Texans Edge Jonathan Greenard has missed the first two practices of the week after spraining an ankle in Sunday's loss to the Browns. That has him looking unlikely to play this week against the Titans. We'll watch for confirmation on his status Friday but have removed Greenard from the Week 17 rankings. Houston looks likely to also miss rookie edge Will Anderson Jr. for the third straight game. Anderson also has yet to practice this week while nursing his own ankle injury.
The Texans have claimed S Kareem Jackson off waivers from the Broncos. Denver dumped the twice-suspended veteran, opting to continue with P.J. Locke next to S Justin Simmons. Jackson could see immediate time for a Houston defense that lost Jimmie Ward to a quad injury against the Browns. It's not yet clear how long Ward will be out. We'll watch for specifics on Jackson's Week 17 role.
Houston has ruled out LB Blake Cashman (hamstring) for the second straight game. LB Denzel Perryman (Achilles') is questionable. He managed limited practices all week, though, and Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 in Houston reports that Perryman's "trending toward being active." Cashman's absence and Perryman's question mark have moved LB Christian Harris up our Week 16 LB rankings. Harris has produced solid numbers lately, including 7 solo tackles in three of his past four games -- with two lines of 10+ total tackles in that span. Cleveland presents a positive scoring matchup this week. The Browns have yielded the third-most fantasy points per game to LBs for the season and remain top-8 in that category even over QB Joe Flacco's three weeks as starter.
Texans Edge Will Anderson Jr. suffered a high-ankle sprain in Sunday's loss to the Jets, Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 in Houston reports. Anderson was in a walking boot Wednesday, which certainly doesn't bode well for his chance of playing this weekend. Anderson is likely droppable (where rostered) for most redraft IDP leagues.
The Texans expect LB Blake Cashman to miss at least this week's game against the Titans after he strained a hamstring in Week 14, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 in Houston. That should leave Christian Harris and Denzel Perryman as the top two LBs in playing time. Neither makes for an exciting IDP play, but Harris should be the better bet after leading Perryman in playing time and production against the Jets last Sunday. Houston also expects to miss CB Tavierre Thomas (hamstring) for multiple games. He and Cashman are droppable in most redraft IDP leagues.
Texans Edge Will Anderson Jr. (knee) is active for today's game against the Cardinals. Use him as planned for IDP lineups.
The NFL has suspended Texans LB Denzel Perryman for three games over repeated violations of the player-safety rules, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. Perryman incurred his seventh foul of the season Sunday for using his helmet in delivering a hit. This is particularly noteworthy timing because Perryman had also just reclaimed the playing-time lead among Houston LBs in that game, at 86%. Christian Harris followed at 64%, with Blake Cashman (55%) third. Harris would seem to be the best bet to lead playing time over the next few games. But it's worth remembering that he already got demoted to a reserve role after starting the season's first four games. We'll cautiously lean Harris, then Cashman for Week 11. But the best bet among Houston's LB corps is to not invest too heavily in anyone. Rookie Henry To'oTo'o might re-enter the mix as well, but he's dealing with an injury and recently got demoted after his own starting turn. We'll also see whether the Perryman suspension holds up through a likely appeal.
The Texans have activated CB Derek Stingley Jr. from IR. He has been out since Week 2 with a hamstring injury but appears ready to play today against the Bengals. It's tough to know how close to full playing time he'll get in his first game back from such a long layoff. He also hasn't had much chance to show us if he'll be an impactful IDP option. The 2022 first-round pick has appeared in just 11 NFL games to date. His return can only help the Houston defense. But we'll be watching to see whether he's worth individual fantasy attention.
Texans LB Denzel Perryman is inactive for today's game against the Saints. He put in full practices all week and carried no injury designation into Sunday after returning last week from a hand injury. So this looks like a healthy scratch. That combines with Perryman's decreased playing time last week to signal the team is turning to rookie Henry To'oTo'o and Blake Cashman as the LB leaders. Perryman is droppable in your IDP league.
Texans LB Denzel Perryman (hand) put in a full practice Wednesday. He missed the past two games but appears to be on track to play this week against the Falcons. Perryman should return to most IDP lineups if active.
The Texans expect to get S Jalen Pitre (bruised lung) back at practice this week, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 in Houston. Pitre has missed the past two games after suffering his injury in Week 1. We'll track his status leading up to Sunday's game against the Steelers.
