Houston Texans: Five Possible Draft Picks to Help Defense Next Year

The Houston Texans lost Monday night's game against the Baltimore Ravens in overtime in what can probably be considered one of the most exciting Monday night games this season.

Houston, down 28-7 midway through the third quarter, rallied to tie the game at 28-28 with only nine seconds remaining after a touchdown catch from Andre Johnson and a two-point conversion.

Unfortunately for Houston, and most likely any shot they had at the playoffs this season, Josh Wilson stepped right in front of Matt Schaub's pass on the Texans' second play of overtime and took it to the tin, scoring the game-winning touchdown.

Schaub finished the game with nearly 400 yards, while Arian Foster had yet another 100-yard game, but the story was yet again the defense.

While stout in the second half to allow the big comeback, the Texans' defense allowed a very average offense to rack up 28 points before the offense decided to show up for a fight.

The biggest problem this season has been the secondary, as Houston is giving up the most passing yards a game while still getting pretty adequate pressure on the quarterback.

That said, here are five guys they could realistically go after in the draft in a few months that could drastically alter the way they play defense.

5. Chimdi Chekwa, CB Ohio State

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COLUMBUS, OH - OCTOBER 23: Chimdi Chekwa #5 of the Ohio State Buckeyes breaks up a pass intended for O.J. Ross #4 of the Purdue Boilermakers at Ohio Stadium on October 23, 2010 in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/Getty Images)

Chimdi Chekwa is a guy that can be had in the latter rounds of the draft but still have an impact in the coming season.

Chekwa is terrific at reading quarterbacks and can jump in front of a ball at any time to intercept a pass at an opportune time.

At times he gets out of place by taking too big a risk going for an interception, but he has the kind of speed that can keep him close to the man he is covering while still being able to jump on any pass.

Chekwa will be a hot commodity if he is able to add some bulk to his frame and still keep his speed, as he isn't one of the best tacklers in the nation and can be shed by a bigger receiver.

4. Rahim Moore, S UCLA

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PASADENA, CA - SEPTEMBER 18: Safety Rahim Moore #3 of the UCLA Bruins in the game with the Houston Cougars at the Rose Bowl on September 18, 2010 in Pasadena, California. UCLA won 31-13. (Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images)

UCLA's Rahim Moore is one of the most undervalued safeties in college football, probably due to the team not living up to expectations in recent years.

Moore is a junior who is expected to come out and be a mid first round draft choice in the 2011 draft and is a guy that the Texans should look at.

While his interceptions have dropped off this season (he had 10 his sophomore year, only one this year), he has been playing a different style.

Instead of being the free safety that roams around looking to pick off anything that moves, he has been more of a helper/man safety this season and has really improved his tackling skills.

Rather than just basically hanging on to players until they come down, Moore is wrapping them up and bringing them down, which explains his tackles going from 48 a year ago to 77 this season.

Moore has both the speed and the ability to make a big impact for the Texans immediately.

3. Ahmad Black, S Florida Gators

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JACKSONVILLE, FL - OCTOBER 30: Ahmad Black #35 of the Florida Gators breaks up a pass to Kris Durham #16 of the Georgia Bulldogsduring the game at EverBank Field on October 30, 2010 in Jacksonville, Florida. (Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images)

Ahmad Black has improved tremendously from the guy who could only intercept the ball (with seven of 'em to his credit in 2008) to a do-it-all safety.

Black is a quick little fellow, standing in at only 5'9", but he is also a hard hitter and an thorough tackler.

He leads the Gators with 102 tackles this season, 69 of which are solos, a huge improvement over his 28 solo tackles a season ago.

He also has two forced fumbles and three fumble recoveries to go along with three interceptions.

His size will likely force a change to cornerback in the NFL, which will put him further down in the draft, likely the third or fourth round, but he can be a huge impact player if he adapts to that and plays corner as well as he has played safety.

2. Prince Amukamara, CB Nebraska

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LINCOLN, NE - OCTOBER 30: Cornerback Prince Amukamara #21 of the Nebraska Cornhuskers breaks up a pass intended for wide receiver T.J. Moe #28 of the Missouri Tigers during first half action of their game at Memorial Stadium on October 30, 2010 in Lincoln

Outside of the fact that they would have the player with the best name in the NFL and the best name in sports ever since Chief Kickingstallionsims disappeared, Amukamara would be an excellent pickup for the Texans.

Like all of the good corners in college football, once coaches got a glimpse of his greatness (five interceptions last year), they avoided him like the plague.

He has no interceptions this season, but that is due to almost never getting thrown at when he is in man coverage.

Amukamara is a terrific man-to-man coverage guy and is also very good in zone, with the ability to read the quarterback's eyes with great efficiency, breaking up many passes this season.

1. Patrick Peterson, CB LSU

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BATON ROUGE, LA - NOVEMBER 20: Patrick Peterson #7 of the Louisiana State University Tigers nearly intercepts a pass in the final seconds against Markeith Summers #16 and Korvic Neat #28 of the Ole Miss Rebels as time expired at Tiger Stadium on November

Patrick Peterson is head and shoulders above every other corner in the draft.

Peterson will no doubt be a top five pick and could even go as high as No. 2, which is not a pick that the Texans will end up with given their record, so a trade would be in order.

If they were able to trade up in the draft for a reasonable price for a shot at this guy, then they should not hesitate to do this, as Peterson has the ability to be one of those rare franchise corners.

Peterson has gotten the "Revis" treatment this season, as opposing quarterbacks flat-out refuse to throw to his side of the field, giving him only two interceptions this year—but when he does catch a ball, look out.

Peterson is fast. Like, really super fast.

As Gus Johnson would say, "He's got getting away from the cops speed."

Along with shutting down an entire portion of the field, Peterson can return kicks with the best of them due to his speed, averaging nearly 20 yards per punt return and 27 per kick return, with two special teams touchdowns this season.

If you have the chance to get him, then get him.