As for Rick Smith as a GM.  Is he the greatest..?  No.  However......Rick Smith's weakness in the draft has really been the 3rd round of the draft.   However, his first rounds are maybe the best in the league.   Also, he has a knack for finding Undrafted FAs that contribute (Arian Foster, anyone?).

 

9 of the 10 first rounders drafted by Rick Smith.......ARE STILL ON THE TEXANS and are key players.

 

2013 is probably his worst draft.  2014 may turnout to be his Best.

 

Note: Head Coaches and D-Coordinators have big say in players picks (Wade Phillips lobbied for JJ Watt).  Head Coaches probably have final say.....although this is unclear.

 

Texans' draft since Rick Smith has been GM:

 

First Rounders:

 

2007 10th overall ^{(from Atlanta)}Amobi Okoye DT Louisville 2008 26th overall ^{(from Baltimore)}Duane Brown OT Virginia Tech 2009 15th overall Brian Cushing LB Southern California 2010 20th overall Kareem Jackson CB Alabama 2011 11th overall J.J. Watt DE Wisconsin 2012 26th overall Whitney Mercilus OLB Illinois 2013 27th overall DeAndre Hopkins WR Clemson 2014 1st overall Jadeveon Clowney DE South Carolina 2015 16th overall Kevin Johnson CB Wake Forest 2016 21st overall ^{(from Washington)}Will Fuller WR Notre Dame

 

Full Drafts:

 

Round/Pick Player Position College 1/10 ^{(from Atlanta)}Amobi Okoye DT Louisville 3/73 Jacoby Jones* WR Lane 4/123 ^{(from New Orleans)}Fred Bennett CB South Carolina 5/144 Brandon Harrison S Stanford 5/163 ^{(from New Orleans)}Brandon Frye OT Virginia Tech 6/183 Kasey Studdard OG Texas 7/218 Zac Diles LB Kansas State

 

 

2008<span style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[edit]</span>

Further information: 2008 NFL Draft
Round/Pick Player Position College 1/26 ^{(from Baltimore)}Duane Brown OT Virginia Tech 3/79 Antwaun Molden CB Eastern Kentucky 3/89 ^{(from Baltimore)}Steve Slaton RB West Virginia 4/118 Xavier Adibi LB Virginia Tech 5/151 Frank Okam DT Texas 6/173 ^{(from Baltimore)}Dominique Barber S Minnesota 7/223 Alex Brink QB Washington State

 

 

2009<span style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[edit]</span>

Further information: 2009 NFL Draft
Round/Pick Player Position College 1/15 Brian Cushing LB Southern California 2/46 Connor Barwin* DE Cincinnati 3/77 Antoine Caldwell C Alabama 4/112 Glover Quin* CB New Mexico 4/122 ^{(from Minnesota)}Anthony Hill TE North Carolina State 5/152 James Casey TE Rice 6/188 Brice McCain CB Utah 7/223 Troy Nolan S

Arizona State

 

 

2010<span style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[edit]</span>

Further information: 2010 NFL Draft
 

Round/Pick Player Position College 1/20 Kareem Jackson CB Alabama 2/58 ^{(from New England)}Ben Tate RB Auburn 3/81 Earl Mitchell DT Arizona 4/102 ^{(from Kansas City)}Darryl Sharpton LB Miami (FL) 4/118 Garrett Graham TE Wisconsin 5/144 ^{(from Kansas City)}Sherrick McManis CB Northwestern 6/187 Shelley Smith OG Colorado State 6/197 ^{(from San Diego)}Trindon Holliday WR LSU 7/227 Dorin Dickerson TE Pittsburgh

  2011<span style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[edit]</span>

Further information: 2011 NFL Draft
Round/Pick Player Position College 1/11 J. J. Watt DE Wisconsin 2/42 Brooks Reed LB Arizona 2/60 ^{(from New England)}Brandon Harris CB Miami (FL) 4/127 ^{(from Washington)}Rashad Carmichael CB Virginia Tech 5/144 ^{(from Washington)}Shiloh Keo S Idaho 5/152 ^{(from Washington)}T. J. Yates QB North Carolina 7/214 Derek Newton OT Arkansas State 7/254 Cheta Ozougwu DE Rice

 

 

 

2012<span style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[edit]</span>

Further information: 2012 NFL Draft
Round/Pick Player Position College 1/26 Whitney Mercilus LB Illinois 3/68 ^{(from Tampa Bay)}DeVier Posey WR Ohio State 3/76 ^{(from Philadelphia)}Brandon Brooks OG Miami (OH) 4/99 ^{(from Tampa Bay via Philadelphia)}Ben Jones C Georgia 4/121 Keshawn Martin WR Michigan State 4/126 ^{(from New England via Denver and Tampa Bay)}Jared Crick DE Nebraska 5/161 Randy Bullock PK Texas A&M 6/195 Nick Mondek OT Purdue

 2013<span style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[edit]</span>

Further information: 2013 NFL Draft
Round/Pick Player Position College 1/27 DeAndre Hopkins WR Clemson 2/57 D.J. Swearinger S South Carolina 3/89 Brennan Williams OT North Carolina 3/95 Sam Montgomery DE LSU 4/124 Trevardo Williams DE Connecticut 6/176 ^{(from Tennessee via Minnesota, Arizona, and Oakland)}David Quessenberry OT San Jose State 6/195 Alan Bonner WR Jacksonville State 6/198 ^{(from Atlanta via St. Louis)}Chris Jones DT Bowling Green 6/201 Ryan Griffin TE Connecticut 2014<span style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[edit]</span>

Further information: 
 
2014 NFL Draft
 

Round/Pick Player Position College 1/1 Jadeveon Clowney DE South Carolina 2/33 Xavier Su'a-Filo OG UCLA 3/65 C. J. Fiedorowicz TE Iowa 3/83 ^{(from Pittsburgh via Cleveland and Philadelphia)}Louis Nix III DT Notre Dame 4/135 Tom Savage QB Pittsburgh 6/177 Jeoffrey Pagan DE Alabama 6/181 ^{(from Oakland)}Alfred Blue RB LSU 6/211 Jay Prosch FB Auburn 7/216 Andre Hal CB Vanderbilt 7/256 Lonnie Ballentine S Memphis

 

2015<span style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[edit]</span>

Round/Pick Player Position College 1/16 Kevin Johnson CB Wake Forest 2/43 Benardrick McKinney ILB Mississippi State 3/70 Jaelen Strong WR Arizona State 5/175 (Compensatory Selection) Keith Mumphery WR Michigan State 6/211 (Compensatory Selection) Reshard Cliett OLB South Florida 6/216 (Compensatory Selection) Christian Covington NT Rice 7/235 Kenny Hilliard RB LSU

 

 

2016<span style="color:rgb(85,85,85);">[edit]</span> Round/Pick Player Position College 1/21 (From Washington) Will Fuller V WR Notre Dame 2/50 Nick Martin C Notre Dame 3/85 (From Atlanta) Braxton Miller WR Ohio State 4/119 Tyler Ervin RB San Jose State 5/159 K. J. Dillon SS West Virginia 5/166 (From New England) D. J. Reader DT Clemson

 

 

Bet u don't want to compare the Jags' draft history over the same period....lol.

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