Houston Texans training camp preview: Key dates, notable additions, biggest storylines

With 2024 NFL training camps just around the corner, it’s time to get up to speed on all 32 NFL teams. Bobby Kownack has the lowdown on position battles, key players and notable subplots across the AFC South.

Catch up on the Houston Texans’ offseason developments and 2024 outlook below.

Training Camp Dates/Information

• Players report: July 17 (rookies & veterans)
• Location: Houston Methodist Training Center | Houston (fan information)

Notable Roster Changes

Preseason Schedule

• Hall of Fame Game: vs. Chicago Bears (Canton, Ohio) | 8 p.m. ET (ESPN, ABC) on Thursday, Aug. 1
• Week 1: at Pittsburgh Steelers | 7 p.m. ET (NFL Network) on Friday, Aug. 9
• Week 2: vs. New York Giants | 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, Aug. 17
• Week 3: vs. Los Angeles Rams | 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, Aug. 24

2024 Schedule Notes

• Based on their opponents’ 2023 win percentage (.526), the Texans have the fourth most challenging strength of schedule in 2024, a position they share with others.
• New Houston WR Stefon Diggs faces his former team, Buffalo, in Week 5.
• The Texans will finish the season with three of their final four games against 2023 playoff teams, including the defending Super Bowl champion Chiefs in Week 16.

— NFL Research

What You Need To Know

1) After matching their combined win total from the previous three seasons with 11 victories in 2023 (including playoffs), the Texans won’t sneak up on anyone in 2024. C.J. Stroud is the reigning Offensive Rookie of the Year, Will Anderson Jr. won Defensive Rookie of the Year, and DeMeco Ryans nearly took home Coach of the Year honors, falling just short of Cleveland’s Kevin Stefanski via tiebreaker. Plus, offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, a hot commodity who interviewed for five head-coaching vacancies, ultimately stayed in Houston. This is the first year since 2020 that the Texans enter the season as the hunted in the AFC South. The theme of camp will be about stressing how to adjust and remain on top.

2) The Texans possess an embarrassment of riches at wide receiver with a trio of Nico Collins, Tank Dell and Stefon Diggs that could be tops in the NFL. The key now is figuring out how to disperse targets among a group that combined for 234 receptions, 3,189 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2023. Can Diggs, a four-time Pro Bowler who faded down the stretch in Buffalo, bond quickly with Stroud to re-emerge as the type of primary target he had been for Josh Allen? Collins will get his fair share of looks after breaking out and then inking a new big-money deal in May, while Dell appears fully healthy after suffering a fractured fibula last December and sustaining a gunshot wound in April. It could eventually boil down to showcasing a different star every week, but training camp should provide the first hint at Houston’s preliminary pecking order.

3) Joe Mixon has long proven capable of carrying a workhorse load, but his recent output is more a byproduct of opportunity than efficiency. Although he logged his fourth 1,000-yard rushing campaign last season on 257 carries, fifth among ball-carriers, his 4.0 yards-per-carry average tied for 27th. How will Slowik elect to use the soon-to-be 28-year-old? That will partly depend on how Mixon acclimates to his new offense. Dameon Pierce will also have a say. The third-year back appeared to be an emergent bowling ball of pain for opponents during a 939-yard rookie season before his YPC (2.9) went into the gutter amid an injury-ravaged sophomore campaign. If Pierce doesn’t bounce back in August, it’s possible Mixon continues receiving his same old usage in brand new colors.

4) Houston didn’t limit the big swings to offense this offseason. General manager Nick Caserio opened the checkbook in free agency to sign edge rusher Danielle Hunter to a two-year deal, a move that essentially became a swap when the Vikings signed the Texans’ sack leader from last season, Jonathan Greenard. Hunter just paced the NFL with 23 tackles for loss and finished fifth with 16.5 sacks, and his already-budding chemistry could help unlock the next level for fellow Pro Bowler Will Anderson Jr. in Year 2. Their joint production on the edge will be paramount in order for Houston’s D to deliver consistently, especially as the interior figures out its way from scratch following the departures of Sheldon Rankins and Maliek Collins.

5) Derek Stingley Jr. is locked in as the CB1 after logging five interceptions in 11 games last season, but CB2 is up in the air. With Steven Nelson (16 starts in 2023) retired and Tavierre Thomas (five starts) gone, the cornerback with the next-most starts for Houston behind Stingley from 2023 is Desmond King (three), who could get the first shot at nickelback duties. Kamari Lassiter, the team’s first pick in this year’s draft at No. 42 overall, will be looking to prove himself worthy of sharing the boundary responsibilities with Stingley early on. Free-agent additions C.J. Henderson, Jeff Okudah, Mike Ford and Lonnie Johnson will also be jostling for position in a largely reworked CB room.