TEXANS - RAMS RECAP: Four Winners, Four Losers, 53-Man Roster Projections

hey everybody Welcome in it is Sunday morning the Utopia football podcast about 24 hours a little less than 24 hours removed from the Texans 17 to 15 win over the Rams in the final preseason game so this will be the last podcast of the uh preseason schedule we'll do a couple this week and then obviously the schedule gets going on September the 8th two weeks from today so we'll have multiple episodes leading up to the season we'll have a couple more mailbags before the season and we'll do some fun stuff as well maybe a couple interviews we'll see what happens but uh two weeks away two weeks from today the Texans will be in Indianapolis to take on uh the Colts so that should be uh should be a whole lot of fun um as far as the game goes yesterday I've got four winners and four losers from the game yesterday and I'm GNA take a crack at a 53 man roster now keep in mind this is a fluid situation we're in right now so there are going to be Cuts coming down I would imagine starting today on Sunday there will be some cuts that come down I don't know that there will be any that come down that necessarily impact The Fringe of the 53 man roster at the end of the day of the 90 guys that were on the Texans sideline yesterday give or take um almost 80% of them are probably still going to be Texans in some shaped form or capacity whether they get put on injured reserve whether they get cut or waved and brought back on the practice squad or whether they make the 53 man roster so I'm going to take a crack at it um and uh know that by the time you're listening to this maybe some things have happened that have impacted the 53 that I have but we'll see how close I get it's uh there's some tough cuts on this on this team man this is by far the deepest team that the Texans have had uh in the last few years and probably since I started covering the team in 2014 well I've covered the team since 2007 but covering the team with the flagship Sports Radio 610 since 2014 it's a it's a deep roster and very deep in certain spots on this team that are kind of exciting so some good story lines going on with this team so let's first a reminder to hit that subscribe button let me take a quick pull from the tumbler there um hit the Subscribe button if you haven't already regular season's almost here this is the easiest way to get the podcast hopefully you're enjoying the format I do I'm I'm I try to keep it as tight and concise and light and informative and entertaining as possible bite-sized pieces of podcasts you know what I mean like uh this podcast will be I I would say 15 to 20 minutes max easy for a commute to listen to get up to speed on everything going on so uh hit that subscribe button give us a rating give us a review that always helps as well and a quick reminder too the mailbag episode is on Tuesday I think I'm going to record it after the 53 man roster is set at 3 o'clock on Tuesday afternoon normally I do it on Tuesday morning to drop Tuesday afternoon I think I'll wait till later in the day so that I can share my thoughts on the 53 man roster and I would imagine there's a lot of mailbag questions that hey is this guy gon to make it is that guy gonna make it why is this guy still on the blah blah blah I don't want to do a mailbag episode with those questions and then it drops and the questions already answered so I'm going to um I'm going to uh to do that episode probably late in the day on Tuesday so if you haven't sent me an email yet just know that if you're sending me an email where it's Jo do you think so and so is gonna make the team you're gonna find out in a minute who I think is gonna make this team so don't send me any questions about do you think this guy is going to make it if you have questions about the Indianapolis game or if you um if they've already made decisions that we can react to the Damen Pierce situation is a big one there may be some resolution with that between now and roster cutdowns he didn't play in this game on Saturday which was modly surprising to me and yet not all that surprising so um but just know that the questions that are not going to get answered for the mailbag are do you think so and so is going to make the team because I'm not doing the mailbag till after the 53 man roster is done we got it we good cool all right so that's the email addresses there if you're streaming this on YouTube at the bottom of the screen it's hou mailbag gmail.com all right let's rapid fire these here real quick let's get to winners and losers from yesterday's win over the Rams um Texans three and0 in the preseason in my mind I don't count that Bears game that was a bonus game that game that Game Belongs to Andre Johnson Andre you're the reason we had to go up there and lose a football game you had to be so good at football and get in the Hall of Fame How Could you um that game never ended it there was never a finish to it you know it was a if it was wrestling it would have been a double disqualification or something like that so I don't count the Bears game the Texans in my mind were three and0 in the regular season and it was good to see good to see all three layers of the roster had their way with the other opponents I thought that was good and I know even though the score final score yesterday was close there was never a game where I felt like the Texans um weren't the better football team out there so that was good to see um and it speaks more again about the depth than it does what's going to happen in Indie in week one anybody who matters to the indie game in week one they were wearing sweatsuits yesterday but it's just nice to see that that de oyan and Nick cerio