The Houston Texans have been linked to Drake London at No. 13 overall. It also makes sense for the Texans to use that extra pick from the Cleveland Browns to take a receiver at that spot.
However, the Texans have a talent deficient roster and need to go with the best player available. If the Texans are taking anything other than receiver through the top-100 picks in the draft, Houston can still find value later in the draft to give quarterback Davis Mills more weapons.
According to Sam Monson from Pro Football Focus, former Cincinnati Bearcats receiver Alec Pierce is a big target that would team up well with wideouts Brandin Cooks and Nico Collins.
That Alec Pierce is able to play with the kind of burst and acceleration he does at 6-foot-3 is impressive, and his tape looks like it belongs to a player significantly smaller than he is — in a good way. Pierce has impressive ball skills and just four drops over the last two years. His average depth of target for his career was almost 17 yards downfield, but he has the skills to work at all levels of the field. In a deep draft class, Pierce seems to be overlooked in a lot of draft rankings, but he could be a very productive player at the next level.
Pierce is listed as the ninth-best wideout in Monson’s rankings. Admittedly, if there is one former Bearcat who makes sense for the Texans, it is cornerback Ahmad Gardner. Nevertheless the Texans may benefit from bringing in one of his teammates from the other side of the ball to bolster their passing attack.
Pierce tallied 52 catches for 884 yards and eight touchdowns through his final 14 games for Cincinnati, who made it as far as the semifinal round of the College Football Playoff.
