Del Aware
Del Olaleye: Several ways to watch the NFL draft if your team does not have a pick
Del Olaleye
Apr 24, 2018, 10:30 pm
I’m in the middle of cutting the cord. I’m breaking away from one of the main pay for TV services. “Bless up” for free trials. I’ll document my experiences next week but the whole thing got me thinking about how I would watch the NFL draft. More specifically, how I would watch the NFL draft without a first round pick. Which is the position Texans fans find themselves in. There will be a five-hour party celebrating the NFL on Thursday and you’re not even invited. The Texans disinvited themselves due to a number of moves we don’t need to get into. We all know how Thursday came to be. There are plenty of ways to attack Thursday. Rick Smith isn’t available for you to kick around anymore and Brian Gaine has the night off but I have your draft primer here.
Depending on who you are this may be the most attractive of all the options. You know your team doesn’t have a pick. Any draft party involving Texans fans will just be sad. Ignore those invites and keep your television on TNT. The Celtics have a chance to close out the Bucks in Milwaukee in Game 6. The old standby Netflix is a legit option as well (check out Dark if you haven’t seen it). If you’re looking to get out of the house, Avengers: Infinity War will be theaters that night. The NFL doesn’t run your life. Well at least it shouldn’t in late April. Watch a top 5 comic book movie of all time. Yes I’ve seen it and Josh Brolin is great as Thanos by the way.
No anticipation. No stress. No cares. Watch the draft to enjoy the spectacle. Your team doesn’t have a first round pick, so they can’t piss you off by picking a guy you don’t want. Appreciate the old standards. You know Roger Goodell is going to get booed. Somehow, someway some kid will be convinced by his dad that if their favorite team drafts “insert player name” it will be the worst mistake the franchise has ever made. Cue that kid’s favorite team taking that aforementioned player and his apoplectic response. Don’t forget the draft staple of a team making the “wrong” choice which leads to fan cam. I didn’t say “sad fan cam” because I don’t think I’d describe this emotion as sad . Fans aren’t the only ones who can be memorable. I doubt we’ll ever get another troll like Cowboys great Drew Pearson but we can always hope. The draft can entertain even if your team doesn’t pick till late Friday.
Without a first round pick your team can’t possibly screw up but someone else can. We won’t know if anyone has actually screwed up for months or years but that won’t stop instant overreactions. Fans at the draft always want skill positions players or at least someone from a school they have heard of. For maximum outrage hope for a defensive lineman or a small-school offensive lineman to get picked when a player of need at a skill position is on the board. I enjoy a team picking a player that wasn’t on Kiper or McShay’s board at the team’s spot. Not because the team could be wrong but because I get to watch two draft experts explain how they got it wrong. That’s my own personal hate watch.
For those familiar with the twitter search feature that should make an entertaining night for you. You’ve got the obvious follows like Adam Schefter and Jay Glazer but simply entering the name of a player and the team they were drafted by will get you reactions that run the gamut from excited to furious. If you like reading tweets that call an NFL decision maker a “F--- Boy” then Thursday night is the night for you.
Nick Chubb didn’t expect to be a Houston Texan. At least, not until he got the call on a quiet Saturday at home and was on a flight the next day. It happened fast — too fast, even, for the four-time Pro Bowler to fully process what it all meant. But now that he’s here, it’s clear this wasn’t a random landing spot. This was a calculated leap, one Chubb had been quietly considering from afar.
The reasons he chose Houston speak volumes not only about where Chubb is in his own career, but where the Texans are as a franchise.
For one, Chubb saw what the rest of the league saw the last two seasons: a young team turning the corner. He admired the Texans from a distance — the culture shift under head coach DeMeco Ryans, the explosive rise of C.J. Stroud, and the physical tone set by players like Joe Mixon. That identity clicked with Chubb. He’d been a fan of Ryans for years, and once he got in the building, everything aligned.
“I came here and saw a bunch of guys who like to work and not talk,” Chubb said. “And I realized I'm a perfect fit.”
As for his health, Chubb isn’t running from the injuries that cost him parts of the past two seasons, he’s owning them. But now, he says, they’re behind him. After a full offseason of training the way he always has — hitting his speed and strength benchmarks — Chubb says he’s feeling the best he has in years. He’s quick to remind people that bouncing back from major injuries, especially the one he suffered in 2023, is rarely a one-year journey. It takes time. He’s given it time.
Then there’s his fit with Mixon. The two aren’t just stylistic complements, they go way back. Same recruiting class, same reputation for running hard, same respect for each other’s games. Chubb remembers dreading matchups against the Bengals in Cleveland, worrying Mixon would take over the game. Now, he sees the opportunity in pairing up. “It’ll be us kinda doing that back-to-back against other defenses,” he said.
He’s also well aware of what C.J. Stroud brings to the table. Chubb watched Stroud nearly dismantle Georgia in the College Football Playoff. Then he saw it again, up close, when Stroud lit up the Browns in the postseason. “He torched us again,” Chubb said. Now, he gets to run alongside him, not against him.
Stroud made a point to welcome Chubb, exchanging numbers and offering support. It may seem like a small thing, but it’s the kind of leadership that helped sell Chubb on the Texans as more than just a good football fit — it’s a good locker room fit, too.
It appears the decision to come to Houston wasn’t part of some master plan. But in retrospect, it makes perfect sense. Chubb is a player with a no-nonsense work ethic, recovering from adversity, looking to write the next chapter of a career that’s far from over. And the Texans? They’re a team on the rise, built around guys who want to do the same.
You can watch the full interview in the video below.
And for those wondering how Joe Mixon feels about Nick Chubb, check out this video from last season. Let's just say he's a fan.
I’ve seen some speculation indicating that Joe Mixon may not be happy the Texans signed Nick Chubb. If that is what you believe, watch this clip from an interview with @greenlight pod last year & get back to me. pic.twitter.com/3vaip85esj
— Houston Stressans (@TexansCommenter) June 11, 2025
*ChatGPT assisted.
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