The Texans got two immediate impact players in last April’s NFL Draft which could net five starting players down the road.  3rd round pick RB Steve Slaton was the headliner of this class.  Many draft “experts” said that Slaton was too small to be a full time back but they didn’t measure the size of his heart…..and that was a mistake.  Slaton played in 16 games (15 starts) for the Texans last season and he carried the ball 268 times for 1,262 yards (4.8 ypc) with 9 TD runs.  He also caught 50 passes for 377 yards (7.5 avg) with 1 TD grab.  The Texans will try to add another running back in this year’s draft to back up Slaton so his workload isn’t too heavy.  He is a great running back.   1st round pick (OT) Duane Brown was also a pick the Texans made that the skeptics said was picked too high.  They were wrong again as Brown started all 16 games for the Texans in 2008.  He will be a fixture on the offensive line for a long, long time in Houston.  4th round pick (OLB) Xavier Adibi was a tackling machine before going down for the season with an injury.  He played in 7 games (5 starts) for the Texans last season and he made 35 tackles.  Adibi should battle for a starting job in this year’s training camp and the odds are in his favor for winning a starting job.  The Texans also have high hopes for CB Antwaun Molden (3rd round) who played in 14 games (0 starts) last season and he made 20 tackles.  The Texans think he could develop into a starting player down the road.  Free safety Dominique Barber also a decent little football played.  The Texans selected Barber in the 6th round and he played in 12 games (0 starts) and made 15 tackles and defensed a pass.  DT Frank Okam was selected in the fifth round and the Texans like him despite the fact that he only played in 5 games (0 starts) as a rookie and made 4 tackles.  7th round pick (QB) Alex Brink was on the practice squad as a rookie and his ceiling is likely a 3rd string QB.

GRADE FOR THE 2008 SEASON:  A

GRADE FOR THE FUTURE:  A