Zuh? What Do You Mean It's Still Preseason? Things To Watch For Tonight Against The Vikings

I didn't get to watch either of the last two preseason games.  Now I finally get to watch the Texans play for the first time since their game against the Jets, and none of the starters are playing.  I wonder if I leaked a tweet of my torn hamstring Tim will hold me out until the start of the regular season?

Nah, you're right, I can't risk being placed on the "physically unable to blog" (PUB) list, especially when real football is so close.  So instead, I'll keep battlin' and post a bunch of random stuff some things to keep an eye on for the Texans/Vikings game.

Like I said, none of the starters will be playing in this game, and, at least according to my bestest buddy in the world Nick Scurfield (if by bestest buddy, you mean someone who responded to a Twitter message of yours one time), we probably shouldn't expect to see Shaun Cody, Earl Mitchell, or Kareem Jackson, either.  He says that this will be the time for young players to shine.  I know that this is the game for the backups to earn spots on the roster, but I really don't like hearing this answer from him.  To me, this means that Cody and Jackson have sewn up their respective spots on the roster, and this does not put me in my happy place.  After all, Pancakes had said that Jackson won his battle for CB2, which gave me some faint hope.  After all, Pancakes is to news what Captain Wrongway Peachfuzz was to Rocky and Bullwinkle.

I think tonight's game will be the determining factor for which of our bounty of young wide receivers gets to join Gary Kubiak's Flying Circus.  It'll also be the first time Bryant Johnson plays for the Texans, and I, for one, am curious to see if he can make the roster after only just being signed three days earlier.  If I had to guess, I would say the Texans have two spots open at WR and five players (Dorin Dickerson, Bryant Johnson, Jeff Maehl, Terrence Toliver, Derrick Townsel) to fill those spots.  What's that?  What about Trindon Holliday making the team as a receiver?  Oh, that's just funny.  You're a funny individual, vast audience who happens to be reading this.

With Shelley Smith (unfortunately) and Kasey Studdard (fortunately) on injured reserve, the battle to make the roster as a guard has gotten considerably easier.  Reserve guard Antoine Caldwell will probably not see any time on the field due to an ankle injury, leaving Howard Barbieri to fight it out with newly signed guard Andrew Gardner for the reserve guard spot while Caldwell recovers.

I don't expect to see Jason Allen out at all, especially if Jackson isn't playing.  There's just no incentive for putting him out there if he's slated to play the nickel corner (dammit).  But that doesn't mean you should ignore the secondary totally tonight.  Since our secondary last year was comically bad, it behooves (yes, behooves!) us to see what kind of progress they've made in as little time as they've had to practice.  If there are going to be cuts anywhere among the secondary, it'll probably be among the safeties.  The remaining corners are all either rookies (Brandon Harris and Roc Carmichael) and players that Kubiak has been praising frequently (Brice McCain and Sherrick McManis).  Of the safeties on the roster, Dominique Barber, Quintin Demps, Shiloh Keo and Torri Williams are probably the most expendable.  But two of them will be on the starting roster, along with Danieal Manning, Glover Quin, and Troy Nolan.  Which two, however, is anybody's guess.

Okay, maybe I was wrong, maybe there are a few things that are worth paying attention to in this game.  I'm sure I've left a few out, so go ahead, BRBers, what are you looking forward to seeing in tonight's game?