Houston Texans Roster News: Scottie Phillips Placed On Injured Reserve, Royce Freeman Claimed Off Waivers

One of the things we wanted was some youth at the running back position. The Houston Texans have an old running back room that can’t break tackles, can’t pass protect, and tries to bounce everything outside where they are devoured before they get there.

Not only that, it’s an expensive running back group. The three things we know about this position are that it’s a position built around youth, can be found in later rounds of the draft, and that you don’t need to pay a high amount to acquire talented running backs. The Texans ignored all three of these truisms. Instead, they retained David Johnson. They signed Phillip Lindsay, Mark Ingram, and Rex Burkhead in free agency. None of those players have been able to make up for Houston’s offensive line, which is once again terrible. As a result, the Texans have the worst rushing attack in the NFL.

We wanted Scottie Phillips to be elevated to the Texans’ the active roster. Not because we thought Phillips was the next Arian Foster, but because of the philosophy behind it. Phillips is a young, undrafted free agent, an unknown. He had 6 carries for 13 yards. Last week against the Dolphins, he suffered a leg injury in Miami. Phillips was placed on Injured Reserve and will be out a minimum of three weeks.

To make up for Phillips’ absence, the Texans claimed former Denver Broncos running back Royce Freeman off waivers. Freeman had 21 carries for 77 yards, averaging 3.7 yards an attempt, this year. The former third round pick was released by the Panthers because Carolina added Ameer Abdullah, who is faster, can return kicks, is a pass catcher, and is a better fit for their offense. Houston claimed Freeman off waivers to add 25 years of youth while Phillips is out.

In other roster news, Houston also signed former Kansas City Chiefs defensive end Demone Harris to the practice squad.

Final bit of news: After a sour and rusty Tyrod Taylor performance against Miami, where he couldn’t deal with the blitz, with a brand new offensive line combination in front of him. David Culley made it clear that Taylor will be the quarterback when the Texans get back from the bye next week against Tennessee.

This is the latest batch of Texans roster moves. We will see them again on Sunday, November 21st when they play the Tennessee Titans in Nashville at 12 p.m.