The Texans traded up from pick No. 127 in the fourth round to the Eagles' pick at No. 123 to take Ohio State Cade Stover. Coincidentally, Houston previously owned this pick before trading it the day before to move up in the third round to select safety Calen Bullock. The Texans traded a 2025 fifth-round selection to acquire their new selection.
The evaluations on this year's tight end class were all over the board with analysts having them ranked vastly different. Stover has the potential to develop into the second-best tight end from this class behind only Brock Bowers.
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Stover as a blocker routinely gets across the face of defensive linemen, gets to third-level blocks and is sticky on blocks in space against defensive backs. He's deadly on seam routes, keeps balance through contact after catches and is smart in space to find the weakness.
Stover can help as a receiver and a blocker but needs to play stronger against bigger defensive linemen.
TEXANS DRAFT PICKS 2024: Full list of NFL Draft selections for Texans
Texans draft grade for Cade Stover
The Texans having to give up a future fifth-round pick doesn't take value away from the pick as Stover should give a return on investment over his career on par more with a fringe second or third-round talent at his position. Houston pairs their rookie tight end with their stellar second-year quarterback, C.J. Stroud to give Stover a comfortable environment to enter and instant chemistry between the duo from their time together at Ohio State.
The Texans were as patient as they could be and still landed one of the top prospects at a position of need that has instant chemistry with their quarterback. They get a Day 2 pick by giving up a future fifth-round pick to move up 4 spots in the fourth round. It's a smart trade with the run on tight end that was transpiring in the fourth round, leading up to their pick.
Grade: A+
Following the Stover pick the Texans didn’t draft again until pick No. 188 in the sixth round. In a draft that most reported was lacking in talent after the fourth or fifth round, the Texans appeared to target a special teams player late on Day 3 of the draft.
The addition of linebacker | safety Jamal Hill appeared to be a high-priority special teams signing that the Texans had done a lot of work on during the draft process. Hill at only 6-foot tall and 216 pounds played mostly at safety in college before transitioning over to linebacker later on at Oregon.
The lack of size could limit Hill’s role on defense but with 4.4 speed and a wingspan just shy of 6-foot-7 combined with being a long, wrap up tackler, will get him on the field early with Frank Ross running special teams for Houston.
Texans draft grade for Jamal Hill
Houston used a late round pick on what appears to be a highly coveted special teams player from this draft. As a defender he shows promise with the ability to play the linebacker position with safety feet, hips and awareness when dropping in zone. Hill is lightning quick on his delayed blitzes and even when he doesn’t get home he gets his long arms up in the passing lanes. Hill can also provide to the defense while being on the roster in a mostly special teams role as a specialist on defense that can rotate in on packages to spy mobile quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson. In a draft lacking in late round talent, Houston got their sought after special teams player. The Texans treat special teams just like their offense and defense with all making up equal thirds to form a complete, well built team in all phases. Houston doesn’t get an “A” as there were higher players available that would have brought more long-term value.
Grade: B-
There was a large group of running backs in this draft that had third to fifth round value and then the position hit a severe decline. As the position was getting thin late in the sixth round with a few of those backs still available the Texans traded their pick at No. 189 to the Lions. Houston dropped from Detroit their sixth-round pick No. 205 and seventh-round pick No. 249.
Defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo was selected by the Lions in their move up. It looked as if the move back was going to cost the Texans the last of the talented group of running backs and now, defensive tackle as well as the position thinned even more with the selection of Wingo.
However, it worked out perfectly in both regards. I’ll mention more on the defensive tackle position later but as far as running back, Jawhar Jordan lasted to their pick at No. 205 after the trade back of 16 spots. Jordan was the last of that core group of backs with fifth-round value and Houston was able to snag him after the trade back and while picking up an extra pick.
Texans draft grade for Jawhar Jordan
The Texans didn’t force the issue at running back and still managed to land a talented, well-rounded back who also is a kick returner. The new kickoff return rules add even more value to the selection of Jordan who returned 14 kickoffs for an average of 25.2 yards per return with one going for a touchdown in 2022. Over his entire career at Syracuse and Louisville combined, Jordan has totaled 26 kickoff returns.
