2011 SB Nation NFL Mock Draft: Round 2, Pick 42

Our annual 2011 NFL Mock Draft, with picks made by each of SB Nation’s NFL team bloggers, is in full swing. The latest pick in to the podium: the Houston Texans, at No. 42 overall.

Tim McHale of BattleRedBlog.com explains the choice, and our own Dan Kadar reacts to it, after the jump. Make sure you’re grading this pick for the Texans, and checking out Battle Red Blog for all of your Texans needs.

Tim McHale explains: Breaking news, MTD readers: the Texans’ defense is horrendous. Breakinger news: the stench emanating from the Houston secondary is the biggest reason why. Breakingest news: not once in their previous nine rookie drafts have the Texans ever seen fit to address the free safety position with anything other than a late-round pick. That wouldn’t be so offensive if the team had ever signed a respectable free agent to play free safety. Alas, that hasn’t happened either. So here we are, as desperate for coverage help at safety as ever, with monstrous problems at corner as well.

Houston’s defensive backs are sufficiently terrible, on balance, to the point that it was very tough deciding whether to target a corner or a safety with this second-round pick. The team has made noise about moving Glover Quin to FS this season, which sounds good in theory, until you remember that moving Quin from CB would only serve to weaken a truly wretched corner group. Plus, at least Quin has some experience at CB; asking him to move to FS, which he’s never played in the NFL, and asking him to do it in a year where (1) the Texans are installing an entirely new scheme under Wade Phillips, and (2) there are likely going to be far less supervised practice and coaching opportunities thanks to the labor strife, makes even less sense when you consider the vacuum Quin’s departure would leave at CB.

Yes, the preceding sentence was a rather understated way of saying Kareem Jackson was a complete disaster last year. To that end, the best way for the Texans to improve their issues at corner is by bringing in a veteran free agent to start, not bringing in another rookie to take his lumps at CB. To that end, we had to pass on Brandon Harris.

While Rahim Moore is clearly the beneficiary of a very weak safety class, he is capable of playing the centerfield position the Texans so desperately need help at. We’re also well aware that Moore’s 2010 seemed to dip from what he showed in 2009, but he’s still the best option for the Texans to shore up a historically bad spot on their defense.

Dan Kadar reacts: A lot of people have said that Moore is being considered this highly because of the weak safety class. That shouldn’t be the case. Just watch a UCLA game from 2009 and you’ll see Moore flying all around the field making plays. His hands are excellent for a safety and he has natural coverage instincts. in 2010, UCLA used Moore closer to the line of scrimmage. That’s the only reason he had less flashy numbers. In fact, teams should feel more strongly about Moore now that he’s shown he can support well enough against the run and drop back to cover. [Rahim Moore Scouting Report]