Eugene Wilson can’t stay healthy and he’s at the point where even when he can get on the field, he’s not very good because injuries have sapped his athleticism. Glover Quin might be moving to free safety, but I have my doubts about his abilities as well. Bernard Pollard is the other safety and he’s a free agent and I don’t think 5th round pick Shiloh Keo can step up right away. 

Nose Tackle

Wade Phillips thinks that the 291 pound Earl Mitchell is the perfect fit for his scheme at nose tackle. He may be right, but I’d still like to see them add a bigger nose tackle for depth purposes. 

Cornerback 

Kareem Jackson, Brandon Harris, Glover Quin, Rashard Carmichael, not a lot of experience in that secondary. They should sign a veteran cornerback to be in the mix and then they can try Quin at free safety if they feel that’s his best position.

Draft Needs 

Cornerback

The Houston Texans ranked 31^st in the league in YPA allowed, 2^nd worst only to Jacksonville. They also ranked dead last in total passing yards allowed (almost 100 more than next worst Washington). They went with two young cornerbacks almost all year as their starters, Kareem Jackson and Glover Quin. Jackson was a 2010 1^st round pick and cornerbacks tend to take awhile to develop so they have to be patient with him, but Quin is a 2009 4^th round pick and has only had one good game in 2 years (against Rusty Smith and the Titans). After that, they lack depth. They could go corner in the first for the 2^nd straight year and even if they don’t, expect them to go corner relatively early to eventually push Quin to nickel.

Drafted Brandon Harris (#60), Drafted Rashad Carmichael (#127) 

Rush Linebacker

With only 30 sacks, it’s tough to blame everything on the corners and other defensive backs. The Texans pass rush sucked. Now they move to a 3-4 under Wade Phillips, which means Mario Williams and his 8.5 sacks will be moving to a 3-4 defensive end position that doesn’t rush the passer as much. On top of that, their only legitimate rush linebacker option is Connor Barwin. Barwin is a 2009 2^nd round pick who hurt his ankle in the 2010 opener and missed the whole season. If they don’t go corner at #11, rush linebacker makes sense with the large array of options they will have (Aldon Smith, Ryan Kerrigan, Von Miller, and maybe Robert Quinn). They might double dip at the position in the draft.

Drafted Brooks Reed (#42), Drafted Cheta Ozougwu (#254)

Safety

Going back to that miserable secondary, Bernard Pollard does enough things well against the run to make up for his struggles in coverage, but Eugene Wilson has crossed the line from, if he ever stays healthy he can be great to injuries have sapped his athleticism so much that he’s not worth it anymore.

Drafted Shiloh Keo (#144) 

Nose Tackle

All good 3-4 defenses need a good nose tackle. They may try 6-2 315 Amobi Okoye here if they don’t think he fits at 3-4 defensive end, but either way they do need some depth on the line and a true nose tackle wouldn’t hurt.

Offensive Tackle

It can be argued that Duane Brown is no longer qualified to protect Matt Schaub’s blindside. The former 1^st round pick was marginal this year and with the passing game being such a huge part of their offense, they can’t afford a struggling player at left tackle.

Drafted Derek Newton (#214) 

Wide Receiver

Neither Kevin Walter nor Jacoby Jones are explosive players across from Andre Johnson. They may take a flier on a raw, athletic, explosive receiver late.