Houston Texans Draft Prospect: Grey Zabel

The solution to the Texans’ offensive line woes.

This article has been a long time coming. You know when you have a crush on someone in middle school and haven’t worked up the courage to talk to them until your junior year of high school? That’s how I feel about North Dakota State lineman Grey Zabel. Those butterflies I feel when I watch him block are true; the love is real.

Today’s article will be a film and image-oriented article, and if your device hates the embedded videos I’ll have links in the article and comment section. The reason for the film-heavy review? A prospect doesn’t become a first rounder from North Dakota State without consistently elite and textbook film.

Past Prospects:

Jonah Savaniiaea

Armand Membou

Wyatt Milum

Zabel’s ascension to a first round prospect began with his standout performance at the Senior Bowl, an event designed for small-school prospects and overlooked talents from major programs to showcase their skills. He seized the opportunity, impressing scouts with his seamless transition to center and guard despite primarily playing tackle in college.

Here’s Zabel’s bio from NFL.com. It’s rare for a small school athlete to post both elite production AND athleticism scores. While Zabel didn’t compete much at the NFL Combine, his film and Senior Bowl performances have elevated him to the upper echelons of this draft class.

Next is PFF’s trend line of Zabel’s draft position. At first look, this is a fairly flat and stable draft stock, right? Well, considering the stock STARTs mid-November 2024, he has been on a meteoric rise. Essentially, he wasn’t on anyone’s draft boards, then overnight he was on everyone’s top 50. Zabel is the Cinderella of the NFL Draft… and boy does the shoe fit for the Houston Texans.

BATTLE RED ANALYSIS:

Pass Protection:

• Extremely patient; lets the defender show their hand before making full contact
• Mitigates his length issues with aggression at the point of attack
• Tends to stop his feet and hinges when he’s won
• Prefers to grab and grip lineman that get into his chest, will lead to holding at next level against longer defensive lineman

Run Game:

• Smooth, consistent, and hard working footwork shines on film.
• Drives and angles his weight through the shoulder of defensive tackles
• Prefers to ride DL momentum out of the gap rather than change their direction
• Can pull but not overly adept due to height when moving. Can pop up out of stance.

In the Colorado film below, Zabel minimizes space for opposing counter moves in pass protection while still protecting the edge of the line. His kick slide is more efficient than pretty. He keeps his hands extremely low, which avoids hand swipes and loss of leverage. His run game is simply fun film watching; he just pile drives dudes.

THE FIT: What makes Zabel the ideal Texan is his position versatility. In baseball, they talk about a five-tool prospect. Zabel is a five-position prospect. There isn’t another prospect in this draft, not even Travis Hunter, who has played more snaps at different positions this year.

The question is, which position would Zabel best fill for the Texans? With all the additions they’ve made, they will find a solution at either tackle spot. Left guard would make a ton of sense; he has experience playing the position and it would shift Tytus Howard back to right tackle. Even center would be great and allow both Blake Fisher and Howard to suit up at the same time.

THE COMPARISON: Teven Jenkins. The former 39th overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft reminds me of Zabel in every way. The former Oklahoma State right tackle shifted to left guard even though he stands at 6’6. Jenkins does have over an inch and a half longer arms, but both are Jenkins may not have been a home run for the Bears, but he graded out as the 13th best guard according to PFF last season and that score would be leaps and bounds above what the Texans received last year.

Projected Draft Range: PICKS 15 – 35. Earliest he will go is 15 to the Miami Dolphins. Latest will be very early second-round.