Houston Texans: 5 offensive players that need to seize their moment at minicamp

The Houston Texans mandatory mini-camp begins this coming week on June 13. This Texans roster looks vastly different from a year ago and several players, both veterans and rookies, will be vying for a spot on the 53-man roster. Some of these players are on the bubble and could lose their spot.

Some players would be obvious choices to make this list as players that need to seize this opportunity but some of those are locks to make the roster, in my opinion, regardless of their performance in minicamp and throughout the offseason.

Those include players such as C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson Jr. Sure, we hope they shine and so far through the recently completed OTAs, they did just that. But for these two, along with Tank Dell and a handful of others, the team will not give up on them right away, after just one offseason. They'll be on this team come the following year but what about some of the later-round rookies, undrafted rookies, and some of the veterans?

Of these five players, I'm about to discuss, one was a high draft pick. He's included because of what he means to the Houston Texans offense and the concerns about the Texans taking him higher than needed. The others I listed are fringe players that might not make the team and will need to shine to warrant Coach Ryans giving them a roster spot.

Others on this list can be huge for the Texans' 2023 season if they show up and ball out right away. When you have a rebuild within an organization, that process can be drastically accelerated if one or two unknowns rise out of the weeds. I think this list contains at least one such player.

Xazavian Valladay - Running Back

Valladay began his collegiate career with Wyoming, where he was a standout running back, earning All-Conference honors in 2019, 2020 and second-team in 2021. He transferred to Arizona State his senior year and ran for 1,192 yards and 16 touchdowns (10th nationally).

SB Nation's Battle Red Blog recently wrote a great piece on Valladay, calling him the next Arian Foster, given similar paths that it would take for Valladay to take over the Texans backfield. Before Valladay can even set his sights on getting playing time on Sundays, he will need to focus on just making the roster.

The Houston Texans invested money into Devin Singletary and Dameon Pierce has already proven he can get it done on the gridiron. This is going to make it difficult for any running back to make this team. Teams typically don't keep more than three running backs and a full back. Some teams don't even keep a full back anymore but in Bobby Slowik's offense, we expect that to not happen here in Houston.

There wasn’t much chatter coming out of OTAs these past couple of weeks regarding how well he’s performed.  But that’s not necessarily surprising given all the hype surrounding C.J. Stroud, Will Anderson Jr., and Tank Dell.

Valladay has an uphill battle and a lot of competition around him but having watched him in college and knowing what he can do on the field, I’m confident he’ll make this team and even challenge for some gameday carries.

Jared Wayne - Wide Receiver

I recently wrote an article about Wayne's OTA performance. He's turned a few heads and that will be huge for the Texans who are very young at the position and the Texans are looking for some guys to step up and take a leading role with this team.

We’ve all heard Tank Dell’s name as a player that has performed very well so far this offseason but the pads have yet to come on and any real hitting.  I bring this up due to Dell’s smaller build but Wayne brings some size, 6’3” and weighs 210 pounds.

Wayne, like Valladay, is an undrafted rookie and the wide receiver room is very crowded, with the likes of Robert Woods, Noah Brown, Nico Collins, and John Metchie III.  Many of these guys are locks to make the roster, so players like Wayne will need to shine this coming week during the mandatory minicamp practices.

So far so good for the young receiver, but he still has an uphill battle if he is going to survive the cutdown in a couple of months.  He’ll also be competing with another fellow rookie wide receiver, Xavier Hutchinson, who is of a similar physical mold as Wayne.

Xavier Hutchinson - Wide Receiver

Hutchinson was the 205th overall selection in the NFL Draft, so he doesn't come in with any pressure to perform right away, but he was one of the receivers I had my eye on throughout the draft season.  I think this kid can be a solid receiver for the Texans.

With Hutchinson being a late-round pick, there isn’t the pressure to perform early, like Tank Dell; however, with so many receivers on the roster right now, there is a ton of competition, and he will need to stand out among them to make the team since his draft position doesn’t guarantee him a spot on the roster. But he has a fan in Chris Trapasso from CBS Sports.

""Was the obvious No. 1 at Iowa State this season and thrived despite the attention. Well-rounded more so than someone with a specialty. Rebounder type in the red zone and for being a bigger wideout, he’s fun after the catch.""

Chris Trapasso

I wrote a depth chart piece on the receivers a while back and said then that Hutchinson is on the bubble but even if he doesn’t make the 53-man roster, he’s likely a candidate for the practice squad.  The concern with that though, is if he stands out throughout this offseason, he could be in jeopardy of being plucked off the practice squad by another team if that's the direction the Texans go with him.

He will need to show the Texans’ coaching staff he deserves to be on the roster come cut-down day and he has the talent to do just that.  He earned PFF’s second-highest grade among receivers in the NFL Draft, based on his college performance.

Juice Scruggs - Interior offensive lineman

Scruggs was a second-round pick and many think this was a reach by the Houston Texans.  In fact, I wrote a 7-round Texans mock draft a couple of months ago and had him going in the sixth round, with the 203rd overall pick.  Here is a snippet from that breakdown.

"He does a good job of holding his position on the line but isn't seen necessarily as a road grader. Regardless, some scouts see him with the potential to be a solid starter, though not elite, along the offensive line. At pick 203, this could be a steal."

Ronnie Eastham

Whether you consider the pick a reach, really doesn’t matter at this point.  If it works out, then no one will remember where he was drafted; however, if he doesn’t, fans will remind GM Nick Caserio of this swing-and-miss.

I put Scruggs on this list because the Texans need him to step up now, not later.  If he struggles, I think he still makes the 53-man roster because the coaching staff isn’t going to cut their second-round pick, and they gave up three picks to move up and grab him in the draft.  But if the Texans struggle at the center position this season, as they did last year, it’s going to make things difficult for the entire line and for Stroud, as he tries to develop into the franchise quarterback fans are hoping he is.

Kenyon Green - Offensive Guard

Green is a former first-round pick, 15th overall in 2022 and to say his rookie year was a disappointment is an understatement.  Per his 2022 PFF grade of 37.7, he has a lot of work to do.  He played on 525 pass block snaps last season, allowing four sacks, 12 quarterback hits, and 47 total pressures.

He also committed 12 penalties on the year.  Green was a standout in college but so far, the transition to the pros has been anything but stellar.  Even though this is year two for him on his rookie deal, he could be on the outs if there isn’t a markedly substantial improvement.

The team doesn’t really have too many options though outside of Green on the interior.  Yes, they added Shaq Mason and drafted Juice Scruggs but after that, it’s the likes of Michael Dieter (free agent acquisition), Scott Quessenberry, and rookie sixth-round pick Jarrett Patterson.

While the Texans’ offensive line should be better in 2023 than its 2022 predecessor, I’m still concerned about this unit.  If Green doesn’t figure things out now and Scruggs struggles in his rookie year too, the Texans offense, and specifically fellow rookie, C.J. Stroud will be in trouble.

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