The Texans will play their second of three preseason games Friday against the LA Rams at SoFi Stadium at 9 p.m. 

The Chronicle's Jonathan M. Alexander and Brooks Kubena take a look at what we should pay attention to. The conversation:

ALEXANDER: I’m going to go ahead and say it Brooks. Dameon Pierce needs to be running back one. I understand he’s a rookie and the coaching staff wants him to continue to to play without the ball, but he’s a playmaker. And this Texans offense doesn’t have many of them. Since the start of training camp, Marlon Mack has primarily run with the first team, but I believe it’s clear, Pierce is the most explosive of the two. And that’s no knock on Mack. I just think Pierce is that good. His 49 yards rushing on five carries was as impressive as I’ve seen at camp. It was interesting to hear his teammates marvel about him and his play last week. They knew he had the power, but didn’t know he had the speed and shiftiness to go with it. There’s little reason to not start him if he gives you the best chance to win. Am I wrong?

KUBENA: You could be right, Jonathan. And that's how it goes with anyone who takes early stock on an impressive player’s preseason debut. The bulk of Houston’s probably with you too. Indeed, there was a lot to like about Pierce’s first game: he's powerful, he's a downhill runner and he decleated a blitzer on his one pass protection. He passed the test with the second-team offense against the Saints second-team defense. It's like a good first date. Let that be what it is. Don't go off and buy a ring just yet. I also think the whole “RB1” concept is a bit overrated when tangibly applied to scheme. Might he end up with the most carries by the end of 2022? He's on his way to showing he can handle a heavy workload. I still think he and Marlon Mack can be complimentary. Look, the first-team offensive line let Mack get pulverized on the first snap before he hardly even got the ball, then his second carry — a six-yard run down the sideline — was negated by a holding penalty. Drive’s over. Sub in the second team. Suddenly Pierce is the starter? A little presumptuous, in my opinion.

KUBENA: If Green doesn't play against the Rams, I'd also find it a hard sell to see him start against the Colts. And that'd spell trouble. The Texans might say they're comfortable with Justin McCray and Max Scharping, but they wouldn't say any different. That they spent their No. 15 overall pick on Green underlines how major a need they view guard. Scharping and McCray alternated as starters last season on the team’s second-worst run game in history. All this talk about Dameon Pierce being RB1 goes hand-in-hand with Green’s development. There's more responsibility on the center this season to make calls at the line, and Green must show he can handle that handoff of communication while in the heat of a game. The Texans don't really scrimmage in practice, so these preseason games are about the only way Green can learn. It'd be problematic to fast track the rookie, but if he's fully healthy, they might decide baptism by fire is a better way to live than settling for a purgatory with past players.

ALEXANDER: Honestly, the biggest thing is staying healthy. I’m not convinced he’ll be the starter Week 1 only because he’s behind. He’s missed the past two weeks with a concussion, likely won’t play on Friday against the Rams. He wore a knee brace in Wednesday’s practice, which is also a concern for me. I do think the Texans feel comfortable enough with McCray and Scharping, to shoulder the load until Green is ready. But if he’s healthy, Green gives them the best chance at left guard. The Texans addressed this position in the first round of the 2022 draft for a reason.

KUBENA: I think it's time for Stingley to get some live reps. He's two weeks into practicing with no restrictions. Playing him last week might’ve been pushing beyond a conservative approach, but it's worth getting him out there for at least a few drives before the season opener. He hasn't played a down since Sept. 18, 2021, and I don't think the first one should be the first snap against the Colts. And not just for health reasons. He's probably itching to play too, subconsciously at the very least. Get him comfortable with the first-team defense. Welcome him in. Get the angst out. This isn't about competition as much. The Rams didn't play Cooper Kupp last week, and they probably won't again.

