The Texans have signed 30-year old TE Michael Gaines to a 1-year deal.  Gaines is a good run blocker at 6’2″, 267 pounds but he won’t help much in the passing game.  He played in 9 games for the Browns last season  in which he caught 5 passes for 59 yards (11.8 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Gaines has now played in 82 games in his NFL career and he has caught 84 passes for 869 yards (10.3 avg) with 6 TD grabs.  This was a good signing for the Texans as Gaines could help them with his blocking in 2010.

UPDATE:  (6/17/2010) – The Texans have released Michael Gaines.

The Texans have picked DT Earl Mitchell out of Arizona with the 81st overall pick (3rd round) of the NFL Draft.  Mitchell is a converted H-Back so he is a great athlete as he can run a 4.79 40 despite weighing in at 296 pounds.  He is still raw at DT as he often gets manhandled by double teams.  Mitchell played in 12 games last season for the Wildcats and he finished up with 48 tackles, 12.5 tackles for a loss, 6.5 sacks, he batted down 1 pass and he forced 1 fumble.  In two years as a DT at Arizona, Mitchell played in 25 games in which he has 88 tackles, 18 tackles for a loss, 8 sacks, 2 batted down passes and he has forced 1 fumble.  Mitchell has a nice upside but he was quite a reach for the Texans who are obviously drafting for need.

The Texans have selected RB Ben Tate out of Auburn with the 58th pick overall (2nd round) of the NFL Draft.  Tate can run, catch and block well which will give him a good shot to win the starting job at running back in 2010 for the Texans.  Tate played in 13 games (10 starts) for the Tigers last season and he carried the ball 263 times for 1,362 yards (5.2 ypc) with 10 TD runs.  He also caught 20 passes for 105 yards (5.3 avg) last year.  Tate played in 47 games (19 starts) at Auburn in this career there in which he carried the ball 678 times for 3,321 yards (4.9 ypc) with 24 TD runs and he also caught 53 passes for 336 yards (6.3 avg).  The Texans picked Tate a tad too early in my book but he fills a big need for them.

The Houston Texans selected CB Kareem Jackson out of Alabama with the 20th pick in the first round of the NFL Draft.  The Texans must have been on tilt when C.J. Spiller and Ryan Mathews were off the board as they appeared to have been reaching for a need position.  The Sporting News had Jackson pegged as a 4th round pick while Pro Football Weekly had him graded out in the second or third round.  Jackson played in 14 games (all starts) for Alabama last season in which he had 49 tackles, broke up 13 passes and he had 1 interception.  Jackson is a small guy at 5’11″, 195 pounds and he is not very fast running a 4.55 40.  If the Texans are thinking about starting Jackson he is going to need safety help over the top.  Jackson played in 41 games (40 starts) in his three years at Alabama in which he made 159 tackles, broke up 29 passes, he intercepted 5 passes, forced 1 fumble and he intercepted 1 pass.  I think the Texans dropped the ball with the pick of Jackson as other corners ranked a lot higher.

The Houston Texans have not been aggressive in free agency or the trade market leaving them with a lot of holes heading into the NFL Draft.  The Texans have 3 of the top 81 picks in the NFL Draft so they should be able to fill a couple of big needs right there.  The have 8 total picks in the draft including at least 1 in pick in each round which gives them the ammo to trade up if needed.  The Texans have needs at RB, DT, CB, C, G and FS that need to be filled before the 2010 NFL season starts.  The Texans will probably be targeting RB C.J. Spiller, RB Ryan Matthews, G Mike Iupati, S Taylor Mays and CB Patrick Robinson in the first round.

PROJECTED FIRST ROUND PICK:  C.J. Spiller, RB, Clemson

It seems as if the Texans were waiting until the NFL Draft to improve the team as they have only brought in G/T Wade Smith and kicker Neil Rackers in free agency.  Smith will likely have a good chance to win one of the jobs at guard for the Texans for 2010.  Even if he doesn’t he will provide quality depth on the O-Line for the Texans.  Neil Rackers will battle incumbent kicker Kris Brown for the starting job this fall.  With the team so close to the playoffs the last couple of years I just thought that they would have been a little more aggressive in free agency.  Maybe they will after the NFL Draft this weekend.

The Texans have signed 33-year old kicker Neil Rackers to a 2-year deal worth up to $4.1 million bucks but only $350,000 is guaranteed.  Rackers will battle Kris Brown for the starting job in 2010.  Rackers played in 14 games for the Cardinals last season and he connected on 16 of 17 field goals (94.1%) and 37 of 38 extra points good for 85 points.  He has now played in 148 games in his NFL career and he has connected on 205 of 262 field goals (78.2%) and 290 of 295 extra points good for 905 points.  Rackers has been a pretty good kicker since getting out of Cincinnati so he will push Brown for his job and competition is always a good thing.