Other injuries and issues pile up for Texans in dress rehearsal
Disaster in Dallas as Miller is lost for the year
Aug 25, 2019, 1:35 am
@brgridiron/B/R Gridiron
Lamar Miller
Starting RB Lamar Miller tears ACL
Texans believe RB Lamar Miller suffered torn ACL. (via @RapSheet) pic.twitter.com/UI9135zFOq
— NFL (@NFL) August 25, 2019
The first carry of the preseason saw Lamar Miller get drilled and get injured. He was carted off. Miller is done for the season more than likely and potentially is done in a Texans uniform. His contract expires at the end of the year.
Miller was set to be the lead back but perhaps he would have been more effective than ever sharing some of the workload with fellow running back Duke Johnson. Now begins his long road to recovery from a seemingly major injury.
Don't use Duke that way
Duke Johnson can not be used like Lamar Miller has been used the past few seasons. I often liken Miller's usage by the Texans to driving a sports car and taking it off-roading. If the Texans use Duke Johnson that way they aren't maximizing his skills and are doing their offense a disservice.
Adding someone to the running back room or trusting someone currently on the roster to be the new Lamar Miller will go a long way to making sure Johnson is maximized.
Running backs on the roster
Taiwan Jones is likely making this team primarily for his special teams but he is the lone back on the roster outside of Duke Johnson with any real NFL experience. The problem is, it isn't really running back experience. He's had limited work carrying the ball, primarily contributing on the roster as a special teams player. This player could also be Buddy Howell but I am guessing Jones' experience has him winning out over Howell.
Damarea Crockett and Karan Higdon are still fighting to see who will be the youngster who makes the team. I don't know that there is a huge difference between the two but safe to say whichever one can pass block better will make the team. That was a Lamar Miller specialty and not really something Duke Johnson should be doing.
Off the roster options
Jay Ajayi is the biggest "name" available. He is coming off an injury and it isn't a good sign he hasn't been anywhere near a team yet. I can't imagine he is a true option.
One thing to remember about any of these free agents is there is a clear reason they haven't been in or near NFL teams.
The likely option is a free agent signing of a veteran after the rest of the teams in the NFL make cuts. There is also the possibility of a late round pick sent for one of those players. Below are some names I would think about and why they make sense.
Carlos Hyde - unlikely to make the Chiefs roster
Philadelphia's leftover backs - They have a ton of backs in camp and will likely only keep four. There would be some NFL experience with almost any of their cut players.
Frank Gore - might miss the Bills roster with T.J. Yeldon, LeSean McCoy, and rookie Devin Singletary in Buffalo.
Davenport's start baffles
Bill O'Brien proclaimed Roderick Johnson needed to repeat his impressive performance from the Lions game. Then, Julién Davenport started at left tackle against the Cowboys. He didn't look as solid as Johnson had at the spot. He's behind Johnson and Kalil at left tackle now.
I am making an assumption here but with Davenport getting a shot at the starting spot with Kalil out, for whatever reason injury or not, it feels like Johnson is closer to Davenport than Kalil. Meaning, to me, O'Brien is telling the truth about Kalil being the left tackle.
Nick Martin's game return underwhelms
Nick Martin has regularly been a below average center in the NFL. He was the 17th graded center according to Pro Football Focus. He was the 24th graded center in run blocking. On the play where Lamar Miller was hurt he was blown off the ball by the Cowboys defender.
Martin is a veteran now and with the potential for two rookies starting next to him he needs to be average or better this season. I am willing to excuse some of the hiccups tonight as rust after practicing only a bit this preseason.
Fulton and Kelemete should be fine
Bill O'Brien said after the game Zach Fulton and Senio Kelemete should be fine after both hobbled off the field. Fulton is an important player to this line as he his one of the only guards who has experience and has played well this preseason. He is also the team's backup center with Greg Mancz hurt. I am also not so sure he isn't better than Nick Martin.
Kelemete is on the bubble for this team but other injuries along the line and his versatility could save his spot for now. He has shown little this preseason compared to Fulton, Tytus Howard and Max Scharping. Though Saturday Scharping had a long day.
"The ball's in his court"
Per @mlombardiNFL the #Texans are likely trading Jadeveon Clowney within the next 24/48 hours, looking for a wide receiver for opposite DeAndre Hopkins. What does this mean for Will Fuller? And what does this mean for the LT position?
— Anthony Wood (@arwoodNFL) August 24, 2019
pic.twitter.com/H8BKu2zwta
Former NFL general manager Michael Lombardi expects the Texans to move Jadeveon Clowney though in a baffling prediction he thinks the Texans might be targeting a wide receiver. If the Texans trade Clowney for a wide receiver that would be one of the most baffling trades in recent sports history.
Clowney, of course, has to sign his franchise tag to be traded. So until he does that the Texans really can't do anything. They can bring the idea of the next team to Clowney, but he will have to like it. Also, the team trading for Clowney can't sign him to a long-term contract either. Moving Clowney at this point is getting a return of quarters on the dollar. Not quite pennies, but not his true value either.
"Again, until he decides to come in and sign the tender, really the ball's in his court relative to playing for the Texans and all those things, just like it's been since the beginning of training camp. He's a franchise player and so until he comes and signs the tender, really there's nothing really else to talk about."
