The Houston Texans currently own the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. The Chicago Bears finished with a 3-14 record, just behind the 3-13-1 Texans to earn the first overall draft selection. The biggest mystery around the NFL is whether the Bears will trade their pick to another team willing to part with draft capital to snag a particular player before anyone else does. For the Texans, this could mean another team leapfrogs them to draft a player they may also be interested in selecting.
"I think we're focused on the Texans," General Manager Nick Caserio said Tuesday in Indianapolis. "We're not necessarily worried about what other teams around us are doing. You're cognizant of that, but ultimately you have to be prepared to pick wherever you're going to pick. Then, be prepared to pick whatever player."
The Texans, who have 11 total selections in this year's NFL Draft, also own a second first-round pick at No. 12. According to Caserio, the Texans can't get locked in on just one player with so much talent available.
"I'd say most teams, not to generalize here, but most teams wherever they pick you probably have three or four guys that you would feel comfortable taking," Caserio said. "A team is in front of you and you're only talking about one player, then it's going to leave two to three other players. So, you're either comfortable with that group of players or you're not. Again, you can't really get too caught up in what other teams are doing. You just try to make decisions that you feel are best for your team and your situation."
Last year, Houston traded back from No. 13 to No. 15 to draft OL Kenyon Green in the first round. Caserio outlined the steps necessary to move up and down the draft order. While most teams use the traditional Jimmy Johnson draft value chart as a reference, other teams may have their own analytically-driven model to determine the value in trading up or down the draft, Caserio explained.
"The issue you have is you're trying to do a trade and their model says one thing and your model says another thing, so we're speaking two different languages," Caserio said. "How do we find a resolution? I think that's more of an exercise for when we get into April. We're positioned here. What would it cost to move up one spot? We're at 12. What would it cost to move up a few spots? What would it cost to move back? We'll look at all those."
