Players meet with coaches at an open practice for the Houston Texans on Aug. 16, 2018. HOUSTON – The Houston Texans made a flurry of roster moves on Saturday to reach the mandatory 53-man limit in front of the 3:00 p.m. central deadline. Some of the more surprising moves were already known, like releasing of Shane Lechler and waiving Braxton Miller and David Quessenberry. Among the surprises to make the initial roster, wide receiver Vyncint Smith, tight end MyCole Pruitt and cornerback Jermaine Kelly, Jr. Smith was an undrafted free agent from Limestone College, while Jermaine Kelly, Jr. was a seventh round selection in April's draft, but had been injured for much of training camp and the preseason. The team also elected to keep just two quarterbacks. Brandon Weeden is the backup to Deshaun Watson, while Joe Webb III was released. Fullback Jay Prosch was waived, meaning the team does not have a fullback on the roster. The team placed running back D'onta Foreman on the reserve/physically unable to perform list as he continues his recovery from his Achilles injury last season. That means Foreman will miss at least the first six games of the season. Ad Teams will be allowed to begin signing free agents on Sunday, so the current 53-man roster very likely will look different when the Texans hit the road for New England in the season opener on September 9th. Texans initial 53-man roster breakdown: OFFENSE (24) QB (2): Deshaun Watson, Brandon Weeden RB (4): Lamar Miller, Alfred Blue, Troymaine Pope, Tyler Ervin WR (6): DeAndre Hopkins, Will Fuller, Bruce Ellington, Keke Coutee, Sammie Coates, Vyncint Smith TE (4): Ryan Griffin, Jordan Akins, Jordan Thomas, MyCole Pruitt OL (8): Seantrel Henderson, Senio Kelemete, Nick Martin, Zach Fulton, Julie'n Davenport, Greg Mancz, Kendall Lamm, Martinas Rankin<doc-sep>HOUSTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 18: J.J. Watt #99 and Jadeveon Clowney #90 of the Houston Texans celebrate a play in the first quarter of their game against the Kansas City Chiefs at NRG Stadium on September 18, 2016 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Scott Halleran/Getty Images) The Houston Texans will have a lot of tough decisions to make to narrow down the roster to 53 players. It is now time for the Houston Texans to make their final decisions on who will stay and who will be asked to turn in their playbook for the defensive side of the ball and also for the special teams. The preseason is finally complete with the Texans going 3-1, but they still have some questions that need to be answered. One of those questions is which players are staying on the defensive side of roster? Listed below are predictions for which defensive players will be kept for the start of the regular season. Defensive Line (6) Defensive End: J.J. Watt, Christian Covington, Angelo Blackson, Carlos Watkins Nose Tackle: D.J. Reader, Brandon Dunn The Texans are a better team since they’ve improved their talent in the trenches. This is one of the deeper positions on the roster and the team could be losing out on an above average defensive rotational player. Joel Heath could easily be on this list but his health has been an issue in the past. Outside Linebackers (4) Jadeveon Clowney, Whitney Mercilus, Brennan Scarlett, Duke Ejiofor Not on a whole lot of surprise in this group as the Texans have plenty of quality depth at this spot. Ejiofor has played well enough as a rookie to beat out Ufomba Kamalu and Peter Kalambayi for the fourth and final roster spot. Inside Linebackers (5) Benardrick McKinney, Zach Cunningham, Dylan Cole, Brian Peters, Josh Keyes Another deep position group in the Texans defense are the inside linebackers. They have a lot of quality players at this position. Keyes seems to have beaten out Kennan Gilchrist for the fifth and final spot. He has proven he can play in a pinch for the defense and he has shown he can contribute on special teams. Cornerbacks (5) Jonathan Joseph, Kevin Johnson, Aaron Colvin, Kayvon Webster, Johnson Bademosi There aren’t any surprises in this group as well. Joseph was brought into the fold after being a free agent this offseason while Colvin, Webster and Bademosi were all brought during this offseason and were expected to make the team. The only player that is worth a flyer in the future is Andre Chachere as he has raised a few eyebrows throughout the preseason with his play. Safeties (5) Tyrann Mathieu, Kareem Jackson, Justin Reid, Kurtis Drummond, Treston Decoud The Texans are rolling will have almost an entirely new group of safeties on the roster with the exception of special teams ace, Drummond. Decoud beats out Corey Moore for the fifth and final roster spot. It’s a numbers game and the Texans have more invested in Decoud than Moore. Decoud is in his first year as a safety rather than Moore who is in his fourth year as a safety in the NFL. Special Teams (3): Punter: Trevor Daniel Long Snapper: Jon Weeks The biggest surprise on special teams is rookie punter Daniel beating Shane Lechler for the punting duties. O’Brien has told the media that there was a serious competition between both punters and Daniel has outplayed Lechler in the preseason. The experience could win out but Daniel has had a better preseason than Lechler.<doc-sep>Yesterday, the Texans announced their first 53-man roster of the 2018 season. Earlier today, they made some waiver claims. And now, finally, after we tracked it all day, Houston’s practice squad has been announced. Texans practice squad Andre Chachere, Davin Bellamy, Roderick Johnson, Kyle Fuller, Chad Slade, Darius Kilgo, Jester Weah, Matt Lengel — Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) September 2, 2018 You have seen the majority of these players earlier this summer playing meaningless preseason football. They made it through waivers. The vultures didn’t pluck these bones. And now these eight players will be scout team fodder, running opponents’ defenses and offenses, providing an aggressive look for the starters entering the week’s game. Surprisingly, the Texans cut Troymaine Pope and didn’t sign him to the practice squad. Now all there’s left to do is play some real actual football.