If the season ended today the Houston Texans would be on the clock with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft. Of course, the season doesn’t end today, but there are still plenty of mock drafts to look at.Â
As for the Texans, they have two picks in the first round. They have their own pick and the Cleveland Browns’ pick from the Deshaun Watson trade.Â
What they do with those two picks is still to be determined, but ESPN’s Todd McShay believes they will add a pair of offensive playmakers with their two first-round picks.Â
With their first overall pick, McShay believes the Texans get their quarterback of the future in Alabama’s Bryce Young.Â
1. Houston Texans – Bryce Young (QB Alabama)
Scouts will knock Young’s frame (he’s listed at 6-foot), but there is no debating his high-level processing ability, excellent ball placement to all three levels of the field and mobility when forced to go off schedule. He has regularly lifted a lackluster offensive supporting cast in Alabama this season, and he can do it again with the Texans. Plus, he’d be matched up again with John Metchie III, the former Bama receiver who missed his rookie season while being treated for leukemia but caught 96 balls from Young in 2021.
One year removed from winning the Heisman, Young managed to put together an impressive 2022 season. In 11 games he threw for 3,007 yards and 27 touchdowns with only five interceptions.Â
As for their other first-round pick, McShay believes that the Texans will give Young another rookie weapon on offense to pair with.Â
12. Houston Texans – Michael Mayer (TE Notre Dame)
We got Houston a quarterback atop the board, so how about a security blanket target for Bryce Young here in the middle of the first round? Mayer is a big target with a wide catch radius and the strength to run over defenders after the catch. And after back-to-back seasons with 800-plus receiving yards and seven or more TD catches, he might be the safest prospect in the class. He’d be a reliable pass-catcher, a go-to option in the red zone and an effective in-line blocker for the Texans. Pretty solid Thursday night for GM Nick Caserio.
Mayer was one of the best tight ends in college football and would be another addition to a young Texans offense alongside Young, receiver John Metchie III and running back Dameon Pierce.Â
If the Texans come away from the first round of the 2023 draft with this duo of players, then their offense will take a massive step forward. Pair that with a defense that has shown flashes of being elite and Houston will have something special brewing once again.
You can find Connor Zimmerlee on Twitter @Connorjz98
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