| Round | Overall | Player Name | Position | School |
| 1 | 11 | J.J. Watt | DE | Wisconsin |
| 2 | 42 | Brooks Reed | OLB | Arizona |
| 2 | 60 | Brandon Harris | CB | Miami |
| 4 | 127 | Rashad Carmichael | CB | Virginia Tech |
| 5 | 144 | Shiloh Keo | SS | Idaho |
| 5 | 152 | T.J. Yates | QB | North Carolina |
| 7 | 214 | Derek Newton | OT | Arkansas St. |
| 7 | 254 | Cheta Ozougwu | DE | Rice |
Rivers and I did a ton of writing over at SBN Houston this weekend. Too many to link, but check out my author page, scroll down and hit those links if you like.
So, let’s put some time in to Houston Diehards, shall we?
Here are my quick-hit thoughts on each selection:
Round 1: J.J. Watt, DE
I wasn’t thrilled with this pick at the time, and I still would have preferred a handful of other guys over Watt. The question isn’t whether or not Watt can play, because I have NO doubts that he can. It’s just more about guys I thought were better choices. Watt will bring that relentless motor, which is fine by me. The Texans have a good amount of talented guys on the defense, but without the motors to match. It hasn’t worked out, so why not give the other way a shot – especially since Watt is most definitely an elite talent. His game tape doesn’t lie… he’s just not the proverbial “sexy” pick.
Round 2: Brooks Reed, OLB
Reed reminds many of Clay Matthews. I don’t know if I’d go that far, but he’s yet another relentless motor guy. I like that the Texans are amassing guys like that, along with Connor Barwin, Brian Cushing, Earl Mitchell, and Watt. I wouldn’t say Antonio Smith has that “relentless motor,” but he is a high effort guy, no doubt. Reed brings some pass rush, but he has limited pass rush moves. One thing that definitely worries me about him, is that he seemed to struggle against top-notch competition. Come on, Wade – work your magic on this guy. He needs to have an immediate impact.
Round 2: Brandon Harris, CB
Love, love, love. I’m positively giddy about this pick. Ultra-competitive, hard-nosed, and I really thought he had first-round talent. Not sure why he made it as far as he did. Love that the Texans traded up to get him. I just hope it doesn’t change their plans to sign a starter-quality free agent at the same position. Tremendous value pick.
Round 4: Rashad Carmichael, CB
Another good value pick. Carmichael is not very big or physical, but he has great closing/make-up speed, and is another ultra-competitive guy. He’s similar to Brice McCain, but with significantly more talent and moxie. The Texans are throwing numbers at their secondary issues, but not with undrafted free agents, yawner free agents, or guys who can’t play. Solid pick here, and if Carmichael is at or near the bottom of the depth chart, that’s not a bad depth chart (but yes, let’s see how free agency goes first, okay?)
Round 5: Shiloh Keo, SS
After reading up on Keo, I can see why Rick Smith, Gary Kubiak, and Wade Phillips are so excited to land him. He sounds like a leader, a field general, a guy who loves contact, and I have seen the “ballhawk” tag attached to him. I don’t know that he’ll be an NFL ballhawk, but for what he showed at Idaho, he may be able to help the Texans out sooner than I had originally hoped. Troy Nolan will likely go in to camp as the penciled-in starter at strong safety, but Keo might be in the mix as well. There are certainly other guys who were still on the board at this spot who I would have preferred, but after reading up on him, I can’t say I dislike this pick.
Round 5: T.J. Yates, QB
When you read the reports on Yates, he sounds just like Matt Schaub, and that’s no surprise. UNC runs a very similar offense to what the Texans do, so the learning curve (at least for terminology and playbook) shouldn’t be too steep. I would hope that even as a rookie, the acquisition of Yates would lead to the shipping-off of one Dan Orlovsky, but I’m not holding my breath on that one. Likely headed for the practice squad.
Round 7: Derek Newton, OT
Newton is very raw. Ne needs help in the weight room, and with his technique, but he is a good run-blocker when he’s on the move. Could be a decent future developmental prospect, with swing tackle or spot-starter as his likely ceiling.
Round 7: Cheta Ozougwu, DE
Ozougwu has some quickness about him. At his size, the Texans will likely give him a shot as a pass-rushing OLB rather than the DE position he played at Rice. Ozougwu’s best chance to stick on the roster, of course, is through special teams.
My final grade for this draft is “draft grades are stupid.”
Your thoughts?
May 1, 2011 at 13:58:12
I like this draft. I hope the numbers in the secondary don’t prevent the Texans from going after a quality starter. If they put their money into keeping Leach and Butler, and getting a FA NT, I could live without spending top dollar on a CR. You figure Molden and McCain are gone, but McMannis too? They can only keep so many corners. I would have like the Texans to have taken an ILB, but I guess we’re ok there. It’ll be interesting to see how some of the OLB’s (Smith, Quinn) in this draft pan out.
