FanHouse KeithWeiland

Lots of confusion out there on who is going to get the running back touches for the Texans. I think the confusion exists because I am not sure even the Texans coaches know what they are going to do.

Here's what we know as of today:

1. Green's Injury: Ahman Green was in and out of the lineup for most of last year, and then put on IR due to a bone bruise of his knee. He has recovered from that, but was the anti-weeble in the first preseason game, falling down on his first play without being touched due to a groin injury.

2. Green as Starter: Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle reports that the coaches believe in that Ahman Green will be back for the beginning of the season. As Justice says in his blog comments:

I was told by both Rick Smith and Gary Kubiak that they think he'll be the starting running back in the regular-season opener. He's telling them he'll be ready, which is different than last season when he was never optimistic about coming back. But the biggest factor is that from a talent standpoint he's light years ahead of the other RBs except for possibly the rookie, and there's no way they're going to throw him out there against the 3-4 in the first game.

And he says more about Green in this other blog post.

3. Green Gone: Justice's colleague, John McClain speculates that if Green doesn't play in the preseason, he is going to get cut.

Lots of confusion out there on who is going to get the running back touches for the Texans. I think the confusion exists because I am not sure even the Texans coaches know what they are going to do.

Here's what we know as of today:

1. Green's Injury: Ahman Green was in and out of the lineup for most of last year, and then put on IR due to a bone bruise of his knee. He has recovered from that, but was the anti-weeble in the first preseason game, falling down on his first play without being touched due to a groin injury.

2. Green as Starter: Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle reports that the coaches believe in that Ahman Green will be back for the beginning of the season. As Justice says in his blog comments:

I was told by both Rick Smith and Gary Kubiak that they think he'll be the starting running back in the regular-season opener. He's telling them he'll be ready, which is different than last season when he was never optimistic about coming back. But the biggest factor is that from a talent standpoint he's light years ahead of the other RBs except for possibly the rookie, and there's no way they're going to throw him out there against the 3-4 in the first game.

And he says more about Green in this other blog post.

3. Green Gone: Justice's colleague, John McClain speculates that if Green doesn't play in the preseason, he is going to get cut.

Okay, for those of you emailing me asking, I just got back from my vacation. My pasty blogger skin avoided sunburn, but unfortunately, almost half the group we went with got some sort of really repulsive stomach bug. I've avoided it so far and am considering covering my entire self in hand sanitizer.

In any event, here's various news I missed this last week:

* Johnson's Groin Provides Big Scare. That's the dubiously titled article from HoustonTexans.com that describes the training camp scare that Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson had in the last public practice on Saturday. (HT video above). After having a circus catch, mid season form sort of practice, near the end he felt tightness in his groin and slowed down. He doesn't believe it was a big deal, and went to go sign autographs afterwards without limping.

A rumor recently surfaced on the TexansTalk message board that former Bears running back Cedric Benson was in the Houston area and that he was telling people that he was closest in his talks with the Texans. I've heard similar gossip from other places, and as fans are interested in this, I think it is worth discussing.

(UPDATE: Adam Schefter from NFL Network is reporting that the Texans have no interest in Cedric Benson. No surprise given their emphasis on acquiring high character players, see below).

Clearly the Texans situation would be appealing to Benson. He would be close to home and playing in front of a crowd that includes Longhorn fans who may be inclined to give him another chance. Kyle Shanahan, the offensive coordinator for the Texans played (!) on the same University of Texas team as Benson.

And most importantly, the Texans have a need for better running back play. Their group of backs is still not where you want it to be for a team that aspires to dominate in the running game. Here's their current lineup:

Ahman Green - Oldish and oft injured
Chris Brown - Oft injured
Steve Slaton - Inexperienced smallish rookie
Chris Taylor - Undrafted inexperienced RB coming off of injury
Darius Walker - Undrafted inexperienced RB

Doesn't exactly inspire confidence. The best analysis of the Texans running back situation as it relates to Benson is from Keith Weiland of InTheBullseye.com (formerly of now-shuttered HoustonProFootball.com):