NFL Draft Rumors: Texans, Jets, Bills, Titans & Draft Visits

 

Texans

John McClain of the Houston Chronicle still believes the Texans will ultimately select either UCF QB Blake Bortles or Texas A & M QB Johnny Manziel with the No. 1 overall pick.

McClain doesn’t see the Texans reaching for a quarterback and expects them to have one of these two quarterback prospects rated high enough to justify using the first overall selection on one of them.

It appears as though the consensus belief is that South Carolina DE Jadeveon Clowney should be the first pick in this years draft, but McClain has maintained his belief that Houston will ultimately take a quarterback for several months now.

Jets

Rich Cimini of ESPN New York reports that the Jets have scheduled pre-draft visit with Oregon State WR Brandin Cooks.

The Jets are widely expected to target a receiver in this year’s NFL Draft and recent reports mentioned that they are “very intrigued” by Florida State WR Kelvin Benjamin. 

LSU WR Odell Beckham Jr. is another name that has come up in connection to the Jets who hold the No. 18 overall selection.

This year’s receiver class is expected to be very deep, so there could be some good value in rounds two and three if the Jets wanted to pass on a receiver early and target a different position.

Titans

Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post reports that the Titans recently hosted FSU DT Timmy Jernigan and Colorado State OLB Shaquil Barrett for pre-draft visits.

Wilson adds that Towson RB Terrance West was also among the draft prospects visiting the Titans this week.

Tennessee just parted ways with RB Chris Johnson, so it will be interesting to see if they come away with a running back prospect in five weeks from now.

Former NFL scout John Middlekauff mentioned that Ohio State RB Carlos Hyde and Washington RB Bishop Sankey could make sense the Titans in the second and third rounds respectively.

Bills

The Bills announced that they hosted North Carolina TE Eric Ebron, Oregon State DE Scott Crichton and LSU RB Jeremy Hill for pre-draft visits on Friday.

Ebron is interesting given that the Bills are currently without a solid tight end and happen to be in a decent position at No. 9 overall where they could grab him before someone like the Lions or Giants gets an opportunity to do so.

Crichton is a versatile defensive lineman, even though he is not considered to be an exceptional athlete. Should he fall to the earlier portion of round two, there is at least a chance that he could be playing in Buffalo next year.

The Bills continue to show interest in running backs, which probably isn’t all that surprising given Fred Jackson‘s age.

Last year, Hill totaled 1,401 yards rushing on 203 carries (6.9 YPC)  and 16 touchdowns.

NFL Draft Notes: 

• USC WR Marquise Lee will visit with the Panthers and Saints. (Pro Football Talk)
• LSU WR Odell Beckham Jr. will visit the Bills and Jets next week. (Gil Brandt)
• Florida State WR Kelvin Benjamin is making pre-draft visit to Rams Friday. (Jim Thomas)
• Minnesota safety Brock Vereen and South Carolina WR Bruce Ellington visited with the Steelers. (Aaron Wilson)
• Northern Illinois DT Ken Bishop is scheduled to visit the Raiders in a few weeks. (Aaron Wilson)
• Missouri Western State TE/FB Reggie Jordan visited with the Rams. (Jim Thomas)
• Georgia State WR Albert Wilson is scheduled to visit the 49ers. (Aaron Wilson)