HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610)- Jalen Pitre admitted to being a little sad when his name was not one of those called during the first round of the NFL Draft, but his spirits were lifted when Johnathan Joseph read his name with the fifth pick of the second round.
"God had a better plan for me," Pitre said. "He's keeping me home."
Pitre, an alum of Stafford High School, played in 48 games over five years at Baylor and was a first team All American on the Bears Big 12 title team in 2021. He says he knew the Texans were a possible landing spot and he's looking forward to playing in Lovie Smith's defense.
"I plan on playing safety and nickel, but whatever coach Lovie Smith feels comfortable putting me at," he said. "I'm gonna try to be a guy that could play a lot of different positions and do a lot of different things."
Listed at five-foot-11, 198 pounds, Pitre says he models his game after Pro Bowl safeties Tyrann Mathieu and Budda Baker.
"Matthieu is definitely number one," Pitre said. "I try to take a lot of different things from his game and add to mine. His versatility, his knack for always being around the ball. His instincts are definitely things that I tried to pick up."
As for Baker, Pitre says he wants to replicate his energy and effort.
"I want to have my hair on fire, wherever I'm going and hit people as hard as I can when I get there."
After dealing with the disappointment of not being one of the draft's top 32 selections, Pitre is excited about the situation is he's about to enter.
"Just being able to stay home, a team that I've been following my whole life and be able to say that I'm on an NFL team now is crazy. I'm very thankful for it, and I'm ready to get to work."