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ITL debates who’s had the bigger hand in the Texans’ turnaround — DeMeco Ryans or Nick Caserio.
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00:00I think I want to bask further in where this Texans team has found themselves.
00:03They're 7-5 now, which is a far cry from the 0-3
00:07and the other different stops that they've had to this point.
00:11And there's a real different air around this team.
00:14There was a point in time where I thought we'd be talking draft
00:16relatively around these times.
00:18Right now, we're starting to look at what it looks like
00:21if and when they make the playoffs
00:23and the different ways that you can win in the playoffs.
00:26Hell, we didn't have any occasion to talk about the different ways
00:28to win in the playoffs.
00:30We were playing Jim Moore drop, right?
00:32Like playoffs, I'm trying to win a game.
00:34They've done that.
00:35They've won those games.
00:36In fact, seven of their last nine, they have won.
00:41And here they are.
00:43And so with that being a case,
00:45who would you say is more responsible for getting them to this place?
00:47Is it D'Amico Rhimes or is it Nick Casario?
00:49Which is funny because I'm sure both of them would hate this question.
00:52They like being the tandem.
00:54They're the team.
00:55They work together.
00:56However, we're doing sports radio, so bump that.
00:58That's right.
00:59So you know what got me thinking about this?
01:01What's that?
01:02Lakin Tomlinson.
01:03Yeah, Lakin Tomlinson.
01:05A guy that was signed to be your left guard.
01:08I'm like, you know, Nick Casario has done a terrific job in so many ways,
01:13but he hasn't done a good job in other ways.
01:15And yet, you know, Woody Marks, you know, what's the reason the run game is doing so well
01:22outside of the offensive line coming together?
01:25It's been Woody Marks, you know, Jaden Higgins, you know, we're sitting here comparing him
01:30to some of the, or at least his characteristics, to Nico Collins.
01:34Some of these other, you know, moves that have just transformed this team.
01:38You're talking about, you know, Will Anderson and being the best speed to power guy in the
01:43entire NFL, according to ESPN.
01:45Well, that was a trade, old Nick did, that got that thing happen.
01:50That was an active, aggressive move in order to acquire.
01:54So many great things.
01:55But if we just funnel it down to this roster, this team, this season, where would you say,
02:02you know, the bigger hand in a turnaround?
02:06I mean, this turnaround was very unlikely.
02:08At 0-3, there were some who were saying, that's it.
02:13It ain't going to happen.
02:14You know what's funny?
02:14I think both of your options here clearly have pros and cons.
02:18I think if I'm going to simplify this, the answer's to Nico Collins, right?
02:22If I'm going ultimately simple, I go, Nick Casario buys the groceries.
02:27D'Amico Ryan's in charge of fixing up what the groceries bring you.
02:31And there's been some fixing up, right?
02:32If you want to take that from the offensive line.
02:35The groceries were bought, but eventually, and getting there was a problem because we
02:40were doing all sorts of mixing around, the idea that they have a buy-in from Titus Howard
02:45in order to move to left guard, the willingness to, you know, obviously, I guess, stick with
02:50Jake Andrews because that seemed to at least have worked to some degree, even if we still
02:54think you might have a better option.
02:56This is an option that has worked, Cole Popovich being in that circumstance and getting these
03:00guys to all work together.
03:02But Trent Brown, I guess you could say, is a Casario portion.
03:05And as much as we can talk about on this offensive line, the fact that you brought in
03:09Cam Robinson to be a starter and he's no longer here.
03:11The fact that you brought in Laker Thomas to be a starter and he's no longer here.
03:15Jake Andrews, the weak spot.
03:17I would say so.
03:18You can also point to the fact that if we had gotten what we had liked, Ariante Urseri
03:24wouldn't be that guy.
03:25Ariante Urseri is one of the five best, at least tackles early on, and I'm not sure how
03:30many of those guys I'd trade him for.
03:32In fact, when we're talking about young tackles, Josh Simmons, one of those guys that was taken
03:36ahead by the Kansas City Chiefs, no less, he's having surgery on his wrist.
03:39Not to say that that's like a demerit on him.
03:42You're not seeing him this week, which we could talk about more in the context of how Patrick
03:46Mahomes is going to be running for his gosh darn life.
03:49We'll talk about that more.
03:50But Ariante Urseri, there hasn't been injury issues.
03:53He's jumped in and been a starter immediately.
03:55He's been really good on the blind side of the quarterback.
