While Texans general manager Nick Caserio went into this NFL Draft vowing to take the best player available versus need, it was good to see him and head coach DeMeco Ryans do the right thing.
The Texans came out of the 2025 NFL Draft addressing their most serious needs early: wide receiver and offensive line.
After wisely trading out the 25th overall pick in the first round, the Texans immediately went for need in drafting Iowa State receiver Jayden Higgins in the second round with the 34th overall pick on Day 2 of the draft. Then the Texans took Minnesota’s Big Ten Offensive Lineman of the Year Aireontae Ersery (tackle) later in the second round with the 48th overall selection. Then they drafted Higgins’ Iowa State receiver mate Jaylin Noel in the third round, along with USC cornerback Jaylin Smith later in the third round to end the second day of the draft.
If you are keeping count, Caserio and Ryans brought back two receiving targets and an offensive lineman who will protect quarterback C.J. Stroud for years to come. Offensive guard was the only need position the Texans missed out on.
“We feel really good about this draft class,” Ryans said. “A lot of work was put in by our coaches and our scouts. Guys put a lot of work in and did a great job evaluating talented guys, not only about the talent but also the people.
“We brought in a ton of great people, also great players, and that’s the formula that we like, and it’s worked well for us, and we think these guys can come in and contribute and help our team get better.”
The first three rounds of the draft were highly scrutinized because of the talent available at the Texans’ needed positions. The question was who would be available when the Texans picked in the first round.
The Texans were said to covet North Dakota State offensive guard Grey Zabel, University of Texas’s offensive tackle Kelvin Banks, Jr, Ohio State guard Donovan Jackson and Ohio State receiver Emeka Egbuka with their 25th overall pick, but all of those players were off the board when the Texans’ turn came up. So it made sense to trade the pick to the New York Giants for additional picks later in the draft.
By no stretch of the imagination did the Texans come away with the big-name players in this draft, but they did address some critical needs if they hope to advance beyond just making the playoffs in the years to come.
They also added some solid players in the later rounds, such as USC running back Woody Marks, Penn State safety Jaylen Reed and a third Iowa State player in tight end Luke Lachey. The only curious selection might be University of Florida quarterback Graham Mertz, who clearly isn’t coming to compete for a starting job but could be a bargain as a backup.
“Yeah, we set out to accomplish adding great football players to our team, improve our team and come in and compete, and that’s what we did,” Ryans said. “That’s always the focus of the draft. That’s what we did, and we feel really good about this class. Fired up to get to work with these guys in a couple of weeks.”
Shedeur Sanders sees his stock take big drop in draft
As much as this draft was about teams adding new talented rookies, the biggest storyline of this draft was the precipitous drop of Colorado quarterback Shedeur Sanders.
Sanders, the son of outspoken Pro Football Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, was projected to be one of the top three quarterbacks in the draft and certainly a Day 1 draftee. But he became the story of the 2025 NFL Draft as his stock plummeted, and he wasn’t selected until the 5th round (144th overall) when the Cleveland Browns traded up to get him.
Words like collusion, racism and overhyped were given as reasons why Shedeur dropped so steeply.
Perhaps some teams were taken aback at the perceived cockiness of Shedeur and his father, who before the draft openly said there were teams he would not allow his son to play for.
Ironically, the Browns were believed to be one of the teams Shedeur’s football coach/father was referring to. The Browns held the No.2 overall pick and at one point seemed interested in using it to draft Shedeur.
Instead, the Browns ended up with Shedeur at a $40 million discount.
There was also speculation that some teams were turned off by the fact that Shedeur didn’t work out at the NFL Combine, showed up unprepared for meetings with the teams and didn’t interview well.
While there is no proof that the NFL owners collectively decided to humble Deion and Shedeur, who made millions of dollars in NIL money while at Colorado, it seems pretty obvious that that is exactly what happened, much like they did with Colin Kaepernick.
Houston has record-tying four area players taken in first round
Each year, the Houston area stocks the NFL with plenty of talent through the draft.
That was again the case this year as Houston had a record-tying four players taken in the first round.
The biggest winner from the area is Miami quarterback and Columbia High School standout Cam Ward, who went No.1 overall to the Texans’ AFC South rivals, the Tennessee Titans.
Also going in the first round was Humble Summer Creek and University of Texas offensive lineman Kelvin Banks, Jr (Saints). Klein Cain product and former UT receiver Matthew Golden was also picked in the first round (23rd overall) by the Green Bay Packers. Episcopal’s Donovan Jackson came in one spot later at No. 24 to the Minnesota Vikings after a stellar career as an offensive guard for Ohio State.
In total, Houston had nine players drafted during the three-day, seven-round draft.
In the third round, the Saints took Cy Ridge and UT defensive tackle Vernon Broughton, Tompkins and Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe went to Seattle and North Shore standout cornerback Upton Stout was picked by the San Francisco 49ers.
On the final day, the Cowboys added Klein Cain and UT running back Jaydon Blue in the fifth round, and the Arizona Cardinals drafted offensive guard and former Katy Taylor and UT standout Hayden Conner in the sixth round.
