A wide receiver who became a Pro Football Hall of Famer, a left tackle who's been named All-Pro multiple times, and a right tackle who lasted 14 years in the NFL are just a few of the many successful players taken 109th overall in the NFL Draft.
That's where the Texans' second pick of the 2021 version is, at the beginning of the fourth round. Over the last week, HoustonTexans.com has detailed some of the standouts who were drafted in the same overall spots in which Houston's selecting this year. Today it's 109, and tomorrow we'll conclude the exercise with 67th overall. Previously, we've shown who's been taken at 147, 158, 195, 203, 212 and 233.
89 players have been chosen 109th overall. Of those, 61 saw action in at least one regular season game. 32 would go on to start at least 16 games or more in their careers. Here are a few who proved to be productive players.
WR Don Maynard - The Giants took the UTEP end/flanker/halfback in the ninth round of the 1957 NFL Draft. Maynard didn't play that season, but caught five passes for 84 yards and also carried 12 times for 45 yards. 1959 saw him suit up for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the Canadian Football League. He came back south of the border in 1960 and suited up for the New York Titans, catching 12 passes for 1,265 yards and six scores. In 1963 the Titans became the Jets, and over 13 seasons, Maynard started 159 games, amassed 11,732 receiving yards and 88 touchdown catches, and averaged 18.7 yards per reception. Maynard finished a 14-game season with 1,000 or more receiving yards five different times, and he won a Super Bowl ring with the 1968 club. Maynard played in a pair of games in 1973 for Saint Louis. In 1987 he went into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
LT David Bakhtiari - An All-Pro twice, and a Pro Bowler three times, the Colorado Buffalo has proven to be a steal by the Packers. Green Bay selected him in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft, and he started every game his rookie season. In eight years as a pro, he's been the starter 118 times, and an absolute anchor in protecting quarterback Aaron Rodgers. In November of 2020, Bakhtiari signed a contract extension that made him the highest paid offensive lineman in NFL history.
RT Jon Runyan - With 207 games played, 192 of which were starts, right tackle Jon Runyan leads the 109th picks in both categories. The Oilers took him in the fourth round of the 1996 NFL Draft out of Michigan, and while he didn't start any games as a rookie, he appeared in 10 contests. From 1997 through 2008, he started every single game of the season, three of which were with Tennessee, and nine with the Eagles. He played five games in 2009 with the Chargers. When Runyan called it quits, he'd spent 14 years in the League, and played in a pair of Super Bowls, as well as a Pro Bowl.
QB Charley Johnson - The New Mexico State product, who was a Big Spring, Texas native, played in the NFL for 15 seasons. He was drafted in the 10th round of the 1960 NFL Draft by the Cardinals, and then began his career the following year in 1961. He played nine seasons in Saint Louis, guiding the Cars to a 36-28-5 record in games he started, and throwing 108 touchdown passes. He spent two years in Houston with the Oilers, and then the final four years of his career were with the Broncos. Johnson made the Pro Bowl in 1963, threw for 24,410 yards in his career, and completed 51.2 percent of his passes.
