D-
Houston Texans
The Texans lost the trade table, and the D- tells the story.
by Drane04 ·
2024 NFL Draft
· 12 picks
· 2 steals
· 5 reaches
They will call it conviction in the building and a reach everywhere else: Phil Jurkovec, 45 picks early at slot 238. Too much went sideways, and the D- is the honest tally.
Overpaying at the table undid a lot of the good work elsewhere. The Smith pick reads as want over need, and the roster will feel it at edge rusher and interior defensive lineman. For all the activity, edge rusher went untouched, which is hard to explain.
That is a cornerback worth more than the slot they spent on him, plainly.
Add it up and it is a weekend the front office will hope everyone forgets, edge rusher very much included.
Pick-by-Pick
In slot 29 they get a difference-maker at receiver at fair value. The biggest hole, addressed.
Taliese Fuaga in the Round 2 slot is fine work, a shade of surplus and no downside. A need, and now a little less of one.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Cooper Beebe well ahead of where he belonged. The roster fit checks out.
A straight-up fair deal on TreVeyon Henderson at Round 3, Pick 13, value and slot in agreement. It answers the question that was keeping the coaches up at night.
The eyebrow-raiser of the weekend. They went DT-EDGE with Maason Smith while clear needs at edge rusher and interior defensive lineman sat open.
Taking Kalen King in the 80th overall pick is close to grand larceny; a cornerback that good had no business lasting this long. A quiet depth add at a thin-ish spot.
A real head-scratcher, Cedric Gray in pick No. 104 is miles ahead of his ranking. It patches a soft spot without any drama.
A reach on James Williams in the Round 4 slot; the board had better options right there. Useful body for a position without much behind the starter.
They liked Cade Stover enough to skip the value, taking him in Round 4, Pick 26. It fills a real need, too.
They took Theo Wease at par in pick 127, which is nothing to complain about. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Jaylon Carlies slid further than he should have, and No. 234 is lovely value for the safety. Insurance at a position that did not really ask for it.
Phil Jurkovec in the 238th overall pick is a bet on their own eyes over everyone else's grade. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.