{"id":872474,"date":"2026-04-23T05:30:38","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T05:30:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/872474\/"},"modified":"2026-04-23T05:30:38","modified_gmt":"2026-04-23T05:30:38","slug":"how-the-cleveland-browns-could-spoil-texans-2026-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/872474\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Cleveland Browns Could Spoil Texans’ 2026 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

There’s a deep offensive tackle class in the 2026 NFL draft. The Houston Texans<\/a> need one and may intend to draft one in this year’s first round with the No. 28 pick. The Cleveland Browns<\/a> could spoil those plans.<\/p>\n

The Browns have in some ways already dealt a blow to the Texans’ offensive line this offseason. Cleveland acquired Houston right tackle Tytus Howard<\/a> in exchange for a draft pick in return. Still, some believe that the Browns are set to add more talent on the offensive line in the first round of the draft. And if they do, it will mean one less talented player to draft for Houston at No. 28.<\/p>\n

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ESPN NFL analyst Seth Walder wrote on the possibility Cleveland takes one of the draft’s best linemen<\/a> at pick No. 24. Here’s what Walder had to say.<\/p>\n

“Addressing tackle early would be a logical move for Cleveland, and the Browns have multiple first-round picks to work with. But if they want one of Francis Mauigoa (Miami<\/a>), Monroe Freeling (Georgia), Kadyn Proctor (Alabama) or Spencer Fano (Utah), then No. 24 is likely too late. There is only a 9% chance any of those four players slips to No. 24.<\/p>\n

That doesn’t mean they can’t take a tackle at that spot, but they might have to jump down a tier. Caleb Lomu (Utah) has a 76% chance to be available at 24 and Blake Miller (Clemson) is at 78%. Arizona State’s Max Iheanachor (99%) would almost certainly be on the board, too.<\/p>\n

The alternative could be for the Browns to take a tackle with their first pick and try to land a wide receiver at No. 24. But that comes with a similar dilemma, like we detailed above with the Eagles<\/a> — the top-tier wideouts will be gone by then. But the Browns should have a choice between Cooper, Concepcion and Boston if they want.”<\/p>\n

\"Houston<\/p>\n

In a perfect world, one of Proctor, Freeling or Fano falls to No. 28. The NFL draft is not a perfect world.<\/p>\n

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The Texans are not in search of a project with their first-round pick. Houston needs an NFL starter. Given how popular offensive tackle could be up to and including Cleveland at No. 24, that NFL starter may be available, but perhaps not at the right tackle position. Instead, it could be a cornerback, wide receiver or defensive tackle. If that scenario falls to Houston, the Texans’ draft principles will be tested.<\/p>\n

The 2026 NFL draft class is deep at offensive tackle. How deep the remaining choices are at No. 28 will depend in part on who the Cleveland Browns draft before the Texans have the chance to make their first pick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There’s a deep offensive tackle class in the 2026 NFL draft. The Houston Texans need one and may…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":872475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2054],"tags":[4955,286,390,29145,86,85,54,2337,7494,25,7,253,19341,216,6,4136,582,764],"class_list":{"0":"post-872474","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cleveland-browns","8":"tag-2026-nfl-draft","9":"tag-aireontae-ersery","10":"tag-arizona-cardinals","11":"tag-blake-miller","12":"tag-browns","13":"tag-cleveland","14":"tag-cleveland-browns","15":"tag-clevelandbrowns","16":"tag-draft-pick","17":"tag-eagles","18":"tag-football","19":"tag-houston-texans","20":"tag-kadyn-proctor","21":"tag-miami","22":"tag-nfl","23":"tag-offensive-tackle","24":"tag-the-browns","25":"tag-tytus-howard"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116452382527026702","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872474","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=872474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/872475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}