The Houston Defense Was A Disaster Last Year, But Where Do The Texans Start First?

If you were an offense and you saw the Houston Texans in front of you, you knew you were in store for a monster day.

Houston had one of the worst overall defenses and the worst pass defense in the league. The Texans were an early favorite to make the playoffs but yet again disappointed their fans and the people that predicted they’d make the leap to the next level.

To try and address this, the Texans will have to use their first round pick on defense. The only question is where Houston goes first. Mel Kiper has the Texans going with J.J. Watt out of Wisconsin.

“At 290 pounds, with a really good burst and a relentless nature, you can do a lot with Watt along the defensive line,” Kiper wrote in his mock draft. “Houston has to find some pass-rush help to complement the great Mario Williams, and this is a good place to look.”

Don’t get me wrong, I love Watt, but if you already have one great defensive end, and you can’t guard the pass, why would you avoid a cornerback if one is on the board. Houston’s secondary was atrocious and couldn’t stop anyone except Rusty Smith all year long.

It would be a boneheaded move to take a defensive lineman and I think the Texans have to look to the secondary. Scott Wright of DraftCountdown.com is on the right track when he has Houston taking Nebraska’s Prince Amukamara with the 11th pick.

Amukamara has drawn comparisons to Nnamdi Asomugha, and if that isn’t enough to sell you on him, I don’t know what is. Patrick Peterson is the best corner in the draft, but there isn’t much room between the two players in terms of draft stock.

Houston needs a guy to lock down that secondary and eliminate a third of the field and Amukamara can do that and be a shutdown corner for years. With some of the pass-rushers the Texans have, putting a solid corner behind them can improve the defense by leaps and bounds.

Then again, any improvement is going to look huge after the year that unit had last season.