Predicting Houston Texans 53-man Roster: Rosterology Pre-Traning Camp

First look at who is in line to make the Houston Texans roster in 2025

We. Are. Back.

The longest active article series here at Battle Red Blog enters its EIGHTH year of publication. The Texans are several weeks away from training camp and the 90-man roster is all but finalized.

The crafting of an NFL Roster has become more of a science than an art. With emergency QBs, larger practice squads, and shorter Injured Reserves (IR) stints, players can stick around the building more often than before.

The 2025 roster is arguably the deepest it’s been in years, making the 53-man cut both hard to predict and thrilling to track. In 2021 under David Culley, only about 40 players seemed worthy of a roster spot. This time, I count around 62 who could legitimately make the team.

For those who are new, this is based off the NCAA Basketball Tournament’s Bracketology. We will be posting this every other week all the way through preseason and before the August 26th roster cutdown date. So stick around throughout the offseason to see if your favorite player will make the team.

As a note, rookies are in bold and undrafted rookies are *italicized

Last Four In

Alijah Huzzie, CB
Trent Brown, OT
Tommy Togai, DT
British Brooks, FB/RB

First Four Out

Dare Ogumbowale, RB
John Metchie III, WR
Foley Fatukasi, DT
Jimmie Ward, S

Biggest Riser: Juice Scruggs

Scruggs rose in the ranks purely by virtue of the Texans clearing house on the offensive line. Houston chose to retool the offensive line with cheap veterans and an offensive tackle in the draft. Scruggs has the luxury to start at two positions in 2025. Even though his position is safe, a poor preseason could see him unseated by the quantity of options Houston has amalgamated.

Biggest Faller: Jimmie Ward

Mentioned on the Stock Down report in OTAs, no player had a worse offseason than Jimmie Ward. He is facing felony assault charges after a mid-June arrest. He will be 34 years old entering the last year of his contract. He is coming off foot surgery. Houston drafted two secondary players with safety experience in Jaylin Smith and Jaylen Reed. Houston found a star in Calen Bullock. Don’t be surprised if Houston cut ties with the old and expensive safety facing felony charges.

Offense (25)

Quarterbacks (2 + 1 emergency QB)

C.J. Stroud, Davis Mills

CUT: Graham Mertz (emergency QB), Kedon Slovis

Analysis: Mertz will challenge Mills for the backup role. However, it’s equally likely that the rookie will start the season on IR as he fully recovers from an ACL injury suffered last fall. Mertz’s progress from middling college QB to confident backup will be an intriguing multi-season development.