Jordan lacks pull-away speed and isn’t going to outrun NFL speed to the sideline but he has NFL traits. First and foremost, he can be relied on as a rookie in pass protection, whether on blitz pickups and chips. As a runner, he’s a bit upright as he runs like a returner with shifty, explosive cuts to quickly find an opening with an explosion to burst through the crease.
Grade: B+
Texans draft grade for Solomon Byrd
The Texans had 3 picks within the last 20 picks of the draft. They may have done so to ensure that they could acquire certain players instead of risking picking them up against the competition of other NFL teams as undrafted free agents.
The first of those three picks was No. 238 in which the Texans selected edge player Solomon Byrd. Byrd isn’t the biggest, the fastest or the strongest but he wins in other ways. He’s completely a DeMeco Ryans type of guy. If you summed Byrd up in one word it would be “motor.” He’s relentless and uses his 33.5-inch arms to violently swing and chop at the arms of offensive linemen and tight ends.
Byrd surprises offensive linemen with a quick shimmy and juke step. His shiftiness for his size makes him elusive to offensive linemen on pulls. Byrd constantly looks to alter plays by getting his arms up in the passing lane if he’s not able to get to the quarterback or he drops in coverage.
In these last three picks, the Texans basically selected out of the typical undrafted free agent class, in how it relates to the average talent available in other years. Expectations have to be lowered on late seventh-round picks as teams hope to land special teamers, players with injury concerns, size and/or speed limitations and undeveloped prospects.
Byrd falls under the speed limitations as he’s not going to win with a pure speed rush and bend on the edge. He doesn't have exceptional size, length or testing. It’s hard to quantify “motor” in a prospect but Texans’ general manager Nick Caserio and head coach DeMeco Ryans know it when they see it. It’s on full display with the tenacious Byrd.
Grade: B-
Texans draft grade for Marcus Harris
The Texans were back on the clock again at pick No. 247, just 10 picks before the end of the draft. Houston surprised many with the addition of defensive tackle Marcus Harris. Equally surprising was the fact that Harris was still around for the taking. Harris was one of a rare few prospects with early Day 3 value to not hear their name called until the end of Day 3.
The addition of Harris that late in the draft and so unexpectedly, added even more value to the Texans passing on defensive tackle Michael Hall Jr. in the second round, along with trading back from pick No. 189 in the sixth round to allow the Lions to move up and select defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo. The trio each shared the qualities of being undersized defensive tackles that fit Ryans’ scheme with the Texans.
Harris last due to only being 6-foot-2 286 pounds and showing poorly in testing. In his last two years in the SEC, he played in 24 games where he totaled 70 tackles, 17.5 tackles-for-loss and 9 sacks. Harris has quick get-off with a low pad level and easily sheds with shiftiness and a swim technique. He can knife through holes like a running back, spins out of down blocks quickly and balanced and pursues down the back of the line like a defensive end.
Harris also fell in the draft as he’s not a fit for every defense. The same reason as Wingo before him. The lack of size or special speed with the poor testing numbers pushed him down three rounds further than his potential of play would dictate of his value.
His style of play is a perfect fit for the Texans and his size isn’t a concern for his new head coach as seen in Ryans’ pre-draft press conference where he said, “I’ve seen guys do it at 280, 290…I’m seen guys do it at 315,” in reference to specific parameters or lack thereof to play the tackle position with the Texans. He’s a fit and one of the best value additions in the draft.
Grade: A+
Texans draft grade for LaDarius Henderson
There were other players available to the Texans with this pick that provided more value but it’s hard to be too critical with the 249th pick, especially if it’s at a depth position of need and used on a developmental prospect as a future investment.
Houston made their last pick of the night at No. 249 with the selection they acquired from the trade back with the Lions in the sixth round. After drafting offensive tackle Blake Fisher in the second round at pick No. 59, the Texans went back to the line with the selection of offensive guard LaDarius Henderson.
Henderson is more of your typical undrafted free-agent prospect. He’s someone with offensive tackle length at 35-inch arms and an almost 7-foot-1 wingspan. Although his body type is more of that of an offensive guard at 6-foot-4 309 pounds.
Henderson shows the ability to get to combo blocks but he plays over his toes and easily gets off balance. He lets defensive ends into his body too often and allows them to drive him back. Henderson is good clay to mold but he’ll be a project to develop at guard for the Texans. They’ll need to get him to drastically improve his technique before he’ll factor into the mix of depth pieces on the interior of the line.
Grade: C
