3 Draft Picks the Texans Gave Up on Too Early

The Houston Texans haven't endeared themselves to football fans as of late. Yes, they make the playoffs on a consistent basis, but have been turned off by the player personnel decisions of head coach Bill O'Brien. Yet, if you look at life before BOB in the front office, the Texans were great drafters and tremendous talent evaluators.

Despite that, the Texans have had cases of screwing up and letting talent go way too early. Here are three players Houston should have never cut ties with.

3. Jason Babin

In the 2004 NFL Draft, the Texans were enamored by Western Michigan defensive end Jason Babin. They traded their second-, third-, fourth-, and fifth-round picks to the Tennessee Titans to move back into the first round to select him. Babin played in Houston for three seasons and logged 126 tackles and 13 sacks. After that, they traded him to the Seattle Seahawks for safety Michael Boulware. Since being kicked out of Houston, Babin went onto have a 13-year NFL career, making the Pro Bowl twice (with Tennessee Titans and Philadelphia Eagles). He wasn't an elite talent on the line of scrimmage, but he sure was effective.

2. Jadeveon Clowney

With the first overall pick of the 2014 NFL Draft, the Texans selected Jadeveon Clowney with the purpose of creating a dangerous pass rush alongside JJ Watt and Brian Cushing. Houston's defense thrived with Clowney coming off the edge, but their potential was hindered by suspect quarterback play (before Deshaun Watson showed up). In his five years in Houston, Clowney posted 236 tackles, 80 quarterback hits, and 29 sacks, leading him to three Pro Bowl nominations. However, once it was time to pay up, Bill O'Brien was unwilling to budge. With Clowney refusing to play under the franchise tag, the Texans lost all leverage and eventually traded him to the Seahawks for defensive end Barkevious Mingo, linebacker Jacob Martin, and a 2020 third-round pick. While he didn't have a great statistical season in Seattle, you simply can't get a mid-round pick and rotational players in return for a former first overall selection.

1. DeAndre Hopkins

You know we had to add DeAndre Hopkins to this list. We had no other choice. The Texans struck gold in 2013 when they selected the former Clemson Tiger wideout in the latter portion of the first round. Hopkins immediately showed he was a top-tier receiver. He made the Pro Bowl four times, earned three First-Team All-Pro honors (2017-19), and even led the NFL in receiving touchdowns in 2017 (13). Hopkins is a guy you keep on your team for as long as possible. Well, that's only if your name isn't Bill O'Brien. Knowing he had to pay Deshaun Watson and left tackle Laremy Tunsil big bucks, O'Brien had to create cap space. After that realization, he decided to trade Hopkins and a fourth-round pick to the Arizona Cardinals for declining running back David Johnson, a 2020 second-round pick, and a 2021 fourth-round selection. We get the Texans needed to create cap space for Watson's future contract, but at least get a decent return for Hopkins! This trade is inexcusable for so many reasons, with the paramount one being they didn't let Hopkins continue his prime with the team.