The Houston Texans are 0-3, and if the season ended today, they’d be on the clock first. Athlon Sports draft analyst Luke Easterling built his updated first-round mock draft on the current order, and he doesn’t expect Houston to stay there. If the Texans did, he called the pick an easy choice.
Easterling sent Houston Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith, the top prospect in the 2027 class on his board, and said he sees “a ton of Andre Johnson in Smith’s game.”
Why Jeremiah Smith fits the Texans
Houston’s passing game has stalled without Nico Collins. The Texans’ top receiver missed his second straight game with a hamstring injury in the Week 3 loss to the Colts, and the offense managed just 223 total yards, with C.J. Stroud throwing for 167.
Smith is built for those matchups. The 6-foot-4, 222-pound junior became Ohio State’s all-time leader in receiving yards on Sept. 19, passing Michael Jenkins’ mark of 2,898, according to CBS Sports. A week later, he had 12 catches for 217 yards and four touchdowns against Illinois, pushing his season line to 33 receptions for 617 yards and seven touchdowns in four games.
He now has 3,175 career receiving yards and 34 touchdown catches, per Ohio State’s athletics site, after a 2025 season in which he was a unanimous All-American and the Big Ten’s receiver of the year.
The case against the pick has nothing to do with Smith. Easterling has called the interior offensive line Houston’s most immediate need, and he acknowledged in the mock that the roster has more pressing holes than receiver. Spending the first overall pick on a pass catcher while Stroud’s protection is a problem would be a bet on talent over need. In an earlier mock, Easterling had the Texans addressing that line with Minnesota guard Greg Johnson at No. 18. This time, Johnson goes 23rd to Seattle.
It’s a bet most teams would make.
Pairing Smith with Collins would give Stroud two big outside receivers who can win one-on-one, something Houston’s offense has lacked with Collins out. For a quarterback who was the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2023, that kind of weapon could get the passing game back on track. Easterling put it simply: you don’t pass on a rare prospect like Smith when the opportunity comes.
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