Bryce Young, Bijan Robinson to Texans, Hooker to Raiders in Chad Reuter's Mock Draft

The Houston Texans created a dynamic offensive duo in Chad Reuter of NFL.com's latest mock draft by selecting Alabama quarterback Bryce Young and Texas running back Bijan Robinson with the No. 2 and No. 12 overall picks, respectively.

"Two former Alabama stars join forces as Young teams with first-year coach DeMeco Ryans to kick off a new era of Texans football," Reuter said about the Young pick.

The Carolina Panthers selected Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud with the No. 1 overall choice. Stroud and Young are widely considered the top two quarterback prospects, and many prognosticators have them going No. 1 and No. 2 in some order in this draft.

The Texans need a franchise quarterback, and Young can easily fit that bill.

Houston then stayed in-state to pick Robinson, who had 1,894 total yards and 20 touchdowns last year. Robinson is clearly the best running back prospect since Saquon Barkley in 2018, and the B/R NFL Scouting Department even has him as No. 4 overall on its big board.

"The Texans are in no position to turn down game-changers on offense," Reuter wrote. "Robinson and Bryce Young are ready to play now."

Houston scored just 17.0 points per game last year, which was third-worst in the NFL. Adding Young and Robinson would be beneficial to drastically improving that figure.

Another notable choice in this mock draft occurred at No. 30 with the Las Vegas Raiders, who selected Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker after trading up with the Philadelphia Eagles.

"Jimmy Garoppolo is the team's starting quarterback for the near term, but Hooker would be the team's future at the position -- and a solid backup if the oft-injured veteran misses time again," Reuter wrote.

Hooker, who transferred to the Vols after playing at Virginia Tech, crushed the competition at Tennessee with 58 touchdowns to just five interceptions in two seasons. He also completed 68.8 percent of his passes for 6,080 yards. In addition, Hooker rushed for 1,046 yards and 10 scores.

Hooker is coming off a season-ending torn ACL suffered in November, but he reportedly will be good to go for a 2023 season opener.

Las Vegas owns the No. 7 pick right now in the first round. With that choice, the Raiders selected Oregon cornerback Christian Gonzalez.

In his last mock, Reuter opted for the Raiders to bypass a quarterback in the first round and take Texas Tech edge Tyree Wilson. Minnesota had Kentucky's Will Levis on the board after Ohio State's CJ Stroud, Young and Florida's Anthony Richardson went one, two and three.

The NFL draft will go down for real from Thursday, April 27 to Saturday, April 29.