Texans Hosted Denzel Boston, Malachi Lawrence

Boston and Lawrence are potential first-round picks who appear to have Day 2 floors. In his latest ranking of 2026 prospects, Daniel Jeremiah of NFL.com places Boston 27th and Lawrence 46th. As owners of the 28th and 38th overall picks, the Texans could come away with one or both of those players in the first two rounds.

Boston would be another notable receiver investment for the Texans, who drafted the Iowa State tandem of Jayden Higgins at No. 34 and Jaylin Noel at No. 79 last year. The rookies combined for 67 catches, 817 yards and eight touchdowns in 2025. Houston also counts star No. 1 receiver Nico Collins, Xavier Hutchinson and Tank Dell among its options, though the latter’s status is up in the air after a gruesome knee injury cost him all of last season.

Unlike the 5-foot-11 Noel and the 5-10 Dell, all of Boston, Higgins, Collins and Hutchinson stand 6-3 or taller, which would give quarterback C.J. Stroud a handful of big targets. The 6-4, 209-pound Boston took advantage of his size at Washington, where he established himself as a sure-handed red zone weapon. Boston posted a 3.1% drop rate in college and averaged 63 catches, 858 yards and 10 TDs per season from 2024-25.

The Texans already have an all-world pass-rushing duo in Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter, but they were intrigued enough with Lawrence to meet with him. Houston is hardly alone in that regard, as half of the league’s 32 teams held visits with Lawrence before Wednesday’s deadline. After combining for 27.5 tackles for loss and 19.5 sacks from 2023-25, Lawrence upped his stock at the Combine in February. The 6-4, 253-pounder ran a 4.52-second 40-yard dash, which ranked second among edge defenders. He also placed second in the 10-yard split, vertical jump and broad jump (via PFF College).

Lawrence would begin his career in a depth role in Houston, which saw Anderson and Hunter record respective defensive snap shares of 66.79% and 70.07% in 2025. Anderson and Hunter are under Texans control for the next two years, but the former is likely to stick around for longer on a record-breaking extension. Hunter landed a massive deal of his own last month, though it may be his last with the Texans. He will be 33 when the pact expires. The Texans could develop Lawrence as a replacement if they draft him and he shows he is worthy of a promotion to a starting job by 2028.