We’ve reached the point of over-saturation with this draft. I can tell because the names keep staying the same, rather than getting different. Lance Zierlein’s View From The Sideline put up a different kind of mock draft yesterday: one with three separate picks for each team based on how the draft unfolds in front of them. The three Texans choices? You’ve seen them before: Prince Amukamara, Robert Quinn, and J.J. Watt.
(1) Robert Quinn, OLB, North Carolina
(2) J.J. Watt, DE, Wisconsin
(3) Prince Amukamara, CB, NebraskaThe Texans almost have to draft on the defensive side of the ball. Amukamara is an immediate upgrade, but the Texans may look to add to the front via the draft and the secondary via free agency or in the second/third round.
One point that is definitely going in Amukamara’s favor in this point is that there are quite a few 3-4 outside linebackers getting hyped up as decent second round picks. Guys like Arizona’s Brooks Reed or Nevada’s Dontay Moch could be around at the start of round two for the Texans, whereas if they had to draft a defensive back, the only choice that would really be a coup in value for the Texans is UCLA safety Rahim Moore.
For that reason, and buoyed by the fact that John McClain wrote up a piece on him at the draft, I believe Amukamara is probably ahead of Quinn on the Texans board. Quinn’s suspension last year probably does him no favors either, especially considering how hypersensitive the Texans are about drafting high-character players.