John McClain of the Houston Chronicle provided a few Texans-related insights on Twitter today, suggesting that he believes Jadeveon Clowney will be the pick if the team doesn’t trade down from No. 1. If the Texans do indeed pass on someone like Johnny Manziel or Blake Bortles to grab a pass rusher like Clowney or Khalil Mack, McClain isn’t sure which signal-caller the club would be targeting later in the draft.
Here’s more on the Texans:
- Texans GM Rick Smith would like to acquire as many picks as possible in this draft, particularly in the first three rounds, so there’s a chance he trades the team’s second-round pick, according to McClain.
- In McClain’s view, it would cost a team like the Falcons their first-round pick this year and next, along with this year’s second- and fourth-round picks to trade up to the Texans’ spot at No. 1. McClain doesn’t believe Smith would send the first overall pick to Atlanta for this year’s first- and second-rounders and next year’s first-rounder. If that’s true, I’d be surprised to see the Texans move the pick.
- For what it’s worth, Smith indicated yesterday on Fox Sports Southwest that he “absolutely” knows who he wants to take with the first overall pick.
- According to ESPN.com’s Adam Caplan (via Twitter), the Texans have done “a lot of work” on running backs, and could potentially draft one before the end of the third round. The club lost top backup Ben Tate in free agency this offseason.
- Last week, former agent Joel Corry and former team executive Ari Nissim published the first installment of a mock contract negotiation between J.J. Watt‘s agent and the Texans. Today, the second part of the series is up at the National Football Post, as the two sides continue to discuss a hypothetical deal for Watt.