"No one would have blamed the Texans' offensive coaches if they had taken Thursday and Friday off. For the second consecutive day, the Texans went for defense in the NFL draft, this time for Arizona outside linebacker Brooks Reed and Miami cornerback Brandon Harris. The Texans entered the draft wanting to fortify a defense that ranked 30th, including 32nd against the pass. After selecting defensive end J.J. Watt in Thursday's first round, the Texans used the second day Friday to fill their most glaring needs with Reed and Harris. Watt (6-5, 290), Reed (6-3, 263) and Harris (5-10, 191) should be able to adjust to new defensive coordinator Wade Phillips' 3-4 scheme. After taking Watt and Reed in the first two rounds, Texans general manager Rick Smith traded third- and fifth-round picks to New England to acquire a second-round selection — 60th overall — to get Harris. "Our first two picks, that's going to make us better," defensive backs coach Vance Joseph said. "The better you are up front the better you're going to be on the back end." Harris, who had been projected as a first-round pick in some mock drafts, may be best suited as a slot cornerback. "He has the ability to play outside, but college ball is more of a one-back spread game," Joseph said. "The best corner usually goes in the slot in college, so it's hard to say where we like him, but, obviously, he's played a lot of nickel, and he's played outside. He's a corner. We'll see where he fits." The Texans' attempt at filling needs Friday started with Reed. At the combine, he ran 4.65 seconds in the 40-yard dash and benched 225 pounds 30 times. More important, according to scouts and coaches, was his 10-yard split of 1.54." Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/fb/texansfront/7543956.html