03:57And he's been one of the things that's helped you solidify this thing.
04:00You can extend it.
04:01Blake Fisher.
04:02Well, yeah.
04:02You know, and I'm sure you heard the stat during the game.
04:06And I knew we talked about it.
04:07They haven't been great with him as the tight end in the jumbo package.
04:11I think it was J.J. Watt was talking about not only have they not been great, they're
04:14worse.
04:16They're worse with him at tight end than they are with him not in terms of blocking grades
04:21and such.
04:21So that, you know, that's a Casario guy.
04:24Juice Scruggs, you know.
04:26So you look at Casario like, thank you, thank you, thank you.
04:30Oh, my gosh.
04:30What were you doing?
04:31What were you thinking in terms of some of the things he does?
04:34Then there's this, and my short answer is D'Amico as well, who has the bigger hand in
04:39their turnaround, because it is a turnaround after an 0-3 start.
04:43And he's held the line, man.
04:45You know, he's been just adamant about next play, not worried about the standings.
04:50Maybe some of it is, you know, hogwash, because you know he is looking at some of these things.
04:56Bull jump.
04:56Yeah, exactly.
04:57I was trying to think of something like that.
04:59Nevertheless, and to be able to rally the team to be able to do these things.
05:04Make some tough decisions, you know, in terms of the roster and who's playing, who's not.
05:09My short answer is D'Amico Ryans, but then I also go back to what we talked about at the
05:13top of the show, and that is, you kind of feel like they're also, this style, this preference,
05:21as much as it's working because of the great defense, is holding back C.J. Stroud on this
05:25offense some.
05:26That's D'Amico Ryans.
05:28Yeah.
05:28You know?
05:29It is.
05:30And I was like, some of the other things that we will complain about with D'Amico Ryans
05:35still are there.
05:37I think that that's the thing that I come back to is that they're, I have a little bit
05:41of a complicated relationship with both of these guys, but they've both added into it.
05:46Because again, you talk about rookies, man.
05:48Like, Jaden Higgins doing that is a guy that they made the decision of drafting or operating
05:53the way that they did in the first and second rounds there to go ahead and draft him.
05:58Acquiring Jalen Noel as well as a counterpart has been useful for them, if for no other reason
06:02than he's kind of returning the ball really well.
06:04Like, he hasn't really broken very many that haven't gotten called back at least.
06:08But he's consistently picking up 14, 15 yards return, which is not something to scoff at
06:14by any means.
06:15No, not at all.
06:16I mean, it sucks that it happened so quickly, but Jalen Reed looked like he was capable.
06:20And that's a sixth rounder that you, or is he, yeah, that's a sixth rounder that you
06:23had in the secondary.
06:25It feels like they've been able to take, you know, and of course, some of this again is
06:28the way that it's coached up.
06:30But they've actually gotten some really good young pieces that have been able to help them
06:33in this.
06:33Woody Marks, of course, as well.
06:35Yes.
06:36And where does Davis Mills fall in this?
06:38That was Nick Casario's highest draft pick a few years ago, and he was a third round
06:44pick.
06:44This team is not where it is without Davis Mills doing what he did for three weeks.
06:49So you can kind of, you know, go back and forth on this whole thing in terms of who's
06:53had the bigger hand.
06:55As you pointed out, they'd like to, they'll say, and maybe the fair answer is both of them.
07:00It absolutely is.
07:01You know, both of them have been doing it.
07:03But here's the other thing.
07:05As much as we've kind of singing the praises of what Nick Caley has done to be able to
07:10rally this offense and get it done behind this offensive line that is finally set, I don't
07:15think you have Nick Caley and maybe the argument of, are you holding back C.J.
07:19Stroud without Nick Casario?
07:21Yeah, you've long held that.
07:23I firmly believe it.
07:25Nick Casario, Cole Popovich, a lot of these guys are on the offense.
07:29The whole offensive shift has been a Casario joint the whole time.
07:34But now it's working.
07:36You know, right now it's working.
07:38I don't know if it's a long-term, you know, answer or how it will play in the postseason,
07:44but I think you could argue that this type of offense in the postseason does work.
07:47Yeah.
07:47And I think the intertwined nature of this and how we're discussing this, even as we try
07:51and separate it, it keeps coming back together, and I think that one of the interesting things
07:55that might be worth doing in this, and look, I reserve the right to, depending on how things
07:59look, you know, change the way that I feel about this, but we've been hard on Nick Casario.
