Texans Have 'Versatility' To Replace Nickel Desmond King

The Houston Texans believe they have players to replace the services of nickel cornerback Desmond King following his surprise cut from the 53-man roster.

HOUSTON — When the Houston Texans began to assemble their 53-man roster, there were a handful of players whose jettison came with a surprise. But none more so than Desmond King.

The veteran defensive back was one of the first players cut en route to the Texans' initial 53 roster. But despite being a shoo-in, general manager Nick Caserio is confident that the Texans have players who can fill the vacancy left by King at the nickel position.

"I think secondary, as a whole, we have a lot of players that have a lot of versatility," Caserio said. "We try to utilize our players to the best of their ability, put them in the best position to go out and execute the defense as best as they can."

King joined the Texans in March 2021. And since his arrival, King had established himself as one of the Texans' top defensive backs. His best season came in 2021 when injuries forced King to play as an outside corner. He finished his first season in Houston with a career-best 93 tackles, six pass deflections and three interceptions.

King spent time at the Houston Methodist Training Center receiving first-team reps during training camp, where he accounted for two of the defense's 15 takeaways. 

"With our defense [and] with our defensive backs [and] linebackers, I feel like we have a very versatile back seven group, and that’s how I look at it," coach DeMeco Ryans said. "Whoever those seven will be, we’ll make it work. We have a lot of guys who can do multiple things, who have played a lot of good football, and we’ll see how it turns out."

King finished his career in Houston, appearing in 33 games with 25 starts. He recorded 182 tackles, 14 pass deflections and five interceptions. Following his departure, King signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers, which has created a revenge game against the Texans on Oct. 1 at NRG Stadium.