ALEXANDER: If Derek Stingley is available, then it’s definitely him. He was the No. 3 overall pick. He’s been limited in camp and the preseason up until this point. You can see his potential in some of the plays he’s been making. The coaching staff has lined him up against Brandin Cooks in recent practices, and he’s had some success. And no other defensive player can say that. Stingley and Cooks work with each other after practices. Stingley’s teammates say he’s inquisitive, always wanting to know how to get better, and what his opponent is thinking. We’ve been seeing a lot of that in camp. Now it’s time to see it full speed. With only two preseason games remaining, the opportunities for Stingley to see the field for the regular season are dwindling. I’m ready to see if he’s truly capable of shutting one side of the field.

KUBENA: Agreed. But keep eyes on Jonathan Owens, too. He opened training camp as the favorite to start at safety opposite Jalen Pitre, but we’ve seen Eric Murray’s practice time increase with the first-team defense recently. Owens has an admirable football story. Undrafted out of Missouri Western State, he slowly worked his way up from practice squads with the Cardinals and Texans for three seasons before starting in his first NFL game last season. Owens recorded an interception in two starts, and Lovie Smith said he saw a potential star in Owens. This position is crucial. The Texans need to have established trust in both safeties if they’re going to move Pitre around, especially up against the line of scrimmage. Owens and Murray were both part of a secondary that got burned often in 2021. The Texans won’t want that to happen again.

ALEXANDER: There are a lot of fringe players who fall into that same boat of looking from the outside in. I look at a players like Drew Estrada, who has missed time because of an injury,  Connor Wedington or Chester Rogers, who has also missed time and hasn’t really had much time to prove himself. These players were long shots to make the roster already, and could still be eligible to make the practice squad. But their path to the 53-man looks uncertain. Receivers like Jalen Camp, Chris Moore, Phillip Dorsett, Johnny Johnson III, Chris Conley, have continually made plays in training camp or the preseason games, and remain ahead of those guys.  It’ll definitely depend on how many receivers the Texans decide to keep whether that’s five or six. Of course, Brandin Cooks and Nico Collins are already locks.

KUBENA: You make a good point about those receivers. There's a financial part to this, too. Rogers, Wedington, Estrada cost the Texans hardly anything with a dead money hit if they're cut. They know that when they sign. They know they're the ones with something to prove. Jalen Camp has a similar contract, and his breakout game last week against the Saints has made him a favorite to make the team out of that group. The Texans only have to cut four more players by Tuesday, since they also waived defensive tackle Damion Daniels on Tuesday. I think they'll want to spend another week evaluating their deep linebacker corps before making the final cut to 53. I think this is where you start seeing some of the surplus at cornerback narrowing down. Since nickel safety Tavierre Thomas is out definitely with a quad injury, that increases the need for more defensive backs. Where we might have seen the decision between added veterans Fabian

Jonathan M. Alexander is a staff writer for the Houston Chronicle covering the Houston Texans and NFL. He is a Charlotte native and graduated from N.C. Central University, an HBCU in Durham, N.C. in 2013.

He's covered a variety of beats in his career from K-12 schools, public safety, town government, recruiting, Duke basketball, UNC basketball and football at the Raleigh New & Observer, and most recently spent two years covering the Carolina Panthers for the Charlotte Observer.

He has twice earned APSE National Top 10 honors for his writing and reporting.

He broke one of the biggest stories on the Panthers beat in November 2021, when he revealed that the Panthers were planning to meet with quarterback Cam Newton with the intentions to sign him one year after releasing him.

In his free time, Jonathan enjoys coaching youth basketball, trying new restaurants and hanging with friends. He has one sister, Tyler, who has lived in Houston for six years. His parents, Stanley and Becky, who are his biggest influences, are both retired social workers.

Brooks Kubena, a Houston native, joined the Chronicle in 2021 to cover the Texans and the NFL after reporting on LSU football for The Advocate | Times-Picayune in Baton Rouge for three years. Kubena contributed to the AP Top 25 poll and held a Heisman Trophy vote. A graduate of the University of Texas and Clear Lake High School, he's too young to remember the Oilers but old enough to remember a parking lot was once AstroWorld.