The Texans have identified the player they’d like to take at the top of the draft, and G.M. Rick Smith said Thursday that the team may trade down to get him.
That disclosure reinforces the idea that the Texans aren’t targeting defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, and that the Texans would trade down with a team that wants to spring up for Clowney.
According to SportsRadio 610 in Houston, the team that intends to trade up to No. 1 isn’t the Atlanta Falcons.
Not long ago, the Falcons were doing little to hide their interest in Clowney. And speculation had been mounting that the Falcons would trade up to No. 1 to get Clowney.
For the Texans, the more feasible approach would be to take Clowney at No. 1, wait for a trade partner to take the guy the Texans really want (e.g., Johnny Manziel), and then pull an Eli Manning/Philip Rivers trade, 10 years later.
By getting the word out that the Falcons don’t want Clowney, the Texans and the Falcons could be throwing dirt on the notion that the Texans will take Clowney and then trade him to the Falcons, if the Falcons can get Manziel. Absent that message, the Falcons could be susceptible to being leapfrogged by a team that wants Manziel. Which would keep the Falcons from getting Clowney, and the Texans from getting Manziel.
So, basically, it still remains impossible to know what to believe at this point.