This is the second-to-last Rosterology before the 53-man roster cut down. There has been a TON of roster movement over the past 72 hours which has impacted the Rosterology in an immense way. This is easily the most unsettled a Texans roster has been heading into the final preseason game in quite a while. The linebackers are a mess. Who is our RB3? What is Tank Dell’s timeline? Are the Texans bad or simply not deep?
Injuries: DE Dylan Horton, WR Jayden Higgins, RB Joshua Pitsenberger, WR Montrell Washington,
LB K.C. Ossai, WR D.J. Turner
Additions: WR Kayshon Boutte, WR Zay Jones, QB Brett Rypien, WR Sterling Shepard, RB Owen Wright, LB Caleb Johnson, CB Bryce Hall, CB George Odum
Cuts: LB Marte Mapu (injury), LB Sione TakiTaki
Traded Away: S Jaylen Reed
Here are the past 53-man roster predictions
- Rosterology 1.0
- Rosterology 2.0
- Rosterology 3.0
Note: Rookies are in bold, UDFAs are italicized, and new players are in *asterisks*
Last Four In:
- George Odum, S
- Aiden Fisher, LB
- Noah Whittington, RB
- Solomon Byrd, DE
First Four Out:
- Sterling Shepard, WR
- Jake Andrews, OC
- Naquan Jones, DT
- Collin Wright, CB
Biggest Riser: Noah Whittington, RB
Whittington has been the only positive on the offense all preseason. He’s a gritty runner whose health has been his biggest asset. He of course suffered an ankle injury during the game, but it’s yet to be see how severe an injury. He should get the nod on the roster and threaten Jawhar Jordan’s spot.
Biggest Faller: Jared Wayne, WR
Before, the preseason game against the Raiders, Wayne was having a coming-out party at camp. After the flurry of WR additions, there’s no possible avenue for him to make the 53. He’s ascended throughout camp, that’s for sure, but he couldn’t shine in either preseason game and wasn’t enough to stymie GM Nick Caserio from bringing in multiple options at WR.
Offense (26)
Quarterbacks: 2
C.J. Stroud, Davis Mills
CUT: *Brett Rypien*
Analysis: Mertz’ injury was a rough watch, but somehow equally rough was watching QB Brett Rypien try to play football. There’s no way he deserves a roster spot after his brutal performance. His inability to run the offense, lack of pocket awareness, and multiple fumbles directly led to the Raiders comeback win in the preseason game.
Less than half of the league will keep only two QBs. The Texans should be one of those teams this year.
Running Backs: 5
David Montgomery, Woody Marks, Jawhar Jordan, British Brooks, Noah Whittington
CUT: *Deuce Vaughn*, *Owen Wright*
INJURED RESERVE: Joshua Pitsenberger
Analysis: Houston have kept five RBs each of the past three seasons. I project them to do the same this year too.
British Brooks’ returned yesterday from a broken hand. Any further delay would have landed him on IR. He needs to get significant snaps in the last preseason game to secure his spot.
Noah Whittington has earned a roster spot. Injured Jawhar Jordan hasn’t proven enough to hold down the RB3 spot without question. Even so, the team likes him enough to keep him around and have not designated him for IR yet.
Wide Receivers: 6
Nico Collins, Justin Watson, Xavier Hutchinson, Lewis Bond, Jaylin Noel, Kayshon Bouttee
CUT: Jared Wayne, Daniel Sobkowics, Treyvhon Saunders, Jha’Quan Jackson, Juwann Winfree, *Zay Jones*, *Sterling Shepard*
INJURED RESERVE: Jayden Higgins, Tank Dell, DJ Turner
Analysis: Complete overhaul is an understatement. Losing Higgins for the year is a huge blow. It sparked a classic Caserio shopping spree where he acquired Zay Jones, Sterling Shepard, and Kayshon Boutte. It’s a complete unknown how the team values Shepard and Jones over Justin Watson and Jared Wayne. Bond should be a lock even with the changes.
Noel returns to the roster after recovering from his pinkie injury.
Tight Ends: 4
Dalton Schultz, Marlin Klein, Foster Moreau, Cade Stover
CUT: Brevin Jordan, Layne Pryor, Louis Hansen
Analysis: Brevin Jordan has been sidelined for weeks due to a knee injury. His time in Houston has to be over. Stover has played well, earned a spot, and carved a roll out at fullback too.
