Okay, it’s coming down to the wire in the 2025 NFL preseason, with the deadline for teams to whittle their rosters down to 53 players set for a week from now, 3 p.m. Central Time on Tuesday, August 26. If you’re on the bubble to make the Houston Texans’ 53-man roster, you’ve got a few practices this weekend, including a joint practice with the Lions, and the game in Detroit this Saturday to make a final statement.
So with about 80 percent of the hay in the barn, let’s try to predict what the roster looks like come Tuesday afternoon next week. Here is the third version of my 53-man roster projection for the Texans for Week 1 of the 2025 NFL season:
QUARTERBACK (2): C.J. Stroud, Davis Mills
This is one of the easier positions to project. Kedon Slovis and rookie Graham Mertz are battling to make the practice squad, and the right to be the emergency QB on Sundays.
RUNNING BACK (3): Nick Chubb, Woody Marks, Dare Ogunbowale
This 53-man roster presumes that Joe Mixon will not be ready to start the season, and will be placed on one of the reserve lists that will force him to miss the first four games. This also buys some time for the Texans to alleviate the logjam of capable bodies in this room. For now, the locks are the vet Chubb, the rookie Marks, and the do-a-bit-of-everything Ogunbowale.
WIDE RECEIVER (5): Nico Collins, Christian Kirk, Jayden Higgins, Jaylin Noel, Xavier Hutchinson
The first four names here have been locks since the start of camp. Hutchinson has played his way into the “lock” group with an outstanding, upward trajectory of a training camp.
TIGHT END (2): Dalton Schultz, Cade Stover
This was one of the easier positions to figure out before Brevin Jordan suffered a torn ACL. Now, it’s a battle to round out this room between Irv Smith, newly acquired Harrison Bryant and hybrid fullback Jakob Johnson.
OFFENSIVE LINE (6): Aireontae Ersery, Laken Tomlinson, Jake Andrew’s, Ed Ingram, Tytus Howard, Cam Robinson
The starting offensive line for most of the last two weeks, plus Robinson are the only locks. Everyone else is battling it out this final week before cuts.
DEFENSIVE LINE (6): Will Anderson, Danielle Hunter, Darrell Taylor, Mario Edwards, Tim Settle, Sheldon Rankins
Denico Autry, like Mixon, begins the season on the reserve/PUP list in my world, The six guys listed here are stone cold locks on the most dominant position group on the team.
LINEBACKER (3): Azeez Al-Shaair, Henry To’o To’o, Christian Harris
This is one of the deeper rooms on the team, in terms of deserving players to keep on the roster. Harris has practiced very little in this camp, as the team is playing it super cautious with his calf injury, but he is a lock to make the team.
CORNERBACK (4): Derek Stingley, Kamari Lassiter, Jalen Pitre, Jaylin Smith
The top two are the best cornerback duo in the league. Pitre gets placed here, but truthfully, he could count as a linebacker or as a safety. Smith, a third round rookie, has had a nice camp and got an interception against the Panthers on Saturday.
SAFETY (3): Calen Bullock, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, M.J. Stewart
Bullock and Gardner-Johnson are one of the better safety duos in the NFL, and Stewart is sort of the defense’s answer to Ogunbowale on offense, a guy you go to in a pinch on that side of the ball, but whose main purpose is special teams.
SPECIALISTS (3): Tommy Townsend, Ka’imi Fairbairn, Austin Brinkman
No analysis needed here, other than “I miss Jon Weeks.”
OFFENSE: 18 players
DEFENSE: 16 players
SPECIALISTS: 3 players
Okay, let’s fill out the rest of this roster:
38. Dameon Pierce, RB
I am not nearly as bullish as some are that Pierce is a cinch to make the roster. When was the last time he played consistently good running back for this team? 2022? But they love Pierce in the building, and putting Mixon on the back burner for the first month allows the team a chance to kick the can that is Pierce’s fate down the road. I could still see him getting traded in the preseason.
39. Justin Watson, WR
40. Braxton Berrios, WR/KR
I think the Texans like Watson’s championship experience, and Berrios has had a really good camp. This would give the Texans seven receivers, but they did the same thing last season, with Steven Sims embedded in a return role. This would be a similar scenario with Berrios playing the 2024 Sims role.
41. Harrison Bryant, TE
The Texans had multiple offers for Metchie, so I’m guessing there’s a reason they took this one. They see a good fit in Bryant.
42. Jarrett Patterson, C/G
43. Juice Scruggs, G/C
44. Blake Fisher, T
DeMeco Ryans says they will take nine offensive linemen into the regular season, so here are the final three — Patterson, who’s started several games in two seasons, and two former, recent second round picks in Scruggs and Fisher.
46. Derek Barnett, DE
47. Dylan Horton, DE
48. Foley Fatukasi, DTOne of the tougher cuts for me was DE Solomon Byrd, who has played well in camp, and in both preseason games.
49. Jake Hansen, LB
50. E.J. Speed, LBJake Hansen refuses to die. E.J. Speed has been a heat-seeking missile the last ten days or so. He really found his stride in West Virginia.
51. Jaylen Reed, S
52. D’Angelo Ross, CBReed is a rookie who flashed big time before suffering a soft tissue injury. I think he makes the team, and for now, I’ll include Ross, who is ripe to be replaced quickly by a waiver wire pick up.
53. Jakob Johnson, FB/TE
This final spot came down to LB Nick Niemann, LB Jamal Hill, DT Tommy Togiai, DE Solomon Byrd, and CB Damon Arnette. Instead, I chose the one guy who can play fullback for a team that intends to run the football and establish a physical identity..
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