If you don't remember the past you are doomed to repeat it

The 11 worst draft picks in Texans history

Texans Kevin Johnson
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These are the worst 11 draft picks in the Texans history. I took into account players drafted after these selections and investment in the picks if there were trades involved.

David Carr - 1st overall - 2002

The Texans should've gone with Julius Peppers who is headed to the hall of fame and let a veteran take the beating instead of Carr. They stuck with him through a few years and potentially could have had Ben Roethlisberger (2004) and Aaron Rodgers (2005) or even any of the quarterbacks in 2006. The ripple effects are crazy off of this so let your imagination run wild. We will always have that first game though huh David?

Bennie Joppru - 41st overall - 2003

It made sense to start finding weapons to pair with David Carr in an effort to get the most out of the Texans quarterback. Andre Johnson was a terrific selection in the first round, one of the best in franchise history. Joppru was less than terrific. He would never catch a pass in the NFL. Right after him went Pro Bowl safety Ken Hamlin and in the next round Jason Witten was selected by the Cowboys. Not to pile on, but the Texans ended up with this pick in a deal with the Patriots. New England ended up with Eugene Wilson and Dan Klecko while Houston got Joppru and Seth Wand with their selections. His Pro-Football Reference page lists his defensive stats since he never recorded any offensive stats.

Tony Hollings - 2nd round - 2003 supplemental draft

No clue what the Texans were thinking here. He was a defensive back that moved to running back and played a few games before getting hurt. Hollings had been ruled academically inelgible so the Texans saw fit to burn a pick on him in the supplemental draft. He would rush the ball 49 times for 149 yards in a Texans uniform in three years. The Texans sacrificed a selection in round two the following draft for him. Running back Julius Jones and Pro Bowl safety Bob Sanders, who ended up on the Colts and tortured the Texans, went around where the Texans would have selected the following year.

Jason Babin - 27th overall - 2004

Maybe the worst pick the Texans ever made considering the cost. The Texans traded second, third, fourth, and fifth round picks and got Babin and a fifth back. Just horrible levels of investment. He would record 13 sacks in three seasons with the team before becoming a journey-man defender. He would find success with the Titans and Eagles later in his career. He had, uh, interesting tattoos.

Amobi Okoye - 10th overall - 2007

Rick Smith's first pick as the Texans general manager. This pick is here because of who went right after him. Okoye was decent at times for the Texans but certainly not what you would expect from his draft slot. He was also 19 years old when he was selected by the Texans. Houston was picking at 10 after a trade with Atlanta that landed them Matt Schaub. Here are four players that went in the next five selections after Okoye: Patrick Willis, Marshawn Lynch, Darrelle Revis, and Lawrence Timmons. I want you to sit and think about the possibility of Demeco Ryans and Patrick Willis playing together and realize the Texans took someone who was 19 instead. The story got sad but has a happier ending for Okoye.

Brandon Harris - 60th overall - 2011

J.J. Watt and Brooks Reed was one hell of a start to the 2011 draft class and I will listen to arguments they were so good this pick shouldn't matter that much. Alas, the "No Fly Zone" shut few people down. The deal sent New England a third and a fifth which they used on Stevan Ridley and Marcus Cannon.

Sam Montgomery - 95th overall - 2013

2013 was one of the worst drafts in Texans history. DeAndre Hopkins and Ryan Griffin were the bookends to an otherwise rough group. Montgomery though, highlighted the disappointment. He was a member of the infamous group of LSU players called out by coaches and didn't even make it through the season. He was cut after he allegedly was smoking weed in his room at a road game.

Xavier Su'a-Filo - 33rd overall - 2014

It should've worked but it might have been doomed from the start. The pick wasn't traded in an effort to move up for a quarterback and then when the Texans stayed put they didn't select Derek Carr. Joel Bitonio went two selections later to Cleveland and made the All-Rookie Team in 2014 and was an All-Pro in 2018. Please enjoy him allowing the sack but recovering the ball.

Louis Nix - 83rd overall - 2014

Aggression was a big thumbs up for the move but Nix failed to pan out as a NFL player. He had a knee surgery end his 2014 before it even really started and he didn't even stick on the team in 2015. The Texans sent the top selection in the fourth and fifth rounds to Philadelphia to select Nix. Again, the pick made sense it just didn't work.

Kevin Johnson - 16th overall - 2015

His time with the team just wrapped up and more than a few players after him have been consistent NFL players. Marcus Peters was picked two slots after Johnson and there is no debate he is better. The Texans usually shied away from players like Peters but Byron Jones, who was also a first round defensive back selected, has been a very nice player for the Cowboys. Johnson meanwhile suffered a multitude of injuries that stymied any chance at developing on his limited success.

