• Round 1 (No. 2): C.J. Stroud, QB, Ohio State
• Round 1 (No. 3): Will Anderson Jr., Edge, Alabama
• Round 2 (No. 62): Juice Scruggs, IOL, Penn State
• Round 3 (No. 69): Tank Dell, WR, Houston
• Round 4 (No. 109): Dylan Horton, Edge, TCU
• Round 5 (No. 167): Henry To'oTo'o, LB, Alabama
• Round 6 (No. 201): Jarrett Patterson, IOL, Notre Dame
• Round 6 (No. 205): Xavier Hutchinson, WR, Iowa State
• Round 7 (No. 248): Brandon Hall, S, Pittsburgh

Simply put, the Houston Texans changed the trajectory of their franchise with this draft class.

C.J. Stroud proved to be a game-changer at quarterback, finishing with over 4,000 passing yards, a passer rating of 100.8 and a 10-7 record as the starter, which included a wild-card playoff win against the Browns. It gives the Texans an exciting answer to the game's most important question, which is whether a team has a quarterback.

Stroud alone would give the Texans one of the best classes, but there are multiple gems in this class.

The Texans made an aggressive move to go back up to No. 3 in the draft and take Will Anderson Jr. He established himself as a cornerstone worth building the defense around in his rookie campaign. He only had seven sacks, but he also boasted the third-highest pass-rush win rate in the league, trailing only Micah Parsons and Myles Garrett.

Much larger sack totals are on the horizon for Anderson. The Texans checked another huge box with an elite pass-rusher now on the payroll for years to come.

Supporting a young quarterback with weapons is essential, and the Texans were able to do that with their third-round selection of Tank Dell. He went for 709 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games before suffering a broken leg.

Juice Scruggs was a starting lineman by the end of the season, and Jarrett Patterson started seven games at center. Henry Too'oToo'o was a contributing linebacker with six starts.

From stars to starters to potential rotational players, Houston found plenty of players who will define Texans football in the coming years.