The clock is ticking, if you’re an NFL player trying to either make an impression to move your way up the roster, or in the case of a couple dozen guys in every training camp, just MAKE the roster to begin with. The NFL calendar moves swiftly, for those trying to latch on to a team.
The Houston Texans had their final training camp practice in Houston on Monday morning, before flying to North Carolina on Tuesday afternoon. There, the Texans will conduct a joint practice with the Carolina Panthers on Wednesday, and then their final preseason game comes Friday night. At that point, it’s “pencils down” and let’s look at your work for the 10 to 15 players who are truly on the bubble for the final half dozen or so spots on the 53-man roster.
As of Monday afternoon, here is my 53-man roster prediction for the Texans. This is what I think they WILL do, not what my 53-man roster would be, if I were Nick Caserio (although, mine would be virtually identical to this one). Here we go:
QUARTERBACK (2): C.J. Stroud, Davis Mills
Unlike last season, when Graham Mertz had a Preseason Week 3 game for the ages (16 for 18 passing), and the Texans had to burn a roster spot to keep someone else from nabbing him, Brett Rylie’s is causing no such hullabaloo. Two spots at quarterback is all they need.
RUNNING BACK (4): David Montgomery, Woody Marks, Noah Whittington, British Brooks
Jawhar Jordan was very much in line to make the team coming into training camp, but a hip flexor injury has rendered him unavailable, and also served as a reminder that injuries are an issue for him. Whittington has impressed as an underrated free agent, and Brooks returned to practice on Monday from a broken hand.
WIDE RECEIVER (6): Nico Collins, Xavier Hutchinson, Jaylin Noel, Jared Wayne, Justin Watson, Kayshon Boutte
What was one of the more compelling competitions for the last couple spots, likely had the Texans = a little concerned with the depth, but Monday’s trade for New England’s Kayshon Boutte solved some of that concern. Tank Dell’s never ending return from his knee injury, as well as Jayden Higgins’ torn ACL, both now make Jared Wayne or Lewis Bond likely to make the team.
TIGHT END (4): Dalton Schultz, Foster Moreau, Marlin Klein, Cade Stover
Brewing Jordan’s knee injury made the makeup of this room a virtual certainty, especially with Cade Stover flashing some versatility to play fullback, if they need him there.
OFFENSIVE LINE (9): Aireontae Ersery, Keylan Rutledge, Evan Brown, Ed Ingram, Trent Brown, Wyatt Teller, Braden Smith, Febechi Nwaiwu, Blake Fisher
Right now, this is a room where the depth is improved. The amount of money Teller and Smith received in free agency would seem to indicate they’d end up starters, but if camp and the second preseason game are any indicator, both would be backups to start the season. Fisher is one player I thought was in serious jeopardy of getting cut, coming into the offseason, but he’s had a surprisingly efficient camp.
DEFENSIVE LINE (9): Will Anderson, Danielle Hunter, Sheldon Rankins, Tommy Togiai, Jadeveon Clowney, Kayden McDonald, Logan Hall, Mario Edwards, Solomon Byrd
This is one of the strongest rooms on the team, with two NFL Top 25 players on the edge in Anderson and Hunter, the underrated Rankins and Togiai pairing on the interior, and the addition of Jadeveon Clowney.
LINEBACKERS (6): Azeez Al-Shaair, Henry To’o To’o, Wade Woodaz, Jake Hummel, Jamal Hill, Jake Hansen
This is one position group where I’m a little overloaded. None of the backups to Al-Shaair and To’o To’o have distinguished themselves as the favorite for the third linebacker spot, but all four of them should be fixtures on special teams. This is one position where I could see Nick Caserio shopping around after cutdown day this Sunday.
CORNERBACK (5): Derek Stingley, Kamari Lassiter, Jaylin Smith, Collin Wright, Tremon Smith
SAFETY (4): Caleb Bullock, Reed Blankenship, Kamari Ramsey, George Odom
JALEN PITRE (1): Jalen Pitre
As you know, I typically group all of the defensive backs in one big cluster. The five frontline guys comprise the best secondary in football. After that, it’s a slew of rookies (Ramsey, Wright) and second year guys (Jaylin Smith). Aside from wide receiver, with Nico Collins as the star, the biggest drop off from starter to backup, is probably in this room.
SPECIALISTS (3): Austin Brinkman, Ka’imi Fairbairn, Kai Kroeger
Nothing to see here, as these three have been written in ink since the team parted ways with rookie punter Jack Stonehouse.
