NFL Draft: D’Onta Foreman a “Wish List Pick” for Houston Texans Brass

The Houston Texans front office was ecstatic to see D’Onta Foreman available in the third round of the NFL Draft on Friday.

The former Longhorns RB was the “best player available on our board,” according to Houston Texans GM Rick Smith discussing the pick at a press conference (via HoustonTexans.com). So, the Texans made the call to draft Foreman at #89 overall.

Smith went on to say D’Onta Foreman was on his personal wish list for the NFL Draft. And, he was pleased to select the Doak Walker Award winner.

GM Smith said he was also impressed by Foreman coming to the Texans’ local Pro Day to go through drills even though he did not need to. Smith said that commitment level to the Houston Texans stood out in his mind when evaluating Foreman.

Texans head coach Bill O’Brien was also impressed by Foreman competing at the local workout. He said it’s rare to see that from a highly rated prospect, so it showed him that Foreman was serious about being Texan.

There was also one specific thing that Foreman did for the Longhorns that impressed O’Brien.

Bill O’Brien Impressed by D’Onta Foreman at Texas

Texans head coach Bill O’Brien said what stood out to him about D’Onta Foreman on the football field was his inside running attack.

O’Brien noted that the Longhorns designed a lot of outside runs last season trying to get Foreman on the edge, but they also heavily used Foreman between the tackles.

Some of Foreman’s best runs during his 2,000-yard junior season were those breakaway runs up the middle attacking the defense and exploding for long TD runs.

O’Brien took note of Foreman’s strong inside rushing presence, making him a good fit for the Texans’ offense.

O’Brien also has a role in mind. Foreman will relieve starting RB Lamar Miller, which was Alfred Blue’s role in 2016.

“There are things that drafting him does for us,” O’Brien said Friday. “One of them is hopefully for him to come in here and work hard, do a good job of learning our system, and be able to spell Lamar at times when Lamar needs that.

“I don’t think it’s a case where we over-use Lamar; I just think that all RBs need a little bit of rest every now and then, and hopefully he’ll be able to do that.”

Knowing D’Onta Foreman, though, that won’t be enough for the record-setting Longhorns RB.

Foreman was also “second” or “an add-on” behind his twin brother WR Armanti Foreman at Texas. But, D’Onta broke out in a big way for the Longhorns and made it to the NFL.

Now, will Foreman compete for the starting job at some point this season or next season?

Next: Texans Also Draft Vince Young 2.0

There’s no stopping D’Onta Foreman after the kind of season he had for Texas Football in 2016. That hard work set him up for the next level. And, he hopes it will pay off for the Houston Texans.