QB SPLASH
Report: Houston Texans draft plans could ultimately hinge on polarizing QB
Mar 7, 2023, 2:37 pm
The Texans could look to add Jimmy Garoppolo and Anthony Richardson. Photo via: Wiki Commons.
The Houston Texans are expected to have a new signal caller as the starter for 2023, but it might not be as everyone initially expected.
There is a push within the Houston Texans organization to sign quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo this offseason with the idea of also picking a young play caller in the first round and sitting him for the year to grow, CBS Sports reported on Tuesday morning.
Of course, Garoppolo would have to want to come to Houston in this scenario.
With Houston owning the No. 2 and No. 12 overall picks in this year’s draft, many expected the Texans to take one of Bryce Young, CJ Stroud, Anthony Richardson or Will Levis. One of the biggest concerns about all of the prospects, however, has been whether any of them would be ready to be a day one starter.
Signing Garoppolo opens the door to many possibilities for the Texans, including what they can do with their current draft capital. Here are some scenarios of what Houston can do.
Trade down
If the Texans sign Garoppolo, the need to take a quarterback with the No. 2 pick becomes less important and opens the door to multiple possibilities.
Because there is not a clear-cut No. 1 guy to take at QB, the Texans could trade down. Teams like the Las Vegas Raiders (No. 7 overall), Atlanta Falcons (No. 8 overall), or Carolina Panthers (No. 9 overall) may value one of the quarterbacks as a can’t pass prospect.
Even if the Chicago Bears trade the No. 1 overall pick to the Indianapolis Colts or stay steady at the top, Houston has a great shot at still being able to pick one of those four quarterbacks with a first-round pick outside the top six. The reason being, Arizona, Seattle and Detroit sit at No. 3. No. 5 and No. 6 respectively. All do not have a strong need at the position.
The trade down scenario is only feasible if general manager Nick Caserio and head coach DeMeco Ryans believe there is not much separation between the four quarterbacks or that their best quarterback prospect will still be available outside the top six.
The benefit of trading down is that Houston stays with two high first-round draft picks and can add even more capital in the process.
Focusing on defense
One of the glaring weaknesses of the 2022 Houston Texans defense was its inability to stop the run. Even if the Bears opt to keep the No. 1 draft pick and take a defensive star like Will Anderson Jr., the Texans are guaranteed to have the option to take one of Anderson, Jalen Carter, depending on how his off-the-field concerns play out, Tyree Wilson or Myles Murphy at No. 2.
Any of those players have a chance to significantly improve Houston’s defensive line struggles from day one. If Houston is comfortable with either Levis or Richardson, both of whom are considered to be long-term prospects, and believe one of them will be available at No. 12, signing Garoppolo gives the Texans the flexibility to address other areas with their top pick.
Takes pressure off top QB prospect
Even if the Texans opt to take a quarterback with the No. 2 pick despite signing Garoppolo, it would take away an enormous amount of pressure on that prospect.
Not having to worry about being the starter from day one will offer Houston’s potential top quarterback selection an opportunity to learn the offense with less stress, at his own pace, and have the resource of another person in the building, who has been around it for the past six seasons.
Garoppolo has been with the San Francisco 49ers since 2018 and knows the ins and outs of the type of offense the Texans will look to run in 2023 under Bobby Slowik. He also has familiarity with Caserio. Both were together with the New England Patriots.
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Jul 8, 2025, 12:03 pm
Adding a player of Kevin Durant’s caliber was too valuable an opportunity for the Houston Rockets to pass up, even though it meant moving on from Jalen Green just four seasons after they drafted him second overall.
Durant was officially acquired from Phoenix on Sunday in a complicated seven-team transaction that sent Green and Dillon Brooks to the Suns and brought Clint Capela back to Houston from the Hawks.
General manager Rafael Stone is thrilled to add the future Hall of Famer, who will turn 37 in September, to a team which made a huge leap last season to earn the second seed in the Western Conference.
Asked Monday why he wanted to add Durant to the team, Stone smiled broadly before answering.
“He’s Kevin Durant,” Stone said. “He’s just — he’s really good. He’s super-efficient. He had a great year last year. He’s obviously not 30 anymore, but he hasn’t really fallen off and we just think he has a chance to really be impactful for us.”
But trading Green to get him was not an easy decision for Stone, Houston’s general manager since 2020.
“Jalen’s awesome, he did everything we asked,” Stone said. “He’s a wonderful combination of talent and work ethic along with being just a great human being. And any time that you have the privilege to work with someone who is talented and works really hard and is really nice, you should value it. And organizationally we’ve valued him tremendously, so yeah very hard.”
Green was criticized for his up-and-down play during the postseason when the Rockets were eliminated by the Warriors in seven games in the first round. But Green had improved in each of his four seasons in Houston, leading the team in scoring last season and playing all 82 games in both of the past two seasons.
Pressed for details about why Green's time was up in Houston, Stone wouldn't get into specifics.
“It’s the NBA and you can only do trades if a certain amount of money goes out and a certain amount comes in and there’s some positional overlap or at least overlap in terms of on ball presence,” he said. “And so that’s what the deal required.”
In Durant, the Rockets get a veteran of almost two decades who averaged 26.6 points and six rebounds a game last season and has a career average of 27.2 points and seven rebounds.
Houston loves the veteran experience and presence that Durant brings. Stone noted that the team had arranged for some of its players to work out with him in each of the past two offseasons.
“His work ethic is just awesome,” Stone said. “The speed at which he goes, not in a game … but the speed at which he practices and the intensity at which he practices is something that has made him great over the years and it started when he was very young. So of all the things that I hope rubs off, that’s the main one I think is that practice makes perfect. And I think one of the reasons he’s had such an excellent career is because of the intensity with which he works day in day out.”
Durant is a 15-time All-Star and four-time scoring champion, who was the Finals MVP twice. The former Texas Longhorn is one of eight players in NBA history to score at least 30,000 points and he won NBA titles in 2017 and 2018 with the Warriors.
Now he’ll join a team chasing its first NBA title since winning back-to-back championships in 1994-95.
“Everything has to play out, but we do — we like the fit,” Stone said. “We think it works well. We think he will add to us and we think we will help him.”