NFL Draft winners and losers: Texans now have a crisis of their own creation

When the dust settled on the 1st round of the 2023 NFL Draft, the Houston Texans didn’t overthink the process. A team in dire need of talent made the biggest splash of Thursday by making back-to-back picks at No. 2 and No. 3, getting their offensive and defensive cornerstones. However, as the night progressed anyone reading between the lines could see that things weren’t nearly as peachy in Houston as we first thought.

For much of the week the was a story taking shape could have spelled disaster. The Texans, crestfallen with the realization they wouldn’t be getting Bryce Young, were reportedly on the verge of passing on a quarterback all together, taking Will Anderson Jr. with the No. 2 overall pick, and hoping there would be a QB for them at No. 12. It would have been a monumental risk, but one the front office seemed willing to take.

Instead the Texans changed their approach in the 11th hour, taking C.J. Stroud with the No. 2 overall pick, then moving back up to No. 3 and taking Anderson. It wasn’t a cheap trade — the Texans needed to give up significant draft capital to move up from No. 12 to No. 3 and select Anderson, but if anyone was in a position to make a splash it’s the Texans, who have 11 picks in the draft next year and are still receiving compensation for the Deshaun Watson trade with the Browns.

This is the kind of franchise-defining move that should have a GM over the moon with excitement. Instead, Nick Caserio looked like a flogged mule in his post-draft press conference, tempering expectations on Stroud and generally seeming very down.

It can be dangerous reading too much into body language, especially at the end of a long night like Day 1 of the draft can be — but words speak louder than actions here, and Caserio did not sound like a man who was overjoyed to have his QB of the future.

“C.J. has been a productive player, an accurate player, certainly has a long way to go. He’s a player our coaches spent a lot of time on, felt that was best decision to make.’

The reason for this is pretty clear: The front office didn’t really want Stroud. It was extremely well known throughout league circles that the Texans draft board was Young, Levis, Richardson, Stroud — with the football people in the organization wanting to roll the dice on a player with home run potential, rather than hitting a double.

While I personally think Stroud was absolutely the correct choice at No. 2, this is a horrific start for a new era. Especially if you take into account that if the Texans’ front office got to control the draft they could have taken Will Anderson Jr. at No. 2, and still got their QB of choice at No. 12. Hell, at this rate they probably could have added two elite defensive talents and moved up for Levis at the back-end of the 1st round to get that 5th year option.

This is going to be a story to watch all the way up to camp and beyond. Mark my words: Right now things are not rosy inside the Texans’ complex.

HOW DID THE NFL ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN?!

HOW DID THE NFL ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN, AGAIN?!

The Eagles win the entire draft. We don’t even need to see the rest of the class, because it doesn’t matter. Philadelphia managed to get two of the best defensive players in the entire class for the second straight year, without needing to do anything.

Sure, there’s some risk with Jalen Carter about his motor and motivation, but at No. 9 who cares? This is a guy who was a monster for Georgia last year on a winner, and they’ll get to run that back. Then you add Nolan Smith at pick No. 30, who absolutely could have been taken with the No. 10 pick — and you have one of the best classes once more.

If this feels familiar, it’s because it is. They is precisely what happened in 2022 when the Eagles took DT Jordan Davis, then got a sliding LB Nakobe Dean — both from the Bulldogs as well, and it helped bolster their defense enormously.

These four defensive players will solidify the Eagles for YEARS, and they barely had to do any work to get here.

The front office played their board like a piano, and Cardinals fans should be excited. Not only did the team find the trade out of the No. 3 pick they wanted, but they got the Texans 1st round pick in 2024, their 2nd which could easily fall in the Top 10.

Then, by moving back up from No. 16 to No. 6, Arizona managed to get the best offensive tackle in this draft in Paris Johnson Jr. — who they very well could have taken at No. 3 and been happy with. Trading out of that No. 3 was an easy decision, but having the guts to move back up to No. 6 is what made this class shine.

Brilliant work that can really set this team up for the future.

The Lions came into tonight in prime position to keep establishing themselves as a team ready to make noise, and came away being a slightly-wet fart. One you’ve got to check, just to make sure it’s not as bad as you think it could be.

There’s nothing wrong with the players Detroit selected. It’s not like there was a huge whiff here, but the draft showed an unparalleled lack of positional awareness and draft capital. Moving back from No. 6 to No. 12 wasn’t a terrible move, but taking RB Jahmyr Gibbs was.

Gibbs is a player who had been catching on late in the draft cycle as a shifty third-down back who can do damage, similar in style to Alvin Kamara. The problem is that taking a situational RB like that is a move that an established playoff team makes in the late 20s as a luxury, not in the top 15 when there are other needs to fill.

Then you look at their next pick, and the Lions did it again! I actually really like Jack Campbell. He’s smart, and instinctive — and the kind of player I can see Dan Campbell falling in love with. That said, you really, really didn’t need to take him at No. 18. Especially after trading down with Arizona the capital was there to get him at the top of the second round, and get any number of the far more important positions that were taken after.

There’s something to be said about sticking to your board and having strong convictions, but mastering the draft also means having awareness of what the rest of the league is doing — and the Lions seemed to be in their own little world.

The first round of the 2023 NFL Draft is the only time in history that every quarterback selected was black. All three of the top passers taken had some sort of pre-draft knocks leveled against them, which were far more severe that those against Will Levis.

Bryce Young was too small.

C.J. Stroud was too dumb.

Anthony Richardson was too raw.

In the end the teams taking QBs saw through the pointless noise and made the best picks for their teams. This isn’t something we would have seen 20, or even 10 years ago. In the past we’ve seen extremely flawed white prospects at QB get selected over their more talented black counterparts, for reasons only drafting teams know.

It truly feels like a corner is being turned where the best players are drafted by teams and the old, racist tropes are dying out.

Hey, I’m including myself in this one. Before Thursday night I strongly thought that positional value would lead us to seeing Bijan Robinson fall into the mid-to-late 20s. Instead we saw two running backs taken in the first 15 picks.

Nothing about that made any sense, but it didn’t necessarily need to. So much of the draft process is simply about playing catch up to what teams are thinking. The only part that gets weird about this is that the Falcons and Lions will be paying a lot more money to an RB than the league currently requires at RB.

Perhaps the teams who picked backs will be right, and if they are this will certainly shake up how we evaluate drafts in the future.

It was a killer night for Seattle. I think there’s a conversation to be had over whether Devon Witherspoon as a better corner to take than Christian Gonzalez, but when it comes to the Seahawks and DBs you definitely need to trust their vision.

What puts this over the top for me is landing Jaxon Smith-Njigba at No. 20. This is a player who really could have gone anywhere from top 10 to the teens, and Seattle got value. It strengthens two positions of need and keeps their shelves stocked for the future.

Smith-Njigba can immediately come in and work the slot alongside D.K. Melcalf and Tyler Lockett, with the potential to move outside as he grows as a pro. It’s going to make life that much easier for Geno Smith in 2023, and sets the team up for the future when they make a change at quarterback.

It’s pretty easy to win when you’re making two first round picks (unless you’re Detroit) and Seattle knocked it out of the park.

Dude, you never had any connections and you caused a whole bunch of people to flush their money down the toilet. Bravo.

Levis is still on the board, and we’ll see where he’s taken on Day 2.