Does anyone know what the Houston Texans will do when they’re on the clock with their first-round pick next month? Sitting at No. 25 overall, it’s hard to gauge which prospects will still be on the board worth taking and betting on the potential.
It’s even more difficult to predict whether general manager Nick Caserio and head coach DeMeco will target a wide receiver, left tackle, interior offensive lineman, or a different position. Houston also is known as one of the more aggressive teams to trade down and land more draft capital to ensure it can move around to land its talent.
Former Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum released a new mock draft on Tuesday where he plays GM for every team in Round 1. Rather than picking what he believes will happen, he made selections based on what he would do as the team’s GM.
For the Texans, the choice didn’t seem all that hard, given how the board panned out. With a need long-term at left tackle and a Houston product sitting at No. 25, Tannebaum has the Texans selecting Texas offensive tackle Kelvin Banks Jr., a polarizing prospect who could be selected anywhere from the middle of a top 15 to late Round 1 option for teams looking to upgrade the offensive line.
“I just couldn’t get past the fact that Stroud needs time to actually throw to his receivers, whoever they might end up being,” Tannebaum wrote. “He took 52 sacks last season (second most in the NFL) and then Houston unexpectedly traded away its best offensive lineman in Laremy Tunsil. Even though the team signed Cam Robinson, drafting Banks would be great for this unit. He allowed three total sacks over 42 career starts.”
Consistency has been key to Banks’ potential. The former All-Big 12 and All-SEC tackle was a staple in helping the Longhorns reach back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances and conference title bouts. He’s an exceptional run block but thrived as the SEC’s top pass protector for Quinn Ewers and Arch Manning.
Much like Tunsil coming out of Ole Miss in 2016, adding Banks would give Houston at guard for one season to stabilize the trenches. After that, Banks can shift to the outside as the future potential Pro Bowl left tackle keeping Stroud upright under his new mega contract.
Selecting Banks at No. 25 would force the Texans to pass on a potential receiver like Texas’ Matthew Golden or Ohio State’s Emeka Egbuka, but with the arrival of Christian Kirk, secondary receiver play can wait until pick No. 58. It also would allow the Texans to ensure long-term they were built to win at left tackle, which remains a top-three need for all teams each offseason.
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