Dave’s Football Blog

There was talk around the NFL scouting combine last weekend that the Houston Texans might trade their #1 overall pick in the NFL draft. This could work if they get the right deal. Here’s why.

First off, Domanick Davis was a 1,000-yard rusher in 2003 and 2004, and he would have been again in 2005 had he not had a knee injury — an injury that won’t keep him out of training camp next summer. Second, free agent running backs are flooding the market. If Davis continues to have knee trouble, the Texans can get a cheap back like Maurice Morris, Chester Taylor, or even Ron Dayne, who had a few big games in new head coach Gary Kubiak’s offense in Denver last season. Third (and most importantly), the Texans need offensive linemen, and there are plenty of good ones in the draft.

A possible trade-down scenario could involve the New York Jets, a franchise that the recently tagged John Abraham is trying to escape. The Jets may decide to trade him to, say, the Browns, for their 1st and 3rd round picks. That would give the Jets the #4 and #12 picks, which they could give to Houston for that overall #1. Reggie Bush gets to play in New York, while the Texans get a couple of highly rated O-line players, like, say, D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Winston Justice.

Granted, that assumes the Titans decide to take either DE Mario Williams, whose draft stock is rising, or Vince Young, whose draft stock is falling. On the other hand, rumors of Young’s inability to walk and chew gum at the same time have been refuted.

The point is that the Texans don’t need a running back nearly as much as they need pass blockers for David Carr, and if they can trade down a few spots and get the linemen they need without spending huge amounts of jack on free agents, that should suit them just fine — especially in Kubiak’s offense, which turns ordinary backs into superstars. Ron Dayne on Thanksgiving Day in Dallas. ‘Nuff said.

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