For the third year in a row, the Houston Texans won at least 10 games and advanced into the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs. But for the third year in a row, they could not advance past the second round. On one hand, it's a great sign of stability and paints a solid long-term picture for this current era of Texans' football, but on the other hand, what is it going to take to get over the hump?
The defense appears to be Super Bowl caliber and was the best unit in the NFL in 2025. The front office, led by General Manager Nick Caserio, also seems to have a rock-solid grip on the roster and how to build it up. Head coach DeMeco Ryans also appears to be one of the better coaches in the game.
Quarterback CJ Stroud, though, and his ceiling, is up in the air. Stroud has regressed after a breakout 2023 season, but he's also simply a winning quarterback. While we can debate Stroud some other time, what is clear is how well-positioned the Texans are in the 2026 NFL Draft. At the same time this team doesn't have a clear first-round position to target, that also brings some insane flexibility.
Houston Texans have one of the league's best rosters and a wide open NFL Draft strategy
You just have to hand to to Caserio for the work he did this offseason. Caserio traded for running back David Montgomery, a starting-caliber player who pairs up nicely with Woody Marks, a rookie who showed signs of growth in 2025.
But there was still a huge question mark along the offensive line. The Texans extended guard Ed Ingram after a breakout season, but they also added right tackle Braden Smith and guard Wyatt Teller in free agency.
Both Smith and Teller are 'plus' players at their respective positions and may finally be a part of a legitimate solution up front. Defensively, the Texans didn't and don't need much work at all. The defensive line is explosive at getting to the quarterback and against the run. The same can be said for the hard-hitting linebacker group.
And the secondary is honestly in a tier of their own, but Caserio doubled down in this unit, adding Reed Blankenship in free agency as well. When you look at the Texans projected starters for 2026, where is there a notable flaw?
I'll answer that for you: nowhere.
What is also flat-out incredible here is that Houston has four picks inside the top-75, and all of those picks are inside the top-70. Houston has the 38th and 69th picks from the Washington Commanders and New York Giants, and have their own first and second-round picks, too.
When you bunch all of these things together, you get a wide-open NFL Draft strategy. It might be 'bad' that Houston doesn't have an obvious position to target, but it's also good for the front office. Could Houston stand pat with their top picks and simply take the best player available on the board? Absolutely.
Could Caserio package some of these picks to move up in Round 1 for a potential blue-chip talent? Definitely! But what Caserio has done here is give his team a ton of flexibility in the NFL Draft. Houston is sporting the best roster in the AFC South by a significant margin, and it's arguably a top-5 roster in the NFL right now.