Most Houston Texans fans will remember quarterback Davis Mills’ 28-yard touchdown pass and ensuing two-point conversion to tight end Jordan Akins as the plays that cost their team the No. 1 overall pick. However, there was one other play on that 15-play, 83-yard drive that would have kept the top pick in the 2023 NFL draft in Houston’s possession had it gone the Indianapolis Colts’ way.
On a fourth-and-12 from the Colts’ 48-yard line, Mills threw a 30-yard pass to receiver Brandin Cooks to keep the drive alive.
The Texans prevailed 32-31. The Chicago Bears lost to the Minnesota Vikings, which allowed the Bears to leap the Texans and take the top pick.
Cooks finished the game with five catches for 106 yards and a touchdown as his objective was to win the game, not secure the No. 1 overall pick.
“Well, you never suit up to lose, right?” Cooks said on the Adam Schefter podcast via the Dallas Morning News. “And so you know that No. 1 pick is out there, but at the end of the day, you go out between those white lines you’re putting out your resume, so as a competitor you’re not going out there saying ‘I’m not going to give them my all because I want the Texans to have the No. 1 pick.’ You go out there, you give it your all, and let the chips fall where they fall, and they just happen to be one of those situations where it was a nail bitter, and most people were probably like, ‘Wait, why are you guys winning?’ We don’t play to lose, at least from a player’s standpoint.”
Cooks is now with a new NFL team while the Texans are playing all the possibilities of where they will go now that they are picking No. 2 overall. The Bears made a deal with the Panthers, who are also quarterback-needy as the Texans, for the No. 1 overall pick.
