The Z Report
Lance Zierlein: Even with no early picks, the Texans hit in the draft
Lance Zierlein
May 2, 2018, 1:14 pm
The Texans added Keke Coutee in Round 4. Houstontexans.com
All in all, I was very pleased with the Houston Texans draft. They stole a future starting safety in the third round while adding to obvious positions of need. Brian Gaine said they wanted to get faster and they did just that and they also added players at the end of the draft who should help improve their special teams unit. Here are my thoughts on the players drafted by the Texans.
Round 3, (68th) Jordan Reid, S, Stanford: To be honest, I had a first round grade on Reid, but expected him to go sometime in the early second round. Reid is what teams are looking for at the safety position. He's a plus size/speed prospect who has the athletic ability to help with man coverage and the instincts and ball skills for ball-hawking duties on the back end. Reid can get himself into some trouble when he's overly aggressive, but his positive plays far outweigh the negative. He has the talent to become an early starter and a good one. Tyrann Mathieu is at his best when he’s free-styling in space so even though Reid can play a combo safety role, it wouldn’t surprise me if the Texans used him as a safety on the back-end. Make no mistake, Reid has the talent to become an instant starter in this secondary.
Round 3 (80th) Martinas Rankin, OL, Mississippi State: In my personal opinion, the further Rankin kicks inside the better he will be. I’m sure the Texans will give Rankin the first look at tackle, but Rankin may have issues as a run blocker handling the power he will face. He’s played at a relatively high level in a good football conference and offers position flexibility which is key. He has heavy hands and good instincts in pass protection. He could become a good NFL starter but I’m not sure it will be at tackle. The Texans are bamking on the fact that he can make it work at that position.
Round 3 (98) Jordan Akins, TE, Central Florida: Akins has decent size, but flashes with his speed and ability to challenge man coverage down the field. Akins saw 43.7 percent of his catches go for 20-plus yards this season, but he also has the necessary talent with the ball in his hands to take a short throw and turn it into a first down. Akins is a move tight end with the ability to separate and create throwing windows, but he won't offer much as a blocker. Many teams were turned off by the fact that Akins is going to be a 26-year old rookie.
Round 4 (103) Keke Coutee, WR, Texas Tech: Lanky speed merchant with an ability to take the top off of a defense as well as handle the nickel and dime catches underneath. Coutee's lack of route experience and play strength could lead to a bumpy initial season, but his ability to separate both vertically and out of his breaks should make him a coveted slot target capable of adding chunk plays to an offense or return game in need of some juice. Coutee can handle kick return dutie and he can also handle the duties that were supposed to go to Braxton Miller in the slot. There isn’t going to be much need for Bruce Ellington, Braxton Miller, and Coutee on one roster.
Round 6 (177) Duke Ejiofor, DE, Wake Forest: The only reason Duke Ejiofor fell to this spot was because there were concerns about his medicals. He’s not a naturally gifted athlete, but he’s a very advanced pass rusher in terms of his skill level. Ejiofor's game revolves around his heavy hands and his ability to finish as a rusher if a blocker gives him an opening. Ejiofor needs to play faster as an edge rusher, but don’t sleep on his ability to rush from the interior in sub-packages. He consistently harassed the quarterback as an interior rusher and might be able to do the same with the Texans if he’s healthy. Great value pick.
Round 6 (211) Jordan Thomas, TE, Mississippi State: Thomas has rare size, speed and athletic traits as a converted receiver-to-tight end that is intriguing. He'll need simpler routes as a tight end and has to be coached up on how best to utilize his frame to wall off defenders. I wasn’t sure I saw enough toughness to envision him as an in-line blocker, but the Texans said after the draft that they believed he had the “want to” in order to make it happen when they worked him out.
Round 6 (214) Peter Kalambayi, EDGE, Stanford: Kalambayi is a well-built athlete with adequate strength, above average wingspan and sudden feet who hasn't been able to match the production to his traits. Kalambayi is an explosive athlete who never seemed to get much better after his freshman season, but he does have some talent. I see him as a backup 3-4 linebacker who will used as a core member of the special teams.
Round 7 (222) Jermaine Kelly, CB, San Jose State: Kelly fits the mold of height-weight-speed cornerbacks that Brian Gaine and Bill O’Brien wanted to start adding to the roster. He can really run and could land a roster spot with his special teams abilities alone. As a cornerback, it will take some time and it may never happen for him. He had just one career interception.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
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