AND THE HOUSTON TEXANS SELECT...

Josh Jordan's mock draft 1.0

Josh Jordan's mock draft 1.0
Alabama RB Josh Jacobs. Photo via: Alabama/Facebook

It's that time of year again and now that the NFL Combine is over, it's time to start all the mock drafts. The Houston Texans have the 23rd pick, so let's take a look at how the draft board might stack up.

1. Arizona Cardinals- OU QB Kyler Murray

Kliff Kingsbury, Kyler Murray

Murray is a great fit in Kingsbury's offense.

Composite photo by Brandon Strange

Kingsbury gets his QB and the Cardinals move on from Josh Rosen.

2. San Francisco 49ers- Ohio State DE Nick Bosa

49ers get some help rushing the passer, and this guy will make an immediate impact.

3. New York Jets- Kentucky Edge Josh Allen

The Jets add Josh Allen to help get after the QB.

4. Oakland Raiders- Alabama DL Quinnen Williams

Williams made a huge splash at the Combine and the Raiders take the best player on the board.

5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Michigan DE Rashan Gary

The Bucs need some help on the edge, and they get exactly that with Gary.

6. New York Giants- Ohio State QB Dwayne Haskins

Haskins is sitting there for the taking at #6.

7. Jacksonville Jaguars- Mississippi State DE Montez Sweat

The Jags need to get their defense back to dominance, and a pass rusher just might do the trick. This dude can RUN!

8. Detroit Lions- LSU LB Devin White

Matt Patricia gets a playmaker at linebacker, and he's fast too.

9. Buffalo Bills- Washington State OT Andre Dillard

The Bills have to address the offensive line and protect their young QB.

10. Denver Broncos- Florida OT Jawaan Taylor

Corner might be an option, but right tackle Jared Veldheer is a free agent in 2020, and they have to protect Flacco.

11. Cincinnati Bengals- Oklahoma OT Cody Ford

12. Green Bay Packers- Iowa TE Noah Fant

13. Miami Dolphins- Duke QB Daniel Jones

14. Atlanta Falcons- Alabama OT Jonah Williams

15. Washington Redskins- Missouri QB Drew Lock

16. Carolina Panthers- NCST OL Garrett Bradbury

17. Cleveland Browns- Ole Miss WR D.K. Metcalf

18. Minnesota Vikings- Michigan LB Devin Bush

19. Tennessee Titans- Clemson DL Christian Wilkins

20. Pittsburgh Steelers- Oklahoma WR Marquise Brown

21. Seattle Seahawks- Clemson Edge Clelin Ferrell

22. Baltimore Ravens- Ohio State WR Parris Campbell

23. Houston Texans- LSU CB Greedy Williams

The Texans would love to take an offensive tackle, but they're desperately in need of help at corner too. I believe that all the tackles worth taking will be gone by the time the Texans pick, so they get a stud corner and a steal with Williams.

24. Oakland Raiders (via Bears)- Florida State Edge Brian Burns

25. Philadelphia Eagles- Washington CB Byron Murphy

26. Indianapolis Colts- Houston DL Ed Oliver

27. Oakland Raiders (via Cowboys)- Alabama RB Josh Jacobs

28. Los Angeles Chargers- Clemson DL Dexter Lawrence

29. Kansas City Chiefs- Temple CB Rock Ya-Sin

30. Green Bay Packers (via Saints)- Kansas State OL Dalton Risner

31. Los Angeles Rams- Georgia CB Deandre Baker

32. New England Patriots- Iowa TE T.J. Hockenson


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A lockout appears unavoidable! Photo via: Wiki Commons.

Looming over baseball is a likely lockout in December 2026, a possible management push for a salary cap and perhaps lost regular-season games for the first time since 1995.

“No one’s talking about it, but we all know that they’re going to lock us out for it, and then we’re going to miss time,” New York Mets All-Star first baseman Pete Alonso said Monday at the All-Star Game. “We’re definitely going to fight to not have a salary cap and the league’s obviously not going to like that.”

Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred and some owners have cited payroll disparity as a problem, while at the same time MLB is working to address a revenue decline from regional sports networks. Unlike the NFL, NBA and NHL, baseball has never had a salary cap because its players staunchly oppose one.

Despite higher levels of luxury tax that started in 2022, the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets have pushed payrolls to record levels. The last small-market MLB club to win a World Series was the Kansas City Royals in 2015.

After signing outfielder Juan Soto to a record $765 million contract, New York opened this season with an industry-high $326 million payroll, nearly five times Miami’s $69 million, according to Major League Baseball’s figures. Using luxury tax payrolls, based on average annual values that account for future commitments and include benefits, the Dodgers were first at $400 million and on track to owe a record luxury tax of about $151 million — shattering the previous tax record of $103 million set by Los Angeles last year.

“When I talk to the players, I don’t try to convince them that a salary cap system would be a good thing,” Manfred told the Baseball Writers’ Association of America on Tuesday. “I identify a problem in the media business and explain to them that owners need to change to address that problem. I then identify a second problem that we need to work together and that is that there are fans in a lot of our markets who feel like we have a competitive balance problem.”

Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement expires Dec. 1, 2026, and management lockouts have become the norm, which shifts the start of a stoppage to the offseason. During the last negotiations, the sides reached a five-year deal on March 10 after a 99-day lockout, salvaging a 162-game 2022 season.

“A cap is not about a partnership. A cap isn’t about growing the game,” union head Tony Clark said Tuesday. “A cap is about franchise values and profits. ... A salary cap historically has limited contract guarantees associated with it, literally pits one player against another and is often what we share with players as the definitive non-competitive system. It doesn’t reward excellence. It undermines it from an organizational standpoint. That’s why this is not about competitive balance. It’s not about a fair versus not. This is institutionalized collusion.”

The union’s opposition to a cap has paved the way for record-breaking salaries for star players. Soto’s deal is believed to be the richest in pro sports history, eclipsing Shohei Ohtani’s $700 million deal with the Dodgers signed a year earlier. By comparison, the biggest guaranteed contract in the NFL is $250 million for Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen.

Manfred cites that 10% of players earn 72% of salaries.

“I never use the word `salary’ within one of `cap,’” he said. “What I do say to them is in addressing this competitive issue that’s real we should think about whether this system is the perfect system from a players’ perspective.”

A management salary cap proposal could contain a salary floor and a guaranteed percentage of revenue to players. Baseball players have endured nine work stoppages, including a 7 1/2-month strike in 1994-95 that fought off a cap proposal.

Agent Scott Boras likens a cap plan to attracting kids to a “gingerbread house.”

“We’ve heard it for 20 years. It’s almost like the childhood fable,” he said. “This very traditional, same approach is not something that would lead the younger players to the gingerbread house.”

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