Texans Draft Recap

After months of analyzing the 2014 NFL draft like a battleground election state, it is finally over and an evaluation of the Houston Texans selections can begin. For all the chatter about trading the first overall pick in the draft or selecting a darkhorse candidate, the Texans went with what most NFL evaluators assessed as the number one player on the board, South Carolina defensive end Jadeveon Clowney.

Billed as a once in a generation pass rushing specialist, the 6’5” 266 lb. Clowney alongside J.J. Watt immediately gives the Texans defense an upgrade that will have opposing QBs quaking in their cleats. Clowney said via his media conference call after being drafted that he is looking forward to playing with J.J. Watt. “I’ve been watching him since I was in college,” Clowney said, “And now I get to play beside him so that makes it even better for me, helps me to improve my game to where I want to be.”

While Texans defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel’s 3-4 system may not be a perfect fit for Clowney, there will be many different ways to line him up and utilize his immense pass rushing skills. Clowney’s freakish speed and versatility are just too exceptional to go to waste, especially for one of the best defensive coordinators in the game over the years.

Texans GM Rick Smith told the media that he fully expects that Clowney “will be an outside linebacker initially. He’ll start in a two-point stance, but anytime we go into any kind of package, whether it’s a third down package or a packaged predicated on personnel, down and distance, all those things give Romeo (Crennel) the ability to have him put his hand in the dirt and go get the passer.”

The immediate clamor for a QB in the 2^nd round was quelled by the Texans’ selection of 6’4” 307 lb UCLA offensive lineman Xavier Su’a-Filo, a selection who should be able to start immediately at guard and is even athletic enough to swing to tackle. As Texans head coach Bill O’Brien said of him after the pick, “He’s a valuable guy because of his versatility.” Su’a-Filo was rated before the draft as one of the top guard prospects, and his run blocking ability will be welcomed following the departure of starting offensive lineman Wade Smith.

With quarterbacks available in the 3^rd round and the Texans still staring at that glaring need, the Texans’ brass again went against prevailing thought to draft 6’5” 265 lb. Iowa tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz. Bill O’Brien had star TE Rob Gronkowski in his offensive system at New England, and everyone in the NFL is looking for that type of duel threat. Even Fiedorewicz himself said in a conference call at the scouting combine that Gronkowski is someone he looks up to because “he can dominate both the line of scrimmage and down the field.”

While Fiedorowicz is not the explosive playmaker that Gronkowski is catching the ball, he was projected as the best blocking tight end in the draft and will improve the Texans in that regard. Still, the pick is garnering criticism in some quarters because of two tight ends already on the Texans roster (Garrett Graham and Ryan Griffin) and similarly graded tight ends that could be had later in the draft. But with the way O’Brien will run multiple sets with his tight ends, it is not shocking that a TE was that high on the Texans’ board.

The Texans traded up into the 3^rd round with the Eagles for their other pick, 6’3” 331 lb. Notre Dame nose tackle Louis Nix, whom many had projected to be a late first rounder. For where he was taken and the way he perfectly plugs into the middle of Romeo Crennel’s defense, Nix has been heralded as one of the steals of the draft. His drop may have been due to a knee injury during the 2013 season and that bears watching, but he still has the natural tools to make a big time impact on the defensive line. After years of seeing undersized nose tackles in the Texans defensive schemes, it will be refreshing to see a player the caliber of Nix with his power and size stopping the run.

The Texans finally answered the question that was the “elephant in the room” with their 4^th round selection, drafting the long awaited quarterback with Pittsburgh’s Tom Savage, the prototypical NFL QB in size and arm strength. Bill O’Brien apparently has a soft spot for traditional pocket passers the same way Jay Leno has an affinity for classic cars.

A 6’3” 228 lb. QB who was with three schools (Rutgers, Arizona, and Pittsburgh) over his collegiate career, Savage became everyone’s darling before the draft due to his rocket arm. Yet, nothing ever really stuck out about his college career as a starting QB with Rutgers and Pittsburgh, where he had a 56.8% completion rate and 37 touchdowns to 21 interceptions. Many have attributed his less than stellar single season numbers his senior year at Pittsburgh to a subpar offensive line. While that may be a contributing factor, Savage still had accuracy issues and difficulty against some of the better defenses he faced.

Does a player all of a sudden turn it on in the pros and become a franchise level QB? That is at least why it is palatable that Savage was a later round selection and not a first or second round choice, where the Texans future would be hitched to that QB for at least a few years. Savage is a developmental pick, and O’Brien will have the year to evaluate him in practice, the preseason and possibly on the field in regular season games in order to come to a conclusion about him.

O’Brien stated in his introductory press conference that what he looks for in a quarterback is “a great teammate, a leader, a hard worker, a really good practice player, a guy that’s always striving for perfection knowing that he’s probably not going to get perfection but he’s going to reach some level of excellence.” Savage has qualities O’Brien likes and will have an opportunity to show he is a franchise QB, but the greater likelihood is that the Texans make drafting a quarterback a bigger priority in the 2015 draft.

The Texans final selections were in the 6^th and 7^th rounds, where there are no guarantees to make the club. It is the NFL draft equivalent of investing in bargain basement stocks with the hope of a high reward. The first pick in the 6^th round of the draft was 6’3” 310 lb. defensive end Jeoffrey Pagan from Alabama, who already has the pedigree coming from Nick Saban’s NFL prep factory. He had 34 tackles during his senior season at Alabama, and should be a good fit for Crennel’s 3-4 two gap scheme.

The second 6^th round selection was a 6’2” 223 lb. running back from LSU, Alfred Blue, who ran a 4.63 time in the 40 at the NFL combine. He had a major injury in 2012 and was also a backup RB at LSU, which is not alarming considering the talent at the position there. However, taking Blue with questions about his injury history and his overall potential, especially with other good players still on the board, has already caused second guessing.

The 6^th round may as well have been called the “SEC round” for the Texans, because the final 6^th round pick was used on fullback Jay Prosch. a 6’1” 258 lb. fullback out of Auburn. Prosch is known for his toughness and work ethic, which are the maxims of a Bill O’Brien team. He’ll be called on to block and catch passes showing the fortitude essential to the blue-collar nature of the fullback/H-back position.

The 7^th rounders are always question marks to make the team, but there is reason for optimism that these two Texans’ picks can be NFL contributors. The first 7^th round selection, 5’10” 188 lb. Vanderbilt cornerback Andre Hal, plays a position of primary need in the NFL and the Texans are no different, needing cornerbacks to back up Johnathan Joseph and Kareem Jackson. Hal had 49 tackles, 15 passes deflected, and 3 interceptions playing in the SEC in 2013, so his aggressive style will at least give him a good shot to make the roster.

The Texans also had the last pick of the NFL draft, which is termed “Mr. Irrelevant.” However, that moniker doesn’t quite fit their final pick in the 7^th round of this year’s draft, 6’3” 219 lb safety Lonnie Ballentine. He has the size teams crave and 4.4 speed in the 40, so if he can harness his athletic tools, Ballentine could definitely be a contributor on special teams and maybe even compete for the backup safety position on the depth chart.

The Texans might not have solved all of their problems, but the 2014 draft by all accounts was a step in the right direction. As Rick Smith said to the media following the picks, “We’ve gotten bigger, we’ve gotten stronger, we’ve gotten tougher, and we’ve added versatility.” For a team coming off a 2-14 year, those are words to stir excitement in the fanbase for the upcoming season.