have have started to really really build this thing the foundation is a big key but also the depth of the foundation too and that's I think what some of these preseason games speak to is wow they got guys that are going to be probably practice squad guys or Reserve guys that are really buying in to deo's culture and the Swarm mentality and things like that I think we saw a lot of that in the game uh yesterday and I think the Giants and Steelers games as well four winners four losers let's do this let's start with the four winners number four cam Acres I don't know why cam Acres was still in the game in the fourth quarter yesterday but cam Acres if they brought him in here I don't know what more he could have done to make to make this football team and especially if if Damen Pierce makes it over cam Acres then I wonder why they brought cam acres in at all unless it was to bring him in show him off and then flip him for a six round pick so again something may happen with that situation between now and the time you're listening to this so if it did this is the caveat but I don't know that cam Acres could have done more to make this football team both yesterday and throughout training camp he's looked good in practice he's looked good in the games he's made plays when plays have not been there to be made he's looked better than Damen Pierce cam Acres someone you're gonna be playing football for somebody this year my friend and uh and so I think he's a winner from yesterday seven carries for 53 yards three very noteworthy plays I thought that you don't even need to look at the box score the one play where he just like he did last week he went one way it's all cluttered so runs to Daylight the other way he had a run for 23 yards where he finished a dude at the end of that where he just plowed a guy over a DB over at the end of that play and then he had the other catch kind of that little angle route where he made a guy Miss and then he spun three times that was really cool I just liked it it was a cool play so cam Acres you are winner number four number three Neville huitt he was flying all over the place yesterday I'm assuming that anybody that played in the game yesterday is was not 100% to make this football team if you were 100% to make this football team you were in sweatsuits or injured um if you were playing yesterday then you had at least a little something to prove or the team was fine with you playing and the possibility of you getting injured I I think the fact that anybody playing in that game yesterday the Texans were clearly okay with the possibility of them getting hurt um so Neville huitt was probably not 100% on this team linebacker is going to be a key position especially early in the season if Christian Harris is still out with whatever his injury is neille H was all over the place yesterday man sideline to sideline making big hits and we know how big he is on special teams for this team Neville huitt you earned a spot on the 53 man roster yesterday my friend um number two this is a winner at the linebacker position by not doing anything Henry tooa star on this team has risen man he was let me double check and just make sure old 39 wasn't out there yesterday but I I don't I don't think think he was I've got the list right here from the team no let's see Henry did not play no 39 to TOA did not play okay good um Henry toat TOA was a guy who uh looked promising in last year's camp and then the regular season started and he looked a little overwhelmed as an NFL player certainly as a linebacker and he came back in this year and he does look like a better football player I don't know that he looks like a better football player to the extent that he shouldn't have been playing yesterday and maybe this has something to do maybe this is a tell on exactly how injured Christian Harris is if they didn't want to put toah TOA out there who's kind of you know sort of next in line I would imagine they're going to be playing a lot of formations with just two linebackers this year you know nickel is the new base as they say so IID imagine we're GNA see a lot of jayen Petri in the slot and a lot of two linebackers and if it's two linebackers it's going to be be for sure aiz Al Shire at one of those spots and as of right now probably Henry TOA TOA until Christian Harris gets healthy so I he's a winner for me just because his star has risen to the point where he's you know standing next to CJ strad on the sideline at the Hall of Fame game and the third preseason game so good for Henry toah TOA key guy on special teams as well winner number one John mie and again if if you're playing in that game yesterday then the team clearly has to be okay with the possibility that something could happen to you so that tells me that John mie hadn't fully made the team as of yesterday um he only had two catches but you could see on one of the catches I mean he had an Alabama Type move on a guy you know like just Next Level spin move guy went flailing for air you guys know the play I'm talking about if you watch the game um the thing was John mey was wide open on a seam route that Case Keenum almost threw an interception on I don't know where case was throwing it on that play case looking great yesterday um Tim Bole had bigger numbers but it's because he was in for longer Tim Tim Bo's not good um so uh but John mey like if case if CJ strad is the quarterback John mie probably Walks Into The End Zone with a 60- yard touchdown so mie made this team I think mie had made the team before that but again he's playing in that game yesterday so it's not 100% John mie number one winner especially when you consider the fact that we all had him cut two and a half weeks ago he