The Houston Texans are a rebuilding franchise. And, as such, they decided to take players at premium positions in the 2022 NFL Draft with their prime picks (their first three picks were spent on two defensive backs and an offensive lineman). But, they still ended up with three fantasy football-eligible players in the draft. What can we expect from the newest Houston Texans for 2022 fantasy football?
FULL HOUSTON TEXANS DRAFT RESULTS
|
Rd. |
Pick |
Player |
Pos. |
College |
|
1 |
3 |
Derek Stingley |
CB |
LSU |
|
1 |
15 |
Kenyon Green |
OL |
Texas A&M |
|
2 |
37 |
Jalen Pitre |
S |
Baylor |
|
2 |
44 |
John Metchie III |
WR |
Alabama |
|
3 |
75 |
Christian Harris |
LB |
Alabama |
|
4 |
107 |
Dameon Pierce |
RB |
Florida |
|
5 |
150 |
Thomas Booker |
DE |
Stanford |
|
5 |
170 |
Teagan Quitoriano |
TE |
Oregon St. |
|
6 |
205 |
Austin Deculus |
OT |
LSU |
Round 2, Pick 44 Overall: John Metchie III, Wide Receiver, Alabama (5’11” 187 lbs)
Depth Chart:
WR1: Brandin Cooks
WR2: Nico Collins
WR3: John Metchie III
WR4: Phillip Dorsett
TALENT
After it turned out that Dante Pettis wasn’t a good football player, I promised myself I wouldn’t let one trait determine whether I like a player or not. Thankfully, Metchie’s drops seem to offset his consistent ability to get open with one major knock offsetting the one major positive for Metchie. What we’re left with is a twitchy undersized guy who frequently got bodied by bigger corners on 50/50 balls, but who has good ball-tracking skills that can offset that. We also have a guy who is amazing after the catch. So, with the right coaching, we end up with someone who can get schemed open to take the ball a long way. All-in-all, Metchie is an NFL-caliber prospect who probably would have gotten a day two call if he hadn’t torn his ACL. As it stands, I’m off him entirely his rookie year. Metchie isn’t really a go-up-and-get-it guy but you can scheme him underneath where he can use his first move to get open, and then burst downfield out of the slot.
2022 OPPORTUNITY
I guess someone other than Brandin Cooks has to catch passes in Houston, but that was also true last year and we ended up without getting anyone any real value. Plus, Nico Collins has been there for a whole year, and Metchie is mostly a depth guy in the NFL. He doesn’t really do anything that would make him stand out from the crowd, and taking him in the second round feels like an extreme reach. Metchie is also coming off of an ACL tear, so it’s unlikely he balls out in camp and does anything to snatch targets from Cooks, Collins, and tight end Brevin Jordan.
2022 OUTLOOK
Unless there are significant injuries in the depth chart ahead of him, I don’t know how Metchie does anything this year, to be honest. There isn’t anything he does better than Cooks or Collins, and the offense isn’t likely to be one powerful enough that you go out of your way to get a piece of it. A common sentiment I’ve seen is that Metchie is a better pick than David Bell. That literally does not make sense. If you get the itch to get John Metchie, go get David Bell instead.
TALENT
2022 OPPORTUNITY
2022 OUTLOOK
Round 4, Pick 107 Overall: Dameon Pierce, Running Back, Florida (5’10” 210 lbs)
Depth Chart
RB1: Marlon Mack
RB2: Dameon Pierce
RB3: Rex Burkhead
RB4: Dare Ogunbowale
RB5: Royce Freeman
TALENT
Pierce absolutely loves contact. He’s a great lead blocker for other backs, and when he has the football in his hands, he actively invites defenders to try to bring him down. That having been said, he isn’t a Zack Moss-type, he does have some wiggle to his game and has a particularly deadly dead leg in the open field. Florida didn’t use him in the passing game a lot, but when they did, he was proficient enough to make it all work. Pierce can sometimes be indecisive, dancing in the backfield, but he rarely loses to the first tackler through sheer force of will. The main con for Pierce is that he isn’t very explosive; he can get up to speed with decent long speed, but he’s never making a man miss in a phonebooth or snatching ankles.
Ultimately, he is basically a younger version of a guy already on the Texans’ roster, with Marlon Mack. People mostly think of Mack as some plodder that was usurped by Jonathan Taylor, who took his rightful spot atop the Colts’ depth chart. In actuality, he held off Taylor to start Taylor’s career, but tore his Achilles, allowing Taylor to take over.
2022 OPPORTUNITY
That leads me to Dameon Pierce’s opportunity in 2022. He could get the ball right off the bat, or he could backup Marlon Mack, or it could be a mix of the two. Everything is inside the range of outcomes for Dameon Pierce, but people have already crowned Pierce the King of Houston’s Backfield. In actuality, he still has to win the job from Marlon Mack, who is, again, an established version of Pierce. Should Pierce snatch the role from Mack, he still has two third-down backs on the roster to contend with (Rex Burkhead and Dare Ogunbowale). There’s no clear path to a three-down role for Pierce, so he’s relegated to a two-down banger role in a bad offense.
2022 OUTLOOK
Two-down banger in a bad offense? Bah God is that 2021 Mike Davis’ music! I’m not bullish on Pierce pulling something out of the fire this season to make drafting him with a single-digit round pick worth it, or make a double-digit round pick not maddeningly inconsistent. The Texans are unlikely to have a prolific offense, and the running back room is crowded, to boot. I’m out on Pierce for 2022, but I am willing to be wrong about it.
TALENT2022 OPPORTUNITY
2022 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
Round 5, Pick 170 Overall: Teagan Quitoriano, Tight End, Oregon State (6’6” 258 lbs)
Depth Chart:
TE1: Brevin Jordan
TE2: Pharaoh Brown
TE3: Teagan Quitoriano
TALENT
Quitoriano is a big guy who has a role in an offense, but The Con will come if you try to put him outside running routes. Where Does the Good Go, you ask? Well, he’s best set inline run or pass blocking, and if you keep him doing that, then Everything is Awesome. I don’t doubt Quitoriano as a good piece of the Texans, but I don’t want to hear about him creeping Back in Your Head as a fantasy-relevant option.
2022 OPPORTUNITY
He’s a blocking tight end and I had so little to say about him that I just made the prior paragraph a bunch of Tegan and Sara song references.
2022 OUTLOOK
The most productive fifth-round rookie tight end fantasy football season of all-time was George Kittle’s 106.5 PPR… good enough for TE Nineteen. Oh hey, another Tegan & Sara reference, and I wasn’t even trying this time!
TALENT2022 OPPORTUNITY
2022 FANTASY FOOTBALL OUTLOOK
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