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After finishing last in rushing efficiency each of the past two seasons, the Texans gave their offensive line some needed help at pick No. 15, when they made Texas A&M’s Kenyon Green the first interior offensive lineman off the board.
Texans general manager Nick Caserio said throughout the pre-draft process that he was open to trading back from one of his two first-round picks. He ended up doing so with his latter Day 1 selection, trading back from No. 13 to No. 15 while also adding picks Nos. 124, 162 and 166.
Eagles paid a STEEP price to trade up with Houston.
The Texans gained the equivalent of a very late 2nd-round pick in value, per our draft pick value chart.
— Seth Walder (@SethWalder) April 29, 2022
Big board ranking: Green ranks 27th on Dane Brugler’s big board. He’s Brugler’s second-ranked offensive guard, behind Boston College’s Zion Johnson. No other player at the position received a Round 1 grade from Brugler. Even Green got a Round 1/2 grade from Brugler.
Introduction: Green is nothing if not versatile. In 2021, Green was the only FBS player to play at least 80 snaps at four different offensive line positions. He did it well enough to earn All-America honors for a second straight season.
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And the Aggies needed every bit of Green’s efforts as they trudged through an up-and-down season and were forced to play five different O-line combinations thanks to injuries and growing pains. There were few sure things on A&M’s front, except for Green, whom the Aggies could depend upon to excel weekly, despite an ailing knee that nagged him throughout the year (Fisher said Green rarely missed a practice for it). — Sam Khan Jr.
How he fits: My first reaction to this pick: The Texans must have been jumped for the players they really wanted at 15, and this was the next best offensive player on their board. Houston could’ve used an explosive, yards-after-catch type at wide receiver for Davis Mills, but adding a player to protect the interior will serve as an OK consolation prize. Green is a high-floor type as a guard, so I hesitate to expect a star-level outcome. He’s capable of executing in a zone or gap running scheme, and he’s good enough in pass protection to hold up against league-average interior rushers from Day 1. — Diante Lee
Second guess? Johnson, who went a couple of picks later to the Chargers, is the obvious other consideration here. He was not just Brugler’s higher-ranked guard, but also the higher-ranked guard on the consensus big board assembled by The Athletic’s Arif Hasan.
There’s also a positional value conversation worth having here. FSU’s Jermaine Johnson and Purdue’s George Karlaftis — two players who received Round 1 grades from Brugler — were still available at No. 15, and the Texans had one of the worst pass rushes in the league last season. The Texans still have multiple picks in Rounds 2 and 3 to address that issue, though. Adding Green should improve some of the early-down running game failures that led to the Texans leading the NFL in three-and-out rate and tiring out their defense.
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Rookie impact: Given Green’s versatility, he should start somewhere for the Texans as a rookie. Guard seems most likely, though given the Texans picked him at No. 15, maybe they think he has tackle potential.
Adding Green could allow the Texans to move 2019 first-round pick Tytus Howard back to right tackle from left guard, where he struggled last season. If Howard does indeed move back to tackle, A.J. Cann and Max Scharping are candidates to play the guard spot opposite Green.
Depth-chart impact: The Texans chose to restructure left tackle Laremy Tunsil contract this offseason, effectively tying him to the team for the next two seasons. But otherwise, this is a unit in flux, filled with short-term free agents and Texans draftees who might not receive second contracts from Houston. Drafting Green doesn’t displace anyone so much as fill a void.
Fast evaluation: The Texans desperately needed offensive line help, and Green should be a plug-and-play starter for Houston. That might not have been the case had the Texans instead used this pick on a second-tier offensive tackle. But the 15th pick might prove to be a bit rich for a guard, especially when that guard is not the consensus top player at the position.
(Photo: Jerome Miron / USA Today)