It's that time of year when Nick Caserio and his staff ask me to generate a mock draft.
Ok, I'm lying. They have never asked me to do this and if Nick read that sentence, he'd likely spit up his morning alfalfa sprouts smoothie (I have no idea if he actually drinks these but if he has smoothies, I'm thinking they're not the fun ones with the strawberry fro-yo and all the fixin's I like).
Let's start over.
Each year, I do a few seven round Texans mocks to get us ready for the draft. These are for entertainment purposes. Occasionally, I've gotten some picks right. Three percent of the time, I'm right ALL the time!
Let's go!
Round 1 – Kenneth Grant, DT Michigan
Foley and Mario (I'm on a first name basis with these guys) are free agents to be and since I personally have no control over signing them (or anyone else, for that matter), I'm going with a big guy to crush the middle of opposing O-lines. Remember, we're a good team, so we draft late. It's the 25th selection and before the night runs out, I want to solidify an area where the Texans have been good and need to stay that way.
Round 2 – Xavier Restrepo, WR Miami
I have no idea what's going to happen with Stefon Diggs and what Tank Dell's recovery will be like. It's February, so I'll make this decision now. This guy runs great routes and always seems to find an open spot. You could easily see him getting big first downs and frustrating the daylights out of defensive coordinators. Plus, his name is fun to say. That's big with me. Plus-plus, he's a Hurricane, and that'll make Andre Johnson and Brevin Jordan (and me) happy.
Round 3 – Kevin Winston, S Penn State
I've got Jalen Pitre and Jimmie Ward coming back from injuries and Eric Murray is slated to be a free agent. I'll take Winston here, even though he's coming off a partially torn ACL suffered in September. 'Partially torn' can't be too bad, right? In any case, he should be good to go. If he's not, by late April, I can always change the pick.
Round 4 – Garrett Dellinger G LSU
You were wondering when I was going to take an offensive lineman! Well, here he is. I'm not much of an evaluator for this group, but this appears to be a great spot to take Dellinger. He does fit my all-important non-negotiable for offensive linemen, which is the ability to keep the other team's big dudes off your quarterback and to knock them out of the way, for your running backs.
Round 5 – Devin Neal RB Kansas
He's the all-time leading rushing for the Jayhawks. If this were basketball and he was the all-time anything for Bill Self's team, I'd be even more thrilled. But think about it - Kansas football has been way more respectable lately and Neal is a huge reason why. He's got great 3rd-down back potential and maybe more.
Round 6 – No pick here (for now. You know Caserio. He's going to make a boatload of moves and mess up my whole draft).
Round 7 – Silas Bolden, WR Texas
He's super fast and only 5-8 and 160 pounds. But did I mention he's fast? He can return punts and serves as, at the very least, a semi place holder until Dell gets back. It's the 7th round and we look for special athletic traits here. Plus, I haven't had a Longhorn or Aggie in this draft yet and we need the clicks.
