Value of Things: The meaning of the 53 man roster
I have to hand it to the NFL. They could market ice to an Alaskan. Little things like the release of the schedule, scouting combine, and now the final cut downs of rosters are turned into huge media events. Fans are so thirsty for football that they eat it all up. In point of fact, the final 53 is never really the final 53. Even in the last few days, we have seen some changes to the list as teams jockey to fill in holes that they saw in training camp.
Those of us that comment on these things for a living get paid (as little as it might be) to read something into what is likely a whole lot of nothing. However, there were some things that raised eyebrows when the Texans initially released their roster. Obviously, the biggest stories are those that got cut that we thought would make it. One of those interesting stories was how Zay Jones and Sterling Shepard were signed to beef up the wide receiver room and them were unceremoniously cut. That's usually how these things go as Nick Caserio and DeMeco Ryans hoped they would provide some quality depth, but apparently there wasn't enough left in the tank to warrant keeping them around.
Even the way these things are reported and covered is misleading. Over 1200 players got their walking papers and that often gets couched as players seeing their dreams die before their very eyes. This is overly dramatic. Certainly, most of those players will never see an NFL field, but a good percentage of them will land somewhere eventually.
The most significant here locally is Jawhar Jordan. Three years in a row he has failed to make the final roster. Three years in a row he has been added to the practice squad. It is likely that he will see NFL action this year at some point for the third year in a row. Others will be cut here and catch on somewhere else when injuries or lack of performance calls for it. No one's story is completely written on September 1st unless they choose for that to be the definite ending.
The one big takeaway from the Texans roster was the inclusion of twelve offensive linemen. That is two or three more than just about every other team in the NFL. The whys and what fors are particularly telling here. Some of it is a temporary accounting trick as players like Braden Smith come back from injury. They don't want to put him on IR. You only have so many spots designated for return and even that includes a mandatory four week layoff.
Even all of that doesn't fully explain what we are seeing. Clearly, the line is in a state of flux. The line that finished 2025 was not the same as the one that started. That happens naturally through attrition, but even with the Texans there is a point where things seem purposefully unsettled. It points to the fact that they probably really don't know who their top five guys are. That is particularly telling as we enter week one.
I praised Caserio in my last piece and so this serves as a bit of meat on that sandwich I mentioned earlier. Caserio is adept at a number of things. He and Ryans have built the first or second best defense in the NFL. A lot of that depends on how good the Rams will be with Aaron Donald back in the fold. I guarantee if you track every general manager that has ever lived, you will find holes in their game. Some are good at finding free agents while struggling in the draft. Others scout college talent really well, but struggle with contracts. Then, you have position groups that seem to be a hole year after year.
That is the offensive line for Caserio. When we focus on that position group in particular we can't help but feel underwhelmed. It looks like Wyatt Teller might be another miss as Keelan Rutledge is set to take over at left guard with Evan Brown winning the center job. The Caserio way seems to be to throw as much spaghetti at the wall and hope that some of it sticks. Some of it did last season. Ed Ingram was a success. Trent Brown ended up being a success for the most part. Others have failed miserably.
Obviously, no real downs have been played, so it is way too early to call anyone a success or a bust for this season. We just know that the way things have been set up, there is likely to be some mixing and matching early on to find the combination that works. That also means that the first month of the season could be a slog again on the offensive side of the ball.
Hope springs eternal and all of that, but the numbers clearly indicate that they really don't know what they have yet. We can hope that the group is collectively better than it has been the last few seasons, but even that is relative. The line that took the field in November and December of last season was far better than the one that took the field in September. That might not be such a bad thing if you can bank enough early wins to secure a playoff birth.You want your best at the end of the season and it looks like that is the plan yet again, Gird your loins for some shaky football early on, but hopefully the defense will good enough to get through that first month.