According to the Chronicle, Super Mario and 'Dre will be representing your Houston Texans in the starting lineup in Honolulu. While they should have been locks regardless, I'm thrilled to see these two guys get their due.

What's more, the Texans boast an additional five (5!) players named as alternates--DeMeco Ryans, Owen Daniels, Vonta Leach, Chester Pitts, and Steve Slaton. My initial reaction is that DeMeco was penalized for his non-DeMeco play earlier in the season while he was fighting an ankle injury; Daniels for his relatively quiet games while The Schaub was out and Rosencopter was running the show; and Vonta for being a FB, which by definition is a thankless job, to say nothing of that fact that people outside Houston have no idea how valuable he's been to the rushing game this season.

I'm pretty surprised that Pitts got the alternate nod, though he's undoubtedly been one of the top performers on a vastly improving Houston offensive line. And Slaton...well, methinks he got screwed, chiefly because of his rookie status, with the plethora of other solid options at RB in the AFC being a culprit as well. That said, I'd rather have Slaton than nearly anyone in the league. It ain't a trip to Hawaii, but it'll have to do.