Houston Texans' Draft Strategy Remains Unchanged After Free Agency Haul
Despite significant free agency additions, the Texans continue prioritizing offensive line upgrades. Expect the draft to deliver more talent to solidify protection.
The Houston Texans entered the 2026 offseason with the obvious goal of improving the offensive line. Houston was near the bottom of the league in win rate in both pass protection and run blocking, and that had to be fixed for the franchise to get more out of the offensive side of the ball. The defense was elite in 2025, and it was the type of defense that could win a Super Bowl, but the offense needs to perform better moving forward.
Throughout the 2026 offseason, it has been speculated that the Texans will be addressing the offensive line heavily through the 2026 NFL Draft. That thought remains, even though the Texans have already spent a good amount on the offensive line in free agency. The organization re-signed Trent Brown while also inking Ed Ingram to an extension, two-year deals were signed with both Braden Smith and Wyatt Teller through free agency Teller and Smith are fantastic additions, and Aireontae Erstery is expected to continue to progress at left tackle, and the same could be said for Ingram at guard.
Despite these financial investments from the franchise, D. J. Bien-Aime of ESPN believes the offensive line is a weakness that will be addressed through the draft, "The Texans plan to keep improving the offensive line through the draft.
They have four picks in the first three rounds, so expect them to add young talent there. This is still the priority after Houston finished the 2025 season ranked 30th in pass block win rate (55. 5%) and last in run block win rate (68.