The cuts, final roster, practice squad 2015
 

Thought this was worth a new thread.

So far I'm hearing (cut):

Louis Nix III
Kenny Hilliard
Brandon Deaderick
Damaris Johnson
James Ferentz
Max Bullough

PS is still an option for some of these....

I've also seen reported (not verified):

Tevita Finau
Kourtnei Brown
Matt Feiler
Corey Moore

I hope Brown isn't cut. We have not shown the ability to make plays at OLB and he did.

Nix being gone is the right thing to do even if drafting him was the wrong thing. Move on before he costs us anything else.

EZ Nwachukwu
Lonnie Ballentine (reported "swelling in knee" - possible IR?)

I think an early cut for some of these guys improves their chances of being 1st additions to the practice squad....

SportsRadio 610 ‏@SportsRadio610 49s49 seconds ago
#Texans are reportedly in discussions for @Broncos RB Montee Ball >>> http://cbsloc.al/1XrmMOW

Walter Cherepinsky ‏@walterfootball 46s47 seconds ago
Sources: #Texans RB Arian Foster to miss about 3 games. Fantasy Football stock report updated - http://walterfootball.com/fantasy2015trainingcamp.php …

The Texans 53-man roster is set

A bunch of these will end up on the PS....

Set, for now at least.

I'd bet there are 3-4 moves to come.

Can't believe that Keyshawn Martin made the initial 53.

Interesting..... the Texans had 3 UDFA's make the team:

63 Lamm, Kendall T 6-6 305 23 R Appalachian State
65 Mancz, Greg C 6-4 301 23 R Toledo
44 Thompson, Carlos OLB 6-5 243 23 R Mississippi

I saw some promise from the 2 offensive linemen.... not so much from Thompson but it looks like he has good size...

My bubble players would have been different.... I would have dropped Eddie Unpleasant and Keyshawn "La Cucaracha" Martin among others.... Oh well...

The roster

Probably no one else on Texans ever volunteers for hard knocks hilites sgain. Brutal on those guys we got to know.

I honestly don't see any surprises here.

It's almost as if an entire recent draft's worth of players were completely ineffective.

Oh wait, the 2014 Texans draft. These cuts would have been much more painful and possibly surprising had the 2014 draft been worth a darn.

For the most part, save for QB, the starters (when healthy) on this team are decent, and on defense they are actually contenders. But the lack of depth all over is troublesome.

I presume they will sign a 3rd quarterback, perhaps one for the practice squad, and just IR Savage.

Cut by Texans, Louis Nix claimed by Giants, Kourtnei Brown to Buccaneers, Ferentz to Broncos.

Aaron Wilson ‏@AaronWilson_NFL · 1m1 minute ago
Cut by Texans, cornerback Charles James joins Ravens' practice squad http://blog.chron.com/ultimatetexans...ractice-squad/ …

Texans’ practice squad includes Zac Dysert, Max Bullough, Chandler Worthy, Kurtis Drummond, Kenny Hilliard

I'm surprised they cut Brown, somewhat surprised they cut James. I thought Brown played well enough and showed enough promise to at least keep him on the roster and see if he develops. James seemed to be a good ST player and could provide spot duties at CB if in a bind. I would have gambled KMart's spot and/or the now available 3rd QB spot for either of those guys.

As it is, I'm surprised a lot of these guys are deciding to sign with other teams. I know these are fringe players, but could there be something more to it (like BOB is a complete arse away from the HBO cameras)?

Vic Carucci ‏@viccarucci 3m3 minutes ago
Hearing #Bills offered a better deal to Matt Cassel than #Texans w bonus structure that could potentially recoup most of lost pay.

I wondered about this, too. Might be one or more of these:

1. That yep, OB is a complete arse away from the cameras. These guys may have been led on or promised something right up until the day they were cut.

2. The players may have realized that signing with the Texans PS was a dead end. Could be a coach (for example, Vrabel seems somewhat difficult to work with) or the depth at their position that may have encouraged them to seek employment elsewhere.

3. I believe PS guys can make more than the minimum. If a team offers you say, 10K more to be on their PS, you probably take it. Plus, it's nice to feel wanted.

4. The Hard Knocks factor. These guys got excellent exposure to the other 31 teams which allowed them to be showcased league wide. Along with James, Nix and Brown who cut bait, I think EZ is now on the Dolphin PS. So, that's (at least) four who migrated to another team which has to be a Texans record....

Yeah, I'm sure there is more to it than just BOB being an arse.

I forgot about Ferentz (Broncos) so that's 5 migrations. I was actually somewhat pleased to see him (Ferentz) go - letting him hang around always smelled of "buddy move" to me...

James signed with the Ravens. The DBs ahead of him there have major injury history increasing his chances of making the 53. These guys who are trying to catch on a roster will do anything to make it. They don't care if coach is nice, they care if they make the NFL.

