The Houston Texans have selected Illinois defensive end Whitney Mercilus with the 26th overall pick in the NFL draft.
The 6-foot-3, 261-pound Mercilus is an early-entry junior who only started for one season in college. He led the nation in sacks (16) and forced fumbles (8). He earned All-Big Ten honors and won the 2011 Ted Hendricks award.
The Texans finished 10-6 last season and won their first AFC South title to earn the franchise's first playoff berth.
Houston took some key losses in free agency, with career sacks leader Mario Williams, right tackle Eric Winston and right guard Mike Brisiel signing with other teams. The Texans cut Winston and traded All-Pro linebacker DeMeco Ryans to Philadelphia.
The San Francisco 49ers have taken another step to boost their receiving corps, selecting Illinois wideout A.J. Jenkins with the 30th pick in the NFL draft.
Jenkins will join a unit that already features Randy Moss, Mario Manningham and Michael Crabtree on the reigning NFC West champion 49ers, who lost in overtime of the NFC title game to the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants.
Jenkins had 90 catches last season for 1,276 yards and eight touchdowns.
San Francisco has all 11 defensive starters back. This became a drastically different draft for GM Trent Baalke, whose selections the past two years became immediate impact players - offensive linemen Anthony Davis and Mike Iupati and then linebacker Aldon Smith, who had 14 sacks last season as a rookie.
