Tailgate
Fall of Hame
ESPN is seeding all 32 teams determined by each teams best draft Class. Then they are going to have a tournament based on these seeds. Its no secret ours is 2006... yet despite that class of 3 confirmed and 4 potential pro bowlers, we still landed the bottom seed while being the youngest franchise in the NFL.
Anyway.... here is ESPNs breakdown of our draft history,etc:
http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/insider/news/story?id=4008044
Anyway.... here is ESPNs breakdown of our draft history,etc:
http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/insider/news/story?id=4008044
TEXANS' BEST CLASS: 2006
Despite cries of protest from the Bayou City as the Houston Texans passed on Reggie Bush and local star Vince Young, their best draft class was in 2006 when they bolstered the defense with the additions of Mario Williams and DeMeco Ryans.
LB Mario Williams (Round 1, 1st overall, North Carolina State): Regardless of how well Williams plays for the Texans, this pick will be remembered as the time the Texans passed on Reggie Bush and local product Vince Young. After recording just 4.5 sacks in his rookie year, Williams has reached double digits in sacks each of the past two years. He was named to the All-Pro second team in his second year, when he recorded 14 sacks.
LB DeMeco Ryans (Round 2, 33rd overall, Alabama): Ryans made a bigger opening splash than Williams. He was named Defensive Rookie of the Year for the 2006 season when he recorded 155 tackles. In his second season, he joined his teammate on the All-Pro second team. Ryans has led the team in tackles in each of his first three seasons. To this point, Ryans rates as the best player drafted by the Texans in terms of NFL career performance.
TE Owen Daniels (Round 4, 98th overall, Wisconsin): Daniels has been a consistent second target for the Texans over the last two seasons. He has caught 133 passes for 1,630 yards while starting every game over the last two campaigns. Daniels made his first Pro Bowl appearance in 2009 as a replacement for Antonio Gates.
HONORABLE MENTION
MORE ABOUT THE TEXANS' DRAFTING: (since 2002)
Category No.
Hall of Famers drafted 0
MVPs 0
Off. players of the year 0
Def. players of the year 0
All-Pro first team 2
All-Pro second team 3
Pro Bowl selections 7
Off. rookie of the year 0
Def. rookie of the year 1
Other than the 2006 draft class, the Texans don't have another draft haul with more than one player who earns points in our rankings.
2003: WR Andre Johnson (Round 1) leads this draft class on the strength of his three Pro Bowl appearances. LB Antwan Peek and OL Seth Wand (both Round 3) each had one season when the started all 16 games. They took a flier on QB Drew Henson in the sixth round, but he didn't play a game in Houston.
2005: WR Jerome Mathis (Round 4) earned six points in his rookie year on the basis of his play as a return specialist, as he was named first team All-Pro and appeared in the Pro Bowl. DB C.C. Brown (Round 6) started 44 games over his first season before an injury-ravaged 2008 campaign.
Best Picks: LB DeMeco Ryans (2006) followed up his defensive rookie of the year campaign by making the second team All-Pro in 2007; Andre Johnson (2003) led the league in receiving yards (1,575) last season; DL Mario Williams (2006) should continue to develop after making the Pro Bowl and being named second team All-Pro.
TOP TEXANS DRAFT PICKS OVERALL
Rank Player Position Draft Year Points
1. Andre Johnson WR 2003 13
2. DeMeco Ryans LB 2006 7
3. Jerome Mathis WR 2005 6
4. Mario Williams DE 2006 5
5. Owen Daniels TE 2006 2
6. Jabar Gaffney WR 2002 1
Honorable mention: The team's short history doesn't yield enough players to fill out a top 10 list. The Texans have had eight first-round picks, and six of those netted no points. (David Carr, Dunta Robinson, Jason Babin, Travis Johnson, Duane Brown, Amobi Okoye).