The Panthers and Vikings could ruin the plan to fix the offensive line
TheHouston Texansprimary need in the NFL draft needs to be fixing the offensive line. As it was stated on the previous slide, Watson was sacked a league-high 62 times and was hit another 133 times. With as much as the team has invested in their franchise quarterback, that is completely and utterly unacceptable.
Kalil was brought in to compete withJulien Davenportat left tackle. Davenport was drafted as a developmental prospect who was supposed to be the future at left tackle. However, he’s been thrust into the lineup before he was ready and has struggled as a result. Kalil is not the former rising star he used to be so this position far from settled.
Elsewhere along the line. Henderson was re-signed to be theTexansright tackle after he missed all of last year with an injury.Senio Kelemete,Zach Fulton, andMartinas Rankinwill battle it out for the guard spots.Nick Martinstill has a stranglehold on the center position after being the team’s best lineman last year.
With all of this uncertainty and lack of production, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see two of theHouston Texansfirst three picks (one in the first and two the second) be offensive linemen and three total offensive linemen in the entire draft.
Unfortunately, offensive line is a position of need across the league with their being a dearth of top-end options. So that means that there are plenty of teams who will also be targetting offensive line help early in the draft and there are few that are really in position to ruin theTexans‘ draft plans.
The first team that is in a similar range to theHouston Texansthat can ruin their draft plans is the Carolina Panthers. Like theTexans, the Panthers have a significant investment in a mobile franchise quarterback, their’s, of course, beingCam Newton.
The Panthers tried the Kalil thing last year before he got hurt and the fact that they didn’t try to bring him back and let him walk to theTexansfor nothing tells you about him. But, they don’t have an obvious fit that can keep Newton upright. So, they could easily take a left tackle prospect and he could very well be last one worth a first round pick at 15 overall.
The other team that could really ruin theTexansdraft plans is the Minnesota Vikings. If all of the top left tackle prospects are gone, or even if they’re not, theTexanscould target an interior offensive lineman if the value fits at 23 overall.
The Vikings need offensive line help, badly. The gaveKirk Cousins, what was, the biggest contract ever for a quarterback and it was fully guaranteed. They also invested an early round pick inDalvin Cook. They need to protect and open holes for both of these guys and their offensive line did not get the job done last year.
If offensive linemen get selected early in either the first round or the second round, the Panthers or the Vikings could very easily take the last lineman worth a first or second round pick before theHouston Texansget their crack at taking one of them.
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