TheRealJoker
Hall of Fame
No trades. The goal was to develop an identity. On offense. I wanted a smash mouth football team and I feel like I got it with the OL, TEs and Hassan Haskins as the power back for this year’s offense. Do not expect Haskins in the 6th, see him at the Texans’ 4th round slots so hopefully slick Nick can add an extra pick in a trade down.
On defense I want to speed up building Lovie’s secondary. What better way to do that than to draft Cincinnati’s stellar unit and gain instant chemistry on the back-end. Texans’ best CB duo was Jo Jo and Kareem because they were together for years. This can be duplicated here.
Pick by pick analysis:
1.3 Gardner - CB 1. Best prospect since Ramsay. See BL’s mock draft for further glowing recommendations.
1.13 Johnson - Lovie’s defense needs an edge rushing presence and Johnson is the prototype pass rushing force at DE. 6’5” 254 34” arms 4.58 40 (!). 11.5 sacks this year 17.5 tackles for loss. His best football is yet to come. As much as he showed as a pass rusher he is an even better run defender at this stage of his development. Belongs in conversation with Hutch/Thibs as top DEs in draft and would be had he spent career at FSU rather than just one season.
2.37 Green. The steal of the draft if he makes it here. Hopefully his performance in shorts makes that happen. Will imprint smash mouth identity on opposing DL as they look up after being pancaked by Green.
3.68 Salyer. The two starting guards are set for years to come! Now have a pair of all SEC OL that have excelled at multiple positions on OL throughout their college careers. Set them and forget them at LG/RG respectively until its time to pay them once their rookie contracts expire.
3.80 Cook. Here’s where it gets fun! Now have an alpha enforcer in secondary ready to lay the wood and can match up favorably against opposing TEs.
4.107 Ruckert. Mills needs a reliable big bodied Y TE and Ruckert is that guy. Also helps in the running game as a blocker. Will push Pharaoh Brown off the roster and pair nicely with Brevin Jordan.
4.108 Bryant. Here’s our next era Jo Jo/KJ! Bryant falls here due to his measurables but his football IQ is right there with Sauce. Will beat out Lonnie Johnson (who is Sauce without the football IQ) and be the CB2 outside. Allowing Desmond King and Tavierre Thomas to have an awesome camp competition for slot duties! The secondary is set!
6.183 Haskins. The “thunder” back. Texans need to establish a smash mouth physical football team identity and Haskins is one of the best candidates to do that. 27 reps on bench at combine and you can see every bit of that power in his play as both a runner and blocker. Everything he does on the field he does so with the intention to hurt his opponent! I hope he’s there in 4th round for us in real time and ecstatic he’s here at 183 on the simulators. First year as featured back the Wolverines rode him down the stretch multiple games with 20+ carries. Longest streak in college football without a fumble with 440 touches as of Big Ten Championship last zeason.
6.205 Okonkwo. Chess piece matchup nightmare. Is he a move TE? Is he a FB. He is whatever Pep wants him to be and will be a reliable safety valve for Mills. Super athletic and will excel on ST when he is not called to play on offense.
6.207 Thornton. You can’t teach speed and Thornton ran a 4.28 at combine. Give him a season in an NFL S&C program to add weight without losing speed to stand up to NFL press coverage. That along with practicing against Sauce sets him up well for success. This year he can be the designated field stretcher and get a couple deep targets from Mills/game.
7.245 Lowe. Developmental swing OT. Has upper echelon measurables and Lovie knows him as a player/person from his Illinois days. Lowe was a leader on his team and will be a good locker room fit with potential to be a solid NFL OT. May sit on PS for rookie season if Howard doesn’t get traded. But you can’t teach size/length and Lowe has that in 99 percentile.
On defense I want to speed up building Lovie’s secondary. What better way to do that than to draft Cincinnati’s stellar unit and gain instant chemistry on the back-end. Texans’ best CB duo was Jo Jo and Kareem because they were together for years. This can be duplicated here.
Pick by pick analysis:
1.3 Gardner - CB 1. Best prospect since Ramsay. See BL’s mock draft for further glowing recommendations.
1.13 Johnson - Lovie’s defense needs an edge rushing presence and Johnson is the prototype pass rushing force at DE. 6’5” 254 34” arms 4.58 40 (!). 11.5 sacks this year 17.5 tackles for loss. His best football is yet to come. As much as he showed as a pass rusher he is an even better run defender at this stage of his development. Belongs in conversation with Hutch/Thibs as top DEs in draft and would be had he spent career at FSU rather than just one season.
2.37 Green. The steal of the draft if he makes it here. Hopefully his performance in shorts makes that happen. Will imprint smash mouth identity on opposing DL as they look up after being pancaked by Green.
3.68 Salyer. The two starting guards are set for years to come! Now have a pair of all SEC OL that have excelled at multiple positions on OL throughout their college careers. Set them and forget them at LG/RG respectively until its time to pay them once their rookie contracts expire.
3.80 Cook. Here’s where it gets fun! Now have an alpha enforcer in secondary ready to lay the wood and can match up favorably against opposing TEs.
4.107 Ruckert. Mills needs a reliable big bodied Y TE and Ruckert is that guy. Also helps in the running game as a blocker. Will push Pharaoh Brown off the roster and pair nicely with Brevin Jordan.
4.108 Bryant. Here’s our next era Jo Jo/KJ! Bryant falls here due to his measurables but his football IQ is right there with Sauce. Will beat out Lonnie Johnson (who is Sauce without the football IQ) and be the CB2 outside. Allowing Desmond King and Tavierre Thomas to have an awesome camp competition for slot duties! The secondary is set!
6.183 Haskins. The “thunder” back. Texans need to establish a smash mouth physical football team identity and Haskins is one of the best candidates to do that. 27 reps on bench at combine and you can see every bit of that power in his play as both a runner and blocker. Everything he does on the field he does so with the intention to hurt his opponent! I hope he’s there in 4th round for us in real time and ecstatic he’s here at 183 on the simulators. First year as featured back the Wolverines rode him down the stretch multiple games with 20+ carries. Longest streak in college football without a fumble with 440 touches as of Big Ten Championship last zeason.
6.205 Okonkwo. Chess piece matchup nightmare. Is he a move TE? Is he a FB. He is whatever Pep wants him to be and will be a reliable safety valve for Mills. Super athletic and will excel on ST when he is not called to play on offense.
6.207 Thornton. You can’t teach speed and Thornton ran a 4.28 at combine. Give him a season in an NFL S&C program to add weight without losing speed to stand up to NFL press coverage. That along with practicing against Sauce sets him up well for success. This year he can be the designated field stretcher and get a couple deep targets from Mills/game.
7.245 Lowe. Developmental swing OT. Has upper echelon measurables and Lovie knows him as a player/person from his Illinois days. Lowe was a leader on his team and will be a good locker room fit with potential to be a solid NFL OT. May sit on PS for rookie season if Howard doesn’t get traded. But you can’t teach size/length and Lowe has that in 99 percentile.
