ESPN Reveals Best Prospect for Texans to Target in Round One

The Houston Texans have been pinned with one huge area of need entering this year's draft, despite their extensive efforts through the offseason so far–– and that's the offensive line.

After shipping out multiple starters from last season, most notably star left tackle Laremy Tunsil, the Texans have since revamped their unit upfront with a whole new cast of characters. However, even with those immense changes, it still leaves Houston with some huge concerns upfront, and could lead to a big target on the position group early in this year's draft.

If that's the case, the Texans may need to keep their eye on one prospect in particular: Ohio State offensive tackle Josh Simmons.

ESPN's Matt Miller sees a potentially perfect mesh between Simmons and the Texans, labeling him as the best pick that fills a need on the roster:

"Houston tore down its offensive line this offseason and began to rebuild it, but it's still lacking a long-term answer at left tackle," Miller wrote. "Cam Robinson was a good stop-gap signing, but Simmons could be a bookend for years to come."

The key with targeting tackle within the first round comes with the concept of getting the position group sorted out long term. Sure, Cam Robinson can be a stable choice for a season at left tackle, but on just a one year contract, there's reason for concern heading into next offseason. That makes a fit for Simmons look much more appealing.

While Simmons did miss a large chunk of last season with the Buckeyes due to a brutal knee injury, derailing his campaign, he looks notably healthy entering the draft and has the chance to be an impact player early in the right situation. Perhaps that could be Houston, and if so, it could mean big things for C.J. Stroud and the rest of the Texans' offense.

The Texans will sort out their first-round questions once things kick off for the 2025 NFL Draft on Thursday, April 24th, in Green Bay, WI.

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