The Texans have picked CB Sherrick McManis with the 144th overall pick (5th round) of the NFL Draft.  McManis is a tad small at 5′11″, 189 pounds and he’s also a tad slow running a 4.5 40.  McManis is a good leaper and a willing tackler.  But he projects as a backup corner in the pros but because of his tackling ability he could develop into a starting safety down the road.  He will also likely be a big time helper on special teams for the Texans immediately.  McManis played in 10 games (all starts) at Northwestern last season in which he made 37 tackles, broke up 7 passes, he had 5 interceptions, forced 1 fumble and he recovered 1 fumble.  McManis played in 46 games (38 starts) in his four years at Northwestern and he finished up with 201 tackles, he broke up 30 passes, had 9 interceptions, forced 4 fumbles and he recovered 1 fumble. 

The Texans have picked TE Garrett Graham out of Wisconsin with the 118th overall pick (4th round) of the NFL Draft.  Graham is 6′2″, 246 pounds and he runs a 4.75 40.  He has good moves and hands in the passing game but he just doesn’t have enough strength to help out as a blocker in the running game.  Graham played in 13 games (all starts) for the Badgers last season and he caught 51 passes for 624 yards (12.2 avg) with 7 TD grabs.  Graham played in 41 games (33 starts) in his four years at Wisconsin and he caught 121 passes for 1,492 yards (12.3 avg) with 16 TD grabs.  Graham will give Matt Schaub another target in the short passing game.

The Texans have picked inside linebacker Darryl Sharpton out of Miami (Fla) with the 102nd overall pick (4th round) of the NFL Draft.  Sharpton is a tad small at 5′11″, 229 pounds but he’s fast as he can run a 4.7 40.  Sharpton is strong for his size and he can handle the middle as long as he has good protection from the D-Line.  Sharpton played in 13 games (12 starts) for the Hurricanes last season and he had 106 tackles, 8.5 tackles for a loss, he broke up 3 passes and he had 1 interception.  He played in 49 games (31 starts) in his four years in college in which he finished up with 262 tackles, 24.5 tackles for a loss, he had 2.5 sacks, broke up 10 passes and he had 1 interception.  Sharpton projects to be a backup linebacker and a core special teams player early in his career and maybe more than that down the line.

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.