The Houston Texans made their first move to correct last year’s poor secondary play by trading back into the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft for Miami cornerback Brandon Harris. Harris is only 5’9 1/2, but has a lot of experience against top-flight competition at Miami and was one Greg Cosell’s favorite cornerbacks in the draft. Texans defensive backs coach Vance Joseph thinks that they have found someone in Harris who can come in and battle for playing time right away:
"When you watch this kid play, he plays like a five- or six-year NFL vet. His route recognition, his football IQ, was very, very high. When you meet the kid, he’s energetic. He’s a pro already. He’s going to fit right in. This kid, I’m excited about his future because his pro-ready from a mindset point of view. He’s played a lot of football. He’s played in the slot. He’s played outside. He’s played against top competition, so I don’t see a problem for him coming here and playing."
Certainly it wouldn’t be hard to crack the Texans’ cornerback rotation considering how bad they were last year, but with (hopefully) some improvement from Kareem Jackson, as well as a potential free agent signing at corner that will bump Glover Quin to safety, the Texans have the potential to flip a lot of the secondary’s weaknesses around if everything goes right.
The Texans will start off next round picking 105th overall, eighth overall in the round. Then, barring a trade up, will wait until the sixth round to pick again.