The Houston Texans seem to have hit it out of the park with the selection of CJ Stroud with the No. 2 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, but would they have taken him over Bryce Young if they had the No. 1 pick? Retired Texans writer John McClain believes the team would have selected Bryce Young.

“I think, and they'll never admit this, if they'd had the No. 1 pick they would have taken Bryce Young even though there were a lot of people out there who had Stroud rated over Bryce Young,” John McClain said, via James Palmer of NFL Network. “And they didn't hesitate to take him second overall. They never paid any attention to the S2 cognition test. They don't subscribe to it. They only went by what they saw, and DeMeco [Ryans] played a big role in it, he wanted Stroud. And [Nick] Caserio said ‘alright, let's get him.' They got him, then they traded up, Will Anderson to get him as the third overall pick. And they still have picks left from the trade for Watson to Cleveland, so it's not like they're going to be desperate in the draft. But I think it was Young, and then Stroud.”

The Texans lost out on the No. 1 pick when they won in the last week of the season last year. The Carolina Panthers traded up to the No. 1 spot with the Chicago Bears and selected Bryce Young. It is unknown whether or not DeMeco Ryans, Nick Caserio and the Texans would have selected Young over CJ Stroud. Regardless, DeMeco Ryans and Nick Caserio have to be happy with how things played out.