{"id":658886,"date":"2026-01-06T16:47:18","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T16:47:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/658886\/"},"modified":"2026-01-06T16:47:18","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T16:47:18","slug":"2026-nfl-mock-draft-texans-find-long-term-rt-option-in-first-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/658886\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 NFL mock draft: Texans find long-term RT option in first round"},"content":{"rendered":"

Where will the Houston Texans<\/a> pick when on the clock in the first round of the 2026 NFL Draft? Right now, it remains a mystery.<\/p>\n

Houston, which finished with 12 wins and ended the season on a nine-game winning streak, could select at low at pick No. 23 with a loss on wild-card round weekend. The Texans could also pick No. 32 should they run the table and win their first ever Super Bowl.<\/p>\n

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Regardless, it’s clear Houston still has faults on its offensive line, primarily at right tackle. Rookie Aireontae Ersery has come along during the regular season, but he’ll be the replacement for Laremy Tunsil. As for the right side, the Texans have had a combination of four names rotate, including Tytus Howard and Trent Brown.<\/p>\n

It’s been mid at best, so a long-term upgrade feels wise.<\/p>\n

The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner<\/a> went through the entire first round following the conclusion of the regular season and ahead of the playoffs and made picks based on every team’s top need. For the Texans, Georgia’s Monroe Freeling was the top name on the list at pick No. 27, though Baumgardner has the Texans keepeing him at left tackle.<\/p>\n

“A big man who moves like a much smaller man, Freeling\u2019s light feet on the outside give him the potential to be an outstanding blind-side protector,” Baumgardner wrote. “He still needs more polish in the run game, however.”<\/p>\n

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A two-year starter, the 6-foot-7, 315-pound tackle has solid natural power to uproot and widen defenders to the outside in pass protection. His lower-body base also gives him advantages against bull rushes, which allow larger tackles to die slowly as he eliminates their power.<\/p>\n

Some limitations could sour the Texans’ overall outlook on using a Day 1 pick on him. His upright play style leaves him lunging and overextending his body, thus creating gaps for defenders to attack the run. He can get blown back because of a late start, thus allowing pressure to the quarterback.<\/p>\n

While he’s a left tackle by trade, the Texans likely would try to move him to right tackle since Ersery has been one of the better starting young tackles in 2026.<\/p>\n

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This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: 2026 NFL mock draft: Texans find long-term RT option in first round<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Where will the Houston Texans pick when on the clock in the first round of the 2026 NFL…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":658887,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2056],"tags":[4955,286,7,221,253,2368,594,54561,6,9535,222,1830,764],"class_list":["post-658886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston-texans","tag-2026-nfl-draft","tag-aireontae-ersery","tag-football","tag-houston","tag-houston-texans","tag-houstontexans","tag-laremy-tunsil","tag-monroe-freeling","tag-nfl","tag-nick-baumgardner","tag-texans","tag-trent-brown","tag-tytus-howard"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115849176458087952","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=658886"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/658886\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=658886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=658886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=658886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}