It is no secret this offseason the Houston Texans are desperate for an influx of talent. After a 4-13 campaign that led that to the firing of former coach David Culley, the task is fully on general manager Nick Caserio to upgrade the roster if the next coach hopes to fare better in 2022.
This mandate comes at essentially every level of the offense and defense, in a perfect world Houston would have multiple new starters in 2022. Although there’s money to spend in free agency, there may be no better way to address some of these issues than through the draft.
One glaring hole in particular is running back, a position that historically can be found very easily in day two and day three of the draft. As of now, Rex Burkhead is the only returning back from 2021 with Scottie Phillips also in the fold. Luckily for Houston, it has been an amazing week for the running backs in particular.
The position group has done their best to outshine all others on offense and, while they lack a truly elite candidate such as the quarterbacks have with Malik Willis, the standouts have been obvious and many will expect to have their name called during April’s draft.
Enter Cincinnati running back Jerome Ford.
Jerome Ford in 2021:
🥇 1,307 rushing yards (1st among AAC RBs)
🥇 19 TDs (1st)
🥇 52 forced missed tackles (1st)pic.twitter.com/GEzf38Rok4— PFF Draft (@PFF_College) February 3, 2022
Ford is coming off of a senior year that featured 215 carries for 1,319 yards and 19 touchdowns. He also caught 19 balls off only 21 targets for 220 yards. His workhorse season was a huge part of powering Cincinnati into the playoffs this year.
At the Senior Bowl, Ford has showed the best of his skillset. He’s shown excellent fluidity and cuts, with multiple excellent runs. Ford’s 5-11, 215-pound frame lends itself well to pass blocking and he’s done as well as such in Mobile. With some concerns about his ability to pass the ball, as seen by his relative lack of college production, he has also done his part to help ease those concerns this week. It’s been a good week for Ford.
At the podium, he’s shown a man who’s comfortable laughing and humble to be in a position to enter the national football team. Ford was extremely complementary of his Cincinnati teammates and talked openly about how his experience transferring helped his football career.
Jerome Ford on the negative coverage surrounding the running backs group this year:
“I understand why people talk negatively about drafting backs early with our shelf life… but talented guys like Najee deserve to go early” pic.twitter.com/NO8bsRBTpW
— John Crumpler (@TexansDoc) February 2, 2022
The Alabama transfer is just the sort of prospect that could help Houston. He currently is projected in the late third or fourth round and would represent a low cost, high opportunity investment for the Texans. Ford has both the durability to run between the tackles on first and second down and the pass blocking strength to protect Davis Mills in those situations.
A strong showing at the Senior Bowl has only boosted what was an incredible senior season. Houston shouldn’t hesitate to pull the trigger on one of these backs if they’re available on day three come April.
