Quote:It would be more advantageous for the Texans to pull an Eli Manning/Phillip Rivers type trade. Texans take Clowney, Jags take Mack and they swap players for picks.

Quote:Ten years after the Chargers made Eli Manning the first pick in the draft and then shipped him to the Giants for Philip Rivers plus more, a similar strategy could be unfolding in 16 nights at Radio City Music Hall.


Gil Brandt of NFL.com suggests that the Texans could take defensive end Jadeveon Clowney with the first overall selection, and then trade him to a team that takes a predetermined player with its own first-round pick.


The approach makes much more sense than the Texans trading down to a specific spot before the draft, since that would invite speculation from other teams regarding the player the Texans would target, along with a possible leapfrogging of the Texans.  By taking then trading Clowney, the Texans would more likely to get the guy they want later since the team that takes the player they’d pick may not be expected to pick that player.