Each day leading up to the 2026 NFL Draft — April 23-25 — TeamFB7 will break down a different team’s biggest draft need and the best selection to address it. Granted, teams will most often use their first-round pick on the best available player/value and not necessarily always their biggest need, so this isn’t going to compile together into a mock draft in the end. It’s more a breakdown of how each team could best address its most paramount priority if it chooses.
The Houston Texans haven’t selected in the first round since the 2023 NFL Draft — the one that really laid the foundation for 32 wins and three trips to the divisional round of the playoffs the next three seasons.
That was the year the Texans took quarterback C.J. Stroud No. 2 overall and also traded a haul of draft picks to the Cardinals for the No. 3 pick, where Houston took edge rusher Will Anderson Jr.
Not to oversimplify it, but essentially that’s how the Texans pivoted immediately from 4-12, 4-13 and 3-13-1 in consecutive seasons to becoming a perennial playoff presence and arguably the best defense in football in 2025 under coach DeMeco Ryans.
Stroud has had his ups and downs (the latter magnified in these past playoffs), but there’s no denying he was an immediate success in winning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and throwing for 4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.
Meanwhile, there’s no denying anything about Anderson.
He has 30 sacks in three seasons, won NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2023 and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2025, earning a 3-year, $150-million extension this month to become the highest-paid non-quarterback in football.
In that same 2023 draft, they got wide receiver Tank Dell in the third round and linebacker Henry To’oTo’o (200 tackles, 16 tackles for loss the last two seasons) in the fifth.
But general manager Nick Caserio had been building toward that transformational draft since he arrived in 2021, and he deserves a spotlight on how he’s built this roster.
Houston Texans GM Nick Caserio’s Impressive Draft Record
That first year, Caserio struck gold (oil?) on third-round wide receiver Nico Collins, who was good immediately but has been elite the last three seasons with 3,420 receiving yards, 21 TDs and two Pro Bowl honors in that stretch.
Caserio also took quarterback Davis Mills in the third round, and while he wasn’t the answer at the position for the Texans, he showed last season he’s one of the league’s more capable backups.
In 2022, his second draft leading the Texans, he nailed the No. 3 overall pick with cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., who after a shortened rookie season has totaled 14 INTs and 46 PDs the next three years while earning back-to-back Pro Bowl and first-team All-Pro honors. The Texans also got nickel/safety Jalen Pitre, a starter all four seasons of his career, in the second round.
Fast forward to the 2024 draft.
No first round pick (traded away in the deal to acquire the Anderson pick), no problem. The Texans found incredible value in second-round cornerback Kamari Lassiter (7 interceptions in two seasons; 2025 line of 4 INTs, 17 passes defended, 91 tackles, 7 TFLs and a Pro Bowl selection) and third-round safety Calen Bullock (9 INTs, 21 PDs in two seasons and a Pro Bowl nod.)
Last year, the Texans traded out of the No. 25 pick, moving it to the Giants for the 34th and 99th picks and a third-rounder in this 2026 draft.
It wasn’t a banner draft class overall, but Houston did get productive rookie wide receiver Jayden Higgins (41 catches for 525 yards and 6 TDs) and starting left tackle Aireontae Ersery (mixed reviews as a rookie) in the second round and running back Woody Marks (703 rushing yards, 208 receiving yards and 5 totals TDs) in the fourth round.
But they’ve hit on enough players in Caserio’s five drafts and done well enough in free agency: TE Dalton Schultz in 2003; Pro Bowl EDGE Danielle Hunter and Pro Bowl LB Azeez Al-Shaair in 2024; DT Sheldon Rankins and C Jake Andrews (claimed off waivers) in 2025; and safety Reed Blankenship, projected starting RT Braden Smith and projected starting left guard Wyatt Teller this offseason.
Caserio also made a savvy trade for starting right guard Ed Ingram last year, sending a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Vikings, and already filled the team’s need for a running back by trading a fourth-round pick, a 2027 seventh-rounder and a backup offensive lineman to the Lions for David Montgomery.
With all that, and we haven’t said this YET in this draft preview series, the Texans incredibly have no glaring needs in this draft and could simply look to upgrades or added depth.
So what will they do as they hold picks in Round 1 (28th overall), 2 (38th), 2 (59th), 3 (69th), 4 (106th), 5 (141st), 5 (167th) and 7th (243rd)?
What Should Houston Texans Do In 2026 NFL Draft?
They might well be the most unpredictable team in this draft.
“Ultimately, we’ll take the best football players, regardless of the position,” Caserio said, per ESPN. “That’s what we’ve always done. That’s not going to change this year relative to previous years. We’re a ‘BPA’ [Best Player Available] team. That’s what we do: take the best player available. There’s a reason that we grade the players and put them on the board and stack the board accordingly.”
If Houston stays at No. 28, we’d recommend taking a defensive tackle (Ohio State’s Kayden McDonald, Clemson’s Peter Woods or Georgia’s Christen Miller) and make the best front seven in football even stronger.
It could also look to add another edge rusher to develop behind Anderson and Hunter.
Or, it could indeed pool assets and trade up for a bigger hit in the top half of the draft.
Here’s one thought …
Houston absolutely needed to upgrade the offensive line, hence the free agent spending splurge in which Smith got a 2-year, $20-million deal after starting 105 games the last eight seasons for the Colts, and Teller got 2 years, $16 million after 101 starts, 2 Pro Bowl and 2 All-Pro honors in eight seasons mostly with the Browns.
But Ersery, the starting left tackle taken No. 48 overall last year, wasn’t overly impressive in his rookie season. PFF graded him 68th out of 89 qualifying tackles (58.9) while marking him for 44 pressures (81st out of 89) and 8 sacks allowed (79th) and 11 penalties committed (80th).
With their wealth of draft assets and pretty complete roster, there’s no need for the Texans to feel beholden to Ersery. Why not trade up to draft one of the better tackles in this draft (whichever one they graded the highest), let him compete with Ersery and at the very least appreciate having the extra depth?
That will only help bring out the best in their long-term investment in Stroud as well.
That sounds like the best move of all.
