A 53-Man Roster Prediction Ahead of Final Cuts

It is what the title says it is. After following this team for most of the offseason and watching most of the moves and all three preseason games, I (a random hardcore fan) am going to try to pick who stays and who goes just ahead of the players' Black Monday.

Offense (25):

QB (3): C.J. Stroud, Davis Mills, and Case Keenum – I very nearly put E.J. Perry over Mills for laughs, since we're all very tired of Davis. But unless he gets traded tomorrow, I don't see General Mills missing the final cut. Stroud will obviously start and Keenum sticks around as an unofficial QB coach to help the rookie develop.

RB (3): Dameon Pierce, Devin Singletary and Mike Boone – Pierce and Singletary were both certain to make it, so the question here was the RB3 spot, and Mike Boone has handily beaten about Dare Ogunbowale for it. Some might argue that Dare could make it as RB4 in part due to his special teams utility.

WR (7): Nico Collins, Robert Woods, Tank Dell, Noah Brown, John Metchie, Xavier Hutchinson, Steven Sims – Collins, Woods and Dell are the Day 1 starters, while Metchie and Brown seem in the mix for WR4. Hutchinson has made enough big plays in camp and preseason to earn his spot. Steven Sims was one of my last two choices for the offense over Dare, in part because of his return specialist status and in part because he was able to make decent plays himself in preseason.

TE (3): Dalton Schultz, Teagan Quitoriano, Andrew Beck – Schultz will probably be Stroud's safety net in the pass game this year, while TQ blocks decently and has a knack for the big play. Beck is here mainly due to his FB utility, but Brevin Jordan might slip through on IR.

OL (9): Laremy Tunsil, Tytus Howard, George Fant, Josh Jones, Kenyon Green, Shaq Mason, Michael Dieter, Juice Scruggs, Jarrett Patterson – Four of the starting five are set, with LG being a question mark after Kenyon Green played with the 2's tonight. Both him and Dieter will make the team, though. Fant and Jones provide a bit more depth, and Patterson barely sneaks in.

Defense (25):

DE (5): Will Anderson Jr., Jonathan Greenard, Jerry Hughes, Dylan Horton, Jacob Martin – WAJ, Greenard and Hughes will probably all regularly see the field, with the rookie being DE1. Horton has been solid overall in camp, and that leaves one open DE spot. Jacob Martin gets it by virtue of being solid overall in what little time he spent on the field both last season and this preseason.

DT (5): Sheldon Rankins, Maliek Collins, Hassan Ridgeway, Roy Lopez, Kurt Hinish – Rankins, Collins and Ridgeway are the team's top three DTs, and for the final two spots I was torn between Lopez, Hinish and preseason darling Khalil Davis. Ultimately I went with the two incumbents but it's very possible Davis beats out one of them.

LB (5): Christian Harris, Denzel Perryman, Blake Cashman, Henry To'oto'o, Cory Littleton – Here's my lukewarm take: Christian Kirksey will not make the final roster as Houston opts to save some cap space by dropping him. Cashman will have to pick up the slack after a rapid ascent to starter. To'oto'o and Littleton have both also done enough to stand out positively, with the rookie fifth-rounder getting a lot of praise.

CB (6): Derek Stingley, Steven Nelson, Tavierre Thomas, Desmond King, Shaquill Griffin, Cameron Dantzler – Call it recency bias, but that beautiful, game-sealing diving pick from Dantzler barely sneaks him on the team as CB depth for an already solid secondary. The other five were all seemingly locks, though.

S (4): Jalen Pitre, Jimmie Ward, Eric Murray, MJ Stewart – Pitre and Ward can and should be an elite safety duo this year, with Murray and Stewart serving as their depth.

Special Teams (3):

It's Fairbairn, Johnston and Weeks. Almost 100%. There is a slim chance Ty Zentner punts for us early on if Johnston is on reserves.

Feel free to drop a comment if you think someone I didn't list (or maybe did list) sneaks in. I had a tough time deciding on who slipped by and who didn't, so I can't imagine how the front office must feel right about now.

Have a good one, and Go H-Town.