The Texans have been one of many busiest franchises this offseason as they’ve signed their fair proportion of recent gamers in free company, handed out large contracts to a number of members of their younger core, and traded away elite left sort out Laremy Tunsil.
As issues stand, the offensive line stays one of many weakest place teams on the roster. After buying and selling away Tunsil, they’ve added a variety of new guards and former Vikings and Jaguars left sort out Cam Robinson. Not one of the guards actually transfer the needle, however Robinson is a fantastic sufficient substitute for Tunsil within the brief time period.
So the place do the Texans go together with their first-round decide? When wanting on the Texans roster, the offensive line and inside linebacker room are the 2 positions that stand out probably the most by way of needing assist. The difficulty is that just one inside linebacker earned a first-round grade this yr and he’s presently off the board. If the Texans need to discover a new second-level defender within the draft, they need to wait till Day 2.
If that’s the case, then there’s just one actual place to select right here.
With the twenty fourth decide within the SB Nation Neighborhood Mock Draft, Battle Purple Weblog’s Kenneth Levy is choosing Texas offensive sort out Kelvin Banks Jr., holding the highly-regarded prospect within the Lone Star State.
24.) Houston Texans: Kelvin Banks Jr., OT, Texas
Levy: Kelvin Banks Jr. being accessible at 24 was too good to be true. Banks is a three-year starter at Texas and was the anchor for an offensive line which will see all 5 starters drafted. His consistency, play power, and footwork are elite in a category missing many true tackles. Analysts do convey his potential at guard, however his peak, size, lack of decrease physique thickness, and superior footwork can be disadvantageous with a transfer inside.
Evaluation: If the board finally ends up falling like this earlier than the Texans decide, they’ve bought to run up the cardboard with Banks’ identify on it. I believe it is a dream state of affairs. I do know the staff signed Robinson to play left sort out, however Banks is just too good of a prospect to not be taken right here after a stunning fall. The Texans additionally signed veteran Trent Brown to a really low-cost contract to probably begin at proper sort out and if he does bounce again sufficient and keep wholesome to play there, then you definitely’ve bought a wealth of our bodies to search out your finest beginning 5. Whereas I imagine Banks’ skillset suits finest as a sort out, he has greater than sufficient capacity to play guard and develop there if Houston determines that’s his finest long-term match with the staff.
Prime 5 remaining gamers:
- James Pearce Jr., EDGE, Tennessee
- Luther Burden, WR, Missouri
- Donovan Ezeiruaku, EDGE, Boston School
- Emeka Egbuka, WR, Ohio State
- Darius Alexander, DT, Toledo
Ed Valentine of Huge Blue View and the Giants are again on the clock after buying and selling again up into the primary spherical with the Vikings. They nonetheless want a brand new quarterback after passing on Shedeur Sanders earlier within the spherical. Will this be the decide to safe the way forward for the franchise?