<doc-sep>One of the two newcomers to the Lions 53-man roster, cornerback Dee Virgin is a player I know well. I covered Virgin during his time with the Houston Texans as my duties as the managing editor of brother site Texans Wire. Virgin made the Texans practice squad as an undrafted rookie from West Alabama. He showed enough promise to quickly sign a future/reserve deal with the team following the season. The 24-year-old Georgia native goes by Dee, but his actual name is Javaris. Here’s a summation of what I wrote about the 5-10, 205-pound corner and saw from the hirsute Virgin in his Houston days: Inconsistent This word came up in nearly every piece (I tagged him 14 times) where I mentioned Virgin, primarily from the summer of 2017 when he was fighting for a 53-man roster spot. It’s not one of those game-to-game inconsistencies where a player has a good week and isn’t so sharp the next. It’s play-to-play with Virgin. He’s capable of making a spectacular click-and-close deflection one play after failing to locate his receiver and getting juked out of his shoes for a big gain on a pedestrian out route. Penalty prone One game jumped to mind immediately when I saw Virgin’s name with Detroit. The Texans played the Panthers in the ’17 preseason and Virgin was given ample reps to try and prove himself. Instead, he was guilty of two accepted penalties on the same and a third (a hold) on the subsequent possession was declined because the receiver still caught the ball. When Virgin loses a step, he grabs on like a dog obsessed with a new chew toy. Closing speed The biggest asset he’s got is his straight-line closing speed with the ball in the air. Virgin is very quick to top speed and closes with a suddenness that Teez Tabor and Nevin Lawson can only dream about. He doesn’t always have the body control or ball recognition, but when he does it’s easy to see why Bob Quinn coveted Virgin. Solid tackler Virgin is not afraid to challenge runners and attack as a tackler. His angles aren’t always optimal but he fights and doesn’t stay blocked, something the Lions corners struggled with badly throughout the preseason. Virgin showed he can crash an edge and not overpursue, and he understands the leverage of the blocker pretty well. He can also play on coverage units, a requisite for depth players. The Texans do run a similar style of defense as the Patriots. Houston coach Bill O’Brien and defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel (and Mike Vrabel before him) are both Bill Belichick/Parcells disciples like Lions coach Matt Patricia. His schematic familiarity should help. However, the Texans’ biggest defensive weakness is cornerback and they were comfortable letting Virgin go two years in a row.<doc-sep>
HOUSTON, TX - AUGUST 18: Deshaun Watson #4 of the Houston Texans and Brandon Weeden #3 warm up before playing the San Francisco 49ers om preseason game during a preseason game at NRG Stadium on August 18, 2018 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images) The Houston Texans have a diverse set of talented players across multiple positions that have the potential to continue to play great in 2018. This 53-man Houston Texans roster prediction is more of what I believe will happen rather than what I want to happen. The final preseason game is Thursday against the Dallas Cowboys, and following the completion of that game the offensive roster will finally sort itself out. Here is a look at the 25 players who will stay on the 53-man roster on the offensive side of the football for the Texans and head coach Bill O’Brien. Quarterback (3) Deshaun Watson, Brandon Weeden, Joe Webb Watson and Weeden are definitely making the roster. An argument could be made of whether Webb is worth a roster spot with other strong competitions occurring throughout training camp, but Webb’s versatility across the board is valuable and aligns to O’Brien’s coaching philosophies. Running back (4) Lamar Miller, Alfred Blue, Tyler Ervin, Troymaine Pope It is no secret O’Brien loves his running backs. Despite some teams preferring to carry a maximum of three, O’Brien has always liked to carry a diverse set of running backs with specific traits. Some running backs are more diverse in the passing game meanwhile others can contribute on special teams. Miller is a multipurpose back who can carry the rock, catch the football out of the backfield, line up wide as a receiver or keep the quarterback clean in pass protection. Blue is a bruising, physical running back who can gain short yardage and wear down a defense with his big frame. His ability to play on special teams is also a plus. Ervin and Pope are receiving options that can contribute on special teams. Fullback (1) Jay Prosch Prosch has been with the team since he was drafted in the sixth round in the 2014 NFL Draft and his role hasn’t changed. Prosch is responsible to be a lead blocker for his running back and contribute on special teams. Nothing glamorous, just old fashioned football. Wide Receivers (5) DeAndre Hopkins, Will Fuller, Braxton Miller, Keke Coutee, Sammie Coates There are a diverse set of wide receivers that are capable of doing multiple assignments. Hopkins, Fuller and Miller can line up in all three positions at wide receiver. Coutee seems prime to take snaps at slot receiver. Coates is the wildcard in this group, as he offers the ability to return kicks on special teams and serve as the insurance vertical deep threat the Texans lacked in the past. The battle for the fifth and final spot will go down to the wire with Bruce Ellington and Coates. The reasoning with sticking with Coates is that the Texans have enough receivers capable of lining up in the slot, but not enough downfield threats like Fuller. Tight Ends (3) Ryan Griffin, Jordan Akins. Jordan Thomas No surprise in this group, they are taking the most experienced veteran into the regular season in Griffin. Akins and Thomas are both young promising rookies that bring much-needed athleticism to the position. Offensive Line (9) Tackles: Julien Davenport, Seantrel Henderson, Martinas Rankin, Kendall Lamm Guards: Senio Kelemete, Zach Fulton, Kyle Fuller Centers: Nick Martin, Greg Mancz There are no big surprises in this group other than Kendall Lamm and Kyle Fuller edging out the competition on the depth chart. Chad Slade has played both guard and offensive tackle throughout the preseason and was with the team in the later part of the season in 2017. David Quessenberry has played both guard spots and has shown the ability to play tackle in the past. This situation remains fluid and either one of the players listed could sneak into the roster with a good showing against the Cowboys on Thursday night.