3 Position groups the Houston Texans are weak at

Preseason is finally over and we’re a little over a week from the first regular season game being played. It’s been a long process to get here, one filled with a lot of roster reshuffling by Nick Caserio. Has the front office done enough this off-season to get the team to where they want to be?

Certainly, they’ve added enough pieces to make a deep run in the playoffs, but there’s still some uncertainty at several positions. Let’s take a look at some positions the Texans are weaker at than others. 

Safety

It looks like the Texans are actually going to move Jalen Pitre to nickel, and they showed that by releasing former starter Desmond King. That leaves Calen Bullock and Jimmie Ward as the starters. Those two are fine, but the backup safeties are worrisome. They kept Eric Murray and MJ Stewart to back up Bullock and Ward, but I’m not too confident in them starting. Sure you can move Pitre back to safety in a pinch, but who will play nickel?

That position gets considerably weaker now as they expect Pitre to remain there all season. Backup safety isn’t a position they’re going to have to put a lot of time and resources in, but it’s something that will have to be addressed sooner rather than later.  

Linebacker

This is almost a completely new group from last year. Azeez Al-Shaiir is the leader of this group, one that still has plenty of question marks attached to it. Henry To’oTo’o is starting for the first time with the loss of Blake Cashman, and Christian Harris is entering his third year as a full-time starter. Harris is still finding his way in this league, and his 2023 season certainly helped his growth. He totaled 101 tackles, two sacks, and seven tackles for loss.

Behind them are rookie sixth-round pick Jamal Hill along with veterans Neville Hewitt and Del’Shawn Phillips. Both of whom are known for their special teams ability rather than on defense. The Texans easily could’ve added to this position as cuts were being made earlier in the week, but they must seem confident enough in this group. Unfortunately for them, they’re one injury away from having one Neville Hewitt or Del’Shawn Phillips starting meaningful games. 

Defensive tackle

The Texans did add to their interior defensive line this off-season. However, one of them will be unavailable for the start of the season as Denico Autry was suspended for the first six games of the season. That leaves the Texans with very little inside. Mario Edwards Jr. will likely become the starter opposite of Foley Fatukasi for the time being. However, we’ll see a lot of Tim Settle and Khalil Davis in the mix as well. 

Settle comes over from the Buffalo Bills where he totaled 33 tackles, two sacks, and five tackles for loss in two seasons with Buffalo. In those two seasons, Settle appeared in 32 games and made four starts. Settle is a serviceable backup, but I would hope he doesn't start in any of the six games that Autry is set to miss.