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PlayerE.J. Speed · LB, Houston Texans, Model Score 75.0Be the Texans GM

E.J. Speed

Houston Texans
Pos LB
Updated October 8, 2026
Compare E.J. Speed LB rankings →

Model Score

75.0 MODEL
2022
77.1
2023
76.0
2024
83.1
2025
71.8

How good he is at what he is supposed to be doing, out of 100. Not a projection of what he will do next, and not a read on his contract. Median is about 70, and a 95 is rare. How it is built →

STM Take

2023 tier 1 (#3) Colts STTM peak as a Tarleton State Division II 5th-round pick puts Speed in the rarest outlier-positive LB class. The 2024 tier 8 (#58) collapse plus the 2025 tier 5 (#38) Houston debut confirms the structural ceiling is highly team-fit and scheme dependent. The 2026 question is whether Speed returns to tier 3 territory with the Texans or whether the structural tier 5 finish becomes the stable late-prime baseline.

Speed came out of Tarleton State (Division II) as the Indianapolis Colts' 5th-round pick (164th overall) in 2019 and delivered a tier 1 (#3) STTM peak in 2023 with the Colts. He signed with the Houston Texans in 2025. His STTM career runs tier 3 (#22) in 2022, tier 1 (#3) peak in 2023, tier 8 (#58) in 2024, and tier 5 (#38) in 2025 with Houston.

Strengths

  • 2023 tier 1 (#3) STTM peak as a Tarleton State Division II 5th-round pick puts him in the rarest outlier-positive LB class.
  • Seven years of NFL survival as a Division II Day 3 pick gives him real journeyman veteran market value.

Concerns

  • Career STTM volatility (tier 3 in 2022, tier 1 in 2023, tier 8 in 2024, tier 5 in 2025) confirms the ceiling is highly team-fit and scheme dependent.
  • Houston's broader defensive identity around the C.J. Stroud offensive priority compresses the structural support around Speed.

What to watch: Whether Speed returns to tier 3 (top 25) in 2026 with the Texans, the threshold for confirming the 2023 ceiling can be recaptured.

E.J. Speed Injury StatusOut

E.J. Speed is listed Out (Quadriceps), reported Aug 31. Source: the official NFL injury report, refreshed daily.

Draft & College

Round 5, pick 164 · Indianapolis Colts · 2019
Tarleton St.
Taken
#164
where he actually went
Consensus board
197th
average of the public big boards that spring

He went about where consensus had him.

What this pick usually becomes

Of the 500 players taken as a fifth or sixth-rounder between 2012 and 2021, 26% earned a second contract and 16% became starters. The median one started 2 career games.

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