May 1, 2011 at 14:21:04
top 5 are solid. still need some meat in the middle and a veteran CB. I like what Im reading about TJ. Faster, better attitude, high motor…hope its contagious
May 1, 2011 at 16:59:31
JJ Watt
I like the pick mnore and more. The best thing about him is that his best games came against elite competition. see his games against Ohio state and TCU. Fairley was not really a fit for the 3-4 as much as Watt and the tumor is a major issue for Quinn. The fact that softens the impact of not drafting Quinn is the next pick.
Brooks Reed
I love this pick with capital L.The clay matthews are not as farfetched when you look into it more. They both were the fastest in their positon group in the 10 yard split. reed was a few hundredths slower than matthews. He has the burst off the snap like matthews. Both of them have a relentless motor. I am confident that Wade will be able to teach him some moves to make him dominant.
Brandon Harris
I like this pick. According to Mike Mayock the drop off between harris and the others were very noticible. He said there is two round difference betwwen harris and the rest of the corners. this was a great trade up. His issues are size. He is clearly better than mccain to be our nickel.
Rashad Carmichael
This is the only pick that I am not a huge fan of. I like his instincts and is ball hawkness. However I thought Davon House was the better option and he was still on the board when we picked him.I think the competition that each played was the difference in us selecting carmichael.
Shiloh Keo
I was a fan of Ahmad black but both of them have some similar characteristics. They both had a slow 40 time but have a nose for the football and are high character guys. So I can live with this pick. I dont know if he will be a starting corner for us but he will pay dividends in special teams.
TJ Yates
Kiper, Mcshay, and dilfer wanted to have this guys child. He will probably be on the practice sqaud but next season he will unseat orlovski. I hated the orlovski signing at the time and i am happy he will be gone.
Derek Newton
It really depends on which rules we play with next season. If we play with last years rules we could still keep butler. Either way we need somebody who can play the swing tackle role because we are likely to lose butler either this year or next year
Cheta
I wanted the guy who went before this guy Chris Neild. it was not meant to be unfortunately. As a human being I wanted herzlich to get drafted. I like this pick for dpeth purposes and who knows Wade might be able to get alot out of him
What we still need for free agency
Veteran Cornerback
With the Glover move to safety seemingly a done deal, we need a veteran. Vance Joseph kind of let the cat out of the bag when asked by mcclain.
http://www.examiner.com/houston-texans-in-houston/quin-move-to-safety-appears-to-be-a-done-deal
Another safety
Vance joseph also says inthe video what we look in our safeties and that we need to find another one. The video was taken after the Reed and harris pick so that might keo. Laron landry and Weddle are free agents still and they might not be bad targets
Nose tackle
They stuck to their word and might actually legitamately like cody and mitchell. I would sign kris jenkins. I know he is injury prone but the games that he does play will have a higher likely hood of being a win.
more depth at Linebackers
I do not like our depth at the inside linebacker position and we do not know if demeco and cushing will come back to the form they were two years ago. So having another guy who is capable of starting like burnett of Sandiego is very important
Another wide receiver
I would love for them to sign a Santana moss to pair with Andre and have walter in the slot. Part of what made green bay so good is that their third and fourth receivers were better than other teams third and 4th corner backs. I feel like we will have that with walter in the slot, jacoby or dorin as a 4, moss as a two and dre as a one.If there is no cap, this is something we should think about.
VONTA LEACH
I dont think they will give him the amount that he wants which is a huge mistake. I hope they sign him because he was vital for our running game. Who knows this might be what gets James Casey on the field. Casey is not the blocker that leach is but is much better at receiving. I dont know if it is worth our running gmae to take a step back for the sake of our passing game.
May 2, 2011 at 10:54:34
Problem with davon house was that he takes too many false steps, and playing the competition that he did in college, he could make up for it with his speed and athleticism. That won’t happen in the NFL
Rock Carmichael is a risk no doubt, but his ceiling IMO is easily a shutdown #1 CB. The down side is his floor is pretty low, so hopefully with good coaching he can reach his potential.
Ahmad black is just so small I’m glad we didn’t take him. I bet he makes an immediate impact then gets hurt in week 6. Glad we passed
May 2, 2011 at 11:53:21
Truth did we just become bestfriends … I think so. I agree with about everything u said. So, I havenothong to say except they could’ve gotten Yates later and Picked up Powell at NT not to start but to stop the short yardage which I could see being a problem with our current NTs. Uther than that thank God for Philips! I agree it early to give a grade Chris but it would have to be around an A- they got need and BPA.
May 2, 2011 at 13:55:46
@ allen OU
The competition thing is a valid concern for House. the competition in the ACC is alot better than what house had to go against. However, there have been guys who went to small schools who did good and on top of that he went to Green bay, a team that is a lot better than drafting than we are. I hope Rock kicks butt.
I love Black’s scrappyness. I could see him getting injured also but later in his career. he reminds me of bob sanders. I could see keo kicking butt also. I like the pick.
@JD
haha yeah I am taking applications for best friends. My best friend moved to massechusetts and I dont get to see him anymore. I dont think Powe was in play for the texans nose tackle position becuase there were some character concerns. I think I read somewhere that he was not the sharpest tool in the shed and was put academic probation and barely passed his classes. But we did have frank Okam who was really smart and could not make it.I am also glad that they went need with the first 3 picks and then they did best player available. I hope we can develop yates and trade him for a 2nd or 3rd round pick.
