Saturday marked the conclusion of the 2023 NFL draft and with the dust settled it is time to sit back and make our opinions on each team’s draft. After taking C.J. Stroud at No. 2 overall, the Houston Texans traded back up for the third pick to land the best non-QB in the draft, Will Anderson Jr.
Doug Farrar of Touchdown Wire recently graded the entire first round of the 2023 draft and gave the Texans a ‘B+’ for their selection of Anderson.
“Anderson has proven all he needed to prove with the Crimson Tide, and he’ll be a Day 1 tone-setter in DeMeco Ryans’ defense. The trade with the Cardinals to move up from 12 to 3 is a rich one, and my only hesitation with an A grade is that the Texans might have gone with a player with more upside, such as Jalen Carter or Tyree Wilson. Still, you can’t argue with the back-to-back picks of C.J. Stroud and Anderson. This is a team looking to define its character with two knockout blows.”
Anderson and Stroud will be the offensive and defensive pieces that the Texans begin to build around for the next few years under first-year head coach DeMeco Ryans. Despite being in his first year, Ryans is highly regarded for the success he had with the 49ers’ defense the past few seasons. However, the team needs a massive revamp and it was crucial to get his core pieces in the first draft.
Anderson and Ryans will have a strong connection from day one, because like Anderson, Ryans also played for the Crimson Tide back in his playing days.
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