Consider Pro Football Focus unimpressed with the Houston Texans’ selection of TCU defensive tackle Ross Blacklock in Round 2 of the 2020 NFL Draft.
The Texans’ first pick of the draft at 40th overall, early in the second round, was defensive tackle, a move made to replace starting defensive tackle D.J. Reader, who left in free agency for the Cincinnati Bengals.
Pro Football Focus thinks the Texans should have gone with a cornerback, and they don’t believe that Blacklock will be an immediate impact player anyway.
Cornerback would have been a far better route to go, but Houston did have a need on the interior defensive line, and Ross Blacklock is a good person to fill it. He’s one of the more athletic interior defenders in the class, but the lack of pass-rush moves is a bit of a concern. Blacklock may not be an immediate impact player in the NFL, but he’ll be able to develop his pass-rushing over time with his elite agility and explosiveness.
A comparison that Touchdown Wire’s Mark Schofield made between Blacklock and a current NFL player was actually Blacklock’s new teammate, Timmy Jernigan. Blacklock has the ability to play three technique as well as some zero technique, which provides the Texans with versatility along their interior defensive line.
If Blacklock can replicate the production Reader had as a run stopper in his first season, that would be a win for the Texans’ scouting department and coaching staff. If Blacklock can develop those pass rushing skills over the course of his four-year contract with the Texans, then that will be a crowning achievement for the scouting department and coaching staff while also netting the former TCU Horned Frog a pretty penny in free agency.
The Texans still have a pick in Round 3 to immediately address cornerback, if they so desire. Houston has selections in the fourth round, fifth round, and three seventh-rounders thereafter.
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