Ex-Viking Promoted in Houston
Don’t look now, but the upstart Houston Texans have a 68% probability of reaching the postseason. That’s the word from ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI), anyway.
The Texans are one of the NFL’s grooviest stories in 2023, led by for-certain Offensive Rookie of the Year C.J. Stroud and Coach of the Year candidate DeMeco Ryans.
Ex-Viking Promoted in Houston
And down the stretch, Houston will get a little boost from one former Minnesota Viking — Kris Boyd.
The 27-year-old was promoted on Wednesday, as KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson tweeted, “Texans promote Kris Boyd to active roster from practice squad.”
Boyd joined the Texans roster in late October and has lived solely on the practice squad for about six weeks. Now, though, the veteran corner will be on the gameday roster this Sunday when the Texans travel to New Jersey for a date with the New York Jets.
The Arizona Cardinals released Boyd in early October, and it didn’t take long for the defender to latch on elsewhere. Boyd played in four Cardinals games this season, although all snaps occurred on special teams, Boyd’s niche. He didn’t see the field on defense in Arizona and will now hope for some action in Houston.
For the Vikings in 2022, Boyd played just 37 defensive snaps, head coach Kevin O’Connell’s first year on the job, but was a keynote special teams performer. He was on the field 82% of the time for special teams.
The Vikings discovered Boyd in the 7th Round of the 2019 NFL Draft, and he’s played 62 games since. Boyd was utilized frequently in 2020 on defense — 343 defensive snaps — but aside from that campaign is mostly a special teams asset and a damn good one, at that. He survived the Vikings regime change from Rick Spielman and Mike Zimmer to Kwesi Adofo-Mensah and Kevin O’Connell 19 months ago — for a while.
This is the Texans’ CB room entering Week 14
- Derek Stingley Jr.
- Steven Nelson
- Ka’Dar Hollman
- D’Angelo Ross
- Tavierre Thomas
- Desmond King
- Kris Boyd
Houston’s defense ranks 15th leaguewide through Week 13 per DVOA, sandwiched between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (No. 14) and Buffalo Bills (No. 16). Last weekend, the Texans downed the surging Denver Broncos, placing Ryans’ team firmly in the driver’s seat for its first playoff berth since 2019.
The Texans also employ former Vikings players Mike Boone (RB), Davion Davis (WR), and Case Keenum (QB).
Dustin Baker is a political scientist who graduated from the University of Minnesota in 2007. Subscribe to his daily YouTube Channel, VikesNow. He hosts a podcast with Bryant McKinnie, which airs every Wednesday with Raun Sawh and Sal Spice. His Vikings obsession dates back to 1996. Listed guilty pleasures: Peanut Butter Ice Cream, ‘The Sopranos,’ Basset Hounds, and The Doors (the band).
All statistics provided by Pro Football Reference / Stathead; all contractual information provided by OverTheCap.com.
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