet-6, 265); 214thoverall, Stanford linebacker Peter Kalambayi (6-feet-3, 252).
- Round seven – 222ndoverall, San Jose State defensive back Jermaine Kelly (6-feet-1, 195).