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When: Sat. Aug. 14,
8pm ET
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Televised: Sun. Aug.
15, 1am ET NFL Network (Rebroadcast)
Moved from Mon. 8/15 ET at 1 am. Keep rechecking time &
date because NFL Net likes to move things around.
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Overview:
It's the first preseason game - most of the
attention will concentrate on position-battles, crispness of the
offense and overall unit cohesion. What most of us will want to know
are: jersey numbers and individual players we want to zero in on:
Previous Game:
Irrelevent (given all the roster-changes that
inevitably have occured during off-season and that "preseason games
don't count"). We'll skip this topic and various matchup topics this
time around and just list the rosters, numbers and basic player
info: Meet the Texans Quarterbacks
08 Schaub, Matt QB 6-5 241 Virginia 7th
07 Orlovsky, Dan QB 6-5 231 Connecticut 6th
10 Booty, John David QB 6-3 208 Southern California 2nd
We figure to see very little of Schaub before they look at their 2nd & 3rd units.
Running Backs
23 Foster, Arian * RB 6-1 229 Tennessee 2nd
20 Slaton, Steve RB 5-9 199 West Virginia 3rd
43 Tate, Ben * RB 5-11 220 Auburn 1st
27 Henry, Chris RB 5-11 234 Arizona 3rd
24 Johnson, Jeremiah RB 5-9 218 Oregon 1st
44 Leach, Vonta FB 6-0 263 East Carolina 7th
49 Corcoran, Jack * FB 6-1 234 Rutgers 1st
Coaches are still figuring out what role each RB will play in the Houston O. Keep an eye on Tate - he's a thumper with surprising speed for his size.
Wide Receivers
80
Johnson, Andre
WR 6-3 228 Miami (Fla.) 8th
11 Davis, André WR 6-1 195 Virginia Tech
9th 19 Dickerson,
Dorin * WR 6-2 230 Pittsburgh 1st
15
Williams, Bobby WR 6-4 215
North Alabama 1st
83 Walter, Kevin WR 6-3 218 Eastern Michigan 8th
12
Jones, Jacoby WR 6-2 214 Lane
College 4th 89
Anderson, David WR 5-10 193
Colorado State 5th
18 Crawford, London * WR 6-2 203 Arkansas 1st
16 Holliday, Trindon * WR 5-5 165 LSU
1st We doubt we'll be seeing much of
"All World" Johnson other than a big wide grin on his face now that
he's been extended. Dickerson and Biobby Williams have been singled
out by Kubiak as being pleasant surprises.
Tight Ends
85 Dreessen, Joel TE 6-4 243
Colorado State 5th
86 Casey, James * TE 6-3 238 Rice
University 2nd 88
Graham, Garrett * TE 6-3 241 Wisconsin 1st
82 Fine, Derek TE 6-3 247 Kansas 3rd
81 Daniels, Owen TE 6-3 243 Wisconsin
5th 87 Hill, Anthony
TE 6-6 277 N.C. State 2nd Graham's
their first round draft pick so we ecpect to see a lot of him.
(According to Kubiak, he's a tweener who's been "up & down" this
preseason). Casey has been wowing fans with one-handed catches. James
was a second rounder, so you can assume that TE had been a
position-of-need worth focusing on.
Offensive Line
76
Brown, Duane
LT 6-4 314 Virginia Tech 3rd
78 Butler, Rashad T 6-4 307 Miami (Fla.)
5th 68 Maneri, Steve
* T 6-6 272 Temple 1st
64 Studdard, Kasey LG 6-3 308 Texas 4th
65
Brisiel, Mike G 6-5 298
Colorado State 4th
55 Myers, Chris C 6-4 292 Miami (Fla.) 6th
74 Smith, Wade G/C 6-4 310
Memphis 8th
63 White, Chris C 6-2 295 Southern
Mississippi 5th
75 Helms, Brett C 6-2 303 LSU 1st
62 Caldwell, Antoine * RG 6-3
310 Alabama 2nd
71 Smith, Shelley * G 6-4 308 Colorado
State 1st 73
Winston, Eric RT 6-7 317 Miami (Fla.) 5th
79 Stenavich, Adam T 6-4 310 Michigan
1st 70 Pemberton,
Cole * T 6-7 313 Colorado State 1st
Not a lot of famous names on this unit. News of
the week is that the Texans are rotating guys to figure out who
(amongst a group of good linemen) fits where best.
