After 24 hours of potential Houston Texans staring at their phones, hoping against hope that the phone would NOT ring (NOTE: If you’re getting cut, the team calls you to tell you.), on Tuesday afternoon, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans and GM NIck Caserio settled on the 53 man roster for your hometown squad. Odds are that one or two of these spots will turn over before the end of the week, once the other 31 teams have made their cuts, and the Texans can sift through the recyclables.
For now, here is the Texans’ 53 man roster:
QB (3): C.J. Stroud, Davis Mills, Graham Mertz
RB (5): Nick Chubb, Dameon Pierce, Woody Marks, Dare Ogunbowale, British Brooks
FB (0):
WR (7): Nico Collins, Christian Kirk, Jayden Higgins, Xavier Hutchinson, Jaylin Noel, Braxton Berrios, Justin Watson
TE (2): Dalton Schultz, Cade Stover
OL (9): Aireontae Ersery, Laken Tomlinson, Jake Andrews, Ed Ingram, Tytus Howard, Cam Robinson, Blake Fisher, Juice Scruggs, Jarrett Patterson
DE (5): Will Anderson, Danielle Hunter, Darrell Taylor, Derek Barnett, Dylan Horton
DT (5): Tim Settle, Mario Edwards, Sheldon Rankins, Foley Fatukasi, Tommy Togiai
LB (6): Azeez Al-Shaair, Christian Harris, Henry To’o To’o, E.J. Speed, Jake Hansen, Jamal Hill
CB (4): Derek Stingley, Kamari Lassiter, Jaylin Smith, Tremon Smith
S (4): Calen Bullock, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, M.J. Stewart, Jalen Pitre
Spec (3): Tommy Townsend, Ka’imi Fairbairn, Austin Brinkman
Here are a few thoughts on what went down on Tuesday morning and early afternoon:
British Brooks makes the team AGAIN
On my final version of the team’s 53 man roster prediction over the weekend, I had the team retaining Jakob Johnson as the hybrid fullback type. I was wrong. On Tuesday, the team cut Johnson and, for the second straight season, chose to keep Broooks on the 53 man roster. I should have seen this one coming. Brooks’ 2024 season did not end due to poor performance. It ended due to a season ending knee injury. Every time Brooks had a chance to show off in the preseason, he did just that, including big hits on special teams. With Joe Mixon out for four weeks, there is a chance Brooks factors into the running game in the first month of the season, and beyond.
After trade rumors swirling, Nick Caserio did pull off a deal
Throughout my radio show on Tuesday morning, there were multiple reports out there that the Texans were shopping veteran left tackle Cam Robinson in trade talks, possibly with the Chargers and Falcons, two teams that have lost starting tackles for the season due to injury. It appears that rookie Aireontae Ersery is going to start at left tackle for the Texans, so trading Robinson would have been justified. In the end, the team held onto Robinson, and somehow managed to pilfer a seventh round pick in 2027 from the Chargers for Austin Deculus, who was probably going to get cut.
Jimmie Ward will head to the Commissioner’s Exempt List, due to his legal troubles
Jimmie Ward’s legal situation is messy right now, to say the least. There are still open criminal charges against him in Montgomery County for domestic abuse involving the mother of his three year old child. Additionally, she has filed a civil lawsuit against Ward, with Tony Buzbee (remember him, Texan fans?) representing her. The Commissioner’s Exempt List is essentially a holding tank, where Ward is unable to practice or play, but still gets paid, while the league gathers information and the legal saturations play out. It’s not unexpected, but it’s also not ideal, for a team needing safety depth.
If there’s one area of the team where Caserio is shopping around, it’s probably the secondary
As of the final Tuesday 53-man roster, the Texans are sitting on just eight defensive backs — four cornerbacks and four safeties, with Jalen Pitre, who kind of does a little of everything, listed as a safety. Most teams carry at least nine defensive backs. I’m not surprised they only have eight, because the names beyond those on the roster were unimpressive. I do believe that the team will be active on the waiver wire at corners and safety.
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