For a team that builds through the draft, the Texans sure aren't very good at getting the most out of it under Rick Smith. Since Smith came on after the 2007 season, the Texans have had many players get off to hot early starts only to fizzle as they spent more time in the organization. Combine that with ex-Texans GM Charlie Casserly's unique way of screwing up his team, and the Texans haven't had much consistency at all in the draft. Cold Hard Football Facts, which is studying every team's last ten drafts and grading them, has given the Texans a C- for the era.
↵↵↵Houston (C-)
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(Note: The Texans' numbers were pro-rated in the rankings because they had one fewer draft)
Pro Bowlers: 8 (t-6th)
Draftees Active in 2010: 39 (t-15th)
Players with 50+ Career AV: 1 (t-23rd)
Players with 20+ Career AV: 16 (t-16th)
Best Pick: TE Owen Daniels (4th round, 2006)
Worst Pick: QB David Carr (No. 1 overall, 2002)
Summary: Their most criticized pick has been one of their best - Mario Williams, instead of Reggie Bush or Vince Young back in 2006. Seems like a no-brainer in hindsight, but it wasn't then. They also got it right with Andre Johnson in 2003, picked right between busts Charles Rogers and Dewayne Robertson. But in general, they haven't done enough with their top draft picks, which is why they can't make the playoffs despite having struck gold in free agency with Matt Schaub and the undrafted Arian Foster.
I hope you mean "trade acquisition" Matt Schaub, right Cold Facts? Either way, the Pro Bowlers number is misleading and I find the AV numbers much more revealing. If you want to build solely from the draft, you need to be in the Top 10 teams of doing it. Especially when your foundation to start with was Andre Johnson and nobody.
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