Buddy Howell

Howell enters his third season with the Texans. He's played a total of 39 snaps on offense while appearing in 31 of 32 games since Houston claimed him prior to the 2018 season. He does most of his work on special teams and is destined for a similar role in 2020. He moved up the depth chart for a brief moment during preseason in 2019, after Lamar Miller went down with a season-ending knee injury, but the Texans added Carlos Hyde to the backfield that also included Duke Johnson. In 2020, it's David Johnson and Duke Johnson atop the depth chart, so Howell will be a special-teams regular.

Howell spent the entire 2018 season on Houston's active roster, but played just three snaps on offense. He's one of several backs in camp that have a lot of special-teams experience. There's room for at least one more running back, maybe two, so Howell should be featured early on in preseason games along with Taiwan Jones and Josh Ferguson. Lamar Miller's season-ending knee injury suffered in preseason Week 3 means the Texans need to adjust. Howell and Houston's other lesser-known backs move up the depth chart behind Duke Johnson.