Heading into the Houston Texans' final game of the preseason, there are still several roster questions that hover over the team. Unfortunately, injuries have marred the decision-making process to the point where there might have to be some tough cuts simply due to the tried and true sports cliché of, "the best ability is availability."
Part of that process will play itself out against the Carolina Panthers this evening, as Houston tries not finishing its preseason 0-3 for the year. Even though no starters will be playing, plenty of key depth options will have their final opportunities to show the coaching staff why they should factor into the last-minute mathematics that will drive the finalization of the 53-man roster.
With that said, here are three of the biggest roster questions that still need to be answered as the team concludes the preseason against the Panthers.
The Houston Texans still have three key roster questions to answer in preseason finale against the Carolina Panthers
WIll the real Texans offensive line please stand up (and block)?
Notably, the Texans' offensive line went through a bit of a makeover from their first appearance against the Los Angeles Chargers to their most recent against the Las Vegas Raiders. Against the Chargers, the line consisted of:
- Left tackle: Airenotae Ersery
- Left guard: Wyatt Teller
- Center: Keylan Rutledge
- Right guard: Ed Ingram
- Right tackle: Braden Smith
However, the Raiders contest saw a lineup that featured:
- Left tackle: Aireontae Ersery
- Left guard: Keylan Rutledge
- Center: Evan Brown
- Right guard: Ed Ingram
- Right tackle: Trent Brown
Between two preseason games, we've seen Rutledge shift to his natural position at guard, veteran addition Evan Brown make his way to starting center and returning veteran Trent Brown take over right tackle duties. As a result of the moves, both of Houston's big-name free agency additions in Teller and Smith both landed on the second-unit against the Raiders.
While some think that the coaching staff is looking trying out different combinations just for diligence purposes, others suspect that the two added free agents might've had their immediate football fates sealed by the restructure. At this point, tonight's game might answer the question of how far the two truly might fall if they're not in fact the starters (especially considering Smith's case after his plantar fascia injury sustained in joint practice with the Panthers.)
Who's going to be the third running back?
With both Jawhar Jordan and Noah Whittington both battling injuries down the stretch of preseason, its left Houston with a question mark of who exactly could be taking the reps as the third running back on the depth chart early in the regular season.
Running back and special teams ace British Brooks just made his return to the team recently from a broken hand suffered a little over three weeks ago in training camp. Besides him, the team has signed former Dallas Cowboys rusher Deuce Vaughn to pair with second-year player Owen Wright to man the position(s) in the interim.
I personally don't think Vaughn nor Wright will make the roster, so that just leaves the choice down to whether or not head coach DeMeco Ryans and co. believe that they've seen enough out of Jordan, Whittington and Brooks to make a confident enough decision (unless one of them has a Barry Sanders-like performance tonight against Carolina).
Who's going to solve the logjam at wide receiver?
At the time of writing, Houston has a wide receiver room that features:
- Nico Collins
- Kayshon Boutte
- Xavier Hutchinson
- Jaylin Noel
- Jared Wayne
- Lewis Bond
- Tank Dell
- Zay Jones
- Sterling Shepard
- Daniel Sobkowicz
- Treyvhon Saunders
- Justin Watson
- Josh Kelly
WIth Collins, Boutte, Hutchinson and Noel being the only "locks" at the moment, that leaves two or three more spots available between six players. After the aforementioned four, Wayne and Bond have separated themselves into the "more likely than not" category. They've done this by making the most of their offseason opportunities between training camp and the preseason, as well as with the season-ending ACL tear of Jayden Higgins and the uncertain return of Dell creating more opportunities for their permanence.
If they're in, then that makes for only a theoretical seventh spot in the event that the team really wants to try and carry another pass catcher. In that case, Dell would have to be on the Injured Reserve list to start the season, and someone else will have to make one last push for the spot tonight against the Panthers. With no clear-cut favorite in this final race, tonight's matchup could prove to be the final determining factor.
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