Jaelen Strong - 70th overall - 2015

Seattle destroyed the Texans moments before this pick was made. The Seahawks traded up right in front of the Texans to pick Tyler Lockett who has been fantastic for them. It feels like the Texans panicked and moved up to draft the lanky Strong. He had mild success as a rookie against the Colts but frequent trips to the Bill O'Brien doghouse doomed Strong. The investment wasn't huge to move up and get him, DeVier Posey and two later round picks, but where the Texans were as a franchise they needed a hit to keep trying to push forward. Strong's failure to develop led directly to Will Fuller's selection the following year.

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Houston must improve in close games down the stretch and into October. Composite Getty Image.

While holding one’s breath that for a change the Astros aren’t publicly grossly underestimating an injury’s severity with Jose Altuve having missed the last game and a half with “right side discomfort…”

The Astros averting a sweep vs. Oakland Thursday was in no way a must-win, but getting the win allowed a mini sigh of relief. The Astros are NOT in the process of choking. Could they collapse? Sure that’s possible. Also possible is that they’ve just been in one more ebb phase in a season of ebb and flow. They certainly have left the door ajar for the Seattle Mariners to swipe the American League West, but with the M's simply not looking good enough to walk through that door the Astros remain in commanding position. The Astros made a spectacular charge from 10 games behind to grab the division lead. But there was a lot of runway left when the Astros awoke June 19th 10 games in arrears. September 3 the Astros arose with a comfy six game lead over the M’s. With Seattle blowing a 4-1 eighth inning lead in a 5-4 loss to the Texas Rangers Thursday night, heading into Friday night the Astros' advantage is back up to four and a half games despite the Astros having lost six of their last nine games and having gone just 10-12 over their last 22 games. Not a good stretch but nothing freefalling about it.

While the Mariners have the remainder of their four-game series vs. the dead in the water Rangers this weekend, the Astros play three at the lousy Los Angeles Angels. The Astros should take advantage of the Halos, with whom they also have a four-game series at Minute Maid Park next weekend. Since the All-Star break, only the White Sox have a worse record than the Angels 19-31 mark (the White Sox are 6-43 post-break!). Two of the three starting pitchers the Angels will throw this weekend will be making their third big league starts. To begin next week the Astros are in San Diego for a three-game-set against a Padres club which is flat better than the Astros right now. That does not mean the Astros can’t take that series. The Mariners meanwhile will be still at home, for three vs. the Yankees.

There are some brutal Astros’ statistics that largely explain why this is merely a pretty good team and not more. As I have noted before, it is a fallacy that the best teams are usually superior in close games. But the Astros have been pathetic in close games. There used to be a joke made about Sammy Sosa that he could blow you out, but he couldn’t beat you. Meaning being that when the score was 6-1, 8-3 or the like Sammy would pad his stats with home runs and runs batted in galore. But in a tight game, don’t count on Sammy to come through very often. In one-run games the Astros are 15-26, in two-run games they are 10-14. In games that were tied after seven innings they are 3-12. In extra innings they are 5-10. The good news is, all those realities mean nothing when the postseason starts. So long as you’re in the postseason. In games decided by three or more runs the Astros have pummeled the opposition to the tune of 53 wins and 28 losses.

General Manager Dana Brown isn’t an Executive of the Year candidate, but overall he’s been fine this season. Without the Yusei Kikuchi trade deadline acquisition the Astros would likely barely lead the AL West. Brown’s biggest offseason get, Victor Caratini, has done very solid work in his part-time role. Though he has tapered off notably the last month and change, relief pitcher Tayler Scott was a fabulous signing. Scrap heap pickups Ben Gamel, Jason Heyward, and Kaleb Ort have all made contributions. However…

Dana. Dana! You made yourself look very silly with comments this week somewhat scoffing at people being concerned with or dismissive of Justin Verlander’s ability to be a meaningful playoff contributor. Brown re-sang a ridiculous past tune, the “check the back of his baseball card” baloney. Dana, did you mean like the back of Jose Abreu’s baseball card? Perhaps Brown has never seen those brokerage ads in which at the end in fine print and/or in rapidly spoken words “past performance is no guarantee of future results” always must be included. Past (overall career) performance as indicative of future results for a 41-year-old pitcher who has frequently looked terrible and has twice missed chunks of this season to two different injuries is absurd. That Verlander could find it in time is plausible. That of course he’ll find it? Absolutely not. His next two starts are slotted to be against the feeble Angels, so even if the results are better, it won’t mean “JV IS BACK!”

Presuming they hold on to win the division, the Astros’ recent sub-middling play means they have only very faint hope of avoiding having to play the best-of-three Wild Card Series. Barring a dramatic turn over the regular season’s final fortnight, Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown are the obvious choices to start games one and two. If there is a game three, it is one game do or die. Only a fool would think Verlander the right man for that assignment. No one should expect Brown to say “Yeah, JV is likely finished as a frontline starter.” But going to the “back of the baseball card” line was laughable. Father Time gets us all eventually. Verlander has an uphill climb extricating himself from Father Time’s grasp.

*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

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