was done remember after he had the first two preseason games where he he didn't do anything then he had the Breakout game against the Giants he's had two really good weeks of practice he had a nice catch in um in the practice not in the not in the joint practice but on Wednesday he and Xavier Hutchinson both really nice catches in back-to-back drills in 11on 11 with Davis Mills as their quarterback so John mie number one winner four losers number four Tim Bole sorry you're not going to be a Houston Texon this year buddy it's okay there will be plenty of other NFL teams that are looking to pick up a guy who's got a you know one to 14 touchdown to interception ratio there's the league is full of teams especially as the season goes on needing quarterbacks and Lord knows there's plenty of teams that really don't care about winning in December that might start you you know maybe even a playoff team the Browns started Jeff driscal in a in a in a late season game last year because they didn't need it so but Tim Bole you're just not good enough to be a Houston you got a big strong arm unfortunately you can't complete a simple slant route which is really strange um so I know 19 to 28 he had a bunch of yards and he got into the end zone Johnny Johnson got into the end zone with a touchdown blah blah blah uh this is Case Keenum country pal and we protect our third string quarterback Turf uh like aliens are invading Okay so Tim Bo sorry you are a number four loser but you will have a job in the NFL at some point because every person with a working right arm who's play quarterback ends up back in the league at some point number three is just it's not Damen Pierce but it's the whole Damen Pierce situation I just don't like it um I don't like the fact that he didn't play yesterday because it means one of two things it means he's either a made guy and made this team and he does not deserve to have made this team based on his performance in Camp last season I I hate even saying these things because I love Damen Pierce but facts are facts and eyeballs are eyeballs man and it doesn't take an educated set of eyeballs to see that Damen Pierce just is not one of the four best running backs on this team during this preseason so it hurts because it either means that the team has a blind spot for Damen or it hurts because it means they're going to trade Damen Pierce and I hate to see him go it's very weird um I don't think he deserves to be on the 53 man roster and yet I do definitely think there's a spot in the NFL for him probably uh you know maybe with a good team getting 10 or 12 touches a game I think this is just a bad fit for Damen Pierce and I think thinking about it I think I think Damen Pierce almost cares too much you know what I mean like he cares so deeply I think it's in his head at this point so um so it's it's just a bad situation to me all the way around because if if they keep him I'm gonna start getting mad at demo and Nick about it and I'm gonna I'm gonna start getting mad at Damian about it and he didn't do anything other than just not play football very well he didn't do anything so so for number three I think it's just like we're all lose anybody that loves Damen Pierce is a loser in this situation right now I just think the whole situation is just uncomfortable now by the time you listen to this maybe he's traded for a six round pick somewhere and again that would be very sad that would not be a winning situation for me but it's the best of some just suboptimal Solutions if Daman was busting things out for five yards a carry right now we wouldn't be having this conversation we'd be talking about Mixon and Pierce and what's the split on the carries and then we'd be talking about now you got cam Acres also oh my God this backfield so deep I'm nervous Cam's not going to make the team because they're keeping Damian right now so that just all of us are losers in that situation all right number two Dez King dude there is a spot to be had on this team as a return specialist right now I know they're working Stephen Sims through here and they I think ultimately tank Dell is GNA touch the ball in the return game some they're just kind of keeping that uh you know on the back burner in the preseason we saw him do it in the Pittsburgh game and he set up a touchdown with a big return um but Dez King man like you're a vet fair catch that bad boy I think that's a guy you can tell that's a guy that's pressing trying to make the team trying to make a play as you guys know what I'm talking about the the muffed punt in the first half of that game that set the Rams up for their first score for a field goal um you can't do that um and and this team's cut Dez King at cut down time before they did it last year so they ain't afraid to cut Dez king um and now that day now that Jaylen Petri is playing a lot of slot corner it's really jeopardized King's role there so I just don't I don't know that there's a spot for him on this team especially if there's issues in the return game can't be muffin punts deep in your own territory man number one loser yesterday Troy hariston fullback again another position where it is open right now Andrew Beck has been hurt all of training camp um they're they're mixing and matching Cade Stover in there and Brevin Jordan in there they bring in Nick Boden uh who's sitting on the street uh just probably making Tik Tock videos with his wife and so the fullback position is their to be1 and Troy harston had four holding penalties yesterday I think one of them was on special teams but who gives a four holding penalties in the same four holding penalties in a preseason game bro you're holding guys that are going to be working at Walmart next week