HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610) -- It's Wednesday, and the Houston Texans have a well earned day off from practice, as the first four practices have involved pads, and the two outdoor practices in particular have involved some spirited banging around.
At least, as much banging around as you can have in practices that don't allow full-on tackling.
Battles for spots on the 53-man roster are shaping up. Honestly, it's hard to find a starting role on this team that isn't a lock already (or at least close to it).
The first string appears to be on lockdown, but some of the backup roles are up for grabs. Here are five that I'm watching right now, along with my view of who the leaders in the clubhouse are at each spot:
THIRD TIGHT END -- JORDAN THOMAS vs KAHALE WARRING
2019 was probably a year that BOTH of these guys would like to forget, as Thomas came in out of shape and dealt with injuries all year. Warring got banged up in training camp, and spent his rookie year on Injured Reserve.
Thus far in camp, it's been a TKO as for who has come back in 2020 to make a favorable impression, and it's Thomas. He's come back in tremendous condition, and has made several very athletic plays in practice and drills. Warring is always in great shape (he's sculpted like a Greek god), but he's only been in uniform for half the practices, and hasn't flashed at all yet.
KICK RETURNER/BACKUP SLOT WR -- DeANDRE CARTER vs KEKE COUTEE
Like Thomas and Warring, Coutee had a rough 2019. What started as a training camp last season where Coutee was thought to be a difference making weapon in the slot, ended as a season where Coutee was routinely scratched from the lineup.
Injuries were an issue again, but knowledge of the playbook was an inexcusable concern with Coutee in his second year.
Meanwhile, Carter was, frankly, just steadier than Coutee, although he made some mistakes in the return game that seem to get overlooked by some covering the team in conceding the return job to Carter in 2020, most notably the backbreaking fumble on a kickoff return in the playoff loss to Kansas City.
Whoever wins this battle will also be a backup in the slot to Randall Cobb, so upside at receiver must factor in. I like Carter as a person, his story is phenomenal (the dude was a substitute teacher two years ago!), but Coutee is the more tantalizing player right now.
BACKUP WIDE RECEIVER -- CHAD HANSEN vs STEVIE MITCHELL vs ISAIAH COULTER
With Will Fuller and Brandin Cooks getting practically no reps in 11-on-11 drills, it's opened up snaps WITH DESHAUN WATSON at quarterback for some guys who wouldn't otherwise get reps with the starting signal caller.
Early on, Hansen was making big strides, and Mitchell has made plays throughout camp (a couple of touchdowns in 11-on-11 drills). Add into the mix fifth-round rookie Isaiah Coulter, a young player who may have the best combination of physical traits of all these guys, and it shapes up as an interesting battle for a roster spot. I'm cautiously taking Hansen right now, with the other two getting stashed on the practice squad.
THIRD RUNNING BACK -- BUDDY HOWELL vs KARAN HIGDON
The Johnson Brothers (not related, full disclosure), Duke and David, have a virtual monopoly on the carries and catches out of the backfield, but there will need to be depth on this team at that position, for obvious reasons -- namely, it's the NFL, and injuries happen.
Right now, the two backs getting most of the non-Johnson work have been career special teamer Buddy Howell, whose running back resume in the NFL basically consists of an eyebrow raising 84-yard performance against the Lions last year in the preseason. His main competition, second-year RB Karan Higdon, had one of the roughest practices an individual player has had all camp, when he fumbled and was stopped twice at the goal line in 11-on-11 goal line drills.
Howell will make this team because of his special teams prowess, which may give him the third RB spot by default, or more likely, the Texans find a veteran RB in late free agency or after roster trim downs. (However, with COVID protocols, it does make it far more cumbersome on-boarding guys from outside of the organization.)
FINAL DEFENSIVE LINE SPOT -- CARLOS WATKINS vs ALBERT HUGGINS vs P.J. HALL
On the defensive side of the ball, it's hard to find any real hardcore position battles. For a defense that was 27th in DVOA last season, it appears that a lot of the spots are spoken for, and honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about that.
Nevertheless, the defensive line locks right now are J.J. Watt, Brandon Dunn, Angelo Blackson, Charles Omenihu, and rookie Ross Blacklock.
Typically, teams carry six defensive linemen (although the Texans broke camp in 2018 with seven). Right now, the battle for that last spot appears to be between Watkins (final year of his rookie deal, making some plays in camp), Albert Huggins (UDFA with the Texans last year, back this year), and P.J. Hall (former second-round pick of the Raiders in 2018, signed off the street last week). Hall needs to get his weight down before the Texans put him on the field (per O'Brien), so the other two guys are getting actual reps right now.
I'll go with Watkins based on the past three seasons of experience with defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, his position coach for his whole career.