The Houston Texans are looking to improve on a breakout season in 2025. They did so on the strength of their defense.
Naturally, one would assume Houston would look to offense to get better for the year. Although the team added five offensive linemen in free agency, some question if it will be enough to improve from ranking in the bottom 10 of several categories for offensive linemen. Still, drafting position could dictate what the best available player will be at No. 28.
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The No. 28 spot is a classic position to draft one spot: Defensive tackle. And it appears that’s where the experts are leaning as the Texans push for another playoff berth.
ESPN’s Field Yates published his mock draft. He has Houston adding Clemson defensive tackle Peter Woods. Here was Yates’ reasoning for Woods ending up in Houston with the pick.
“Woods might have the biggest range of the prospects we’ve discussed so far. His ardent believers feel he could go in the top 15, while skeptics don’t see him as a first-round talent.
Woods is an explosive but undersized defensive tackle whose production left a lot to be desired with just 5.0 sacks in the past two seasons. The right scheme would allow him to take his disruptive first step into opposing backfields frequently. Houston has the best defense in the AFC, but it could use some youth at defensive tackle, where Sheldon Rankins is 31 years old.”
Clemson defensive lineman Peter Woods (11) during the second quarter. Ken Ruinard / USA Today Network South Carolina-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Yates starts by saying the quiet part out loud. Woods has been one of the top names of the entire NFL draft process dating back to the mid-to-late portion of the NFL season. He has commanded that acclaim due to proving to be one of the most solid defensive tackles of the past decade of college football. But solid is probably not going to get a player drafted early in the first round.
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Yates shares that while several have Woods going to the middle of the first round, the former Clemson defensive tackle may fall to the end of the first round. That’s good news for the Texans.
The teams well ahead of Houston are looking for immediate impact players to transform their franchise into a contender. That said, the Texans stand to greatly improve by adding a player who is just “solid.”
Woods is dependable. And though his five sacks over the last two seasons are not going to transform the Houston defense, it does not need to be transformed. It just needs to be reinforced. Perhaps the Texans defense has the right surrounding talent for Woods to thrive. For that reason, Houston could be the right fit.