Jaelen Strong finally drafted at No. 70th as Texans trade up

Jaelen Strong finally drafted at No. 70th as Texans trade up

Published May. 1, 2015 10:01 p.m. ET

Day 1 of the NFL Draft passed and Arizona State receiver Jaelen Strong's disappointment he didn't go in the first round likely came with the expectation -- more strongly, the assumption --- he wouldn't wait long Friday.

He did, nearly three hours.

The Houston Texans traded up in a big way to take the 6-foot-2 wide receiver with the sixth pick in the third round, No. 70 overall. The Texans sent receiver DeVier Posey to the Jets, along with the 82nd (third round), 152nd (fifth round) and 229th (seventh round) selections, according to the Houston Chronicle's Brian T. Smith.

A majority of draft analysts believed Strong was a first- or second- round pick, and a sure-fire top 10 receiver in the class. 

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Yet, Strong was the 11th receiver drafted in a strong class at the position.

The following players were picked ahead of the former Sun Devil: Alabama's Amari Cooper (Raiders, fourth), West Virginia's Kevin White (Bears, sixth), Louisville's DeVante Parker (Dolphins, 14th), and USC's Nelson Agholor (Eagles, 20th), Central Florida's Breshad Perriman (Baltimore, 26th), Miami's Phillip Dorsett (Colts, 29th), Ohio State's Devin Smith (Jets, 37th), Dorial Green-Beckham (Titans, 40th), Michigan's Devin Funchess (Panthers, 41st), Kansas State's Tyler Lockett (Seahawks, 69th).

After the first round on Thursday, Strong tweeted "God got me," a confident perspective things would work out.

As he was waiting, he might have been as surprised as any ASU fan about his fall -- to the point he had to laugh. "Shoot idk what's going on either lol," he tweeted an hour into the draft on Friday.

Strong had 75 catches for 1,062 yards and 10 touchdowns in his junior season. He recorded 2,184 receiving yards in his ASU career and averaged 87.4 yards per game in his two years after he transferred from Pierce College.

Strong left as the third player in ASU history to record consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons and is third with 11 games of 100 or more receiving yards.

But there are three reported issues that could have hurt Strong's stock:

- An apparent broken bone in Strong's wrist could have hurt the receiver's draft stock, and according to NFL.com's Ian Rapoport, it didn't help the receiver blew off a medical recheck the week leading into the draft. It doesn't seem so out of line that an injured player would want to protect his draft stock. Strong said he played through the injury in five games and hurt it on Nov. 1. From appearances, it was a relatively minor injury to make such an impact on his stock would be eyebrow-raising.

A report by Aaron Wilson of The Baltimore Sun said teams were concerned about "undisclosed conduct issues" while Strong was at ASU. What that means is hard to say considering other players with histories and with first-round talent didn't fall so far.

- On the field, Strong proved elite at completing catches from jump balls, but his intermediate game, which would include shedding defensive backs with crisp routes, were considered far from spectacular. Analysts didn't like his inability to break away from receivers early in routes, and for that reason he may have been considered only a downfield threat.

The Texans will likely work on improving Strong's ability to get open on quick throws and shots over the middle, but his measurables and fantastic mitts give them a strong starting point. Strong could fight for immediate playing time for the team that parted with longtime start Andre Johnson this offseason.

It's clear by what the Texans gave up to select Strong that they believe he can mold himself into a very good player.

Follow Kevin Zimmerman on Twitter

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