Heading into his third season with the Houston Texans, Nick Caserio is constantly looking to evolve the draft process in his role as general manager. From no pick until the third round in 2021 to four picks in the first two rounds last year, Caserio has seemingly faced both ends of the spectrum in the early rounds of the NFL Draft. This year, the Texans currently have five selections in the top 73 draft slots.
"We've kind of looked at I would say everything on a yearly basis," Caserio said. "So whether it's the draft process, something maybe we can do a little bit different, which we've done that this year."
Some of those modifications include the process of player visits, from the on-boarding of the players to post-visit steps, including the how the information is used and applied in the draft process.
"I think you have to rely on the people around you and take information and utilize the right information, the right inputs, and really trust the information that you have, that if it kind of tells you one thing, probably should lead you towards that direction," Caserio said. "You never second guess. You always want to try to learn."
Teams can bring in 30 players for visits during the pre-draft process for further interviews and evaluations. The Texans began bringing their draft prospects into the team facility about a week after the NFL Scouting Combine, according to Caserio, and tried to best simulate a normal day for a player.
"From the time they come in the building it's 6:30, 7:00, to the time they leave at 4:00, it's coaching staff, strength and conditioning, player development, it's scouting, it's all the different people that are going to touch them in the football operation," Caserio said. "We try to give them a picture of what we're trying to create, and we've gotten a lot of constructive feedback from that process. In the end, we're just trying to put ourselves in the position to make good, sound decisions with the right people and the right players. You know, hopefully gets to an end point that we can all be proud of and happy about come draft weekend."
The 2023 NFL Draft takes place April 27-29 in Kansas City.
