Houston Texans general manager Rick Smith sits down with Steve Wyche and LaVar Arrington to give some insight to his draft strategy, breaking down what he would like to accomplish in this year's draft.

Looking for "impact" players. Gosh. Who isn't. This is all just politically correct BS.

Curious to see who we actually draft in a couple of months.

Texans impressed with Johnny Manziel’s pro day performance

By John McClain: Ultimate Texans on chron.com/sports

Wearing shoulder pads and a helmet, unprecedented for a quarterback in his pro day, Johnny Manziel put on an incredible show for 30 NFL teams today.

Texans vice chairman Cal McNair, general manager Rick Smith, coach Bill O’Brien and quarterback coach George Godsey watched Manziel complete 61 of 64 passes. He threw one bad pass that was low. One was dropped and the other caught out of bounds on a deep sideline route.

There were 75 NFL officials at Manziel’s pro day, including eight head coaches and eight general managers. The only teams not represented were Chicago and Cleveland. The Browns have scheduled a private workout and interview with Manziel.

“He made every throw, and he was well prepared,” O’Brien said. “I saw every throw I needed to see. He was very impressive.”

O’Brien, Smith and Godsey attended pro days for Teddy Bridgewater and Blake Bortles.

“He had a great day,” Smith said. “He made every throw, but we’ve seen him make those throws on film.”

Former NFL general manager Bill Polian attended the pro day for ESPN.

“I’ve been watching him for a long time, so what he did today didn’t surprise me,” Polian said. “He can make any throw. He’s got unbelievable feet. The only drawback is his size (5-11 ¾). With somebody his size, who runs as much as he does, you always worry about him getting injured. That’s the only (negative) that I can see with him.”

Manziel’s pro day was orchestrated by George Whitfield Jr., his private coach.

“I can’t tell you how happy I am with everything Johnny did,” Whitfield said. “It was his idea to do it wearing a helmet and pads. He put on the armor because he was in full attack mode. All the feedback I’ve gotten has been incredible.”



The Houston Texans have seen the top three quarterbacks. Jadeveon Clowney's pro day is next week.

Teddy Bridgewater bombed his pro day workout and looked horrible. Nothing but negative feedback from Bridgewater's pro day but I don't know if that's a big deal in the grand scheme of things. It's only a small portion of how these players are ultimately rated and judged. Blake Bortes shined at his pro day and Johnny Manziel drew excellent reviews at his pro day today. If Jadeveon Clowney aces his pro day next week then we're pretty much in the same position as last month.

I'm still under the same mindset all along. I want to draft Jadeveon Clowney number one overall and the best available quarterback at pick #33 in the second round. But if we do select a quarterback number one overall I like Johnny Manziel a little more than Bridgewater and Bortles.

The one wild card in all of this would be Khalil Mack, who would be an ideal fit for Romeo Crennel's 3-4 defense.

The Texans have signed free safety Chris Clemons to a two-year contract worth $2.7 million, including $450,000 guaranteed.

Clemons, 28, spent Thursday night and today at Reliant Stadium visiting with the Texans, including general manager Rick Smith, coach Bill O’Brien and new pro personnel director Brian Gaine. Gaine worked with the Dolphins during Clemons’ first four seasons.

Clemons (6-1, 214) started every game for the last two seasons. He was a fifth-round pick out of Clemson in 2009.

Clemons is the fourth veteran free agent to sign with the Texans, joining quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, free safety Kendrick Lewis and nose tackle Jerrell Powe. The Texans now have seven safeties on the roster: Clemons, Lewis, Danieal Manning, D.J. Swearinger, Shiloh Keo, Eddie Pleasant, Jwanza Starling and Steven Terrell.

The Texans are expected to release Shiloh Keo. Adding Kendrick Lewis and Chris Clemons is good depth at safety, especially if they can keep Danieal Manning and D.J. Swearinger continues to progress. The secondary is less of a weakness entering the draft. They have to bulk up the front seven and pass rush.

I expect them to draft a new starting right defensive end and a new starting outside linebacker. Perhaps even a new starting nose tackle. Our 3-4 defense at the moment looks very thin on paper. The only guarantees are J.J. Watt at left end and Brian Cushing at inside linebacker. I think Whitney Mercilus will start at one of the outside linebacker spots and Brooks Reed will make the move to inside linebacker freeing up one of the starting OLB spots.

With the exception of a quarterback and maybe a running back or right tackle, I would expect most of the Texans draft picks to be on the defensive side of the ball. We have as many as three and possibly four starting positions up for grabs on defense. We could start all rookies at those positions in 2014. I'd argue we may still look to trade or release former all pro Johnathan Joseph just to clear more cap space. He's due to make $7.5 million in 2014 and $8.5 million in 2015. That's too much to pay for an aging and less productive cornerback.

http://www.csnhouston.com/texans/video-cushing-looks-strong-during-workout

The video is inside the link. It's an instagram video. Brian Cushing looks ready to play. I heard last week he's a month away from being able to resume full football activities so obviously he should be good to go for training camp and all of that stuff.


If Brian Cushing is 100 % in 2014 and can avoid a fluke play with somebody diving low into his knees then I'm more confident we can go ahead and draft Jadeveon Clowney or Khalil Mack number one overall. I want to add a third beast on defense to compliment J.J. Watt and Brian Cushing. Our front seven on defense is pretty thin outside of Watt and Cushing.

I believe Brooks Reed can become a good inside linebacker next to Cushing if he makes the full-time transition in Romeo Crennel's 3-4 defense. Whitney Mercilus will man one of the starting OLB spots but we still have a big void on the other side. Not to mention defensive right end and nose tackle like I mentioned before.

We can probably go 10-6 in 2014 if Arian Foster and Brian Cushing stay healthy. And that's with Ryan Fitzpatrick or Case Keenum starting at quarterback. Hopefully Jimmy Garoppolo is somebody we can draft in the second round and groom for the future. Maybe even Zach Mettenberger. He's worth looking into in the later rounds. First-round talent and skilled QB with great size and a Joe Flacco like arm. His ACL injury is why he's going to drop to the third or fourth round.

At least Cushing got injured early last season. He can probably start the season with us now, and we probably got a better draft pick, too. I'm not convinced we should put any trust into his knees, though. We need to draft some more linebackers, especially if we insist to stay with our 3-4 defense.

With Mike Vrabel as the Texans new linebackers coach I believe that linebackers will soon become a strength on the team. We'll probably see guys like Brooks Reed, Whitney Mercilus and Trevardo Williams greatly improve but we need Brian Cushing to play like the all pro he used to be when he was healthy. That being said the Texans do need to draft at least one linebacker in this upcoming draft. Preferably in the third or fourth round unless they do end up drafting Khalil Mack number one overall instead of Jadeveon Clowney or a quarterback. I don't want to gamble on some project in the later rounds or even as an unsigned rookie free agent.