As the Houston Texans strolled into the 2025 NFL Draft, they were part of a first round which featured every single team holding a pick for the first time in a while. But, it didn't stay that way.
The Texans would ultimately trade their no. 25 selection to the New York Giants, moving back for some added capital. But, before the Texans traded out of the first round, they were in fact attempting to move up.
But, for who?
"Before the draft, I'm starting to hear that a couple of teams are really really active of trying to trade up. I heard the Texans were. I heard the Broncos were," Ian Rapoport told Pat McAfee on the air.
"No one's ever going to tell you who they're trying to trade up for because, obviously, they don't want someone else taking them. The only thing I can tell is when the calls stop. If you're trying to trade up for someone and then all the sudden the calls stop, it's like, well, alright you were probably trying to trade up for that guy," he went on.
The Texans' grand draft plan was to move up for Michigan tight end Colston Loveland
"The Bears take Colston Loveland at 10 and a bunch of calls stopped," Rapoport stated.
First of all, this is intriguing because of the fact that most expected Penn State tight end Tyler Warren to be the first off the board at his position. When the Bears took Loveland, that came as somewhat of a surprise.
However, the further we get outside the draft, things are starting to explain themselves. The fact Denver and Houston were looking to trade up for Loveland certainly speaks volumes about the type of player they thought he was and is.
Now, while Dalton Schultz is still set to be around a while, the pursuit of Loveland shows just how talented he was. It also shows that the Texans simply wanted to add offensive weapons, whether or not they'd have to adapt their scheme to said weapons.
In the end, Houston did wind up with the best college football wide receiver duo in Jayden Higgens and Jaylin Noel, so they certainly added firepower to that side of the ball for CJ Stroud.
