It's getting close now. The 2007 NFL Draft is just three days away and Wednesday, Texans general manager Rick Smith spoke to the media about how he's attacked the draft process over the past few months.
Smith anticipates being nervous Saturday morning, his first day at the helm of an NFL franchise on draft day, but that's not all he will be feeling.
"I'm excited and thrilled." Smith said. "I'm very much looking forward to this weekend. I'm confident we're going to have a productive draft. We've worked extremely hard in preparation for that.
"To me, I don't think you can go into any endeavor confident unless you think you are prepared and I believe we are very prepared."
Smith briefly recapped how he's reworked Houston's scouting department to encapsulate all branches of the front office. The pro scouting department and college scouting department have worked more together this offseason than in any other in Texans history and Smith believes that he has put together a winning formula.
"I know we're going to help our football team this weekend," he said.
As you would expect, Smith was sly about his plans this weekend though he did allude to the fact that Houston's busy offseason has put the he and the team in a position to select the best player Saturday.
"I think we've done enough in free agency where we don't need to go get a particular player in the first round," Smith said. "We've added some quality depth and the draft, obviously, is another way for us to do that."
Houston enters Saturday with six draft picks, one in each round except the second. While Smith didn't say a deal to add more selections was imminent, he didn't rule one out either.
"I think there are a lot of ways that people try to value draft picks and how you move back and forth," Smith said. "You hear a lot of talk about the chart. I think what's important, if you're in a position to move, and I don't know if we will be or not, but if we are, I think what you do is you look at your different mechanisms at evaluating picks and go from there.
"I don't know how that is all going to play out, but I know we'll certainly be open to all possibilities."
He went on to say that he feels the Texans will have their pick of at least five to six quality players at the number 10 position Saturday. Obviously, that makes it easier to trade down.
While Smith was coy about his plans, he did admit that receiver was a position of need. The Texans locked up Pro Bowl receiver Andre Johnson well into the next decade earlier this offseason, but with the release of Eric Moulds, they continue to search for a legitimate number two receiver.
Smith said that role could be filled by two players already on the roster in Kevin Walter and André Davis, but added that the Texans could add a quality pass catcher as late as the fourth round this weekend.
"When you talk about this draft and you talk about positions that have depth to them, I think wide receiver is a position that we could add a player in the third round or maybe even the fourth round," Smith said. "We can get a quality player that can come and compete for that (number two) position."
{QUOTE} Along with receiver, secondary help might also be at the top of the Texans shopping list this Saturday. If you think the 10th overall pick may be too high to address a need at safety, for example, think again.
"Years ago, the safety position, the guard position, you could argue that people don't spend money on those players," Smith said. "That's not necessarily true anymore. If you can add an impact player at any position on your football team nowadays you do it."
After hearing Smith speak Wednesday, the Texans seem to be in position to add several impact players to an already improved roster this weekend.
The Texans will hold multiple press conferences this weekend at different points in the draft. Fans will be able to watch them all live on Texans TV. The first one should come shortly after the Texans make their first pick on Saturday.
