FanHouse DomanickWilliams

Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson had his left knee scoped and cleaned up last Thursday, and the Texans say he should be back by the beginning of training camp. (great video above of AJ talking about his surgery and other topics, including coach Alex Gibbs). This news is a little unnerving to Texans fans (and should be something that fantasy players should watch) because:

1. When Andre Johnson was out last year, the offense still functioned, but not as efficiently, especially in the red zone.

2. The Texans have had a history of being overly optimistic in talking about players coming back from knee problems. Andre Johnson was initially described as week to week after suffering his knee injury in Week 2 last year, then it was said he would be out 3 to 5 weeks, and he didn't end up coming back until Week 11.

Running back Ahman Green was also described week to week with his knee bone bruise injury last year, until the Texans decided that he really needed to shut it down. In the 2006 training camp, Domanick Davis/Williams was described as the perfect zone blocking back until he ended up never playing a down that year and then later retiring due to a knee bone bruise.

Deuce McAllister had surgery to repair his torn ACL today, and by all reports it went well (God James Andrews performed the operation). So, though it doesn't feel right to use the word "replace" in this instance, since nobody could replace Deuce, I guess it's time to start thinking about how exactly the Saints plan on running the ball this year. Especially since they haven't been running well as is.

For better or worse, Reggie Bush is going to take over the majority of the carries. Aaron Stecker will get an increased role, as will Pierre Thomas (who I believe will eventually usurp Stecker's role and vulture some carries from Bush). Some feel the team should go with a veteran -- Domanick Williams and Corey Dillon are still waiting to receive a phone call. But, for humor's sake, perhaps they should go looking for their new back in bridal shops and drum circles all across the land?

Yes, Ricky Williams is out there, looking for a way to get back into the league. If you remember before the comeback/don't-call-it-a-comeback drama and the millions of overdone weed jokes, Williams was a Saint. It was McAllister who made him expendable. And if there's anything that would make this season more head-scratching than the putrid start, it would be a trade for the player they traded after trading their entire draft for him. And it could happen -- there's only a handful of Saints that remain from the Williams days, with an entirely different front office and coaching staff, so the bad blood wouldn't quite be there.

Not that I'm saying this will, or should, happen -- I'd pull my hair out. Luckily, I think the Saints will divide all of McAllister's carries in-house. But it is a funny -- if not frightening -- possibility to consider, and stranger things have happened.

To get you ready for week 1, FanHouse is previewing all 16 NFL games. Here is the Kansas City Chiefs/Houston Texans preview.

2006 Records: (Click names for 2007 preview)

Kansas City Chiefs: 9-7 (2nd in AFC West)
Houston Texans: 6-10 (4th in AFC South)

2006 Head-to-Head:

No game. (Chiefs 45 - Texans 17 in 2005)

When the Chiefs have the ball: After an extremely unimpressive preseason by all of their quarterbacks, coupled with the return of Larry Johnson, you can bet that Kansas City will be running the ball all day long. That's not to say they won't air it out at times, just that they probably won't focus on that phase of the game. Then again, the Texans secondary isn't much better than their front seven.

Houston, who ranked 20th in rush defense last year, will be forced to find a way to stop one of the front runners for NFL MVP. Whether or not they can do it remains to be seen, but you can bet a whole lot of game-planning went into it.