2020 NFL Draft: Texans
Texans take Ross Blacklock with 40th overall pick
The Texans used the 40th overall pick in the draft to select hometown guy defensive lineman Ross Blacklock out of TCU. Blacklock is a native of Missouri City who played at Elkins High School. His dad, Jimmy, was the first black captain of any athletic team when he played basketball for the Longhorns. He's currently the head coach for the Harlem Globetrotters, a team in which he also played for. As you can see, the kid comes from good stock.
There's a lot to like about this pick. At 6'3 and 290lbs, Blacklock is a long armed guy who uses his quickness on the inside to shoot gaps and give interior offensive lineman fits. His 4.9 40 yard dash time was impressive, but his 10 yard splits were the better tell of his quickness. Missing time in 2018 with an Achilles tear hurt him, but he looked to have recovered this past season. Told by the advisory board to go back to school for his senior year, Blacklock decided to gamble on himself and looks like it paid off.
It's not often that being your team's first draft pick of a draft class will place you as your team's second biggest headline of the day, but that's life as a Texan Blacklock will have to get used to. For a full rundown on Blacklock as a prospect, head over to Lance Zierlien's NFL.com profile of Blacklock and read the full write up. In my opinion, he's not going to replace the loss of D.J. Reader and he won't be an elite pass rusher to start off, but he's a good player and someone they needed to add to the defensive line. Please don't compare this kid to DeAndre Hopkins either. Sure he was selected with the pick they got for Hopkins, but he'll have enough pressure to perform by where he was selected. Look for him to show signs of improvement over time. I expect him to be a day one starter and become a mandatory double team on passing downs. If he improves versus the run, you could be looking at a potential Pro Bowler.
