Bryce Young (Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images)
NFL Draft rumors are heating up with the 2023 draft just over a week away with the Cowboys’ big target, the Texans scrambling at No. 2 and the Eagles’ luxury pick.
On Thursday, April 27, the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft will get underway in Kansas City. But for the next 10 days, it’s full-blown NFL Draft rumors season. Happy holidays to all who celebrate.
Whether it’s been Jalen Carter potentially being a Steelers target, Stetson Bennett IV having no stock at all, or much more, we’ve already heard plenty of rumblings about the 2023 draft that have our ears perked up.
But this time of year is a constant churn of big-time NFL Draft rumors that we have to, at minimum, pay attention to and then parse through the validity of. Whether that’s who the Dallas Cowboys can’t pass up in the first round, where the Philadelphia Eagles could flex on the rest of the league, or how the Houston Texans are reacting to Bryce Young trends, it’s all worthwhile.
We’re diving into those exact rumors here with just over a week until the start of the draft.
NFL Draft rumors: Latest Bryce Young update has Texans scrambling
After weeks on weeks of questions about which quarterback the Carolina Panthers ultimately traded up to the No. 1 pick for, it seems like we have our answer. Bryce Young became the favorite to be selected first overall last week, but now the Alabama quarterback is the runaway favorite according to oddsmakers to be the No. 1 pick.
Furthering that thought is that Young has now canceled his remaining pre-draft visits, per NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero.
That settles that for the Panthers — but what do the Houston Texans do now?
Recent reports about Young being the pick for Carolina have been accompanied by rumblings that the Texans have only had eyes for the Bama quarterback with the No. 2 overall pick and that they could be open to options of the non-QB variety if that was the case. In fact, with the reports regarding Young on Monday, NFL.com draft expert Lance Zierlein noted in Twitter replies that the Texans are now exploring trading down.
It’s becoming clear that, though the early thought was Bryce Young might fall to the second pick and the Texans with the Panthers taking C.J. Stroud, Houston is panicking a bit now. There are also reports that they are doing their homework on edge rushers such as Will Anderson Jr. or even Tyree Wilson in addition to being open to the idea of a trade.
Whatever the case, Houston is clearly scrambling and could very well — albeit not without some shock factor — walk out of the first round without a new quarterback.