On The Clock: 2018 Houston Texans

by Paul Wanecski

​The title of this article is a little misleading as the Houston Texans are without a draft pick until selection 68th, the fourth pick in the 3rd round. The quarterback position can carry a franchise or at the very worst cripple one. The cost of getting “the one” can be a steep and impact a franchise for the next few drafts. The cost of missing on “the one” can be even worse. Houston is all-in with Deshaun Watson at quarterback. After his first season, there are still just as many questions as answers.

Financial:
Houston made a few solid additions this off-season knowing they weren’t going to have the draft picks to replace some starters. After the draft, they will have $26.6 million in salary cap space, which is money they could hold and rollover into next season. With Will Fuller coming back, Jonathan Joseph resigned, Watson under center, and a returning J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus, the Texans are going to have to bank on their limited depth to stay healthy for a majority of the season. No major contributor is coming into a contract year so Houston looks to be in good shape for next season.
 
Off-Season:
The signing on Aaron Colvin to play cornerback, Tyrann Mathieu at safety, Zach Fulton to play guard, Seantrel Henderson (presumably to play left tackle) and the resigning on Johnathan Joseph all make perfect sense for Houston. Henderson comes with significant baggage having a checkered past littered with suspensions both on a college and NFL level. Speaking of checkered past, Sammie Coates joins the Texans. He was heralded coming out of college yet has never been able to stay healthy enough to ever really make an impact. The release of Brian Cushing was truly inevitable with his health issues keeping off the field for some part of every season (ok, well, his suspension helped keep him off the field too). This was an active off-season for a team that is honestly really talented. Injuries quickly derailed a promising season. 
 
Draft:
Well, this shouldn’t take long. Gotta have picks to make picks, right? Even though Houston is without a first and second round pick, they do have three 3rd round picks and it would be surprising if one of those wasn’t a tackle and a tight end. You may see Houston get creative with the three 6th round picks they have. Houston needs more depth and swapping low draft picks for veteran players would be a great thing for them since they certainly have the salary cap space. They are also without nearly any quarterback depth, so at some point in the draft, they would also likely be adding another QB.