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BBV Community Mock Draft: With 20th pick, Texans select ...

By Ed Valentine Updated

Jason Pierre-Paul, DE, South Florida.

Selecting for the Texas is 'BitterEli.' He writes:

The Texans had a strong team last year, anchored by a great passing attack and an aggressive front seven on the defense. But this is still a team with some major holes that needs to improve if they are going to compete with Indianapolis in the AFC South. A lot of quality players have slipped to the 20th pick; I considered the following for the Texans:

Jason Pierre-Paul is a top 10 prospect on many draft boards (#4 for McShay, #8 for Kiper, #11 for Mayock, etc). The Texans have decent depth at DE with star LDE Mario Williams and solid RDE Antonio Smith, but at 285 pounds Smith can move to the under tackle spot on passing downs and situational rusher Connor Barwin, drafted last year, was a disappointment as a rookie. JPP might be a slow developer as well, given his lack of D-1 experience, but his remarkable athleticism reminds scouts of prospects like DeMarcus Ware and Osi Umenyiora who came from small schools but were rapid successes in the NFL.

Scouting Reports:

Earl Thomas would fill a significant need for the Texans at free safety. The Texans are very happy with Bernard Pollard at the strong safety spot after signing him away from the Chiefs last off season, but Eugene Wilson was a major weakness at free safety. Thomas would be a fine value at this spot but its hard to justify drafting a second safety here with a lot of depth in the draft at the position and better values available on the board.

Kyle Wilson would fill an enormous need for the Texans at cornerback, where next year's projected starters are Glover Quin and Jacques Reeves -- this is an area that needs improvement. But while Wilson is an OK value at No. 20, he is clearly not the best player on the board, and this draft also has a lot of depth at the cornerback position.

C.J. Spiller would also fill a big need for the Texans at Running Back, where the combination of Steve Slaton and Ryan Moats is uninspiring. This pick ended up coming down to Spiller or Pierre-Paul in my analysis, but Spiller lacks durability and struggles in pass protection, which makes him just as much of a project as Pierre-Paul in some ways for a passing offense like Houston.

At the end of the day I asked one question - What player can the Texans take who will help them beat the Colts? Any Giants fan who watched Super Bowl XLII knows that the best way to stop a great passing offense is with a pass rush, and potential stud pass rushers like Jason Pierre Paul simply shouldn't be available at the 20th pick in the first round. If Pierre Paul develops properly, a defense with him and Mario Williams as bookend DEs and Brian Cushing as a rush linebacker would have one of the best pass rushes in football. You can't fill every need in Round 1 of one draft; with that in mind JPP is the right choice for the Texans here.

My take: I honestly find it incredibly difficult to argue with this selection. If the Texans are ever going to move into the upper echelon and compete with the Colts they cannot play it safe. Going for JPP is a gamble because of his inexperience, but it could well turn into a grand slam home run. For a team like Houston it is a risk worth taking.

Cincinnati, with 'Woogie526' selecting, is up next.

Remember, to read explanations for previous selections click the highlighted player name in the table below.

POS TEAM PLAYER POS SCHOOL DRAFTER
1 St. Louis Sam Bradford QB Oklahoma Soldier_
2 Detroit Ndamukong Suh DT Nebraska soulpower
3 Tampa Bay Gerald McCoy DT Oklahoma i_formation27
4 Washington Russell Okung OT Oklahoma State G Fan in England
5 Kansas City Eric Berry S Tennessee ronjohnson
6 Seattle Jimmy Clausen QB Notre Dame CCE718
7 Cleveland Dez Bryant WR Oklahoma State GreatGatsby
8 Oakland Bruce Campbell OT Maryland Hoyadestroya85
9 Buffalo Dan Williams DT Tennessee The Greek
10 Jacksonville Joe Haden CB Florida jp2y
11 Denver Rolando McClain ILB Alabama NYG_Slater
12 Miami Jerry Hughes DE/OLB Texas Christian sunlion333
13 San Francisco Bryan Bulaga OT Iowa RIPShea
14 Seattle Trent Williams OT Oklahoma Ed V.
15 N.Y. Giants Derrick Morgan DE Georgia Ed Valentine
16 Tennessee Sergio Kindle OLB Texas Json
17 San Francisco Sean Weatherspoon B Missouri RIPShea
18 Pittsburgh Mike Iupati G Idaho ross_stephen
19 Atlanta Brandon Graham DE Michigan daddyzander
20 Houston Jason Pierre-Paul DE South Florida BitterEli
21 Cincinnati Woogie526
22 New England Ryan Valentine
23 Green Bay Dan Luibil
24 Philadelphia Bye Dawk
25 Baltimore Larry Soprano
26 Arizona Snipah
27 Dallas pataroons
28 San Diego hakeemthedream
29 N.Y. Jets Brooklyn58
30 Minnesota hurikaine
31 Indianapolis Charles L.
32 New Orleans GiantsReignSupreme

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