Texans LB Denzel Perryman missed Wednesday's practice with a hand injury. We're not concerned yet. Perryman played every snap of Sunday's loss to the Colts. But we'll track his status throughout the week. S Jalen Pitre remained out of practice as well following his Week 1 lung bruise. Pitre missed Week 2. We'll see about his status for Sunday.
The Texans have ruled S Jalen Pitre (bruised lung) and S Jimmie Ward (hip) out for Sunday's game against the Colts. That leaves Eric Murray and M.J. Stewart as the starters. Both carry some mild IDP intrigue. Indy supplied 15 total tackles to Jacksonville's starting safeties in Week 1.
Texans S Jalen Pitre left Sunday's game against the Ravens with a chest injury and was quickly ruled out. We'll see about the official diagnosis. M.J. Stewart entered the game in Pitre's place in a secondary already missing S Jimmie Ward (hip).
Update: Pitre went to the hospital with a bruised lung after taking a knee from Ravens QB Lamar Jackson. NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reports that Pitre "should be OK." We'll see how much time he's expected to miss.
Texans LB Christian Kirksey has missed several recent days with a hamstring injury, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 in Houston. Rookie Henry To'oTo'o has reportedly filled in for Kirksey in the starting lineup. The team interestingly listed Denzel Perryman and Blake Cashman as starting LBs alongside Christian Harris on the initial "unofficial" depth chart. That could mean nothing, of course. And Wilson reports that Kirksey is expected to reclaim his post when ready. We consider Harris to be the only lineup lock at this point. Harris sits highest among the group in our IDP rankings.
The Texans chose Edge Will Anderson Jr. with the third pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. They gave up quite a bit to get to that spot, including a 2024 first-rounder. So they clearly wanted the former Alabama pass rusher. Anderson became an immediate starter at Alabama, tallying 10.5 tackles for loss and 7 sacks as a true freshman. He then exploded for 31.0 TFLs and 17.5 sacks as a sophomore, winning his first of two SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors. Anderson is the first player to ever win that award in consecutive seasons. Anderson currently leads our IDP rookie rankings and will likely stay there.
The Browns are agreed to a three-year deal with former Texans EDGE Ogbonnia Okoronkwo, according to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport. The pact could be worth as much as $22 million. A fifth-round pick of the Rams back in 2018, Okoronkwo finally got the first eight starts of his career last year in Houston. He supplied 5 sacks, 9 tackles for loss and 11 QB hits while playing 44% of the snaps. Cleveland clearly believes there's more coming in Okoronkwo's age-28 season (and beyond). The money indicates he's expected to start opposite EDGE Myles Garrett, which can't hurt. Still Okoronkwo sports just a 45th-percentile speed score for the position and might have a limited playing-time ceiling because of his size (just 253 pounds). He's a potential late-round IDP option for 2023 fantasy football drafts. But we're not overly excited about his upside.
The Texans are hiring Demeco Ryans as HC, according to multiple reports. This has been assumed for at least a few days now, and it makes loads of sense for Houston. Ryans was a team leader across 6 years as MLB with the Texans, before finishing his playing career with 4 seasons in Philadelphia. He spent the past 6 years on San Francisco's coaching staff, including the past 2 as DC. Ryans piloted a 49ers defense that ranked 3rd and 1st in yards allowed the past 2 seasons; 9th and 1st in points allowed. He inherits a Texans roster that needs plenty of work. But Houston does hold 5 picks among the 1st 3 rounds of the 2023 NFL Draft, including the #2 and #12 overall selections. Expect the Texans to select their next QB in Round 1, with Bryce Young, C.J. Stroud and Will Levis all in the current early-Round 1 discussion. The 49ers defense, meanwhile, should be fine. San Francisco ranked 6th and 2nd in Football Outsiders' defensive DVOA the 2 years before Ryans took the helm.
The Texans announced Sunday night that they are firing HC Lovie Smith. It's not a surprising move, as Houston just finished a 3-13-1 campaign. Smith seemed like an uninspired choice last offseason, being elevated from the DC position after 1 year of David Culley as HC. But he had little chance at success with a bad roster and weak QB situation. We'll see where Houston turns next, but it's tough to expect an especially attractive candidate to choose these Texans.
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