Why the Texans may not use all of their draft picks

The Houston Texans have 12 picks in the 2023 NFL draft, tied for the most this year.

Houston also has the highest draft capital according to the Jimmy Johnson trade value chart. Even other such value charts have the Texans leading the entire league in draft capital.

With 21 open slots on the team’s 90-man roster, one would figure the Texans could afford to use all of their selections to infuse younger talent into a veteran laden roster.

Don’t count on it.

According to Brad Spielberger from Pro Football Focus, the Texans have traded up just once in the past two drafts with general manager Nick Caserio. Houston has shown more of a propensity to trade up, which they have done six times in the past two drafts.

One of the challenges that comes to trades during the draft is not every team is working with the same draft value chart; some are using the Jimmy Johnson chart while others have their own, according to Caserio.

“The issue you have is you’re trying to do a trade and their model says one thing and your model says another thing, so we’re speaking two different languages,” Caserio said Feb. 28 at the NFL combine. “How do we find a resolution? I think that’s more of an exercise for when we get into April. We’re positioned here. What would it cost to move up one spot? We’re at 12. What would it cost to move up a few spots? What would it cost to move back? We’ll look at all those.”

Houston has seven picks between Rounds 4-7, which is a prime area for the Texans to build packages to take specific players similar to their approach in the past two drafts.