May 2, 2011 at 16:57:18
I think I remember hearing something about Powell and the character issues. At some point they have to take a chance on a player like that later in the draft. We have a good looked room and we have missed out on some players that can impact later on in the draft. Oh well we still had the best overall draft this year…. I know this is off topic but can anyone tell me why trading 2yrs of your draft for a #2 receiver (Falcons) is considered smart?
May 3, 2011 at 05:15:10
Every and I mean EVERY writer I have read this year qualifies their evaluation by saying draft grades are stupid. Not saying I disagree but it is strange everyone decided this in the last year and feels the need to introduce/close their draft grade column with it.
May 3, 2011 at 11:25:11
@truth
I love davon house, I was just saying I think that could be a reason the texans passes. I know a lot of people had rock rated as a late second early third, so I think we got good value. You can find me talking him up as early as november of last year on BRB and here
May 3, 2011 at 12:38:39
@allen OU
I saw davon house rated higher than carmichael on most. to me the texans have not earned the right to pass on the better player on the defensive side. The Texans on the offensive side have been good at drafting late round prospects and them turning into productive starters or probowlers. The same thing cannot be said about the defense.We have had more misses than hits. Maybe with wade here he might be able to coach him up. I sure hope so
May 3, 2011 at 13:34:24
I heard Harris is trying to overcome his lack of size by practicing with Hurricane alum Andrea Johnson … That doesn’t seem like a bad way to sharpen those already good cover skills … Kareem step aside and get ready to go to nickel corner!
May 3, 2011 at 18:18:41
@truth
But this is wade Phillips drafting now, not kubes and smith.
If wade likes rock over house than that’s all I need. He knows his defense
May 3, 2011 at 20:45:35
I hope so. it is hard to decide who’s opinion is more trustworthy dom capers or wade. Dom is part of the lebaou tree and was one of the first architects and he liked house. I hope rock rocks at covering but that is not what the majority says
May 3, 2011 at 21:37:59
I actually think it doesn’t matter if it’s house or rashad both should be upgrades over Jackson. I think if Wade thought Jackson was a starter there wouldn’t have been 2 corners drafted and hopefully a FA too. We saw he thinks we’re set at NT. Wade and Capers are pretty equal on turning around defenses.
May 5, 2011 at 10:51:42
When the Texans were picking in the first round i was hoping for Robert Quinn. But after analyzing the draft i think Wade Phillips, Smith, and Kubs, made on of the best decisions in the draft by taking Watt. And here’s why…
The teams who succeed in the draft are the teams who find the most value with each pick. If you take a look at who all was drafted in the first round then look to the second round when the Texans were drafting, it’s easy to see that both their first 3 picks were all of very good value. But the value of drafting Brooks Reed and even Brandon Harris was set up by the J.J. Watt pick… Keep following me!
So like i said, i was originally hoping for an 3-4 OLB like Quinn! So let’s say the Texans would have drafted Quinn, and then with their next pick drafted a 3-4 DE like Watt. Quinn has arguably a bit more potential than Brooks Reed and could have been a better value pick at that time, But if the Texans had selected a DE in round 2, the difference in talent from Watt to whoever they would have gotten in round 2 is night and day.
The same principle can be applied to Amukamara. Amukamara has great potential, but Brandon harris is not a bad consolation prize at all!
Here is one more way to look at it:
Current picks (1-3) (Grades based on value at the time of the pick)
DE Watt B+
OLB Reed A-
CB Harris A
First Scenario
OLB Quinn A
DE B-/C+? (when the Texans picked, the best true 5 technique was Allen Bailey who was selected in the 3rd round by the Chiefs.. Major drop off in value)
My point is i think the Texans did a great job choosing Watt, whether it was a luck or Wade could sense a run at 3-4 DE’s and defensive linemen coming in the first round. I’m very pleased with the draft and can’t for this defense to start wrecking havoc!
May 5, 2011 at 13:02:51
@Jd
Yes the Falcons overpaid for JJ, but I wouldn’t call him a #2 receiver. If he was on the board at #11, he would have looked great as a 1a next to Andre.
May 6, 2011 at 13:21:14
Watt..
one word. BEASTMODE!!
Reed..
Didnt see him play much but watched some film and he seems like he could be a damn good player.. Fast ten yard split helps.
Harris..
miami is my second fav college team(boise state being my first since i live in boise)
so i watched him play a little and i like him but i dont think he could be a #1 guy. i hope he proves me wrong though.
Roc..
he seems like a decent cb and on film he looks faster than he timed in the 40. hope he helps out.
Keo..
not to happy with this one. coaches say they like him but he got destroyed by my boy Kellen Moore and ran over by Doug Martin(Boise QB and RB) so i will have to wait and see.
Yates..
Not much to say dont know why we did that unless its just for depth.
Newton and Ozougwu..
Dont know anything about em..