The 2025 NFL Draft is complete, and the Texans added nine players to the mix over the weekend.
After trading out of the first round on Thursday evening, the Texans selected four players in the second and third rounds on Friday night, and five more on Saturday afternoon. Including a Thursday trade just three hours before the first round began, Executive Vice President/General Manager Nick Caserio pulled off seven trades during this weekend's Draft.
In all, Houston picked up a pair of receivers, an offensive tackle, a running back, a cornerback, a safety, a quarterback, a defensive tackle and a tight end. When the picking finished on Saturday, Head Coach DeMeco Ryans liked the makeup of the Texans' 9-man Draft Class.
"We set out to accomplish adding great football players to our team, improve our team and come in and compete, and that's what we did. That's always the focus of the draft. That's what we did, and we feel really good about this class. Fired up to get to work with these guys in a couple weeks."
For Caserio, his fifth Draft with the Texans saw him add another layer of talent to a team that's won the AFC South the last two years, and has big goals for the near future.
"We've added youth, toughness, speed, athleticism, overall competitiveness on both sides of the football," Caserio said. "Hopefully that just enhances overall the performance of our football team. I think practice is going to be a lot of fun."
The draftees and undrafted rookies will be in the building in the next couple weeks for the start of rookie minicamp.
Hear from Head Coach DeMeco Ryans and Executive VP & GM Nick Caserio on the last day of 2025 NFL Draft:
Round 2, Pick 34
1. Is 6-4, 211 pounds, and ran the 40-yard dash in 4.47 seconds
2. In 2 seasons at Iowa State, averaged 15.5 yards per catch
3. Caught a combined 15 touchdowns in 26 career games with Cyclones
4. Recorded eight games where he finished with more than 100 receiving yards
5. As a 3rd-team All-American in 2024, finished with 87 catches for 1,183 yards and nine touchdowns
Round 2, Pick 48
1. Ersery was the Big 10 Offensive Lineman of the Year in 2024
2. He started the final 38 games of his career at left tackle for Minnesota
3. In 2024, according to Pro Football Focus, Ersery gave up just one sack and one quarterback hit in 398 pass blocking snaps
4. Stands 6-6 and weighs 331 pounds
5. 2nd-team All-American in 2024
Round 3, Pick 79
- Jaylin Noel finished his Cyclones career with 245 catches for 2,855 yards and 18 touchdowns
- Last season's Big 12 Co-Special Teams Player of the Year, he averaged 15.3 yards per punt return in 2024
- Caught 80 passes for 1,194 yards and eight touchdowns last fall
- Ran the 40-yard dash in 4.39 seconds
- Tallied eight career games with 100 or more receiving yards
Round 3, Pick 97
- Jaylin Smith started 32 games in his college career for USC
- Played cornerback, nickel cornerback, strong safety and free safety at various points during his time with Trojans
- Notched 182 tackles and 12.5 tackles for loss in four seasons
- Reunited with friend and safety Calen Bullock, who was a USC teammate
- Stands 5-10 and weighs 187 pounds
Round 4, Pick 116
- Woody Marks averaged 5.0 yards per carry in five college seasons with Mississippi State and then USC
- As a Trojan last year, Marks gained 1,133 yards on 198 carries and ran for nine touchdowns
- Caught 47 passes for 321 yards in 2024
- As a sophomore at Mississippi State, he 83 passes
- Finished college career with over 4,500 rushing/receiving yards and scored a combined 36 touchdowns
Round 6, Pick 187
- Started all 16 games at safety last year for college football semifinalist Penn State Nittany Lions
- Registered 98 tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss in 2024
- Picked off five career passes in college
- Stands 6-0, and weighs 211 pounds
- Intercepted a pass against Wisconsin in 2024 and returned it for a touchdown
Round 6, Pick 197
- Florida's all-time leader in career completion percentage at 73.7%
- Tossed a touchdown pass in 31 of his final 35 college starts
- In 2023 with the Gators, completed 72.9 percent of his passes for 2,903 yards, with 20 touchdowns and just three interceptions
- At Wisconsin and Florida, combined, he threw 9,099 yards and 64 touchdown passes
- Averaged 8.2 yards per attempt in 2 years as a Gator
Round 7, Pick 224
- Played in 51 games, starting 31 of them on the defensive line.
- Saw action at both defensive tackle and defensive end in every game since making his debut in the season opener as a true freshman.
- Over his career, he totaled 110 tackles, including 11 tackles for loss, 6.0 sacks, two passes defensed, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery.
- In 2024, he was voted honorable mention All-Big Ten by both the coaches and the media.
- Named Academic All-Big Ten three times, from 2022 to 2024.
Round 7, Pick 255
- Started 24 games at tight end for the Hawkeyes
- In 2024, recorded 28 receptions for 231 yards.
- He was named permanent team captain.
- Stands 6-6, weighs 251 pounds
- Finished Hawkeyes career with 74 catches for 893 yards and four touchdowns
