{"id":264176,"date":"2026-04-24T10:04:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-24T10:04:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/264176\/"},"modified":"2026-04-24T10:04:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T10:04:09","slug":"houston-texans-select-keylan-rutledge-in-1st-round-of-2026-nfl-draft-after-trade-with-bills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/264176\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston Texans select Keylan Rutledge in 1st round of 2026 NFL Draft after trade with Bills"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Houston Texans have selected Georgia Tech<\/a> offensive lineman Keylan Rutledge<\/a> in the 2026 NFL Draft. They traded up with the Buffalo Bills to do so.<\/p>\n

The Texans traded the No. 28, No. 69 and No. 167 overall picks to the Bills. In exchange, Houston got the No. 26 and No. 91 selections in this year\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n

Rutledge became a two-time first team All-ACC selection during his two years at Georgia Tech. He began his college career at Middle Tennessee State<\/a> from 2022-23, where he became a first team All-Conference USA selection at right guard. He was also a captain in 2023.<\/p>\n

Across his two seasons in Atlanta, Rutledge started 26 games at right guard \u2013 13 in each season. He was also a third team All-American this past year as a senior and is now a first-round pick in the NFL Draft after the Texans selected him.<\/p>\n

Rutledge played high school football at Carnesville (Ga.) Franklin County<\/a>, where he was a three-star prospect. He was the No. 1,763 overall player from the 2022 cycle, according to the Rivals Industry Ranking<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What NFL Draft analysts are saying about Keylan Rutledge<\/p>\n

Keylan Rutledge impressed during the pre-draft process and was considered either a late-first or early-second round pick. NFL.com\u2019s Lance Zierlein noted the size he brings to the offensive line, but noted some areas he can improve. If Rutledge can find consistency, though, he has potential as a starter in the NFL.<\/p>\n

\u201cRutledge is a burly, experienced right guard with excellent contact pop and a rugged field demeanor that will appeal to offensive line coaches,\u201d Zierlein wrote<\/a>. \u201cHe excels as a drive\/combo blocker, where he displaces defenders, but he has the athleticism to operate in all run-blocking concepts. He understands technique but suffers from occasional rough patches due to inconsistent balance and body control.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis pass protection range is average, and edge leakage could be a concern against NFL athletes. Rutledge has the toughness to earn a role as a good backup with starting potential.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Houston Texans have selected Georgia Tech offensive lineman Keylan Rutledge in the 2026 NFL Draft. They traded…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":264177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57,98917],"class_list":{"0":"post-264176","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-houston","9":"tag-houston-headlines","10":"tag-houston-news","11":"tag-keylan-rutledge-22-franklin-county"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=264176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/264176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/264177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=264176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=264176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=264176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}