The Texans wanted to call up Kayvon Thibodeaux but screwed it up

The Houston Texans reportedly told Kayvon Thibodeaux that they would take him 3rd.

Though Kayvon Thibodeaux had a stellar pick with the 5th-ranked New York Giants, it appears he could have gone up two picks to the 3rd-ranked Houston Texans in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Derek Stevens said on the set of VSiN Live that Thibodeaux got a call from the Texans that they were keen to take him #3. Apparently that didn’t happen as Houston tipped former LSU defenseman Derek Stingley Jr. with Thursday night’s third pick. Obviously there was some kind of misunderstanding or a complete breakdown in communication.

Here is Stevens’ video clip explaining what happened between Houston and Thibodeaux.

Houston Texans could have had Kayvon Thibodeaux but messed things up

What seemed to have worked out was that the Jacksonville Jaguars took Travon Walker at No. 1 and the Detroit Lions rushed to the podium to take Aidan Hutchinson at No. 2, had the Texans been caught off guard? For real? It seemed so obvious that these would be the top two picks from last weekend’s draft, but here we are. While Stingley is a great player, Thibodeaux was once the top contender.

Houston may have wanted to pull down but couldn’t find a trading partner in time. In all honesty, it seems like the Texans panicked and drafted the next star to come out of the DBU. Though Stingley and Thibodeaux were two of the most tested first-round players throughout the drafting process, luck favors the prepared, and the Texans simply aren’t capable of creating their own luck.

While it doesn’t look good to call a player to tell them you’re going to call them up and then not do it, it’s no real surprise. It probably happens more times than people even realize, multiple times in every NFL draft. However, the Texans had one of the strangest nights out on draft night, and this story about their No. 3 overall pick just reflects that. Texans go to Texan.

Houston has a lot of problems, but fighting your own draft board shouldn’t be one of them.