Defensive Line
94 Smith, Antonio LDE 6-4 282
Oklahoma State 7th
93 Bulman, Tim DE 6-4 271 Boston College
6th 91
Okoye, Amobi
DT 6-2 283 Louisville 4th
92 Mitchell, Earl * DT 6-3 300 Arizona
1st 67 Sheppard,
Malcolm * DT 6-2 280 Arkansas 1st
60 Unrein, Mitch * DE-T 6-4 300 Wyoming
1st 95 Cody,
Shaun NT 6-4 306 Southern California 6th
97 Okam, Frank NT 6-5 346 Texas
3rd
66
Robinson, DelJuan NT 6-3 307
Mississippi State 3rd
90 Williams, Mario RDE 6-6 285 N.C.
State 5th
98 Barwin, Connor * DE 6-4 257 Cincinnati 2nd
72 Nading, Jesse DE 6-5 261 Colorado
State 2nd 99 Egboh,
Pannel DE 6-6 287 Stanford 1st
96 Jamison, Tim DE 6-3 275 Michigan 2nd
Deep, talented group. Former Cardinal
Smith anchors the left side. Williams, Okoye and Cody are no one to
sneeze at; nor are Okam or Barwin. Rookie Earl Mitchell is making a
name for himself.
Linebacker
56 Cushing, Brian SLB 6-3 259
Southern California 2nd
52 Adibi, Xavier LB 6-2 242 Virginia
Tech 2nd 61
Greenhouse, Isaiah * LB 6-2 234 Northwestern State 1st
59 Ryans, DeMeco MLB 6-1 252
Alabama 5th
57 Bentley, Kevin LB 6-0 247
Northwestern 9th 53
Clark, Danny LB 6-2 233 Illinois 10th
54 Diles, Zac WLB 6-2 240 Kansas
State 4th
51 Sharpton, Darryl * LB 5-11 244 Miami (Fla.) 1st
50 Bing, Darnell LB 6-2 232 Southern
California 3rd Cushing still lobbying the League to
shorten his suspension (performance-enhancing drugs). We're guessing
he can play in preseason games but not the first four games of
regular season. Still, it would make sense to give his
replacement(s) more playing time now in order to get them ready for
Game #1. Sharpton is a top rookie. 2nd year man Adibi was highly
regarded coming out of Va Tech a year ago but will be out a few
weeks due to injury. Bentley and Clark are expected to compete to
replace Adibi but Kubiak points out that they could shift around
guys like Sharpton and Diles.
Secondary
29 Quin, Glover LCB 6-0 203 New Mexico
2nd 28
Molden, Antwaun CB 6-2 198
Eastern Kentucky 3rd
35 Reeves, Jacques CB 5-11 188 Purdue
7th 38 Parson, Mark
CB 5-10 189 Ohio University 1st
25 Jackson, Kareem * RCB 5-10 197
Alabama 1st
41 McCain, Brice CB 5-9 185 Utah 2nd
32 Bennett, Fred CB 6-1 194 South
Carolina 4th 22
McManis, Sherrick * CB 6-1 195 Northwestern 1st
31
Pollard, Bernard
SS 6-1 228 Purdue 5th
34 Barber, Dominique S 6-0 212 Minnesota
3rd 42 Williams,
Torri * S 6-2 209 Purdue 1st
26 Wilson, Eugene FS 5-10 193
Illinois 8th
33 Nolan, Troy S 6-2 207 Arizona State
1st 39 Polk,
Nicholas * S 5-11 218 Indiana 1st Other than Eugene
Williams, we don't know much about these guys (which either suggests
their weakness or our ignorance). One thing we did pick up was that
this unit - especially Jackson - is known for its physical
run-support.
Special Teams
03 Brown, Kris K 5-11 214 Nebraska 12th
04 Rackers, Neil K 6-1 210 Illinois 11th
46 Weeks, Jon LS 5-10 255 Baylor 1st
01 Turk, Matt P 6-5 248 Wisc.-Whitewater
14th It will be strange to see Rackers in an enemy uni.
Turk is an ancient veteran.
Cardinal Roster (Nicked players in
Olive).
