NFL Draft 2018 Round 6: Houston Texans Select TE Jordan Thomas

The Houston Texans have selected Jordan Thomas in Round 6 — 214th pick — in the NFL Draft. How will this have an effect on the team as a whole? What about potential? Let’s take a look and examine further.

With the 214th pick in Round 6 of the 2018 NFL Draft, the Houston Texans select:

The 6’6,” 265-pound tight end with 34 1/8″ arms and 11 5/8″ hands out of Mississippi State will now have a shot at making the roster for the Houston Texans. The team is once again dipping into

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plentiful pot of talent in the Deep South. He wasn’t a top recruit out of high school but worked his way up by having a strong performance at East Central Community College in Mississippi before taking the scene at Mississippi State.

He’ll join his fellow teammate Martinas Rankin as members of the Texans.

He is yet another speedy, athletic tight end that was converted over to wide receiver this past season with the Bulldogs. He stayed on the outside as far as his role with the team. He also has experience taking on offensive tackle duties so that may be something the team finds appealing about him as well.

Although the consensus is that he just doesn’t have the skill set be a tight end on the pro level, his strong bursts of energy as well as his size are apparently worth the gamble for the Houston Texans. He could cause match up issues if given the opportunity to play and when he really starts to grasp Bill O’Brien’s system.

He only has 31 catches on his resume so his experience is limited but his drop rate has been sensational, only dropping four of 22 catchable passes back in 2017.

Here’s what the experts had to say:

Draft expert Jeff Risdon of RealGM:

Texans collecting developmental TE like they're on Hoarders. Jeez. Jordan Thomas is the 9th TE on the roster.
— Jeff Risdon (@JeffRisdon) April 28, 2018

Lance Zeirlein of NFL.com:

"“From a football standpoint, there isn’t enough there to warrant a draft pick, but Thomas has rare size, speed and athletic traits and that might be enough to hear his name called on Day 3 of the draft.Thomas played outside for the Bulldogs this year, but those days are over. He’ll need simpler routes as a tight end and has to be coached up on how best to utilize his frame to wall off defenders. A team could add Thomas with the idea of converting him to defensive end if it doesn’t work out at tight end.”"

Next: Texans Select DE Duke Ejiofor in the 6th round

Overall, I see Thomas as a gamble with the team hoping to strike lightning in a bottle. He certainly has that with all of the energy he seems to harness just right out on the football field. The team has a plethora of tight ends on the roster now so it’s clearly obvious that somebody is going to get cut. Will it be Thomas? We’ll have to see.

Thomas caught 31 balls for 311 yards and four touchdowns in his last two seasons of his collegiate career with the Bulldogs.

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