The Houston Texans are behind the eight ball after the Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers agreed to a trade that saw the first overall pick change hands on Friday.
Former Texans coach Lovie Smith has officially gotten the last laugh after his short stint in Houston and has put his previous employer in quite the predicament just weeks ahead of the 2023 draft.
Carolina will almost certainly spend their newly-acquired first-round pick on a quarterback, and odds are that they have Alabama signal caller Bryce Young in their crosshairs. Houston seemed primed to take the 2021 Heisman winner if Chicago had kept their first-overall selection, but with the tables now officially turned, they will likely have to settle for less than the best quarterback that this class has to offer.
Not all is lost, though, as the Texans’ second-overall pick could be a valuable asset in trade negotiations with any team looking to add the best defensive player among this most recent crop of young talent, edge rusher Will Anderson, who many pundits see as the best available player.
Plenty of franchises will be interested in securing Anderson’s services, and after the haul that the Bears got for the first-overall pick, Houston could certainly seek to capitalize on their position to gain a volume of picks instead of selecting a quarterback.
Should they decide to trade out of the second-overall pick, the Texans could still draft one of the other highly-touted signal callers later in the first round, though this strategy wouldn’t be without some risk. Young is far and away the most complete quarterback, but others, namely Anthony Richardson, C.J. Stroud, and Will Levis have plenty of upside to turn into special players in their own right.
For now, though, the sting of losing out on a blue chip prospect at Houston’s most critical position of need will certainly sting for Texans fans and their beleaguered franchise.
