SPOT ON
How Texans found secondary solutions despite draft challenges
Apr 29, 2024, 2:43 pm
The Texans added to the secondary with two of their first three picks. Composite Getty Image.
The Houston Texans addressed some needs in the NFL draft despite not having a first-round pick this year.
A year after selecting quarterback C.J. Stroud second overall and trading up to get defensive end Will Anderson Jr. with the following pick, the Texans didn’t have a pick in this draft until No. 42 in the second round.
After beefing up their offense significantly by trading for star receiver Stefon Diggs and running back Joe Mixon this offseason, the Texans used their early draft picks to improve their secondary.
They did that by taking Georgia cornerback Kamari Lassiter with the 42nd pick and adding USC safety Calen Bullock in the third round at No. 78. Both could move into the starting lineup immediately with Houston looking to upgrade the cornerback spot opposite Derek Stingley Jr., the third overall pick in 2022, and the free safety position to play with strong safety Jalen Pitre, a second-round pick in 2022.
The additions should bolster a defense which ranked 23rd in the NFL last season by allowing 234.1 yards passing a game.
General manager Nick Caserio raved about Lassiter, who won two national championships with the Bulldogs.
“Lassiter has position flexed — he’s played in the perimeter, played inside the formation,” Caserio said. “I’d say he plays with a linebacker-type mentality. He’s a corner, but he tackles. He’s tough, he’s physical.”
Lassiter started 29 games combined in his last two seasons at Georgia where he broke up eight passes and had 3½ tackles for losses last season. His draft stock might have fallen because of concerns about his speed after he ran an unofficial 4.60 40-yard dash at Georgia’s pro day.
“I’m sure there will be a question about his speed, and how fast he ran,” Caserio said. “But he’s not slow. The speed really wasn’t a concern of ours. The time is the time. We’re drafting football players; we’re not drafting track teams… when you watch him play in the SEC, you don’t walk away and have that concern.”
Coach DeMeco Ryans constantly preaches the importance of a relentless mindset to his team — and particularly his defense. He said Lassiter is the perfect example of that.
“Kamari provides toughness,” Ryans said Saturday. “You talk about energy and the way he plays the game — he loves football … he’s everything that our team is about.”
Bullock was a three-year starter for the Trojans where he had nine interceptions — two that were returned for touchdowns — and 151 tackles.
“He’s rangy,” Caserio said. “He covers ground, he plays the ball well. He has good movement skills for a safety. He started his career as a corner. Not saying he’s a corner, but he moves well for his size.”
PROTECTING C.J.The Texans chose Notre Dame offensive tackle Blake Fisher with their other pick in the second round at No. 59. Fisher is a versatile lineman after playing both left and right tackle in his college career.
“I think we’ve always been a big believer (that) you can’t have enough tackles on your football team,” Caserio said.
REUNIONHouston reunited Stroud with his former college teammate when it drafted Ohio State tight end Cade Stover in the fourth round. The 6-foot-4, 251-pound Stover, who spent his first year as a linebacker, had 982 yards receiving with 10 touchdowns combined in his last two seasons with the Buckeyes.
Stroud posted a picture on social media of the two of them celebrating in the end zone while at Ohio State soon after he was drafted Saturday.
“This guy is everything you want in a football player,” Caserio said. “This is probably one of our favorite football players in the entire draft.”
STAYING IN SCHOOLThe Texans added to their defense in the sixth round with Oregon safety turned linebacker Jamal Hill. He had 147 tackles, two interceptions and four forced fumbles in five seasons with the Ducks.
Later in the sixth round, the Texans nabbed another player who spent five seasons in college in running back Jawhar Jordan. He spent two seasons at Syracuse before spending his last three seasons at Louisville where he ran for a career-best 1,128 yards and 13 touchdowns last year.
Houston wrapped up the draft by taking USC defensive end Solomon Byrd and Auburn defensive tackle Marcus Harris and Michigan offensive tackle LaDarius Henderson in the seventh round.
Byrd was in college for a whopping six seasons after spending four seasons at Wyoming and two seasons with the Trojans. Harris played at Kansas for two seasons before spending the last three years at Auburn. Henderson spent four seasons at Arizona State before finishing with one season at Michigan.
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Coming off a 10-win regular season and an appearance in the divisional round of the playoffs, expectations are high for the Houston Texans in 2024.
However, coach DeMeco Ryans is only concerned with what is happening inside the team.
“We have a lot of room for improvement, and my expectations and what I expect to see from everyone is just get a little better each day,” Ryans said. “If we get a little bit better each day, we'll be exactly where we want to be.”
The day before starting his second training camp as Texans head coach, Ryans told his players they should expect more from themselves than anyone else.
“Nobody on the outside is going to have a bigger expectation than on the inside of the building,” defensive end Will Anderson Jr. said. “Right now, our expectation is just building that building, building a tall building."
After combining for just 11 wins from 2020-2022, Houston surprised many to win the AFC South before beating the Cleveland Browns in the wild-card round. The Texans likely won’t catch anyone by surprise this season.
“It’s gonna be harder,” quarterback C.J. Stroud said. “We have a target on our back this year, and that’s how you should want it.”
The emergence of Stroud is a big reason why so much is expected of the Texans in 2024. The second overall pick of the 2023 draft threw for 4,108 yards and 23 touchdowns on his way to being the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year.
“C.J. has done a really good job this offseason, as a leader when it comes to working with other guys,” Ryans said. “Knowing that he’s not just working by himself, but finding the avenues to get a group together and work together. That’s very important, especially when it comes to timing in the passing game.”
The Texans added talent around Stroud over the offseason, acquiring Pro Bowl receiver Stefon Diggs from Buffalo and Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon from Cincinnati before the draft.
Mixon will help a Texans rushing offense that averaged just 3.7 yards per carry, fifth worst in the NFL last season, while Diggs, who has finished with more than 100 catches the past four seasons, joins a passing attack that returns its five leading pass catchers.
“I’ve been watching Diggs for a while,” wide receiver Nico Collins said. “I was in middle school, and he was in Minnesota making plays, so it’s just crazy that he’s part of the squad.”
On the other side of the ball, the Texans signed four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Danielle Hunter to a two-year, $49 million contract after a 16 1/2 sack season with the Minnesota Vikings to pair with Anderson, the 2023 AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, on the defensive line.
Expectations are lofty for a team that has not advanced to a conference championship game in its 22-year history, but Stroud and his teammates aren’t shying away from those expectations.
“That’s how it should be,” Stroud said. “The person that always doubts himself probably will never make it to that point, so you gotta have confidence and have a goal and a plan and execute that plan.”