This class is ahead of the curve
Texans’ five picks have the talent to contribute as rookies even if they aren’t ready to start
In his first draft as the Texans’ general manager, Bill O’Brien made three trades on Saturday and finished with five picks who have the talent to contribute as rookies. Defensive tackle Ross Blacklock, outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard, offensive tackle Charlie Heck, cornerback John Reid and receiver Isaiah Coulter won’t be under pressure to earn starting jobs, but O’Brien made it clear what’s expected of them.
“You’re talking about mature guys, guys that have overcome adversity in their lives, understand work ethic, how important practice is and what it means to be a good teammate and be hungry and humble,” O’Brien said on a Zoom conference call after the draft.
The Texans sat out Thursday’s first round because they didn’t have a pick (sent to Miami as part of the deal for Laremy Tunsil last season). On Friday, O’Brien selected Blacklock in the second round and Greenard in the third.
Before drafting Greenard with the 90th overall pick, O’Brien thought he had a deal with Detroit, but the Lions backed out, even though both sides denied it.
During the last four rounds on Saturday, O’Brien lived up to his Trader Bill nickname. He made three trades with Miami, the Los Angeles Rams and New Orleans.
O’Brien sent the 111th pick that came from Miami in the Tunsil trade back to the Dolphins for two lower picks in the fourth round, 136th and 141st overall.
To get the 126th pick so he could draft Heck, O’Brien gave the Rams the 136th selection and his last two compensatory picks in the seventh round, 248th and 250th.
Then, O’Brien traded his last pick, 240th overall, to New Orleans for a sixth-round pick next year.
Heck (fourth round), Reid (fourth), Coulter (fifth) and a sixth-round pick in 2021 from the Saints were acquired on Saturday.
“We targeted certain guys in the draft, and, obviously, we didn’t get all of them — you never do,” O’Brien said. “But we were able to get five we really liked.”
O’Brien said they would leave some roster spots open. The Texans are expected to sign a few more veteran free agents.
While O’Brien was being interviewed by the media, his staff was trying to sign undrafted free agents. He talked about the hard work their “team” put in preparing for the draft.
O’Brien mentioned executive vice president of football operations Jack Easterby, director of player personnel Matt Bazirgan and director of college scouting James Liipfert.
O’Brien also gave shout outs to Russell Joyner, the director of football information systems, and Kevin Krajcovic, director of football administration.
Joyner is in his 10th year with the Texans and heads the analytics department. Krajcovic is the chief contract negotiator in his 14th season in the organization.
All answer to Cal McNair, of course.
“We have a great team of people here,” he said. “I can’t emphasize that enough. It really was a team effort.”
The Texans didn’t have any glitches during the NFL’s first virtual draft. O’Brien’s war room at his house was outside in the pool area.
“I do miss being in the meeting room where you can be face-to-face with somebody and put the film on,” he said.
O’Brien said his technological team did “an unbelievable job of setting us up.
“There was a setup at my house, a setup at Jack’s house, a setup at Kevin’s house, a setup at Cal’s house. There’s so much that goes into it from a technological standpoint, so it was great.”
Only time will tell how O’Brien’s first draft class will be judged.
Blacklock, who had been projected to go in the first round, will be an end in a three-man front and move inside in passing situations. At 6-3, 290, he’s undersized to be a nose tackle who has to play two gaps.
Greenard will be an outside linebacker. Depending on how quick he learns the system and how fast he develops, he could be moved around depending on the situation.
Heck will compete with Roderick Johnson to be the swing tackle behind Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard.
Reid is an inside cornerback who can cover slot receivers. He should be a terrific special teams player.
Coulter has good size (6-2, 198) and speed (4.45) but will have a lot of work to do coming from Rhode Island University and that level of competition.
Keep in mind that restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic keep teams from having their usual offseason programs with on-field coaching that’s essential to a rookie’s development.
Still, those restrictions haven’t tempered O’Brien’s enthusiasm about his first draft class as a general manager.
“I like our team,” O’Brien said. “We have good depth at a lot of positions. There’s always holes we need to fill, but I like where we are right now.
“There’s still a lot of opportunities to build the roster in different ways. It’s still incomplete, and we’ll continue to grind on the roster.”