Lets all try not to hyperventilate here, but it turns out that the Rick Smith/Gary Kubiak/Wade Phillips war room has determined that LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson may just be the best player in the draft. Bully for them, I say, for making such a determination. Well, according to a tidbit of throwaway Peter King speculation, the Texans may be so in love with Peterson that they would risk a trade up for him. That...that might not work out quite as well. Here's the quote from this week's Monday Morning Quarterback:
7. Houston loves Patrick Peterson. Capital L. I smell a trade-up
I want to point out first of all that there is absolutely nothing wrong with lusting over Peterson, who is undoubtedly one of the best players in the class and would fit nicely in Houston as a way to make fans forget about Kareem Jackson. The problem is that, well, the Texans defense has so many holes right now that they just can't afford the draft picks it would cost to move up and take him.
Two other factors that ride against this: the Texans are traditionally very anti-free agency, and if they traded a lot of draft picks, they would almost have to be players in free agency this year. Secondly, moving up for Peterson would put the Texans in line to give him an enormous contract, and they may not be financially able to do that and chase enough free agents to really round up the defense.
Not that Peterson wouldn't be great, but unless they move up with all 2012 picks, the Texans would really be putting themselves in a situation where they're setting up for 2012. It would be especially baffling considering Nnamdi Asomugha is likely to get a similar contract to Peterson, but not cost anything to move up and get.