O'Brien was asked about Clowney's timeline and indicated he had no idea when Clowney would arrive.
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Cam Smith’s reaction to making the Astros Opening Day roster is priceless
Mar 25, 2025, 4:16 pm
It’s go time! While the Astros are not the juggernaut they were over the more than half-decade stretch from 2017 through 2022 that yielded regular seasons with 101, 103, 106, and 107 wins, four American League pennants, and two World Series Champions, as the saying goes, they ain’t dead yet. There is no superpower in the American League West the Astros need to overcome. In fact, the American League as a whole is grossly inferior to the National League. As a result, a fifth Astros’ AL title in this era is not some absurd fantasy, though it is certainly unlikely. But winning the pennant is unlikely for every AL team, so if you’re a fan of the Astros there is nothing wrong with a “Why not us?” mentality. On the other hand, the floor for the 2025 Astros is lower going into a season than it has been in almost a decade. The lineup has numerous question marks, and if the terrific trio atop the Astros’ starting rotation (Framber Valdez, Hunter Brown, and Ronel Bronco) runs into injury or performance issues the Astros would have serious problems. That the Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners both finish ahead of the Astros is clearly plausible. Play ball!
Astros history lives in these moments
It is simple fact that time marches on, but it is still amazing that the Astros are beginning their second quarter-century of play at what for its first two seasons was called Enron Field, then for the past 23 seasons Minute Maid Park, and now Daikin Park. That’s 25 seasons in the books, at least 26 more to come, with the Astros a few years ago having extended their lease through 2050. In non-specific order, I have twenty easily come-to-mind most spine-tingling moments at the ballpark. If you want 25 for 25 years, I leave five more to you.
Not all spine-tinglers on the home field are generated by the home team. Here are three produced by visiting players. In 2001, Barry Bonds smashed his 70th home run of the season to tie Mark McGwire’s single season Major League record. We know what went into the home run numbers of that era, but it was still jaw-dropping stuff. Bonds would finish the season with 73 homers. Game five of the 2005 National League Championship Series, with the Astros one out from winning their first ever pennant, Albert Pujols launched a Brad Lidge hanging slider that might still be airborne if not for the glass wall above the train tracks. It may be the most instantaneous crowd delirium to utter silence moment ever. It turned a 4-2 Astros’ lead into a crushing 5-4 loss. But, the next game Roy Oswalt pitched the Astros to that pennant in St. Louis. Lastly, the second game of the 2013 season, Rangers’ pitcher Yu Darvish retired the first 26 Astro batters before Marwin Gonzalez smacked a ball through Darvish’s legs up the middle for a base hit. Soooooo close to a perfect game. Only 22 perfect games have been thrown in MLB’s modern era (1900-today).
Now to Astro achievements. Fudging a bit by including Roger Clemens since it’s not for one specific moment. But the Rocket’s starts with the Astros were events. Speaking of Hall of Famers, Craig Biggio’s 3000th hit is an obvious list-maker. Jeff Kent is not a Hall of Famer but he was better in the batter’s box than any second baseman elected after Joe Morgan. Kent won game five of the 2004 NLCS with a bottom of the ninth three-run bomb to end what had been a scoreless game. Alas, the Astros would lose the next two games and the series in St. Louis. The crowd went much wilder over Kent’s homer than over Chris Burke’s series-winning homer over the Atlanta Braves in a 2005 NL Division Series. Burke’s homer came in the 18th inning, so sheer exhaustion held down the decibel level a little. A sleeper for the list occurred earlier in that same game, when Brad Ausmus of all people hit a two-out game-tying homer to get the game into extra innings.
Four no-hitters have been thrown by Union Station. Working backwards: Ronel Blanco last season, Framber Valdez in 2023, a combined job started by Aaron Sanchez in 2019, and the first in 2015 by Mike....yes, Fiers.
And now to the grandest home park moments of this Platinum Era in Astros’ history. Carlos Correa authored two of them, each in a game two of the American League Championship Series. In 2017 he doubled home Jose Altuve with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth. That came off of Aroldis Chapman who shall appear once more in this column. In 2019 Correa tied the series at one win apiece with a walk-off homer. Yordan Alvarez also gets a pair of entries. You know, Yordan hit just .192 in the 2022 postseason. But talk about making your hits count. In game one of those playoffs, ALDS vs. Seattle, it was a two-out three-run walk-off blast off of Robbie Ray to give the Astros an 8-7 win. Then in the final game of those playoffs, it was a sixth inning gargantuan three-run launch to dead center turning a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead.
That leaves four moments that are 100 percent non-negotiable entries. While not dramatic (4-0 final score), the payoff warrants inclusion of the Astros winning Game seven of the 2017 ALCS over the Yankees. Similarly, while the moment of victory lacked drama (4-1 final), how could one exclude the Astros winning the World Series on home turf in 2022. Finally, for my money the two most pulsating, goosebump-inducing, viscerally exciting moments at 501 Crawford Street. In one of the most scintillating games ever played in any sport, Alex Bregman’s bottom of the 10th inning single gave the Astros’ their epic 13-12 win over the Dodgers in game five of the 2017 World Series. Then in 2019, Jose Altuve’s game six homer ended the ALCS (I warned you Aroldis).
Here’s to the new season! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!
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