These 3 Texans players shouldn't play remainder of preseason

3. C.J. Stroud, QB

This one might be a little controversial, because a player with no NFL experience should need just that, experience. But, C.J. Stroud was able to get his feet wet in this game with a couple of drives and, even though he didn't look like an All Pro, that was enough.

If you look around the league, very few big names will end up playing in Week 2 or Week 3 of the preseason. Teams are getting wiser and opting to protect their star players instead of risking even the slightest of injury in a meaningless game.

And, that's just it: the preseason effectively doesn't matter. These games are expanded practices; scrimmages, if you will.

We know the Texans aren't going to be a threat in the AFC this year, so there's not a whole lot of reason to keep Stroud out there in the coming preseason weeks. Warming him up for the regular season makes sense on one hand, but on another, it's simply risking injury to your franchise quarterback.

Now, the one reason I could understand Stroud continuing to play is if there truly is a competition between he and Davis Mills. If that's the case, then fine, Stroud should play a little bit more. But, the rookie should have the job as it stands, at least in my mind.