The 2025 season will be pivotal for the Texans.

Houston’s roster is loaded with talented players, from cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., who recently became the highest-paid defensive back in the National Football League, to offensive weapons like Nico Collins and Joe Mixon. But they also have some serious weaknesses. Their lackluster offensive line took a big hit this offseason, losing tackle Laremy Tunsil to the Commanders and guard Kenyon Green to the Eagles. Wide receiver Stefon Diggs left the team and signed with the New England Patriots, and another receiver, Tank Dell, will sit out in 2025 after suffering a devastating leg injury.

In a playoff environment as competitive as the American Football Conference, no amount of talent can yield success if a team doesn’t have enough depth to cover up its shortcomings. If the Texans want to get over the hump and make a deep playoff run this year, their issues need to be addressed before the season begins in September. With the 2025 NFL Draft just a couple of days away, I’ll be going over who the Texans should select to put themselves in the best possible position for 2025.

The Offensive Line

First and foremost, the Texans need to find a way to keep C.J. Stroud upright. It doesn’t matter how good a quarterback is if he doesn’t have time to throw or make plays. This fact was brutally exposed in the AFC Divisional Round earlier this year, when the Chiefs sacked Stroud eight times, including five times in the fourth quarter.

Offensive tackles, who play on the exterior of the line, are what the Texans will be looking for. Tackles are responsible for protecting the quarterback’s blind side and usually have to block a defense’s most talented pass rusher. There are three tackles in this year’s class that are likely to make an impact for the Texans from day one: LSU’s Will Campbell, Missouri’s Armand Membou and Texas’s Kelvin Banks Jr. Campbell and Membou are likely to be selected within the top 10 picks. With the Texans owning the 25th overall pick in the first round, I don’t think it’d be worthwhile for them to trade for that high draft pick for either of those two.

That leaves Banks, who will probably also require the Texans to trade up to land him. However, they’d have to sacrifice less to do so. Teams swapping draft picks will become more demanding the higher they are in the draft order: trading up for Banks, who will probably get taken in the middle of the first round, would be easier than trying to catapult all the way to a top 10 pick.

Banks is an experienced lineman who was a crucial part of the Longhorns’ run game and pass protection in 2024. He’s an athletic tackle with great leverage and quickness. However, it’s worth noting that Banks is more complete as a run blocker than a pass protector, and the Texans’ need for the latter is much more pressing.

If the Texans don’t want to trade up, there is another option they could take to bolster their offensive line.

Josh Simmons of Ohio State University was arguably the top offensive lineman in the 2025 class before severe injuries took him off the field and damaged his draft stock. While he’s expected to be able to start by the beginning of the NFL season, teams might be worried that his ceiling will be limited by his injury history and choose to pass on him.

However, the Texans should pounce on the opportunity to pick him up if he falls to the Texans’ spot on draft night. Simmons is a gifted pass protector and has lined up both at tackle and in the interior in his college career. He’s a modular piece that the Texans can use as a cornerstone of their offense for years to come. His injury is a valid reason for concern, but Simmons simply offers too much potential upside for the Texans to pass up.

The Defense

Strengthening the defense might seem like a low priority for a team that has such a large need for a good supporting cast on offense. But in a team coached by DaMeco Ryans, defense will always be a focal point. The Texans already built it up this offseason by acquiring C.J. Gardner-Johnson from the Eagles and Sheldon Rankins from the Bengals. But because this year’s draft class is so deep with talent on the defensive line, it presents an interesting opportunity for the Texans to take a swing at a defensive tackle.

Houston already has superstars Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. lined up on the edge, but strengthening the interior will allow those two to be even more disruptive while also making the Texans more potent against the run. To fill this role, South Carolina’s T.J. Sanders could be a perfect fit.

Sanders is a lighter, agile defensive tackle who has a track record of success against the run and the tools to develop into a good pass rusher. Sanders possesses excellent reaction time off the snap and the athleticism to capitalize on that by punching through the offensive line. He has impressive agility and speed for an interior defender, and plays with noticeable effort and toughness. Sanders can tend to lose ground when he gets double-teamed, and he sacrifices his strength and weight for mobility. That means he might get overpowered against bigger, stronger NFL competition.

Sanders shouldn’t be expected to be plugged in from day one and be a three-down defender at a high level. On the other hand, if his workload is slowly ramped up throughout the season, he’ll have more time to adjust to the league and will adapt his talents to NFL play. If Sanders pans out, then Hunter and Anderson will be able to tee off and become even better as pass rushers. The run defense will be elevated, too. Combined with the Rankins signing, improving the front seven by picking Sanders could allow the Texans’ defense to take another step towards becoming elite.

Wide Receiver

The need for a wide receiver isn’t as pressing as the need for an offensive line upgrade is, and it would be a mistake for the Texans to select one in the first round instead of picking a pass protector.

That being said, the need for more depth at the wide receiver position is definitely there. Although the Texans acquired Christian Kirk from the Jaguars this offseason, he’s not going to fill the void left behind by Dell and Diggs. The Texans don’t have to find a superstar receiver, they just need a second or third-round pick who can step in and be a reliable target for Stroud.

Iowa State’s Jaylin Noel could be what they are looking for. Noel was an elite weapon for the Cyclones’ offense in 2024 because of his agility, route running and ability to catch deep passes. Noel’s combination of blazing speed and ball skills allows him to be a threat both in the slot and on deep routes. He also excels at finding weaknesses in zone coverage and has excellent body control, toe-tapping and pulling in the ball when making catches on the sideline.

Noel’s skill set makes him a weapon in the slot who can leverage his speed to get open and separate from press coverage. I envision him starting out as a punt or kickoff returner and a target for short to medium range passes schemed up by the Texans offense. Eventually, he’ll be able to increase his production and become a true WR2 or WR3 to complement Collins and Kirk.

Noel isn’t without his limitations, though. He has a short wingspan and isn’t a very physical player. He struggles to win against larger and stronger defenders in contested catch situations or when fighting for yards after the catch. His unreliable hands are a serious cause for concern, too: he had a 7.2 percent drop rate across his collegiate career. The good news is that Noel has a high floor as a prospect. Even if he doesn’t pan out as a receiver, he’s proven that he can be a valuable asset in special teams, averaging 15.3 yards per punt return. If the Texans pick him, they could line him up in the slot to mitigate some of his weaknesses and prevent him from getting smothered by physical defenders.

Conclusion

Whoever the Texans select in the 2025 NFL draft, they’ll need their rookies to make a big impact and become contributors early into the next NFL season. Houston may be a good team, but they still need to prove that they can keep up with teams like the Bills, Chiefs and Ravens. If the Texans choose wisely with their draft picks – whether that means improving their weaknesses or reinforcing what they already excel at – then they could make some noise in the regular season and come into the playoffs as legitimate Super Bowl contenders.