Golden: Taking Stroud, Anderson at Nos. 2 and 3 was a real boss move for Texans, Caserio

HOUSTON — The shock waves came from Houston on Thursday night.

Who would have thought the Texans would walk away from the opening night of the NFL draft as the team that stole the show?

No one?

Exactly.

General manager Nick Caserio made the two most impactful consecutive picks in franchise history, right up there with the 2006 haul that brought top overall pick Mario Williams and an athletic Alabama linebacker by the name of DeMeco Ryans.

Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud and Alabama edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. are potential game changers, and what else could one ask for on a rebuilding team’s wish list? It was audaciously delicious, right up there with Mom’s peach cobbler.

The Astros have been carrying this city’s agua for longer than they care to remember, and Rockets fans are still watching YouTube clips of Hakeem Olajuwon winning NBA titles while Jordan was swinging a baseball bat.

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The Texans, who became the first team since Washington in 2000 to make two of the first three picks in the draft, hit a three-run dinger with 10 more at-bats coming up over the next couple of days. Shoot, they took away the play from 100,000 gathered in Kansas City for 10 league-rocking minutes.

The Texans had options, didn't overthink things

Caserio had options when he woke up Thursday morning, and after he tabbed Stroud with the No. 2 pick, an opportunity presented itself. He has a good working relationship with Cardinals GM Monti Ossenfort, and the two were engaged in a rather important discussion with the draft clock winding down.

The trade was consummated for Anderson with 90 seconds remaining. When the announcement was made that Houston was moving up from the No. 12 pick to No. 3 after sending two picks to the desert, a massive roar went up at the team's draft party a few blocks away at Miller Outdoor Theatre.

They knew Houston had just landed not only a potential franchise quarterback, but the best pass rusher since No. 99.

After years of frustration, Texans are due

This was the moment the Texans had been waiting on for years. It’s why Caserio, who got his first front office job in New England under dynasty builders Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli 20 years ago, is hellbent on getting the Texans out of the basement and back in the playoff business.

Caserio didn’t overthink it. He wanted two great players, and he got them. Stroud might have his detractors, but anyone who watched him shred his final five opponents for 2,165 yards, 19 touchdowns and only three interceptions has to be excited about his upside. Austin-based super agent David Mulugheta assured him that he was joining a first-class organization, and the hope is Houston has its next great quarterback after Deshaun Watson, also a Mulugheta client.

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“We identified players that have traits and characteristics that we want in our building,” Caserio said. “They have to earn the trust of their teammates. All we can do is focus on the Texans and what we need to do. We’re a long way away from playing our first game in September.”

Trying to recapture the 1978 magic

City historians will point to the 1978 draft, when the Houston Oilers, mired in an eight-year postseason drought, made the biggest trade in franchise history when they unloaded four draft picks and tight end Jimmie Giles to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the top overall pick. Earl Campbell ended up being one of the two best power backs in league history — the incomparable Jim Brown is the other — and the Oilers became a title contender, albeit one that could never overcome the loaded Pittsburgh Steelers.

Running backs were the staples of a team in that era, but the focus has changed to quarterbacks, and Stroud, while unlikely to bring a Tyler Rose impact to this team, can develop into a Pro Bowler with the right tutelage.

The good news is the team’s lone Pro Bowler — Laremy Tunsil — plays at left tackle.  The Texans are a team with holes, but two craters have been filled.

'I had a feeling when I woke up this morning'

Stroud let the tears flow in the moments after he hugged Commissioner Roger Goodell on the stage.

He admittedly stayed off social media in the weeks after the NFL scouting combine as stories circulated about his draft stock plummeting amid some uneven workouts. He spoke about how he clung to his faith and his family to help prepare for the biggest spring of his 21 years.

“If the Texans wanted me, they were going to get me,” Stroud said. “I had a feeling when I woke up this morning that I was going to the Texans. I don’t really care about the outside noise. I’m not going to be perfect, and I won’t always do the right thing on the field, but I will work my butt off."

Expect him to push Davis Mills for the starting job from Day One. Mills has had his moments but won’t remind anyone of Watson or even Matt Schaub, for that matter.

Twenty-eight of the 57 Super Bowls were won with a starting quarterback who’s in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Add another 16 won by future gold jacket owners Tom Brady (seven), Eli Manning (two), Ben Roethlisberger (two), Patrick Mahomes (two), Drew Brees (one)  Aaron Rodgers (one)  and fringe Hall candidate Russell Wilson, and that’s 44 of 57. It’s obvious the man behind center is the most important player on a football field, and Stroud has miles more upside than the 2022 starter.

Filling holes, raising expectations

Quarterback is Priority One, and a terror off the edge is not far behind in importance.

Anderson, whose 35 sacks led to a pair of SEC defensive player of the year nods, is a relentless pass rusher with something to prove.

“They just have a ton of respect for me, and they just think I’m a special player,” Anderson said. "It gives me so much more confidence to walk in there and just be myself and be Will Anderson knowing that I have a coaching staff that really wanted me and really sees something in me.”

We see a Texans franchise on the move after some dark days.

Just four years ago, Houston had franchise cornerstones in J.J. Watt, young Pro Bowl quarterback Watson and head coach Bill O’Brien, who had won four AFC South titles in his first six seasons. Watt had a Hall of Fame career, Watson would have if not for some horrible personal choices, and O’Brien flamed out after an ill-fated promotion to general manager. Replacements David Culley and Lovie Smith combined to go 7-26 as the free fall continued.

Now Clutch City’s third musketeer is suddenly on the rise. The Texans are far from a finished product, but there is cause for excitement in the 713.

Caserio pulled off a needed big move.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Houston Texans made huge moves early in NFL draft for Stroud, Anderson