Texans take over first round of draft, restore pride to fans

© Brett Coomer/Staff Photographer

If the Texans are in the AFC Championship Game for the first time in a few years, this will be the moment that changed everything.

Standing among all the packed together red and blue within an absolutely roaring Miller Outdoor Theatre on Thursday, you could feel the moment.

The second-by-second anticipation as soon as cellphones started buzzing with breaking news notifications and a stunning trade was waiting to be announced on the big, glowing screen.

The realization that, yes, this was really happening. And, yes, the Texans were taking over the 2023 NFL Draft just as it was beginning.

C.J. Stroud becoming the Texans’ next franchise quarterback – the official replacement for a discarded Deshaun Watson; the new hope for a DeMeco Ryans-guided future – created instant, ringing cheers on a night when Houston’s NFL franchise finally took its multiyear rebuild to the next level.

Suddenly following Stroud’s selection by leaping all the way up to No. 3 and taking Alabama linebacker Will Anderson Jr.?

The party inside and around Miller cranked from 10 to 11.

One word could be felt among the rows and rows of fans, spread-out blankets on the hill, and raised smartphones: Pride.

Real, tangible Texans pride.

“The Houston Texans select Will Anderson … ”

I don’t know what Roger Goodell said after that, because the NFL commissioner’s booming voice was drowned out by cheers, waving towels, swirling hats, high-fives, falling confetti, Astros-like “Woooos” and an echoing “Here we go, H-Town” callout.

The sun was setting.

A light, late-April breeze was blowing.

The Texans were owning the draft …

Wait. Hold on.

There was an NFL draft.

The Texans had the Nos. 2 and 12 picks.

Ninety percent of Texans fans were afraid a team that desperately needed a new QB wouldn’t even draft a QB.

And before Indianapolis could burn its fourth pick with a risky selection of Florida’s Anthony Richardson, the Texans took Stroud, then shocked Football America in real time – during an era when everything is leaked on Twitter and the internet – by also taking Anderson, who was a legitimate No. 1 pick candidate for months?

The Texans didn’t just not screw it up.

The Texans … got it right??!

“ROARAWOOWOWWWAHHHH” – that’s how everyone collectively sounded at 7:35 p.m.

That franchise-changing sound was followed by the eventual realization that 28 first-round picks remained and, in the best possible way, the Texans had already won the night.

“I bring me. I bring a man of God. I bring a leader,” Stroud said on the big screen, drawing even more cheers.

As the Texans’ 2022 draft class walked out of Miller Outdoor Theatre, what-just-happened moments were still being replayed out loud and last year’s Texans kept approving of Nick Caserio’s newest Texans.

J.J. Watt, Arian Foster and Brian Cushing jerseys decorated the backs of anxious fans.

Jalen Pitre, Dameon Pierce and Derek Stingley Jr. jerseys were mixed in between, hinting at a future that still felt tenuous minutes before what should have been the Texans’ No. 1 overall pick became Bryce Young to Carolina.

Then Stroud, the first breakthrough, was announced.

Then the trade.

The slow-rolling anticipation.

Then the moment.

The Texans were taking over the first round. Ryans was getting a QB and edge rusher with back-to-back picks, while Young’s name was still scrolling across social media. In Nick We Trust was publicly attached to Caserio after two years of losses, defeats, more losses and surreal embarrassment.

All the old and new red-and-blue believers watched and felt it all, as the Texans fully embraced a new era.

It was the Texans’ night.

You could be proud to be a Texans fan again.