Any quarterback selection above the third round is an indication the Houston Texans have given up on Davis Mills.
According to Luke Easterling of the Draft Wire, that is precisely what the Texans do in his latest 2022 mock draft. In the three-round masterpiece, the Texans take Pitt quarterback Kenny Pickett with the No. 3 overall pick.
Get used to the idea of Pickett going in the top five. It may seem a bit high, but he’s got many of the same traits that sent Joe Burrow skyrocketing up the board in 2020. After a stellar “super senior” campaign, Pickett is the top quarterback in this year’s class, and that guy usually doesn’t stay on the board long.
Houston shores up the backend of the defense in the second round with taking Aidan Hutchinson’s Michigan teammate in safety Daxton Hill (No. 34 overall).
Where Easterling treads that the Texans haven’t since the days of Rick Smith as general manager is taking a running back in the top 100. With Houston’s third-round selection (No. 67 overall), the Texans finally get younger at running back and take Iowa State’s Breece Hall. It would be the highest running back Houston has drafted since D’Onta Foreman in the third round in 2017.
Don’t forget Houston has an extra third-rounder this year thanks to the trading of cornerback Bradley Roby to the New Orleans Saints. With the 75th overall pick, Houston gets an edge rusher to complement Jonathan Greenard in his third season with Ohio State’s Zach Harrison.
By positions alone, the draft haul would be enough to give Houston fans some optimism about the direction of the franchise. Unless the Texans upgrade at coach, the 2022 season would be another year of Houston taking its lumps on the long, slow road to a realistic rebuild.
