Top 3 WR Draft Targets for the Houston Texans

2. Matthew Golden, Texas

• Height: 5’ 11”
• Weight: 191 lbs.
• 40-Yard Dash: 4.29s; 10-Yard Split: 1.49s
• 2024 Statistics: 16 Games, 58 Receptions for 987 Receiving Yards, 17.0 Y/R, 9 TDs,
• Projected Round: 1

Of all the great wide receivers on this list, Matthew Golden may be the most complete, and therefore the most likely to be taken before the Houston Texans’ spot at pick #25. Golden has a combination of game-breaking speed and fantastic route acumen, making comparisons to Tank Dell very easy. I’m sorry, but I just had to make the comparison to Dell again, especially since he and Golden were once teammates at Houston! See, it all comes full circle here.

Golden has quick feet and can be really sudden out of his breaks, blasting past defenders like wind over grass. And finally, maybe due to playing so much with quarterback Quinn Ewers, Golden has become a master at tracking the ball and bending his body to compensate for it. Golden has it all to be a starting caliber receiver in his first year, making him the #1 wide receiver on the board for several NFL teams…as long as you aren’t expecting a physical player. Look, Golden is a speedster, not a blocker, but it would be nice to see some more physicality in his game every now and then. He’s gonna have trouble in press coverage against some of the more physical NFL cornerbacks, but I trust his extreme talent to find a way in time.

Golden is one of the most sought after offensive players of this draft class, so the only way I see the Texans getting him is if he falls to pick #25, or if they trade up to take him and potentially mortgage future top 100 picks. If Nick Caserio really believes Golden could help the team more than a star offensive lineman, then there’s an opportunity Houston takes him with their first pick. Although, with Nico Collins and Tank Dell still on the roster, I doubt the draft team is putting first-round priority on the receiving corps. But, if he falls to them, taking Golden would immediately send the passing attack to the stratosphere, filling the hole currently opened by Dell’s injury and then some. Then, upon his return from injury, Houston could make the argument for being the next great wide receiving corps in the NFL. You thought Will Fuller changed everything about Texans’ offense? Try TWO Will Fullers!

1. Emeka Egbuka, Ohio State

• Height: 6’ 1”
• Weight: 202 lbs.
• 40-Yard Dash: 4.48s; 10-Yard Split: 1.50s; Vertical Jump: 38 in.
• 2024 Statistics: 16 Games, 81 Receptions for 1,011 Receiving Yards, 12.5 Y/R, 10 TDs, 8 Rush Attempts, 33 Yards
• Projected Round: 1

Here’s my favorite WR in the 2025 NFL Draft. The one, the only, THE Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka may not be your 4.3-second 40-yard dash knight in shining armor, but he is the most productive, most reliable wide receiver in this draft. Yes, this draft does not have the blockbusting star power of players like Ja’Marr Chase, Justin Jefferson or Garrett Wilson, but it does have Emeka Egbuka, an exhaustively reliable possession receiver that made 5-10 yard gains practically a guarantee for his offense. He doesn’t have the elite route running of Buckeye teammate Jeremiah Smith, nor does he have the game-breaking length and skillset of Marvin Harrison Jr., but despite that, he still absorbed targets like a magnet while those other players were on the field with him. Why is that? Why would Ohio State quarterbacks like Kyle McCord, Will Howard, and our very own C.J. Stroud target Egbuka over and over again while a top ten receiver was lining up on the other side? Why would Egbuka get the ball over those other stars over and over again?

To put it simply, Egbuka was often the safest option. While the superstar receiver (Smith, Harrison) sprinted downfield or gathered the attention of the defense, Egbuka would stay under him and become the safety valve for the quarterback. And within that short to mid range route work he was usually doing, he became virtually unbeatable. Like a slightly worse version of Matthew Golden, Egbuka has good feet and hands, which makes him a deadly short yardage target when coupled with his route-running savvy. As a Penn State fan, I have…suffered the displeasure of witnessing Egbuka cut up Penn State’s defense from the slot, moving the chains over and over again when I thought my team’s defense finally had the Buckeye’s beat. Last year, I made a very similar comparison to Ohio State tight end Cade Stover, who seemed to be wide open at every crucial juncture for Ohio State. Emeka Egbuka is the wide receiver version of Stover, where he isn’t exactly fast, but is literally impossible to contain and a literal demon on third down. I hate him, so I love him. Although, unfortunately, matching those highs he reached in Columbus will be far more challenging in the NFL, where his penchant for catching with his chest will be exposed. He won’t be able to catch everything like that in the NFL, so he may absorb some turbulence in his first year as he adjusts to using his arms and length more often.

As much as I may hope Emeka Egbuka will fall to the second round, it’s unlikely a receiver of his caliber and production with fall past the first. He’s one of the two wide receivers in this class that I think are worth spending Houston’s first round pick on, the other being the aforementioned Matthew Golden. It would seem kind of odd to use a first rounder on a wide receiver that doesn’t have game-breaking speed or moves, but it would make sense for a Houston team still looking for a consistent #2 option behind Nico Collins. Tank Dell is great when he’s healthy, but there needs to be other options, and Egbuka would be an immediate, plug-and-play solution. C.J. Stroud likes him, too!

And that’s the end of the list! I’m really, really sold on Emeka Egbuka and Matthew Golden being NFL starters, they have the feet and the athleticism to hit the ground running. But Burden, Ayomanor, and Bech are all players I’d compare more to raw prospects than plug-and-play players. From my point of view on last year’s offense, Houston could use starters right now out wide, but to play devil’s advocate, being patient with certain receivers even at the cost of not having the immediate starter can pay large dividends, as it did with Nico Collins. Only time will tell where Nick Caserio’s and DeMeco Ryans’ minds are resting, but if I were a betting man, I’d say Ayomanor or Egbuka are their favorites.

Go Texans!!!!