Listen to the full episode of Texans All-Access on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Preseason football gets dismissed, and I understand why. But it is also where you find out who is ready, and this August handed us a list.
The rookie tight end did it on the second play
Marlin Klein, our second-round pick out of Michigan, caught a skinny post over the middle on the second snap of the opener in Los Angeles for 31 yards. Two high safeties, tight end splitting them, and Davis Mills put it on him with maybe half a second of margin. The day after, I asked whether I would take one catch for 31 yards a week from a rookie tight end. That is north of 500 yards over a season. Yeah, I would take that. Then he went out the next week and did it again.
The corner, the receiver and the rookie safety
Jaylin Smith is going to play a lot at the third corner spot, and he showed why against the Chargers with a textbook open-field tackle that held a run to a yard. He has the speed, he has the personality, and he will stick you. He did not get many snaps a year ago. He will get them now.
Jared Wayne has been climbing for a while, and I have been in his corner the whole time. Two catches against the Chargers, one of them a jumping grab in the end zone, and then a back-shoulder throw from C.J. Stroud against Las Vegas on third and long. In camp, in two preseason games, it is the same thing every time. All he ever needed was opportunities.
Kamari Ramsey played one preseason game and came away with the first interception of his career, reading the quarterback's eyes and taking it near midfield. He came to Houston in the fifth round out of USC, where he played for D'Anton Lynn — the same coordinator he played for at UCLA before that. Lynn did good work with him. It shows.
The second-year back and the defensive rookies
When Houston traded for David Montgomery, plenty of people around here wondered what it meant for Woody Marks. I think it makes him better. He is 5-10, 208 and built like a fire hydrant, and the last thing you want is to be the one man standing between him and the goal line. He proved it against the Raiders with a touchdown run where he broke two tackles and carried somebody in.
On defense, Wade Woodaz took an interception the distance for the only defensive touchdown of our preseason. Kayden McDonald, our other second-round pick, beat the guard inside and got the first sack of his professional life. That is not going to be his main job — he is here to close run lanes — but if he adds pressure as he grows, he is a problem.
And then Sabastian Harsh. Undrafted, out of Wyoming and then NC State but every day of camp he did a little bit more. Against Carolina he went nuclear and put a quarterback on the ground. That sack is why he is on this roster.
