Texans Fielding Phone Calls For The No. 2 Overall Pick As QB Rumors Fly
The Houston Texans have taken multiple phone calls from other NFL teams gauging their willingness to trade the No. 2 overall selection in the coming draft, and at least one of those calls came as a result of recent rumors the Texans would not use the pick to select a quarterback, a source told OutKick.
The source is from a team that made a phone call to the Texans upon hearing rumors Houston general manager Nick Caserio is thinking of passing on a quarterback with the second pick of the draft.
Caserio has confirmed his team is getting calls, but did not address the idea his rumored reticence about selecting a quarterback was the impetus.
"We've received some calls actually, on the No. 2 pick," Caserio said this week. " I think our job and responsibility is to listen and not rule anything out. I think whatever the end result is come Thursday, you know, we'll be prepared to go either way.
"If you want to quote me, are we open for business, I would say we're open to listening, so if you want to change the vocabulary a little bit this year. We have received a few calls, and again, I think our responsibility is to listen, try to take the information in, and then just make the right decision."
General manager Nick Caserio of the Houston Texans looks on prior to the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at NRG Stadium on September 12, 2021 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)
Nick Caserio Not Absolutely Sold On A QB
That does not sound like a person dead set on selecting his forever quarterback at No. 2.
And that, by the way, is a sign the Texans are brilliant and will be proven as such in five years or ...
Understand what this means if the Texans are serious here:
It means the Texans might emerge from the draft without a quarterback, which Caserio doesn't dismiss.
“Anything is possible," he said. "I think what's possible and what the hope is is that we can come out of this draft with good football players we think can help our football team. That's what we're focused on doing."
That would mean the Texans are willing to pass on C.J. Stroud, the odds-on favorite to be on the board after Carolina picks Bryce Young, who is the odds-on favorite to be drafted No. 1.
Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback C.J. Stroud (7) on the field during the fourth quarter of the college football game between the Indiana Hoosiers and Ohio State Buckeyes on November 12, 2022, at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, OH. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Texans Not Picking A QB Is Nuts
For this to stick, the Texans must be willing to sell off their premium spot in a trade-down knowing that -- depending on how far down they go -- they might not be getting any of the top three quarterback prospects in this draft.
That would be because there's a possibility another team might be willing to trade up to No. 3 with the Arizona Cardinals to take a third QB.
The difference between the Cardinals and Texans possibly trading down is that Arizona, for all its troubles, is settled in with Kyler Murray at quarterback. Like him or not, he's the quarterback in Arizona.
The Texans, meanwhile,, have no actual candidate to be a great quarterback fallback currently on the roster. They have Davis Mills, who has been the starter much of the past two seasons. They have Case Keenum, who was added in March as a free agent. And they have third-stringer E.J. Perry.
So the Texans need a quarterback unless they plan to chase Lamar Jackson or plan to be drafting fairly high again in 2024.
Yes, Houston has the No. 12 overall selection. And if they trade down, perhaps they can remain in the top 10.
But, again, they would likely miss out on the top two or three quarterback prospects.
And it would leave the Texans believing they can develop either Kentucky's Will Levis or Florida's Anthony Richardson -- whichever remains available.
It also must mean in a trade scenario the Texans have a similar grade on one of those as Stroud.
The Raiders signed Jimmy Garoppolo to be their starting QB but that isn't a forever thing.
Teams Interested In Vaulting to No. 2
It's, shall way say, unorthodox thinking.
So which teams might be interested in trading up to the No. 2 spot to trade with Houston?
Well, it's hard to believe a team willing to give up the significant capital required to make this move would pick anyone other than a quarterback. That capital obviously is determined by who far of jump a team is proposing to make and how far back the Texans would have to go.
But if we're talking Las Vegas jumping from No. 7 to No. 2, or Atlanta jumping from No. 8 to No. 2, the trade would require those teams giving up their own first-round pick plus another first-round pick at some point.
If, for example, the Tennessee Titans want to vault from No. 11 to No. 2, they would be giving up their first, another first, and likely a second-rounder as well.
Notice there is no shortage of teams mentioned as possible trade partners.
That's because there's no shortage of teams needing a quarterback. Even some teams with quarterbacks might want to draft a quarterback.
But the rumor the Texans might not pick a QB has added to those calls.
And so the calls stream in. Not all are going to result in a trade. Indeed, most are part of the due diligence teams do.
"You literally just go right down by division," Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider said Wednesday. "I start with guys I'm closest with, right. But, yeah, making the calls by division so that we have broad strokes of what parameters might be.
"Because at the end of the day on draft day, you can use all the charts you want and that kind of stuff and there's a million charts now that teams choose. But at the end of the day it's how bad do you want the player and how bad you want to move in terms of moving up or going back."