The Houston Texans 2026 Do-Not-Draft List

Texas Tech's Jacob Rodriguez asks for more crowd noise during the Big 12 Championship football game, Saturday, Nov. 6, 2025, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. | Nathan Giese/Avalanche-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Last week, I wrote about the top “my guys” for the Houston Texans in the 2026 NFL Draft. Today, we are flipping the script and focusing on players who I am less excited about than other media outlets or analysts. Specifically, these are players I do not see fitting in Houston schematically, culturally, or technically.

My focus will be on Day Two players; many first-round talent will either be not on the board when Houston selects or are consensus favorites. Many of the players below are in positions of need for the Texans, which has been the emphasis of my pre-draft process.

For the most part, these are players that I would rather other teams roll the dice on rather than Houston. Let them go after their potential instead.

• Caleb Banks, DT – Florida
  • He re-injured his broken foot the night before the NFL Combine and won’t be ready until June. Foot and ankle injuries that continue to plague an athlete are a major red flag. Inconsistent output and effort are not SWARM mentalities. There are too many other well-rounded (literally) defensive tackles to roll the dice on Banks.
• Jacob Rodriguez, LB – Texas Tech
  • Under-sized and limited athletically, his YouTube-based hype is overblown. Plus, he had four to five elite players on his defensive line. It’s more about the value than anything else. As a fringe-first round pick, Rodriguez doesn’t have the true coverage ability nor play speed to be worthy of where he’s projected. I think he’s a fully 50 picks below where he should be selected.
• Zachariah Branch, WR – Georgia
  • My least favorite receivers are S&S guys: screens and slants. That’s all Branch ran. His average depth of target (ADOT) was 512th in the nation. Receivers are either schemed open or get open themselves. Georgia schemed open Branch. His 5’10, 180-pound frame also scares me.
• Sam Roush, TE – Stanford
  • Roush has the size, strength, and run blocking chops to make it in the NFL. However, his 8th percentile arm length shows up in every way possible. Poor ability to catch passes outside his frame, gets beaten by longer defensive ends, and limited-to-no contested catch ability. He dropped multiple passes at the Senior Bowl which confirmed many of my worries. His ceiling is a safety blanket TE2.
• Chase Bisontis, OG – Texas A&M
  • Lack of athleticism and 13th percentile arm length are clear limiters for Bisontis, who some think will go in the first round. Hands were erratic and struggled to sustain longer blocks.
  • Houston Texans Draft Profile: Chase Bisontis
• Gracen Halton, DT – Oklahoma
  • Despite the elite PFF grades, Halton is an under-sized defensive tackle who will be swallowed up at the next level. I actually enjoy his film splitting double teams, but the hype on his is out of control. A fourth round pick at the most should be his value, not a top 50 selection. Also lacks length to displace blockers in gap schemes. Under-sized big men is an oxymoron I simply can’t get over.
• Kamari Ramsey, S/nickel – USC
  • Ramsey has yet to find a home in the secondary. He played as a nickel or safety most of his time at USC. He struggled to turn and run with receivers and was slow to trigger against the run. The composite profile lacks a distinct role in Houston.