Mock Draft Shakeup: Texans sign RB Brown, Stewart goes on the shelf

Will this Chris Brown be a big hit for the Texans? Another draft domino fell on Thursday, as Chris Brown wrapped up a move from one AFC South team to another, going from the Titans to the Texans, where he’ll be the next hopeful to try to nail down the starting spot in Houston’s backfield.

On a related note, given that I’ve had the Texans taking him in the first round in April for the longest time, Oregon RB Jonathan Stewart is going to be sidelined for the next four to six months after having surgery on a turf toe injury that he’d suffered in a November loss at Arizona. That was the same game in which Oregon not only lost their national title hopes, but also Heisman Trophy favorite Dennis Dixon for the season.

Stewart’s agent says he should be ready to go by the time training camp opens in July. So, if that proves to be true, he will miss Oregon’s second Pro Day and mini-camp/off-season workouts before training camp.

Since Stewart had a great combine, missing the Pro Day shouldn’t hurt him, and the fact that he stands to be back for the start of training camp shouldn’t really affect him either, because he’ll have time to learn his new team’s playbooks while he’s still on the sidelines, and come on, he won’t have forgotten to run while he’s out, unless turf toe surgery comes with amnesia.

Besides that, because he will miss the mini-camp and potentially some training camp time, that might actually make him a little more eager to sign instead of holding out, at least you’d think so.

So, I may be forced to change Stewart’s potential destination in my next mock draft, but it won’t be because of that injury. If Willis McGahee doesn’t fall out of the first round after his knee was torn up, then a turf toe shouldn’t be the death knell for Stewart’s first-round status.

Does this put an end to the Stewart vs. Rashard Mendenhall debate? Maybe, but that’s pretty irrelevant right now, because either Stewart or Mendenhall will do a fine job for you being both wrecking ball and roadrunner.

More importantly than that though, what does Seattle’s signing of Julius Jones and Houston’s signing of Brown do for the class of running backs? Those two were expected to go for a back in the first round, and that need now appears to have been filled.

So what happens past Darren McFadden, who should be gone no later than sixth? Carolina could be looking for a back in the first round, along with Arizona and Dallas, but that’s about it. So there stands to be a few out of the group of Felix Jones, Jamaal Charles, Chris Johnson, Ray Rice, and maybe Stewart (if some team gets scared off for no reason), all guys who could go in the first round, who will drop into the second.

That could actually cause even more of a shakeup, simply because one of those teams like Carolina or Arizona could decide to wait until the second for one of those guys to drop to them instead of taking Mendenhall.

So, get to erasing those mock drafts that you’ve been working on, but remember, there’s still more signings, trades, and Pro Day workouts to go. And for those who want to do their own mock draft and compare it to others, check out MyMockDraft. They’ve also got a top 101 prospects Big Board, which is unique in that it’s affected by the users’ mocks. And in case you’re wondering, Stewart is the #21 prospect on their big board.