The theme for the Houston Texans' offseason has been simple for the offensive side of the ball: Out with the old, in with the new.
And the draft was no different.
Houston has been looking to implement change after the Texans saw dips in yards per game (342.4 to 319.7) and points per game (22.2 to 21.9) while sacks allowed went up from 47 to 54 in DeMeco Ryans' second season as coach.
The Monday after the season, Ryans lamented about getting over the proverbial hump. Houston had been overhauling the offensive personnel in free agency, and last week's draft was the last key step of the rebuild.
Six of the Houston's nine draft picks were offensive players. After moving out of the first round, trading the 25th pick to the New York Giants, the Texans' first selection came in the second round (No. 34) in Iowa State receiver Jayden Higgins. He will be a welcomed addition for quarterback C.J. Stroud, as he's a big-body receiver at 6-foot-4 and 215 pounds who has good top end speed -- having run a 4.47-second time in the 40-yard dash -- to pair with Nico Collins, who's the same size.
Houston then traded up to No. 48 and selected Minnesota left tackle Aireontae Ersery to join a tackle room featuring Tytus Howard, Blake Fisher and Cam Robinson.
Then Houston doubled down on Iowa State receivers and drafted Jaylin Noel in the third round with the No. 79 pick. The last team to draft multiple players at wideouts from the same college in the same draft before this year was the Chargers in 2023 when they selected Derius Davis and Quentin Johnston from TCU.
"It's a crazy feeling, obviously wasn't expected, but it's a blessing and something it's just words can't really explain it, to be able to team up with my brother again," Noel said of teaming up with Higgins again. "What [Stroud's] been able to do for the past two seasons is really exciting. Just being able to grow in a league with a young quarterback is exciting. I can't wait to get to work with him."
Both Noel and Higgins went over 1,000 yards in their last season in college, but Noel gives the Texans something they didn't have, a dynamic vertical threat -- with him running a 4.37-second 40-yard dash time at the combine.
After the draft, Ryans spoke about adding the Iowa State duo and said Stroud should "be excited about the targets that he has to throw to."
"You talk about playmaking ability, Jaylin's ability to stretch the field, in the deep end part of the field," Ryans said. "And then you have Jayden, just a big target, very similar. I know a lot of people said [he's] very similar to Nico in what he's able to do, but you get a receiver of his stature and with his catch radius, it just opens up a lot of things for us offensively that I know all of our guys are excited about."
