Evaluations give way to a game of numbers
Even when roster is cut to 53 players, flexibility necessary for Brown, Strong
During the chaos created by Hurricane Harvey, Texans general manager Rick Smith and coach Bill O’Brien kept family first and football second.
Now that the players have returned to their families in Houston and some are digging out of the muck and others are helping in the relief effort, Smith and O’Brien can focus on football.
Each has a specific responsibility.
Smith, with O’Brien’s assistance, oversees the roster reduction from 90 to 53. The deadline is 2 p.m. Saturday.
O’Brien oversees the preparation for the first game of regular season Sept. 10 against Jacksonville at NRG Stadium.
By canceling the last preseason game against the Dallas Cowboys, the Texans missed one last opportunity to evaluate players trying to earn the final roster spots.
But let’s be realistic. Smith and his personnel staff and O’Brien and his assistant coaches should know who’s going to be on the roster after the offseason program, training camp, joint practices against New England and New Orleans and three preseason games.
The players who’ll be waived missed a chance to put one more game on tape for possible employment with other teams.
Once the cuts are made and players clear waivers, the Texans can sign 10 players to their practice squad. Most or all will be players who have been with the team.
Also, the Texans will be on the lookout for players from other teams they believe can help them, so the 53 will have to be flexible.
Question marks
The roster will require some manipulation.
There hasn’t been a Duane Brown sighting since last season. Brown, the left tackle who’s entering his 10th season and is the team’s best offensive lineman, is unhappy with a contract that has two years remaining.
If Brown fails to report, he won’t count against the roster, but it’ll cost him about $553,000 a week over 17 weeks of regular season.
If Brown doesn’t return, the Texans’ four tackles will be veterans Kendall Lamm, Breno Giacomini, Chris Clark and rookie Julién Davenport.
Receiver Will Fuller is still recovering from surgery to repair a broken collarbone. Teams are able to activate two players from injured reserve this season. Fuller is expected to be one of them.
Fuller plays a position that has been decimated by injuries this season. Now the Texans have to do something about receiver Jaelen Strong’s one-game suspension.
They could keep a receiver like Dres Anderson on the roster to make him available for the Jacksonville game, then move him to the practice squad when Strong returns for the second game — at Cincinnati on a Thursday night.
Another question on offense involves the severity of Alfred Blue’s high ankle sprain. Blue is a hardnosed back with a high pain threshold, but high ankle sprains are difficult to play with, especially for a running back.
There’s no need to rush back Blue because the Texans are deep at his position. If he’s going to miss a few games and they elect to carry him on the roster, that will give them five backs among the 53.
Or, perhaps they’ll count Tyler Ervin as a receiver. Ervin is a running back who can line up at any receiver position. He could give them a fifth receiver and a fifth back.
Quarterback and tight end are the only positions set on offense. Injuries figure into the equation at the other offensive positions.
Sacred final spot
If Smith keeps three quarterbacks, three tight ends, five backs, four receivers (counting Ervin but not Strong for the opener) and 10 linemen, that would give them 25 on offense.
The Texans could have 24 on defense with six linemen, nine linebackers and nine in the secondary.
And three specialists would make it 52, leaving one spot.
Some of the position coaches would howl for that extra spot.
Perhaps that roster spot would be taken by an offensive lineman, a linebacker or a member of the secondary.
Keep this in mind: When decisions are made, most in backup roles usually have to produce on special teams.
john.mcclain@chron.com twitter.com/mcclain_on_nfl