After the drafted ended with the last four rounds on Saturday, the Texans agreed to contracts with 20 undrafted free agents. The seven offensive players agreeing were Michigan running back Karan Higdon, Oklahoma State receiver Tyron Johnson, North Carolina State receiver Stephen Louis, Missouri running back Damarea Crockett, Rhodes College center D.J. Coker, Ohio State receiver Johnnie Dixon and Ohio State guard Malcolm Pridgeon.<doc-sep>The Houston Texans have completed the 2019 NFL Draft. Now the team will get its hands gritty, selecting the undrafted free agents (UDFAs) to join the team. Houston Texans fans — let’s do a recap of who’s been selected in the NFL Draft over the past three days: Tytus Howard (1st Round), Lonnie Johnson Jr. (2nd Round), Max Scharping (2nd round), Kahale Warring (3rd Round), Charles Omenihu (5th Round), Xavier Crawford (6th Round) and Cullen Gillaspia (7th Round). With the draft completed, Brian Gaine, as well as Bill O’Brien, will have to roll up their sleeves and start sifting through what he commonly refers to as the “eight round,” where he’ll be able to fill the rest of the team’s needs by guys who could possibly make an impact. You know what? Undrafted free agents are intriguing because you never know which of them will push themselves forward and sprint ahead of the competition. The future of their careers are at stake so there’s no question that they’re going to give it their all to try to make this team. As opposed to Rick Smith, Gaine’s predecessor, the current regime is more focused on getting the picks right in the actual draft rather than during this round. But nonetheless, the latest sensation from this round has been Dylan Cole but before then the most notable was A.J. Bouye. Trevor Daniel, Vyncint Smith and Jester Weah were all in last season’s class but Daniel was the only individual to become an everyday starter. Smith got playing time later in the season when Will Fuller was ruled out for the rest of 2018 with an ACL injury. Weah served last season on the practice squad. Of course, not all UDFAs can make the team but they’re hopeful they can be one of the final 53 men when the trim is complete in late August. As has been said, another man’s trash is another man’s treasure so who knows? Take a look at the list below, you may be fond of or are a fan of these players! As it stands, here are the current (but unofficial) UDFA’s the Texans have signed according to Patrick Starr of State of the Texans, some will be signing and some will be on a tryout basis. I’ll do my best to differentiate between the two if that information is available and I’ll update the list as new info comes in! Here they are: Jesse Aniebonam, OLB, Maryland D.J. Coker, C, Rhodes College Damarea Crockett, RB, Missouri Jamal Davis, OLB/DE, Akron Johnnie Dixon, WR, Ohio State Johnny Dwight, DE, Alabama Javier Edwards, DT, Colorado Austin Exford, S, Appalachian State Karan Higdon, RB, Michigan Albert Huggins Jr., DT, Clemson Chris Johnson, S, North Alabama Tyron Johnson, WR, Oklahoma State Drew Lewis, LB, Colorado Ira Lewis, DT, Baylor Stephen Louis, WR, N.C. State Chase Middleton, ILB, Georgia State Malcolm Pridgeon, G, Ohio State Dexter Wright, S, N.C. State Want your voice heard? Join the House Of Houston team! Write for us! Stay tuned here with House of Houston for the latest Houston Texans news as well as analysis!<doc-sep>The 2019 NFL draft is over and now the Houston Texans have waded through the massive priority free agency pool and determined the best undrafted prospects to add to their 90-man roster. General manager Brian Gaine revealed exactly what that process will be now that the club looks to add undrafted talent. “I love the undrafted free agent process,” Gaine told reporters on April 18. “I was one of them. We call it the eighth round. We extend the draft. You only get seven selections now. In the old days, it went on for rounds and rounds. A lot of these players end up making teams or they are put in a very good position to go compete and make a team.” One of the selling points that the Texans have with undrafted free agents is the success of guys like linebacker Dylan Cole from 2017 and receiver Vyncint Smith from 2018. Probably the best example is cornerback A.J. Bouye from 2013, who later went on to sign a free agent contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2017. “We spend a lot of time and energy on that process and how we prepare for it so that if and when these players go undrafted, we’re able to execute those moves and those acquisitions that are readily available to us as soon as the draft is over,” said Gaine. “We spend a lot of time in the two or three months prior to that — I would even go back to the month of December — where we’re strategizing and ranking and prioritizing the players that we might see who could get to the priority free agent market. So that we’re ready to go when that time comes and we know exactly who the priority players are.” The Texans have done their homework in the 2019 offseason, and now their haul of priority free agents will prove how accurate their studying was.<doc-sep>
The 2019 NFL Draft is complete, but the work isn’t done for the Houston Texans as signing undrafted rookie free agents is as important as the draft itself. The Houston Texans drafted well for need, and as their picks showed in the 2019 NFL Draft, filled needs that won’t pop back up anytime soon. Even with the draft being seven rounds, there are still players remaining who weren’t drafted, players who could help bring huge success to a franchise, and that is what the Texans are hoping to accomplish with players they’ve signed off the rookie free agent market. On the CBS Sports undrafted free agent tracker, they have the Houston Texans signing 20 players to the offseason roster, including 13 defensive players and seven offensive players to see if there are any players who can earn a roster spot or a spot on the practice squad for the upcoming 2019 NFL season. The Texans have had success before in the undrafted rookie free agent signings as the best running back in franchise history, Arian Foster, went undrafted. Foster went on to play seven seasons with the Texans, rushing for 6,472 yards and 54 touchdowns with the franchise. He also went on to be selected to four Pro Bowls and was a first-team All-Pro in 2010 as he rushed for over 1,200 yards in a season four different times. The success of finding a player as productive as Foster was in the undrafted rookie free agent list is tough, but it does show it’s important not to overlook any of the signings. Here is a look at each of the 20 rookie free agent signings the Texans have made as they are listed in alphabetical order.