With just two days remaining until the 2015 NFL Draft, the Texans see a lot of players they like at the No. 16 spot, or even later.
General manager and executive vice president Rick Smith says this year's draft class has more talent at the top of the board than in recent years, which could set the stage for trading down to acquire more picks.
"Yeah, I like 16," Smith said in his Tuesday press conference. "There's going to be a good player or two or three there for us to take, so it will potentially give us an opportunity to move back because I like our board. We probably have on average maybe a couple more players than typical that are rated in the first round."
The Texans have only traded down twice in the first round (2005, 2008) and have never moved up. The last time a first-round pick was traded, Houston selected Duane Brown with the 26th overall pick after giving up the No. 18 spot. That 2008 NFL Draft yielded a fast-paced first round that created quite a bit of stress at the time, Smith said Tuesday on Texans All Access.
Sitting at No. 16 this time, Smith and the Texans are similarly keeping their options open for Thursday's first-round selection.
"What I've discovered over the study over these last few days is I've really started to look at the board in its entirety is that it is a good spot, 16 is a good spot and it may give us an opportunity to make some moves," Smith said.
