At some point today or tomorrow, your Houston Texans are going to trim ten names from the roster to bring the number of players to 80. (The other 27 cuts must be made by September 3rd.) Being that this is a pretty small round of cuts, relatively speaking, I don't anticipate much in the way of surprise. Still, I figured I'd take a stab at the 10 guys that I think will find a red flag in their lockers in the near future.
First, a few premises that I am working under.
1. With the o-line injuries, I think the benefit of the doubt will be given to as many linemen as possible and, where it's close between an OL and a player at a different position, the OL will survive.
2. Some guys are going to be kept just to be fodder for the fourth preseason game, with no chance of actually making the team.
3. No players taken in the 2011 Draft will be cut.
After the jump, my predictions.
Scott Albritton, LS. Yes, he's a rookie. Yes, he went to Colorado State, but Jon Weeks is going to get the LS job, and trimming a body here is pretty much a no-brainer when you've got other positions where you'd like to keep as many as possible through next Sunday.
Mister Alexander, ILB. I don't feel like this needs much explanation. He's been inactive for all three games and, thus, has one less tackle than does Scott Albritton. So long, Mr. Mister.
Antonio Baker, SS. Who? Exactly.
John Graves, DE. I went to high school with a kid named John Graves. He drove a pink Chevy Cavalier ("Damn it, you guys, it's LAZER RED!" "Whatever, dude.") This is not that John Graves. They do have one thing in common, though: neither one will make the 2011 Texans' roster.
Peter Hendrickson, OT. This is the one I'm most hesitant about on the list. If the team decides to IR Kasey Studdard as a roster move, i think Hendrickson sticks around another week. If not, he's my tenth pick.
Trindon Holliday, KR. With the logjam at WR and the fact that Kubiak did not mention Trindon when discussing kick/punt returners the other day, I think the writing is on the wall. It says "You must be this tall to be a Texan," and Toro is holding out a hoof that's about three inches above Holliday's head.
Matt Marcorelle, ILB. Non-factor who comes from a school that wasn't creative enough to come up with their own helmet design, so they just ripped off the best helmet in college football.
Maurice Rolle, FS. Rolle was active and saw the field in preseason week 1, but did not contribute appreciably. He was active in weeks 2 and 3, but did not get in the game. I see a trend.
Paul Williams, WR. Saturday was the first time he's been on the active roster. He was not targeted.
Torri Williams, FS. Active in all three contests, he's totaled 0.5 tackles. Doesn't exactly scream "KEEP ME!" That said, if they decide to cut Javarris Williams and let Steve Slaton and Chris Ogbonnaya battle it out Sunday, I could see Williams being kept.