The Texans entered the first round of Thursday night’s NFL Draft with all kinds of possibilities with their two draft picks.
But nobody could have predicted the move the normally conservative franchise ultimately made. Moments after following expectations and taking Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud with the No.2 overall pick, the Texans orchestrated a trade with Arizona to jump back on the clock where they took can’t-miss Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. with the third overall pick.
The move stunned the football world. It also surprised the two players, who had become close during a recent trip together to Texas.
“I had just gotten picked, I was already juiced up and I turned around and it says, `The Texans are up,’” Stroud said. “I was like, ‘Wow.’ I had a feeling right when I got drafted, like they are going to have to go get Will or something like that. Something was going to have to shake.
“When I found out Will was getting picked I was super stoked. I was happy for him. We were just together about two weeks ago in Texas. We were just kind of building a bond and connection. I’m very excited for him to be my teammate, but yet the trade was kind of surprising. But it was dope.”
Anderson had been putting together scenarios in his mind earlier in the day, but he didn’t quite see this one coming.
“It was surprising for me, too,” Anderson said. “I was just in the Green Room, waiting and waiting and I finally got the call and I was like, `I’m about to be teammates with C.J. That’s my guy.’ Like he said, we had just been building this bond.
The Texans first Round 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, the number 2 overall selection out of The Ohio State University, QB C.J. Stroud shown here with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Credit: AP Photo
“I just feel like God has been doing things for a reason. We’ve just been building this bond together. We had this bond.”
The Texans paid a hefty sum to make it all happen. The Cardinals received the Texans No.12 overall and 33rd overall pick in this year’s draft. They will also receive one of the Texans’ two first-round picks in 2024, as well as a third-round selection.
General manager Nick Caserio admitted that he had had preliminary discussions with the Cardinals and other teams about moving up. But the deal with the Cardinals wasn’t reached until about a minute remained on the clock for the Cardinals to either make the pick or trade it.
In the days leading up to the draft, there was speculation that the new Texans coach DeMeco Ryans coveted Anderson at the No.2 pick and that that could be the direction the team was leaning. But Caserio said the Texans were always certain they would take a quarterback with the No.2 pick, but were actively looking to trade up with their draft capital to take another player they desired.
Now the Texans have their first franchise quarterback since parting ways with Deshaun Watson and now they also have the pass rusher the defense desperately needs to help out a talented secondary.
Stroud, who had an emotional moment shortly after being drafted by the Texans, said he is excited about this opportunity but knows there is much work to be done.
“I definitely feel like I can be a franchise quarterback, but today, right now I’m a rookie,” Stroud said. “And I have to put in work. I have to build trust in the locker room, be a great teammate, treat my linemen well, my running backs, my tight ends, my receivers, the defense and everybody. I have to work my way up.”
Ryans and Anderson share a commonality having both been star linebackers at Alabama, but that fact didn’t make the days leading up to Thursday any easier for the best defensive player in the draft. He just tried as best he could to stay in the moment.
“I kind of started making scenarios in my head after the draft started,” Anderson said. “I just left it in God’s hands and my agent did a really good job of making sure I was not listening to anything like the mock drafts or anything like that. I was just enjoying this process, getting the full experience and I appreciate her for that.”
