One quarterback may slide, while another could sneak into the first round on Thursday night.
NFL Draft season is in full effect, with the first round set to get underway on April 27. Of course, NFL Draft season means smokescreen season, but NBC Sports' Peter King believes recent rumors to be more than just false flags.
King reports that Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud isn't guaranteed to be the second player off the board as some prognosticators have said for nearly a year now. In fact, Stroud may be in a small slide, as "it's no lock he goes in the top seven."
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There may be a reason for a sudden stock drop: Stroud's S2 score was reportedly in the 18th percentile, which is the worst reported among the quarterbacks in this year's draft. For comparison, likely No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young's score was in the 98th percentile.
Recent rumors have suggested that the Texans may not take a quarterback at No. 2 overall, instead opting for a defender. New head coach DeMeco Ryans helped craft the NFL's best defense with the 49ers in 2022.
To that end, instead of taking a QB at No. 2, King's mock draft has the Texans going for Texas Tech edge rusher Tyree Wilson with the second selection, ahead of both Alabama's Will Anderson and Georgia's Jalen Carter. Some draftniks have Anderson and Carter the top two defensive players on the board.
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Houston may still nab its franchise passer, though. The Texans have done their homework on Tennessee quarterback Hendon Hooker, who has been something of a riser in this year's draft cycle.
Hooker suffered an ACL injury last fall, something which would typically sideline an NFL player for about a year. Hooker, though, says he will be ready for the start of the 2023 season.
He has had visits with several NFL teams, including the Giants, Commanders and Lions, ahead of this year's draft.
Also notable in King's mock draft: Anthony Richardson slips to the Vikings at No. 23, Will Levis goes No. 4 overall to the Colts and Jaxon Smith-Njigba comes off the board a little later than expected at No. 17 to the Steelers.
It could all be smokescreen, or it could be legitimate. Fact will be separated from fiction come Thursday night.