Offensive Lineman: 9
Aireontae Ersery, Braden Smith, Trent Brown, Wyatt Teller, Blake Fisher, Keylan Rutledge, Febechi Nwaiwu, Ed Ingram, Evan Brown
CUT: Jake Andrews, Jarrett Patterson, Eli Cox, Jarrett Kingston, Sam Hagen, James Neal III
Analysis: Welcome back, Evan Brown. He started the preseason game at center. Blake Fisher has looked next to horrible in preseason contests. He could… and honestly should be a roster casualty. He’s an extremely cheap break glass option and probably would get picked up by another squad if he’s released.
Jarrett Patterson is an irrelevant piece of the puzzle at this junction. He’s lost out to Brown and Andrews, let alone Nwaiwu and Rutledge.
Defense (24)
Defensive Ends: 4
Will Anderson Jr., Danielle Hunter, Dylan Horton, Jadeveon Clowney, Solomon Byrd
CUT: Dominique Robinson, Ali Gaye, Sabastian Harsh
INJURED RESERVE: Dylan Horton
Analysis: Distraught isn’t a poignant enough word to describe the feeling of hearing Horton’s achilles injury. He’s entering a contract year and was in line for a major backup role on the defense. He’s replaced by Solomon Byrd, whose impressive tackles for loss were offset by his inability to set the edge against the run. It’s rare to say a player is trying too hard, but that’s the case with Byrd. Dominique Robinson is dealing with a calf injury, which thins this DE room out considerably.
Too bad Derek Barnett signed with the Cleveland Browns one day ago – he could have been a Texan again.
Houston could be in the market for a DE after roster cutdowns.
Defensive Tackles: 5
Tommy Togiai, Sheldon Rankins, Kayden McDonald, Logan Hall, Mario Edwards Jr.
CUT: Naquan Jones, Dominic Bailey, Kyonte Hamilton
Analysis: The main update is swapping Mario Edwards Jr. for Naquan Jones. Jones has been given every opportunity to succeed, but has not raised any provocation to earn a roster spot. I personally would keep Jones and his youth over Edwards, but they must believe they can stash Jones on the practice squad again.
Linebackers: 6
Henry To’oTo’o, Azeez Al-Shaair, Wade Woodaz, Jake Hummel, Jamal Hill, Aiden Fisher
INJURED RESERVE: E.J. Speed, Jake Hansen
CUT: K.C. Ossai, Marte Mapu (injury), *Caleb Johnson*
Analysis: The LBs went from the deepest to the thinnest room in three weeks. Mapu is out. Woodaz broke his thumb but should be cleared for Week One. Hummel looks competent but slow. Jamal Hill looks lost on defense. The rookie Aiden Fisher has outplayed almost every other backup LB on the roster. He will be a special teams contributor.
The Texans need Jake Hansen back urgently. He was seen running at practice but not participating in drills.
Cornerbacks: 5
Derek Stingley Jr., Kamari Lassiter, Jaylin Smith, Alijah Huzzie, Tremon Smith
CUT: Collin Wright, Ja’Marcus Ingram, Brandon Codrington, Stephen Hall, Bryce Hall
Analysis: Veteran Tremon Smith has been running with the third-string CBs, which is not a good sign for him. Collin Wright is still recovering from a soft tissue injury and has missed the past week-plus of camp. I think they trust Huzzie a lot at corner even if he hasn’t played miraculously well in preseason. Until Wright is fully healthy, he’s behind Smith and Huzzie on the depth chart.
Safeties: 4
Reed Blankenship, Calen Bullock, Jalen Pitre, Kamari Ramsey, *George Odum*
CUT: Kevon Merriweather
INJURED RESERVE: M.J. Stewart
Analysis: Film review illustrated Jaylen Reed was not breaking well on routes, which led to a ton of big plays by opposing offenses in preseason. Trading him to the Patriots was NOT on my bingo card, but it shows how much depth the team has at safety. Rookie Kamari Ramsey has played well, which gave them the confidence to make the move. Plus, M.J. Stewart should return some point this season. When that will be is up in the air, but a colossal shift for this position group.
This could be a major mistake, but newly added special teamer George Odum is the type of player to slide onto the 53-man roster. He’s a special teams ace and is a necessary addition after Jaylen Reed was traded.
Special Teams (3)
Kai Kroeger, Kai’mi Fiarbairn, Austin Brinkman
