Battle Red Blog
The final Houston Texans preseason game is here! Today, the Texans team has traveled up north to face the Detroit Lions, one of the most formidable opponents in the NFC. Houston hosted Detroit during the 2024 regular season, with Detroit coming away with a 26-23 win thanks to a game-winning field goal in the final seconds. This was one of the most gut-wrenching losses of the ‘24 season, so vengeance even in the preseason is more than welcome!
For those athletes that will be suiting up and taking the field today, this final preseason game is the culmination of years of effort to make an NFL active roster. Despite the preseason stage, emotions will be running extremely high on the field as players on the fringes of their team’s roster perform in front of the heavy eyes of front office decision-makers. For both teams, competition for the final spots on the 53-man roster will be even more cutthroat since both the Texans and Lions are overflowing with talent. An overabundance of professional-grade players is a good problem to have, but it makes the judgement calls made by Texans brass, head coach DeMeco Ryans, and general manager Nick Caserio that much more challenging. Great players are going to be cut come August 26th, some that will appear in today’s game, but many other worthy players will make it onto the final roster thanks to today’s performances and the moment on stage it provides.
For the Texans, there are several difficult decisions to be made related to cutting players in both the skill position groups and along both lines. Out of the many preseason Texans players currently on the bubble, seven stand out to me as especially intriguing while tensions come to a climax in the finale. These players have made impact plays for Houston in the past, but remain on the cusp of losing their spot on the team. They are:
Honorable Mentions: C Eli Cox, WR Justin Watson, DT Kurt Hinish
Journeyman tight end Irv Smith Jr. has had a great preseason with the Texans so far, becoming a favorite target of soon-to-be third string quarterback Kedon Slovis. But, that might end up being a moot point after Houston traded WR John Metchie to the Philadelphia Eagles for TE Harrison Bryant. Bryant, like Smith, has bounced around a few teams in his professional career, but both have made impact plays as blockers and receivers in the past, so Smith’s spot on the roster may be in jeopardy now that Bryant has arrived and brings similar traits to the team.
The decision on whether to cut either Irv Smith Jr. or Harrison Bryant has probably already been...
