NFL Network analyst Daniel Jeremiah joined "Texans All Access" on Tuesday afternoon for his weekly "Path to the Draft presented by Warehouse Pool Supply" segment on Texans Radio.
A former scout for three different NFL teams, Jeremiah discussed potential tight end, offensive tackle and wide receiver options for the Texans with the 2013 NFL Draft a little more than two weeks away (April 25-27). Here are some of his comments below. PODCAST: Full interview
Tight end
On Rice's Vance McDonald or others who could be available in the third or fourth round: "The third round, that's where I put Vance McDonald when you stack him up. In a normal tight end year, Vance would probably go in the second round, but we are loaded with tight ends this year. Another one in the third round, I really like (Florida's) Jordan Reed a lot. He's somebody else kind of in that late second, early third (range). If you want to take a guy even later than that, I think in the fifth round, you'd probably find somebody like Michael Rivera from Tennessee, who's a very athletic pass-catcher. So there's a ton of 'em. You look at the top of the draft with (Notre Dame's Tyler) Eifert and (Stanford's Zach) Ertz, and you talk about (Gavin) Escobar from San Diego State. You've got (Travis) Kelce from Cincinnati, who can block and catch and do a lot of different things. It is a loaded group of tight ends this year."
Offensive tackle
On second- and the third-round possibilities: "Terron Armstead for me is a classic second-round pick: Small-school player from Arkansas Pine-Bluff who's raw, but you talk about a freak athlete – he put on a show at the Combine, he held out well at the East-West Game and the Senior Bowl game as well. So he's somebody who's kind of ticketed for that second round area. Probably won't last (until the Texans' pick); he'll probably go in the top-10 picks in the second round. Another guy that's in that third, fourth round that's kind of interesting is North Carolina tackle Brennan Williams, who's very athletic. He's got some things that people really like about him on the field. Off the field, this is one of the unique stories that you hear about players. He paints his fingernails, which you don't really hear often about offensive tackles, and he's into I believe it's called live-action role play… It's definitely not something you see in a scouting report every day."
Wide receiver
On who might be available for the Texans at No. 27 overall: "I think before today, you'd say maybe it was iffy if Keenan Allen would be there from Cal, who's a really good player, but at his workout today, he ran in the 4.7s. He's coming off of injury (left knee), but still, that's not going to help his cause any, and you know when you watch him, he's not going to be a blazing fast kid. I think there's a very good chance he could be there. I still think he's a really, really solid football player, and he kind of fits into the mold of the Texans: A bigger guy, really reliable hands, a tough kid. To me, he's somebody that kind of fits what the Texans do, and because of a poor 40 time, I think they'll probably be staring him in the face here."
On USC's Robert Woods: "I like Robert a lot, but to me, I think he's right around my fifth or sixth guy (at wide receiver). I like (DeAndre) Hopkins a little bit better, from Clemson. I think he's just a little bit quicker in and out of his breaks, different things there. Woods is somebody that can play inside and outside. They used him in a variety of roles at 'SC just to get him the ball. His production fell off a little bit just because of Marqise Lee's emergence, but he's a really solid football player. He's tough. I just didn't see a big-time elite, top-tier athlete… To me, he's a classic second-round receiver."
On Arkansas' Cobi Hamilton and Tennessee Tech's Da'Rick Rogers: "I think you're talking about two guys that are probably in that third-round range. I think if Rogers was clean off the field, never had any issues and had stayed at Tennessee, you may be talking more in the second round. But you're talking about a really, really long, athletic kid. The off-the-field stuff, people just have to get comfortable with… Hamilton... he's a big kid. He can run, he's got some tools. I just think you're talking more in that third-round, maybe even fourth-round area for him. One guy I've kind of compared him to throughout the whole process (is) Tavarres King from Georgia."
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