The one thing to understand about an NFL roster is that it's always fluid. It's always in flux, 24/7/365, but even with that as a guide or backdrop, it's clear that the Texans roster has undergone a serious renovation. It dawned on me how drastic the changes have been in a short amount of time.
When the Texans sent out the notice of transactions the Monday after rookie minicamp, it struck me how drastically things had changed just in the last year. So, I examined the current 90-man roster to see how many players were on the roster at the start of training camp at the Greenbrier in July 2017. In less than one year's time, 46 (!!) players that started training camp in West Virginia last season no longer remain on the roster. That doesn't even count the players that arrived during the season and no longer remain (ex: Jelani Jenkins, Johnthan Banks). Less than half of the roster has turned over in that short of a time period. In comparison, the previous year, 35 players started training camp in 2016 and were no longer on the roster in the spring of 2017.
Of the 41 position players that are still on the roster since the start of training camp, only 24 of them played in 10 games or more in 2017. Of those 24, only 12 were considered starters that started/played 10 games or more in 2017. As a comparison, Jacksonville returns 18 starters that started/played 14 games or more in 2017.
Throw in changes in the front office, coaching staff and sports performance staff and there have been a lot of introductions taking place this spring. The good news is that the changes have had a significantly positive impact on the organization throughout the spring; talk to anyone in this building and they plainly see it. Hopefully, when the 2018 53-man roster is finalized, those changes will result in a historic season that we'll never forget.
The Houston Texans roster in photos. (Updated 5/7/2021)
TE, Jordan Akins, #88
TE, Antony Auclair
DL, Auzoyah Alufohai, #98
DB, Cornell Armstrong, #30
DL, Ross Blacklock, #90
OL, Justin Britt
DB, Terrence Brooks
TE, Pharaoh Brown, #85
OL, Cohl Cabral, #72
OL, Marcus Cannon
WR, Randall Cobb, #18
DL, Maliek Collins
WR, Nico Collins
WR, Chris Conley
WR, Brandin Cooks, #13
WR, Isaiah Coulter, #82
WR, Keke Coutee, #16
DB, Keion Crossen, #35
LB, Zach Cunningham, #41
LB, Tae Davis
DL, Brandon Dunn, #92
LB, Duke Ejiofor, #53
WR, Alex Erickson
K, Ka'imi Fairbairn, #7
QB, Ryan Finley
OL, Hjalte Froholdt, #77
LB, Jonathan Greenard, #52
LB, Kamu Grugier-Hill
LB, Nate Hall, #48
DB, Vernon Hargreaves III, #26
OL, Charlie Heck, #67
LB, Neville Hewitt
RB, Dontrell Hilliard, #27
OL, Tytus Howard, #71
RB, Buddy Howell, #38
RB, Mark Ingram
TE, Ryan Izzo
LB, Jordan Jenkins
RB, David Johnson, #31
DL, Jaleel Johnson
DB, Lonnie Johnson Jr., #32
P, Cameron Johnston
TE, Brevin Jordan
DB, Desmond King
LB, Christian Kirksey
DL, Shaq Lawson
RB, Phillip Lindsay
DL, Roy Lopez
LB, Jacob Martin, #54
OL, Justin McCray
LB, Whitney Mercilus, #59
QB, Davis Mills
DB, Terrance Mitchell
WR, Donte Moncrief
DB, A.J. Moore Jr., #33
WR, Chris Moore
DB, Eric Murray, #23
LB, Hardy Nickerson
DL, Charles Omenihu, #94
DB, Jonathan Owens, #36
LB, Kevin Pierre-Louis
RB, Scottie Phillips, #40
TE, Paul Quessenberry
DB, John Reid, #34
DB, Justin Reid, #20
DL, Derek Rivers
WR, Andre Roberts
DB, Bradley Roby, #21
OL, Max Scharping, #74
DB, Tremon Smith
OL, Jordan Steckler
OL, Lane Taylor
QB, Tyrod Taylor
DL, Vincent Taylor
LB, Joe Thomas
DB, Tavierre Thomas
OL, Cole Toner
OL, Laremy Tunsil, #78
LB, Garret Wallow
DL, MeMarcus Walker
TE, Kahale Warring, #81
QB, Deshaun Watson, #4
LS, Jon Weeks #46
