LB Christian Harris considered the Texans’ biggest steal in the 2022 NFL draft

The Houston Texans’ 2022 NFL draft class had the feeling of one big steal.

General manager Nick Caserio took in all of the information from assistant directors of player personnel, Matt Bazirgan and James Liipfert, and identified quality players to take with Houston’s nine selections.

According to Luke Easterling from the Draft Wire, the biggest steal from the Texans’ draft was former Alabama linebacker Christian Harris. The Texans traded up with the Denver Broncos, going from No. 80 overall in Round 3 to No. 75 overall, to take the 6-1, 232-pound linebacker.

Harris has quickly integrated himself into the linebacking corps, and has even leaned on veterans for how to transition successfully into the NFL.

“I just try to really pick everybody’s brain and learn as much as I possibly can,” Harris told reporters on May 13 during rookie minicamp. “It’s kind of the same mindset I’m having here. They got Christian Kirksey here. He’s a vet. Obviously, I’m pretty excited about that to get the chance to ask him as many questions as I possibly can.”

The reaction from coach Lovie Smith and Caserio as the club selected Harris was caught by TV cameras, which made it appear the team was higher on the former Crimson Tide player than they were any of their other picks.

“We had him ranked high on our board,” Smith said. “When you don’t take a player, we thought he would go a little earlier. To have an opportunity to get him in that round when we did, it’s excitement. The cameras just didn’t catch Nick and I (as we) were high-fiving on most of our picks that we had throughout. We like this draft class.”

The Texans’ draft earned a B-plus grade from most analysts. If Harris is the ultimate steal of such a successful class, it bodes well for the future of the franchise.

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2022 NFL draft: RAS scores for Texans' 9-player class