Texans coach DeMeco Ryans will play C.J. Stroud, first-team offense vs. Steelers

Today Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans told assembled reporters that he would be playing his first-team offense in Friday night's preseason game on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers, per Aaron Wilson at KPRC2 .

That means we will get to see franchise quarterback C.J. Stroud make his 2024 debut, fresh off winning the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year award. We will also get to see Stroud's first live reps with an ugpraded wide receiver corps that now features Stefon Diggs at the top as well as 2023 standouts Nico Collins and Tank Dell. Dalton Schultz provides another punch in the passing game at tight end, as well running back Joe Mixon - when he eventually joins the lineup. For now Dameon Pierce has the reins in the backfield.

You may have noticed that we haven't mentioned Houston's offensive line yet, and there's a good reason for that. While the Texans are absolutely loaded at the skill positions and have a strong offensive coordinator they were able to retain in Bobby Slowik, that unit up front has the potential to be the bad apple that spoils the whole bunch. ESPN has Houston's offensive line ranked just outside the bottom-five going into this season.

While they saw some positive signs from Blake Fisher, Kenyon Green and Juice Scruggs in the Hall of Fame game the defensive front-seven they're about to face is on an entirely different level than Chicago's backups. If head coach Mike Tomlin decides to play his defensive starters we'll get to see just how dicey Stroud's situation is likely to be against quality pass-rushing teams.

While we haven't heard from Tomlin yet specifically about this game, last year he delivered an all-time answer when asked if he planned on playing his starters in preseason, saying "I think it's difficult to box without sparring."

If that holds true this year, the guy the Texans will have to worry about he most is of course J.J. Watt's younger brother T.J. Watt, who went off for a league-high 19 sacks, 36 quarterback hits and 19 tackles for a loss last season.

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