If you believe Texans general manager Nick Caserio, he never drafts for need. He drafts according to the best player available.
“Yeah, we’ve never drafted for need around here. Never going to. We’re going to pick the best player we feel fits our program, regardless of the position,” Caserio said earlier this month. “I would say other than quarterback, pretty much any position is on the table, like it always is. Try to stay true to the board. That’s the reason we created the board. We put the players on the board, we grade them accordingly to what we think the role is going to be, then we take them off the board as we see fit. That’s not going to change.”
Well, let’s take Caserio at his word and hope that when the Texans pick 25th in the opening round of the NFL Draft on April 24, that need will meet opportunity. The Texans desperately need offensive and wide receiver help, and there are some interesting names that could be available around the end of the first round.
Should Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka still be available, it would be wise to give C.J. Stroud a reliable target. But should Egbuka be off the board then the Texans should make a move to protect Stroud with the likes of North Dakota State’s 6-foot-6 offensive lineman Grey Zabel or University of Texas’s Kelvin Banks, Jr.
The point is that Caserio has to rationalize need versus best available player. The reality is that the Texans need to spend the first couple of rounds of the draft filling the most glaring holes, which are receiver and offensive line.
Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said he just hopes to add talent to the locker room and on the field this week.
“For me, it was not just one position group that stands out in a draft,” said Ryans, who is preparing for his third draft with the Texans. “A lot of good players and a lot of different positions. We just want to add the right guys that can help us out.”
Not the start Rockets wanted or needed
Let’s be honest, drawing the Golden State Warriors in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs was the worst-case scenario for the No. 2-seeded Rockets.
Now, the Rockets are dealing with another worst-case scenario: being down 0-1 to the seventh-seeded Warriors, who had to win a play-in game to even make it to the first round. The Rockets and their young core are new to the postseason, while Steph Curry, Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green know this time of the year like the back of their hands.
The difference showed in Game 1 at Toyota Center when the Rockets’ backcourt of Jalen Green and Fred VanVleet failed to launch. The duo went a combined 7 of 34 from the field in the 95-85 loss. But most troubling was watching the young star Green go just 3-of-15 from the field in his playoff debut. It was obvious by the way Warriors coach Steve Kerr defended Green that the focus was to take him off his game with a suffocating defensive approach, and it worked.
Green’s teammates, however, defended him and believe he will bounce back in Game 2.
“Jalen played at an extremely high level all year. That’s not going to change now, this one game. We are moving on to the next game,” said VanVleet, who was 4 of 19 from the field. “It wasn’t all on him—we’re not to make this about him. I didn’t shoot the ball well, I didn’t play well tonight. We will move on to the next one.”
University of Houston Cougars hoops reloading
The University of Houston Cougars basketball team is losing some key players, like big man J’Wan Roberts.
But never fear, a reinforcement is coming in the form of 6-foot-11 center Kalifa Sakho, who entered the transfer portal this offseason and signed with UH this week. The France native spent last season playing for Sam Houston State, where he averaged 7.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.4 blocks while starting all 32 games for the Bearkats.
Prior to coming to Sam Houston State for this academic year, he played for Utah State.
Sakho hasn’t necessarily been a superstar at this point in his career, but UH coach Kelvin Sampson said that isn’t what’s necessary for a big man to get to the next level. His game just needs to show growth in key areas, and that’s what can happen for Sakho in Sampson’s system.
“Kalifa, his length, athleticism, his activity and the fact that he has been a starter, think he understands what his role will be, coming in,” said Sampson, whose team is fresh off a run to the NCAA Final Four championship game. “But that doesn’t mean that is going to be his role as the season goes on.
“I’m always honest with these guys about the role I think they will play and then they have to make the decision about if that’s something they would rather be interested in. I like Kalifa. He is a great kid, a great teammate. All of the feedback we had on him was positive. Looking forward to getting him here in June and working with him.”
