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With The First Pick
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Houston Texans still in position to land franchise QB in 2023 NFL Draft

By Brandon Croce

Aug 13, 2022; Houston, Texas, USA; General view of a Houston Texans helmet and electronic tablets on the bench before the game against the New Orleans Saints at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 13, 2022; Houston, Texas, USA; General view of a Houston Texans helmet and electronic tablets on the bench before the game against the New Orleans Saints at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /
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For most of the season, the Houston Texans seemed like the team most likely to have the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. They began the year with a tie against the Indianapolis Colts band then went on to lose 12 of their next 13 games.

However, the Texans would get a win over the Tennessee Titans in Week 16 and this opened the door for the Chicago Bears to take that top pick. The outcomes in Week 18 would ultimately decide which team would be on the clock first.

Miraculously, the Texans would find a way to win as they converted a 4th and 12 on the final drive before Davis Mills found Jordan Akins for a touchdown on a 4th and 20. Instead of settling for the extra point and going to overtime, the Texans went for two to take a 32-31 win which cost them the number one pick.

Houston Texans still in a position to land franchise QB in the 2023 NFL Draft

In past years, the drop from one to two could set franchises back years as they likely miss out on a franchise quarterback. The perfect example of this is only a few years ago in the 2021 NFL Draft as the Jets would drop to second after winning two of their final three games in the 2020 season.

This opened the door for the Jacksonville Jaguars to move ahead of them and select Trevor Lawrence, who just helped lead the Jaguars to an AFC South division title. Meanwhile, the Jets are back to square one with Zach Wilson struggling in his second season.

The good news for the Texans is that this year, unlike in 2021, there is more than one top-tier prospect at the quarterback position. This means that regardless of what the Chicago Bears do, and there are plenty of options at this point, either Bryce Young, who has already declared or C.J. Stroud, who hasn’t declared for the 2023 NFL Draft yet but is expected to, will be available to draft when the Texans are on the clock.

In the end, the only thing the Texans lost potentially was picking between these two but this should give Houston a chance to add a long-term answer at the quarterback position.

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