The Houston Texans 2026 Do-Not-Draft List

Texas Tech's Jacob Rodriguez asks for more crowd noise during the Big 12 Championship football game, Saturday, Nov. 6, 2025, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. | Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images Last week, I wrote about the top “my guys” for the Houston Texans in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Today, we are flipping the script and focusing on players who I am less excited about than other media outlets or analysts. Specifically, these are players I do not see fitting in Houston schematically, culturally, or technically. My focus will be on Day Two players; many first-round talent will either be not on the board when Houston selects or are consensus favorites.

Many of the players below are in positions of need for the Texans, which has been the emphasis of my pre-draft process. For the most part, these are players that I would rather other teams roll the dice on rather than Houston. Let them go after their potential instead.

Caleb Banks, DT – Florida He re-injured his broken foot the night before the NFL Combine and won’t be ready until June. Foot and ankle injuries that continue to plague an athlete are a major red flag. Inconsistent output and effort are not SWARM mentalities.