Earlier this week, John Harris and I got together for our weekly "In the Lab" podcast. If you haven't listened, please do. We dive deep into off-kilter topics that involve the Texans, but in an odd way. We've broked down the away records of next year's home opponents, we've picked three retired former Texans who would fit in nicely with the 2018 squad, and more.
This week, we ranked the our five favorite names in Texans history. Not necessarily the greatest players, but the actual names we liked. Even though the franchise is young, its still old enough to have a variety of names in a very brief history.
We each ranked a Top 5, but realized that wasn't enough. So we had an Honorable Mention that was five-deep. And we still missed on some good names.
Before you check out our lists below, PLEASE, comment at the bottom of the page with some of your favorite Texans names.
MY LIST:
1. Tutan Reyes-OL, 2009- Tutan didn't play too much or too long for the Texans, but his name is cool and memorable. Tutan is short for "Tutankhamen", as in King Tut. Big fan of that.
2. Darnell Bing, LB/S, 2010- His last name also sounds like something you could say when he made a big hit. Like Reyes, he wasn't here long. But that name sure is cool.
3. Akeem Dent, LB, 2014-16- Great last name for a linebacker, and great first name for anything. The first Akeem I ever knew of was Olajuwon, followed closely by the Prince of Zamunda. That's a win all around.
4. A.J. "Wonder" Bouye, CB, 2013-16- The rhyming of the first and last name, and the nickname bestowed upon him by Texans digital media manager Jay McDevitt make this a home run name.
5. DeMeco Ryans, ILB, 2006-11- One of the greatest defenders in team history has another name that just rolls so smoothly when you say it. Add in that he's one of the best leaders the franchise has ever known, and he gets my vote.
JOHN'S LIST:
1. DeMarcus "Petey" Faggins, CB, 2002-08- John's first year on the radio in Houston was 2007, and he had many memorable moments that involved Faggins.2. Jermaine "Geronimo" Lewis, WR, 2002-Nickname love is a key component for John in this selection. He loves the nickname Geronimo.3. Vontez Duff, CB, 2004-Duff never played a regular season game for the Texans. But he was a product of Copperas Cove and Notre Dame, and John liked the sound of his name. 4. Benardrick McKinney, ILB, 2015-Current-John likes the sound of the name, as well as the variety of nicknames it spawns. The most notable, of course, is B-Mac.5. Adimchinobi Echemandu, RB, 2007-It's a mouthful, but very cool. Even if you shorten the first name to Joe, which he and many others did, it's still a great-sounding name.
HONORABLE MENTION
Oday Aboushi, OL, 2015-16Mister Alexander, ILB, 2011-12Tim Bulman, DE, 2006-11John Busing, S, 2009Brian Cushing, LB, 2009-CurrentArian Foster, RB, 2009-15Samkon Gado, RB, 2006Ufomba Kamalu, OLB/DE, 2016-currentAl-Hajj Shabazz, DB, 2016Jawanza Starling, FS, 2013
