Houston Texans 53-man roster first offseason prediction

The Houston Texans are wrapping up the offseason portion of the 2024 calendar year this week, and soon training camp will take place. In fact, training camp will be held earlier than usual, as the Texans’ participation in the Hall of Fame game on Aug. 1 will allow coaches to start camp earlier, much to the chagrin of some players.

That said, even with just a few OTA sessions and a mandatory minicamp under our belts, it’s never too early to predict what the team’s 53-man roster will look like in the first week of the regular season. In a camp that should be very competitive, I’d say only about 60 percent of the roster is currently “locked in.” Many places are up for grabs.

As of June 6, here’s my first take on the Texans’ Week 1 roster, knowing full well that injuries and unexpected training camp stars (and stiffness) will turn my prediction into Swiss cheese. Here are the locks to make the list, if healthy:

QUARTERBACK (3): CJ Stroud, Davis Mills, Case Keenum

RUNNING BACK (2): Joe Mixon, Dameon Pierce

WIDE RECEIVER (3): Nico Collins, Stefon Diggs, Tank Dell

TIGHT END (2): Dalton Schultz, Cade Stover

OFFENSIVE LINE (7): Laremy Tunsil, Kenyon Green, Juice Scruggs, Shaq Mason, Tytus Howard, Blake Fisher, Jarrett Patterson

DEFENSIVE LINE (5): Will Anderson, Danielle Hunter, Denico Autry, Foley Fatukasi, Tim Settle

LINEBACKER (2): Christian Harris, Azeez Al Shaair

CORNERBACK (2): Derek Stingley, Kamari Lassiter

SAFETY (3): Jalen Pitre, Jimmie Ward, Calen Bullock

SPECIALISTS (3): Jon Weeks, Ka’imi Fairbairn, Tommy Townsend

This gives us a total of 32 locks – 17 on offense, 12 on defense, and then our three specialists. Let’s fill out the rest of the list, shall we?

33. Dare Ogunbowale, RB
34. Jahwar Jordan, RB
We need more depth at running back. I expect Jordan to impress the team enough to earn a spot during camp, and Ogunbowale is listed as a running back, but will make the team based on his special teams prowess, including duties as an emergency kicker, as we saw against Tampa Bay last season.

35. John Metchie III, WR
36. Noah Brown, WR
37. Ben Skowronek, WR/FB
Metchie is closing in on lock status after what appears to be a super productive offseason. He just looks a lot more explosive. The team appears to have a role in mind for Skowronek after trading for him. I’m adding Brown, but he’s still recovering from his injuries and was pretty banged up last season. This place could end up going to Xavier Hutchinson.

37. Brevin Jordan, TE
According to DeMeco Ryans, Jordan made a lot of plays during the offseason program. The head coach joked that in the film study of the previous day’s training, there were several days in which Jordan’s highlights were the main topic. Enough for me!

38. Charlie Heck, T.
39. Kendrick Green, G.
For some backup, Heck and Green have played a decent amount of meaningful football over the last four seasons. Both make the cut here.

40. Mario Edwards, DT.
41. Khalil Davis, DT
42. Derek Barnett, DE
Edwards’ name continually comes up unprompted by defensive coaches when asked about the defensive line. Davis played every time he saw the snaps last season. Barnett was one of the best midseason pickups in the entire NFL last season, scoring 3.5 sacks for the Texans after being picked up by Philadelphia,

43. Henry To’o To’o, LB
44. Neville Hewitt, L.B.
Yeah, this linebacker team is thin.

45. Jeff Okudah, BC
46. ​​C.J. Henderson, C.B.
47. Mike Ford, CB
Adding three more cornerbacks to the room, including the two former high first-round Lotto scratch tickets the team signed this offseason, Okudah and Henderson. Desmond King is the most difficult character here, but if you remember, they cut him last season in the final edits, so letting him go wouldn’t be anything new.

48. MJ Stewart, S
49. Lonnie Johnson, S/CB
Stewart has been a valuable piece when healthy, especially on special teams. I’m including Johnson because I need to find his Twitter persona on this team.

50. Andrew Beck, F.B.
51. Nick Broeker, G.
52. Kurt Hinish, DT
53. Jamal Hill, LB
The final four “replacement” spots give us a traditional fullback in Beck, a 10th offensive lineman in Broeker, Hinish landing a spot for one more season and rookie Hill adding some athleticism to the linebacker depth chart and to special teams.

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