The Texans, like every other NFL team, have to trim their roster down to 53 men by 8 p.m. CDT on Friday. Competition to make the 2012 Houston Texans is stiff, and one of the areas where some amount of uncertainty remains is at wide receiver. Although Trindon Holliday's questionable utilization at WR contributes to the murkiness clouding that position, it is by no means the only--or perhaps even the biggest--issue. I'd give that honor to DeVier Posey.
What should the Texans do with their most recent third-round draft choice? Hit the jump and let's discuss before you make your voice heard in a poll.
Of all the players the Texans drafted last April, the one that was the most puzzling to me was Posey. He missed nearly all of his final collegiate season thanks to a couple of suspensions, so the Texans likely anticipated some rust and/or a steeper learning curve. But did they ever think he'd be this much of a non-factor with the final preseason game on deck?
Posey was a third-round pick, so there's virtually no chance he's getting cut. Assuming, for the sake of argument, that the Texans harbored the idea of releasing him so they could sign him to the practice squad, you'd have to think that some WR-needy team would snatch him up based on upside alone. It's not like Posey is devoid of talent, and there are teams out there in far more dire straits at WR than the Texans.
Therefore, the realistic options for the Texans would seem to be twofold: Give him a spot on the 53-man roster or figure out some other way to avoid cutting him. In totally unrelated news, Posey missed some practice last week with a calf injury. Yes, Kubes says that Posey will "play a great deal...probably...almost the whole game." Calf injuries are tricky, though. They can flare up at an IR stash's moment's notice.
Putting Posey on injured reserve wouldn't be all sunshine and lollipops. It would mean that Posey would be ineligible to participate in practice, which would seem counterintuitive to what the Texans would want to do with a rookie WR who essentially was out of football for all of the previous year. Nevertheless, I don't believe you can completely dismiss the idea on that basis alone. Lestar Jean was IR'd last year and doesn't appear to have suffered for it.
If the Texans do burn a roster spot on Posey, the question becomes what they truly expect to get from him this year. The Texans are a team with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations. Could that precious roster spot be better used elsewhere? At the moment, Posey would seem to be behind Andre Johnson, Kevin Walter, Keshawn Martin, and Lestar Jean on the depth chart. Barring a plethora of injuries (ugh), how much work would Posey really see? Of course, he would be able to get work in practice, which would seem to be the biggest justification for keeping him on the 53-man roster. Is that worth a spot in a season where thoughts of a championship are entirely reasonable?
Fellow fanatics of the Houston Texans, I ask you (via the poll below): What should the Texans do with DeVier Posey this year?