Texans trade up for JC Latham in new NFL.com mock draft

(Gary Cosby Jr.-Tuscaloosa News)

The Houston Texans have the No. 23 overall pick the in 2024 NFL draft, but that doesn’t mean they’ll stay there.

NFL.com’s Gennaro Filice predicts in his new mock draft Houston will make a trade with the Seattle Seahawks up to the No. 16 pick and draft Alabama offensive tackle J.C. Latham. Filice doesn’t specify what a possible trade would look like, but the Texans would likely need to include either the No. 59 pick or the Nos. 86 and 124 picks to make up the difference in draft capital value (according to the Jimmy Johnson model).

Latham is projected to be one of the most highly-coveted offensive tackles in this class. He’s fourth on Pro Football Focus’ big board and the fifth tackle on NFL.com analyst Bucky Brooks’ positional board. Latham is 6-foot-6, 335 pounds and started 14 games at right tackle for Alabama this past season and 13 games the season before.

Drafting Latham would cast doubt on what the future holds for right tackle Tytus Howard. He’s recovering from a season-ending knee injury and also missed time this season with a hand injury. It would be hard to move on from Howard considering the deal he signed in 2023, but Houston could move him to guard, where he played a little bit in 2021.

There is still a lot of time between now and the 2024 NFL draft. Anything is possible for the Texans, including a big trade.

This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Texans trade up for JC Latham in new NFL.com mock draft