McNair on allegations of coercing Texans to draft Stroud: '[Hannah and I] don’t make the picks'

Houston Texans owner Cal McNair refuted allegations on Monday that he coerced the franchise into making former Ohio State University quarterback C.J. Stroud the No. 2 selection in last month’s National Football League (NFL) Draft.

The Texans, who are in the midst of a rebuilding process following a decade in which they won the American Football Conference (AFC) South Division championship several times, entered the draft with a pressing need under center, with many speculating that they’ll take either Bryce Young from the University of Alabama or Stroud, Houston Daily reported. 

The monthslong guessing game ended on April 27 when the Texans nabbed Stroud after the Carolina Panthers made Young the No. 1 pick. 

Houston provided arguably the event’s biggest shocker afterward when it traded their second first-round pick at No. 12 to the Arizona Cardinals for the third pick, which became defensive monster Will Anderson, Jr. from Alabama, head coach DeMeco Ryans’ alma mater.

Per a report from ESPN, McNair insisted he and his wife, Hannah, “don’t make the picks.” 

"We have a great group of scouts led by Nick [Caserio] and James Lippert, and they did a lot of work on the draft board, and then they followed that on draft day, and they moved up when they saw the value was there and moved back," he said. 

ESPN reported that the Texans quarterbacks had the worst quarterback rating (QBR) in the league in 2022.

Houston picked up a total of nine players in the draft. 

As to whether Stroud will be the starter come September, McNair implied that’s not a guarantee, according to a Yahoo Sports report. 

“I think that’s up to him and how he plays and the coaches, how they see him,” McNair, whose late father founded the Texans in 1999, said in the report. “He’ll earn his spot, wherever that is. And he’ll feel like he’s earned it, and the team will feel like he’s earned wherever he winds up.”