Ole Miss QB Matt Corral Drafted Third Overall in Latest Sports Illustrated Mock Draft

The Houston Texans waste little time finding their next franchise quarterback in the newest Sports Illustrated mock draft.

Author:
Ben King
Publish date:
Apr 18, 2022 3:11 PM EDT

In this story:

Ole Miss Rebels

Houston Texans

With the 2022 NFL Draft starting in less than two weeks, it is time for the bold draft takes to travel around the internet.

We get things started on Monday with former Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral at No. 3 overall in a new Sports Illustrated mock draft.

Matt Corral

Former New York Jets scout, Daniel Kelly, predicts that the Houston Texans will draft Corral third overall in his new mock draft.

Here was Kelly's reasoning behind Houston drafting Corral with the third pick in the draft.

3. Houston Texans: Matt Corral, QB, Ole Miss
There is a reason QB Baker Mayfield was not part of the Deshaun Watson trade.

The former scout thinks Houston has something up its sleeve since the Texans did not acquire a quarterback via free agency or trade after sending quarterback Deshaun Watson to the Cleveland Browns.

Could Houston sit tight with second-year quarterback Davis Mills and just draft the best player available with the third pick? Yes, that would be the safest option for the Texans seeing as they are in the midst of a rebuild. In his rookie year, Mills appeared in 13 games for Houston and threw for 2,664 yards and 16 touchdowns, so there is some promise there.

In this scenario, however, Houston takes a gamble, and instead of waiting for Corral to possibly fall to the second round, they draft him third overall.

If Corral needs time to adjust to the NFL, the Texans have a solid option at quarterback in Mills who can start until the Ventura, Calif., native is ready to compete for the starting quarterback position.