HOUSTON – The Houston Texans made a flurry of roster moves on Saturday to reach the mandatory 53-man limit in front of the 3:00 p.m. central deadline. Some of the more surprising moves were already known, like releasing of Shane Lechler and waiving Braxton Miller and David Quessenberry.
Among the surprises to make the initial roster, wide receiver Vyncint Smith, tight end MyCole Pruitt and cornerback Jermaine Kelly, Jr.
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Smith was an undrafted free agent from Limestone College, while Jermaine Kelly, Jr. was a seventh round selection in April's draft, but had been injured for much of training camp and the preseason.
The team also elected to keep just two quarterbacks. Brandon Weeden is the backup to Deshaun Watson, while Joe Webb III was released.
Fullback Jay Prosch was waived, meaning the team does not have a fullback on the roster.
The team placed running back D'onta Foreman on the reserve/physically unable to perform list as he continues his recovery from his Achilles injury last season. That means Foreman will miss at least the first six games of the season.
Teams will be allowed to begin signing free agents on Sunday, so the current 53-man roster very likely will look different when the Texans hit the road for New England in the season opener on September 9th.
Texans initial 53-man roster breakdown:
OFFENSE (24)
QB (2): Deshaun Watson, Brandon Weeden
RB (4): Lamar Miller, Alfred Blue, Troymaine Pope, Tyler Ervin
WR (6): DeAndre Hopkins, Will Fuller, Bruce Ellington, Keke Coutee, Sammie Coates, Vyncint Smith
TE (4): Ryan Griffin, Jordan Akins, Jordan Thomas, MyCole Pruitt
OL (8): Seantrel Henderson, Senio Kelemete, Nick Martin, Zach Fulton, Julie'n Davenport, Greg Mancz, Kendall Lamm, Martinas Rankin
DEFENSE: (26)
DL (7): J.J. Watt, Christian Covington, D.J. Reader, Joel Heath, Brandon Dunn, Carlos Watkins, Angelo Blackson
LB: (9): Jadeveon Clowney, Whitney Mercilus, Benardrick McKinney, Zach Cunningham, Dylan Cole, Brian Peters, Duke Ejiofor, Peter Kalambayi, Brennan Scarlett
CB: (6): Johnathan Joseph, Kevin Johnson, Aaron Colvin, Kayvon Webster, Johnson Bademosi, Jermaine Kelly, Jr.
S: (4): Tyrann Mathieu, Kareem Jackson, Justin Reid, Kurtis Drummond
SPECIALISTS (3)
LS Jon Weeks, K Ka'imi Fairbairn, P Trevor Daniel
Texans roster moves:
Released: P Shane Lechler, FB Jay Prosch, QB Joe Webb III
Waived: OLB Davin Bellamy, WR Quan Bray, S Ibraheim Campbell, S Andre Chachere, RB Lavon Coleman, RB Anthony Coyle, S Treston Decoud, OL Kyle Fuller, G Mason Gentry, ILB Kennan Gilchrist, OT Roderick Johnson, CB Bryce Jones, OT Jaryd Jones-Smith, OLB Ufomba Kamalu, ILB Josh Keyes, NT Darius Kilgo, TE Matt Lengel, WR Braxton Miller, S Corey Moore, NT Kingsley Opara, G David Quessenberry, K Nick Rose, OL Chad Slade, RB Terry Swanson, DL Nick Thurman, CB Dee Virgin, WR Jester Weah
Waived-injured: TE Jevoni Robinson
Waived with injury settlement: TE Stephen Anderson, OLB LaTroy Lewis
Reserve/Physically Unable to Perform list: RB D’Onta Foreman