The Houston Texans had a five-man draft class, and their rookies didn’t produce out of the gate. As such, it provided them with low grades in a look back at the 2020 draft class
According to Gennaro Felice of NFL.com, the Texans’ 2020 draft class was 31st in the NFL. Only the Tennessee Titans had a worse draft class, ranking 32nd overall.
Unfortunately, at this point, the best thing to come out of Bill O’Brien’s one and only draft as Texans general manager is his Zoom room explosion, which reportedly spawned from the Lions backing out of a trade. The virtual draft produced a cornucopia of viral moments, but in hindsight, nothing captured the state of a franchise better than O’Brien blowing up and storming off. In a disastrous, dysfunctional year for Texans football, the rookie class contributed next to nothing. Granted, the group was significantly downsized by O’Brien’s curious wheeling and dealing — related story: BOB was relieved of his general manager and head coach duties just four weeks into the 2020 season — but the five newbies combined to play just 847 snaps in 2020. Unsurprisingly, that was the lowest total for a rookie class in 2020, per Pro Football Focus, and about a third of the NFL-wide average of 2,555 snaps. The Texans’ first four picks started one game apiece, while Blacklock and Greenard were the only rookies to eclipse 150 total snaps. What exactly did Blacklock and Greenard contribute? A grand total of five QB hits, one sack and one ejection (courtesy of a Blacklock punch in Week 2). Not ideal. And further devaluation of the Texans’ defensive front, which has gone from a massive strength to a crippling weakness in just a few years’ time.
The effects of a bad draft were a small part of the Texans’ 4-12 record in 2020. However, it could be the basis for any substantial failures the Texans face in coming seasons.
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