The Texans liked Benardrick McKinney and Jaelen Strong.
A lot.
So much, in fact, that Bill O'Brien explained the reasoning behind the Draft Day trades to get them.
"If we really like a player and we have conviction on this player, like we know we have a consensus that the scouting staff and the coaching staff like this player, we have a vision, we know where this guy is going to fit, let's go get him," O'Brien said recently in a season ticket holder conference call. "So if we feel like we're going to lose him, let's trade up and go get him."
After staying at 16 overall in the first round, and taking Wake Forest cornerback Kevin Johnson, the Texans were sitting in the second round with the 51st overall pick. They traded up with Cleveland to get to 43rd overall, and threw in their 4th (116th) and 6th (195) round picks to get the Mississippi State linebacker. The Browns also sent a 7th rounder (229th) to the Texans.
With Johnson and McKinney in the fold, Arizona State's Strong was still on the board in the third round. He was a player who'd visited NRG Stadium in the pre-draft process, and a wide receiver many Draft pundits believed to be a first round talent. So general manager Rick Smith was on the phone again for a trade, sending receiver DeVier Posey and picks in the 3rd (82nd), 5th (152nd) and the Cleveland 7th (229) to the Jets for their 3rd rounder (70th overall).
It was an aggressive second day of the Draft, and O'Brien liked it.
"I don't know if that's been done a lot around here before," O'Brien said. "But I give Rick credit, he did it. He did it twice, and we were able to get some good players. Again, those guys need to go out and play now. But we feel good about where they are."
Smith has now completed 13 Draft day trades in his time as the general manager.
McKinney, Strong and the rest of the Texans rookie class have already completed a minicamp, and will begin OTAs next Tuesday with the veterans at the Houston Methodist Training Center.
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