The Texans beat the New Orleans Saints 17-13, putting a cap on the NFL’s preseason in primetime on Sunday night.
Did any Texans solidify roster spots with their performances Sunday night?
We won’t know officially until Tuesday afternoon at 3 p.m. CT when rosters have to be trimmed down to 53 from 90.
Here are a few observations from the preseason finale:
Texans Inactives:
Texans second-round receiver John Metchie III did not dress out Sunday night. The former Alabama standout played sparingly in the two previous games, catching two of his three targets for 10 yards.
Fullback Andrew Beck missed Sunday's game for personal reasons. Right tackle Tytus Howard, OT Charlie Heck, LB Blake Cashman, DT Roy Lopez, DT Thomas Booker, DE Chase Winovich, CB Brandon Hill, TE Brevin Jordan, and LB Christian Kirksey also did not dress.
CJ Stroud’s 2-4 in the preseason finale looked a helluva lot better than his first 2-4 did in his NFL preseason debut three weeks ago.
Stroud connected with Dalton Schultz on a 3rd-and-2 to keep the drive alive on his second series before finding Nico Collins in the end zone for his first professional touchdown pass, a three-yard pass to give the Texans a 7-0 lead.
That 2nd drive was nice and there wasn’t anything sexy about it. Just good execution.
Well-placed balls from Stroud to Schultz, Collins, good blocking by the offensive line, particularly fullback Dalton Keene.
It was a wrap after that. Stroud finished 2-4 for 16 yards and a touchdown. He looked comfortable, cool in the pocket and his ball placement was near perfect.
DeMeco Ryans officially named him the starter following the game.
It appears the Texans former 15th-overall draft pick in last years NFL draft, left guard Kenyon Green is officially on notice. He did not start with the first team Sunday night, the Texans opted for Michael Dieter instead.
“Dieter has done a really good job all camp, he deserved reps, we wanted to see him in with the first group,” Ryans said after the game.
Green got run with the second unit when Davis Mills came in for the third offensive series. He was driven backward nearly five yards on his second snap. He wound up hurting his left hand after Saints DT Bryan Bresee beat him on a spin move, in route to sacking Mills. Green appears in position to start the season on the bench.
Meanwhile, here were the starters for the Texans:
Offensive starters:
Stroud(QB), Pierce(RB), Collins(WR), Scruggs(C), Dieter(LG), Tunsil(LT), Mason(RG), Fant(RT), Keene(FB), Woods(WR), Brown(WR).
Defensive starters:
Hughes(DE), Hinish(DT), Ridgeway(DT), Greenard(DE), To’oTo’o(LB), Hanson(LB), Pitre(S), Hollman(CB) Ward(S), King(NC), Griffin(CB).
It doesn’t appear that this has been a part of the plan, but tight end Dalton Keene played fullback again for the Texans, and think I liked it.
The only fullback on the active roster Andrew Beck had to miss Sunday for a personal matter and Keene got the start. He executed a perfect block, opening up a big gap for Dameon Pierce to run through on the second offense series, setting up the Stroud touchdown pass to Collins. He’s also a plus-player on special teams.
This could be a horrible take by the time Tuesday afternoon (rosters trimmed to 53 by 3pm CT) rolls around, but I could see the Texans rolling with a two-man tight end room with Beck and Keene as hybrid tight end/fullbacks. However, I do like Eric Tomlinson for the third tight end as well. Keene may end up being a practice squad guy.
Tank Dell didn’t get one rep with the first-team offense. He did see one target in which he was overthrown by Mills. I’m guessing the Texans have seen enough of him and didn’t want to put much else on film for the Baltimore Ravens or the rest of the league for that matter.
However, the former University of Houston standout did showcase his return ability on the punt team, returning the Saints second punt of the game for 26-yards, setting up the 6-play 43-yard touchdown drive that Stroud led.
Juice Scruggs continued to look like the answer at the center position. The Texans' sixth-round pick, Jarrett Patterson took over on the second series and was doing a solid job until he got hurt on the second playing the team's third series. He returned to the game after being checked out by trainers.
Fighting for a roster spot and maybe more motivated by the recent pick up of cornerback Cam Dantzler, Shaq Griffin looked damn good in coverage Sunday night.
He finished with three tackles and a pass break up but looked like he hurt himself while covering on punt team.
Meanwhile, Dantzler who had only been in camp with the Texans for the past five days, finished with three tackles, a pass break up and sealed the win with a game-ending interception.
Ka’dar Hollman had a productive finale as well as he’s looking to crack the 53-man roster. He was really good in coverage and tallied three pass breakups on the night.
Dameon Pierce did Dameon Pierce things. He finished with 30-yards on five rushing attempts and a hateful run on the Texans touchdown drive.
It’s always nice when one of the fan favorites does big things in front of a national audience. The Texans won’t have many of those opportunities this season, but if people weren’t familiar with the fourth-round pick out of Florida before, Pierce might’ve gotten their attention now.
Christian Harris and Ka’dar Hollman had a tough go of things against Saints tight end Jimmy Graham on their touchdown drive in the first half. It was a couple of really good catches by Graham.
It was more surprising to see Graham on a football field doing football things after his strange behavior last week.
Xavier Hutchinson had four catches for 48 yards, including a 24-yard reception from quarterback EJ Perry to set up a Mike Boone touchdown run. Hutchinson has had a good camp, if he shows he can consistently be trusted in the pass game and be a serviceable blocker, he should see some opportunities this season to make plays.
Mike Boone looked good through contact. I like that dude. He’s been the third running back and confirmed that on Sunday night.
It stinks that Steven Sims didn’t get work earlier. He ran some good routes from what I could tell but Mills gave him no chance.
Jon Weeks is a hustling son-of-a-gun. He created the opportunity for Alex Bachman’s recovery on a Texans punt in the fourth-quarter. However, the Texans didn’t get to keep the ball because replay showed Hutchinson ran into the Saints return man before he had an opportunity to catch the ball.