Nix and Brown were claimed thru waivers. They didn't have much choice.

James probably saw the depth in Bmore vs Houston, and figured he'd have a better chance to get a game check with them. EZ as well.

Doh! You're right. I believe Ferentz was also waiver wire....

Still, I can't recall a year where Texans have been "raided" so much... mostly due to Hard Knocks, I suspect...

The idea that the Texans coaches are difficult is absurd to me. Other than Seattle every other team in the league has coaches that are verbally extremely demanding, who get in your face, yell, curse, etc. Even palm licker was and is like that away from the cameras.

So if players don't like being coached they can go to Seattle and participate in meditation sessions or they can play croquet on the lawn of an old folks' home.

Losing pretty good players that our guys have cut is surely a sign that the Texans are turning the corner in terms of talent. We still need a quarterback and the OL depth is bad but we're getting to the point where most of the Texans starters would start for any good team.

FWIW -
Field Yates ‏@FieldYates 5m5 minutes ago
Source: DT Louis Nix failed his physical with the Giants. He goes back to the waiver system.

What a joke that guy is. Imagine having NFL talent but being far too stupid to do anything with it.

I wonder who among the Texans wanted that loser. The more I see of Rick Smith the more I realize he's just a guy who sits in an office and looks out the window. I don't see him deciding what color Kool-Aid he wants with his lunch much less anything having to do with real football decisions.

You have a point - especially with the younger players. When Vrabel says, "Get off the field, Trail", he's being pretty harsh on the young guy... Perhaps Mr. Trail is not doing his job correctly and Vrabel is tired of putting it up with it. OTOH, how do you think "Get off the field, Cushing" would fly with Brian Cushing? Coaches should be allowed to coach (with passion) but there will always be "good coaches" and "bad coaches" (yes, even at the pro level)....

As an aside, I quit my last real job after 6 months because I had a gung-ho boss (actually he wasn't a "boss" more like a group leader) some 15 years my junior. I'd come to work, do my job and, IMO, be productive yet he always found a reason to "push" me. Just never pleased. Not his fault, I suppose, he was wired that way. I had come from a laid-back corporate environment where I was given the latitude to work on my own and was quite productive....It was a professional atmosphere, IMO, encouraging what-can-you-do-to-help.. So, working for said boss was like getting kicked back to being a no-nothing 18 year old just starting out in the real world. So I quit, left the job.... told his boss I can't work with him. Been self-employed and loving life ever since... So, I would encourage anybody employed in a less than satisfying environment to GTFO and find something else...

Woah, that sounds almost like an indirect compliment to the Texans organization? You feeling OK, chuck?

He sprained his gut eating mo chicken.

Aaron Wilson ‏@AaronWilson_NFL 1m1 minute ago
Texans signed DT Brandon Dunn to active roster off Bears' practice squad, per source

Someone hurt of ineffectiveness? I'm actually surprised we're not raiding more practice squad's with the lack of overall talent and depth this team has. WTH, I can't imagine our 40th best player on down is any better than taking a flyer on a PS player.

Saw where Crick pulled up lame on Monday, but that's a DE spot, not DT/NT. The Wilfork experiment hasn't exactly yielded the results we had hoped, that's for sure.

Saw this a few minutes ago, guess that means Washington/Shorts are getting in better shape:

Daniel Gotera ‏@DTGoteraKHOU 5m5 minutes ago
#Texans have waived WR Chandler Worthy

The same Worthy who played ahead of Strong.

I don't think the bottom of our roster is actually worse than most teams. Many of our cuts found homes other places. This isn't surprising since we actually do very well in rounds 6-7 and UDFA. But we are terrible in rounds 2-4 and I think that shows up more in how bad our roster is from spots 10-40.

We aren't worthy...
We aren't worthy...

Different spots, and return ability (allegedly), but still a bad look for Strong.

FWIW - They did resign Worthy to the PS.

Aaron Wilson ‏@AaronWilson_NFL 3m3 minutes ago
Texans cut rookie Chandler Worthy from active roster, to rejoin practice squad http://blog.chron.com/ultimatetexans...andler-worthy/ …

I think it's more a bad look for O'Brien. We played a guy that 32 NFL teams passed on after we waived him ahead of the guy who caught 2 TDs in his first NFL game.

As for return ablility, nobody on our team has shown any.

O'Brien has had lots of bad looks lately. For instance, unless he's intentionally trying to undermine the confidence and performance of his QBs, I have no idea what his thinking process is at that position ?

They would be better off rushing the punter with 11 guys and hoping for the best. The only thing that ever happens on a return is a block in the back penalty which you can avoid entirely with the chuck system. I'll take my chances on the bounce of the football.

Sadly, I think you have a point here.

I am, as usual, sort of acting like an idiot. But at the same time I am absolutely certain that with the chuck formation the opposition's net punting average would decrease.