Texans will look to satisfy their need for speed in tonight’s first round of NFL draft
Be it receiver or defensive end with top pick, the need is speed
Rick Smith is overseeing his 10th draft as the Texans’ general manager.
In the first and second rounds of his first nine drafts, Smith has used 12 of 16 picks on defensive players.
No wonder the Texans ranked third on defense and 19th on offense last season when they finished 9-7 and won the AFC South title before getting blown out 30-0 by Kansas City in a wild-card game at NRG Stadium.
Smith has to use this draft to improve the offense, something the Texans initiated in free agency when they signed quarterback Brock Osweiler and running back Lamar Miller.
The Texans have the 22nd pick, and their most glaring needs are defensive end and wide receiver.
By the time the three-day draft ends Saturday, the Texans need to have added a wide receiver, defensive end, offensive
tackle, safety, center, tight end and a linebacker or cornerback. A corner because Smith believes a defense can never have enough of them.
This is the fifth time Smith will be picking in the 20s. He has never traded up in the first round. He traded down once — 2008 when he selected Duane Brown.
Texans fans should hope Smith does as well as the previous four times they picked in the 20s: Brown (26th), cornerback Kareem Jackson (20th, 2010), outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus (26th, 2012) and receiver DeAndre Hopkins (27th, 2013).
Coach Bill O’Brien said after last season he wanted the team to get faster on offense, defense and special teams.
They solved their speed problem in the backfield by signing Miller. Now they have to give Osweiler a big-time deep threat opposite Hopkins, who faces double coverage on most pass plays.
Most mock drafts have the Texans selecting a wide receiver, with Baylor’s Corey Coleman being the most common pick. A few have them drafting a defensive end.
Going into the draft, competing for the starting job opposite Hopkins are C.J. Shorts (42 catches, 484 yards, two touchdowns), Jaelen Strong (14 for 161 and 3 TDs) and Keith Mumphery (13 for 129).
Hopkins averaged 13.7 yards a catch, Shorts and Strong 11.5 and Mumphery 9.2.
The Texans want a receiver with the kind of take-your-breath-away speed that will force the safety to shade to that side in case he beats the cornerback down the field. Drawing that kind of attention from the defense would benefit Osweiler as well as the other receivers.
Last season, the Texans were interested in Miami’s Phillip Dorsett (Indianapolis) and Kansas State’s Tyler Lockett (Seattle). At the combine, Dorsett (5-10, 185) ran a 4.33-second 40-yard dash and Lockett (5-9, 183) a 4.40.
At Baylor’s pro day when he still wasn’t 100 percent after undergoing sports hernia surgery, Coleman (5-10, 194) showed the breakaway speed the coaches covet, running a 4.37.
Coleman is the most explosive receiver in the draft. He caught 20 touchdown passes as a junior last season when he made 41 plays of at least 20 yards despite losing his two starting quarterbacks to season-ending injuries.
Coleman also has the talent to be a dynamic returner. And we all know how bad the Texans’ return game has been.
Other speedy prospects at wide receiver are Notre Dame’s Will Fuller (4.32) and Oklahoma’s Sterling Shepard (4.48). Neither is projected as a first-round pick.
TCU’s Josh Doctson may end up being the best prospect at his position, but his 4.50 time, while better than Mississippi’s Laquon Treadwell’s 4.63, doesn’t take the top off a defense.
If I couldn’t get Coleman, I’d still be all over Doctson. Shepard would be my third choice.
If a receiver the Texans like is gone, Smith could take a defensive player for the eighth time in nine years. The Texans have a starting job available at right end. This may be the best and deepest draft for interior defensive linemen, the kind who project outside in a 3-4.
There are so many talented prospects that teams needing to fill this position don’t have to take one in the first round if they have other needs.
The way it stands now for the Texans, if it’s not a receiver/defensive end or a defensive end/receiver in the first round, it will be a huge upset.