and you might be working at Walmart next week now because of it so four holding penalties he whiffed on another block just I mean you he just can't be trusted as a can you trust Troy harston as a fullback when you got CJ strad what if there's a play where Troy Harriston has to pick up a blitz or something like that you trust Troy Harrison to do that right now hell no so that sucks because I he seems like a great kid as well but man four holding penalties in your final audition to get on the team dude I'm principal I can't put you on that I can't even put you on the practice squad sorry luckily it's not my choice it's Nick and Deo deciding these things I have trouble deciding what I want for brunch later on this morning all right now with that said I just made a 53 man roster right here I took out a pen I took out a piece of paper and I jotted it down and the way I go through this is I put down the guys at each position that I think are locks to make the team and then I kind of usually there's like five or six spots left over after that and I that's when I fill in the final six spots so I don't go position by position you know like I I go position by position with the locks and then then I've got a bunch you know 10 or 12 guys on the bubble and then I go through it and I imagine that's how NFL teams do it um they know what most of their roster is going to look like even before the final preseason game Nick said that on McAfee this week Nick was on with uh with McAfee this week uh on Friday or Thursday or Friday it was Thursday it was the day of the joint practice and he said there's really only five or six spots that are in question right now so with that in mind here is the Shawn Pendergast 53 man roster let me first say a couple of things one I don't know if a lot of you know this there's a new rule where the play the team can put two players on ir and uh well they can put anybody they want to on IR in the preseason before if you put somebody on the IR in the preseason then they can't come back during the year they're done for the year now and I check this with Texans cap who is my go-to on anything having to do with roster and cap and contracts he's the best Texans cap on Twitter uh he's got a he's got a substack and he's on Instagram as well he's great Troy's the best so I checked with him this morning they can now if you put guys on IR in the preseason there are two that you can put the design to return on like the first 24 hours after the rosters are done so it's almost like two free roster spots so for purposes of this exercise I made Andrew Beck and Noah Brown I put them on IR with the designation that they can return so they're not going to be on my 53 but they will be on IR with a designation to return so they could possibly come back I think that I think they want they want a fullback we know that and I think they want Noah Brown on this team but they've both been so banged up in the preseason and you got to make a decision in the next two or three days so I'm doing this not knowing admittedly like this is what I have the least information on how how they are medically um I know Christian Harris is another one who's been banged up all at training camp I just think if Christian Harris is able so Christian Harris might be one of these guys too that they ir and so in that case I would be wrong on this and they'd have to make a decision on either back or brown but I'm doing for purposes of this exercise I'm making Noah Brown and Andrew Beck I designated to come back okay um and I and I think Harris I'm going to put on the 53 because if there's if you go on IR you can't come back for four weeks so if there's any chance that Christian Harris can play in weeks one through four I think you have to have him on the 53 he's just he's just that important so so I have him on the 53 so here's my 53 here we go I've got three quarterbacks stad Mills Keenum and I know there's a rule where you can put case on the practice squad and you can bring him up as the emergency quarterback every single week there's so many new wrinkles and rules I don't want to bog you guys down in that I just think they're going to put him on the 53 I think case is a veteran enough quarterback to where he's on your practice squad and some team needs a quarterback they might snag him so put him on the 53 then he's you know then he's he's doing all the 53 man things he's around CJ all the time he's like another coach out there so I just went ahead and put him on the 53 plus the 53 pays a lot more than the practice squad and I don't think you want to do case the disrespect of putting him you know like in my tax bracket I think he likes the tax bracket that he's in you know so um so that's three quarterbacks I've got four running backs on the team Joe Mixon darga M got Damen Pierce right now until otherwise notified I've got Damen Pierce on this roster for better or worse and I put cam Acres on there too I don't know anything else cam Acres could have done more to earn a roster spot on this team so I've got him making the team as the fourth running back which means there's some tough Cuts in that room which we'll get to at the end I don't have a fullback on this team right now since I put backck on IR designated to return I think they're just going to try to muet together with putting brevan Jordan and Kate Stover back there in certain situations and that in I formation when they got short yardage situations they're just gonna have to go okay we got a tight end we got I think Stover got the mentality to do it you know and the problem with Stover is he's still learning how to play tight end period let alone mixing in fullback responsibilities but I just think I think they're