The Houston Texans got help in their defensive front seven after Friday's second and third-round selections of the 2020 NFL Draft.
"I definitely think we've improved," head coach and general manager Bill O'Brien said Friday night. "We're pretty good on defense. We've got a lot of depth in the offseason. Like I was saying the other day when I talked to you guys, we were able to sign a lot of our guys back and then we were able to add some good free agents. It's going to be a tough competition in training camp for a lot of these guys. They're going to show up, they're going to be ready, they're going to be excited. Then we add two guys tonight that we feel are going to add to that we feel will competition. I feel good about the defensive side of the ball. I feel really good about where we're at. We have a few more picks here tomorrow and we'll see how it goes."
Houston drafted an interior defensive lineman out of TCU, (6-3, 290) Ross Blacklock with its second-round pick (40th overall). In the third round, the Texans followed up with outside linebacker Jonathan Greenard (6-3, 263) from Florida.
"One of the things that both of these guys bring, Jon brings, is toughness, he brings a football intelligence," O'Brien said. 'He's a humble, he's a hungry guy. I think he falls into that category of dependable, tough and smart. I think Ross falls into that category too. I think we've got two guys that are going to walk into the locker room, they're going to put their head down and they're going to go to work and they're going to know that they're coming into a good football team and they're going to be ready to go."
The Texans secondary could also see some more additions under new defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver.
This year, Houston has already re-signed Bradley Roby and brought back Gareon Conley, Vernon Hargreaves III and Keion Crossen while signing new safeties Eric Murray, Jaylen Watkins and agreeing to terms with former New York Giants safety Michael Thomas.
"I feel good about our secondary, where we are right now, but certainly with the picks that we have left, I would anticipate having a chance to possibly add to that depth," O'Brien said.
The Texans head into Day 3 with five remaining draft picks, in the fourth (111th), fifth (171st) and three in the seventh round (240th, 248th, 250th overall).