QB - 07 Leinart, 03 Anderson, 19 Skelton, 06 Hall
RB -
34 Hightower, 26, Wells,
31 Wright, 36 Stephens-Howling (KR/PR),
46 A. Smith
FB - 32 Broughton, 45
Mauwia
WR - 15
Breaston, , 80 Doucet
, 12 Roberts, Komar, 85 Mougey
WR -11 Fitzgerald, 17 O Jones, 16 Gant,
18, 14 S Williams,
TE -
89 Patrick, 84 Becht, 83 Spach, , 86 Byrd,
81 Dray
LT- 75 L Brown,
73
Bridges,
69
Knips 61
Tyler? ,
LG-
66
Faneca, 70 Hadnot, ,
68 Pestock
OC- 63 Sendlein,
62 Claxton, 60
Moosman,
(70 Hadnot)
RG-74
Wells, 76
Lutui,
66 Palmer
RT
72 Keith, 67 H
Johnson,
(69
Knips) Lots of attention will be devoted to Leinart and
"whether he looks ready." Expect lots of fan scrutiny on his backup
(& possible challenger) Anderson plus the youngsters (Hall and
Skelton) - one of whom figures to make the roster and the other
destined for the PS if he can escape waivers. The WR battle figures
to be a doozy, with fan-focus sure to be on Williams and Roberts
along with former PS'ers O Jones and Gant. With all kind of
position-switches and newcomers on the O-line, we'll be checking out
both individual players and unit-cohesion. Can Levi play LT? Does
Faneca struggle in pass pro? Is Keith ready for prime time? What
about the new guy Hadnot? (We also want to see what Moosman's got).
We'll be missing three guys on TE, so don't expect to see a lot from
that position.
DE - 93 Campbell, 79 Iwebema,
71 Clark
NT - 97 B Robinson, 98 Watson,
92 D Williams
DT - 90 Dockett, 78 Branch,
73 Dykes
OLB1 - 55 Porter,
52 C Brown, 57
Baggs, 48Schofield,
ILB 51
Lenon, 58
D Washington,
43 C Johnson
,
,
ILB- 50 Beisel, 95 Togafau,
56 Walker, 54 Hayes
OLB2
- 53
Haggans,
59
W Davis,
96
M Washington
RCB -
37 McBride,
28
Toler, 47 J Miller,
21 Calvin,
LCB-
29 Rodgers-Cromartie,
27 Adams,
30 M Green,
20 Jefferson,
39 Ford,
SS- 24 Wilson,
22 Ware,
41 Abdullah,
40
Tillman
FS- 25 Rhodes,
49 Rash Johnson,
35
Rouse
Of course we're
looking forward to seeing how much butt Calais, Nine-Oh and our NT's
can kick (& how our late-arriving top draft pick looks at NT). But
more important, we want to see how we look at ILB (& who, if anybody
steps up - including our 2nd round pick, D Washington). We don't
expect to see #55 (Joey) see any more than minimal action, but we've
got to find out what we've got to bolster the outside - especially
the kid from Canada (Baggs) and the two picks from a year ago (Will
Davis and Cody Brown). We also have to come up with answer at CB
opposite (& backing up) DRC. Although the battle appeared to be
between smallish vet Trimaine McBride and DRC -like GregToler,
McBride's been nicked up and we may see a lot of Greg. But we're
especially interested in what the rookies and newbies (Calvin,
Jefferson, Ford etc.) can bring. At safety, we suspect - with the
exception of the one CB spot - we won't be seeing a whole lot of
action from our first untiwe've been hearing good things about
Johnson; how does he look. Abdullah may be sidelined. We wonder if
former Giant Rouse can do more than just fill a spot.
K-04
Feely
P- 05 B
Graham,
H - 05 B Graham
LS-
82 Leach
KR -
15 Breaston,
37. Stephens-Howling
PR -
15 Breaston
Few if any
questions need to be answered at K or P (Graham belongs in the Pro
Bowl and CW is that Feely will be better than Rackers was). Two key
issues here will be (1) who returns punts and kickoffs (especially
if it's felt protecting Breaston - stepping up to be our #2 WR
- isa concern) and (2) return-coverage (usually this part of
thegame is addressed & finalized later in preseason).
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