going to try to muck their way through it um maybe there's an outside chance they keep this Nick Boden character as a fullback I don't think they're keeping Troy Harriston as I just said I don't think you can keep Troy Harriston after that performance I I I don't want to beat a dead horse so I have no fullback on this team as of right now I think they're going to hybrid their way through that wide receiver Stefon Diggs tank Dell Nico Collins John mie Xavier Hutchinson I've got Robert Woods making this team in part because Noah Brown is on IR or will be in my world he's on IR I predict he will be and I've got Stephen Sims making it as the sixth and a half receiver um I think that's ultimately going to be the guy that's returning kicks for this team and certainly returning punts for this team and who knows maybe getting used he ran a 38- yard end round in the game yesterday so I've got Stephen Sims making the team a sort of a seventh receiver slash kick kick return specialist tight end is easy there's three of them Schulz Stover and Brevin Jordan I don't have tan curano making the team sorry pal you're just hurt way too much offensive line I've got nine of them I've got the starting five LT Kenyon juice sha Titus I've got Blake Fischer making the team and Jared Patterson making the team as backups Kendrick green as well as an interior and then I've got cam Irving making this team as well they brought him in he's a vet he plays tackle he plays guard um experienced guy so you got Fischer who's sort of the young guy who's your swing tackle but you got Irving there as sort of a backup insurance policy and um and there's a couple cuts there like Charlie heck just you know I think Charlie heck might wind up on ir and just stay in the building for the year that kind of thing um which you know that stinks he's he's been around a while now and he's played some swing tackles for this team but that's the nine so I've got nine offensive linemen making the team so that's a total I believe of 1 two 3 four five six seven plus seven is 14 plus let's see uh 15 16 17 plus nine offense I so I have 26 guys on the offensive side let's get Specialists out of the way that's easy that's three that's towns in at punter weeks at Long Snapper Kime Fair bear and kicker so we're up to 29 guys so I've got room for 24 guys on the defensive side of the football who will they be let's find out uh defensive line I've got denal Hunter Will Anderson Jr uh Derek Barnett Jerry Hughes fley fasi Mario Edwards khil Davis and Kurt hinish Kurt hinish was in Street close yesterday so I've got uh eight defensive linemen right now I think they they could add I could see them adding a a ninth I that that's a position where I could see them hanging on to somebody Ali gay was a really tough cut for me because they've been taking a good hard look at him and there some physical tools there I could very easily see them opting for Alig gay instead of a seventh Wide Receiver right that's where the competition is at this stage it's not Alig gay versus Kurt hinish it's Alig gay versus Stephen Sims you know for a back end of the roster but those are I've got eight defensive lineman so we're down to 16 more spots to fill linebacker Corner safety let's do this quickly I got to get to brunch linebacker aiz Elshire Christian Harris Henry toat TOA Neville huitt Jake Hansen and delhon Phillips these guys are all going to need to be on their toes if Christian Harris is still hurt there's a chance all these guys see some playing time at linebacker Hansen's at a really good camp as has hwit toah to's really made a leap I don't I'm not super comfortable with this position but these are guys who have had good camps and and in the case of toah TOA he's at least ascending so and aiz Al Shire I think has a chance to be a pro bowler this year there is that so six linebackers so I got 10 guys in the secondary here we go cornerback Derk Stingley Jr Kamari Lasser miles Bryant CJ Henderson and I put Mike Ford in there had a good game yesterday he's had some up and down moments of Camp it's not a deep cornerback room this is a position group that I could see whoever makes it don't get too comfortable because they're going to be looking at the waiver wire for guys I think quarterback is one of those positions I got Ford in there right now it wouldn't shock me if he makes the 53 and then he's gone by the next day because they find something better out there um safety Petri who's really kind of a nickel Corner he's sort of corner safety hybrid but safet got Petri Jimmy Ward kayin bulck Eric Murray MJ Stewart that's one of the easiest position groups to fill it's those five guys and then I don't think there's really any other question marks at safety toughest guts for me toughest cuts for me Alig gay jair Jordan British Brooks benonic those are the toughest Cuts in this process for me so there you go those are my 53 and just as I noticed I forgot to flip it to four losers I forgot to flip it to the 50 God and this is after I talked to Anthony hey man you got the graphics for me I can put 53 man roster put I'm the worst sorry about that Anthony yeah great graphics all made for me and I didn't even use them just said four winners at the bottom the whole time I suck God step your game up cool graphic in the background though right uh the Texans graphic all right I got to get out of here this went longer than I thought it would I told you guys I give this to you in bite-sized pieces and I'm five minutes over what I promised you so let's get out of here go have a great Sunday I'll have a mailbag for you on Tuesday after roster Cuts have a great weekend everybody appreciate you thanks for listening to the Utopia football podcast