2010 Preseason
HOUSTON @ CARDINALS PREVIEW

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).