08:05We have been, and I think that there's still reason to be, because again, we're looking
08:08at Laken Tomlinson, who's gone, and I raised my hand and feel like I could have seen that
08:13one.
08:14Yeah.
08:14Even the Cam Robinson, I was like, I feel like I could have seen that one, too.
08:16Now, I also wouldn't have seen Ed Ingram.
08:18So, like, that's the give and take of this.
08:20I also wouldn't have seen Trent Brown being as effective as he has been.
08:23I didn't think it was going to happen.
08:24Didn't either, right?
08:25So, like, that's 50-50 there.
08:27That's two for four on either side of it there.
08:31But I got to give him credit where credit's due on, like, still having enough there and
08:35doing it in tandem with D'Amico Ryan so the place where they could figure out a way to
08:39get this going in the right direction.
08:41So, I mean, I think the real answer, if we're not doing the sports talk radio of it, is like,
08:45we clearly both have a hand in getting this to the right place.
08:48Now, let's go to the completely hackish radio question.
08:54If you had to keep only one of them, if you had to keep only D'Amico or only Nick Casario?
09:01I don't like this question.
09:03I would like to not.
09:04So, you want to talk about Josh Simmons injuring his wrist?
09:07You want to talk about that and how that impacts it?
09:09We could.
09:10That's a really tough question.
09:12It's a really tough question.
09:12Because, again, this is where I can't separate it just to this year because Nick Casario
09:16has helped them develop the defense.
09:18But all of that is in the style of what D'Amico Ryans does.
09:21I think the answer would probably be D'Amico Ryans if I had to get down to that because the
09:28strength of this team is the defense and the defense plays the way that it does because
09:33of D'Amico Ryans.
09:34And culture.
09:34That would be my answer.
09:36You know, these words that become cliches become cliches for a reason.
09:40Culture does make a difference in NFL locker rooms.
09:43And everything from how they responded to 0-3 to how they, you know, made the adjustments
09:49during the season.
09:50Q-word never came close to being uttered or being valid in that locker room.
09:54Yes.
09:55And I think the culture of this team is why they are where they are.
10:01And I think D'Amico Ryans has been able to hold it, you know, to steadfast, so to speak,
10:08with it in the locker room.
10:09I still don't, you know, fully embrace what they are offensively.
10:13And I think that's a D'Amico thing.
10:15But I think he's the biggest reason that they are where they are.
10:18And now I think that they get an interesting, like, a test is not the right word, but an
10:24interesting kind of data point in this Kansas City Chiefs game.
10:27And because, like, I talk about time and place, right, like, the cold and going to
10:32that place, like, can they exercise demons?
10:34That feels like that's going to be a culture point on top of, like, the actual play.
10:38Oh, it's a big moment.
10:39It's going to be a big moment, even though the Chiefs aren't what we, what they've been
10:43in recent years, should go in on a Sunday night, go in on a Sunday night in Kansas City
10:48and win that game.
10:49I think that's going to be, it's going to elevate the confidence, elevate just the stature
10:54of this team, and especially if they do it the way they've been doing it with, you
10:58know, defense and shutting down Patrick Mahomes.
11:00And by the way, as bad as the Chiefs have been, comparatively speaking, to previous Chiefs
11:06team, Patrick Mahomes is having a good year.
11:09He's playing pretty well.
11:10He is.
11:10He really is.
11:11So it'll be a big, big win if they can do that.
11:15And I mentioned time and place because of the cold and the outdoors.
11:19D'Amico Ryans on the Coaches Show was asked about that.
11:22I was interested in his response because I think it ties into what we were talking about.
11:25Is there anything you can do to prepare this team for the cold weather in Kansas City?
11:29Hey, if anybody has any tips, let me know.
11:32Well, for me, my mentality is, hey, you got to man up for three hours.
11:36Let's go to work.
11:37No matter what the conditions are, you man up, especially with the cold weather.
11:41Hey, put on something warm, not too warm.
11:44Put on enough where you're not worried about it.
11:46Yeah, my mindset is always, man, you go in a game, it's like you got to psych yourself
11:51out mentally.
11:52Also, it's like, I'm not worried about the weather.
11:55Like, put that behind you.
11:56It's going to be cold.
11:57Get over it.
11:57Now, what are you going to do?
11:58It's cold for them as well.
12:00Who's going to be the shirtless or sleeveless guy on the Texas?
12:03Oh, what a great question.
12:04Who's going to be the shirtless or sleeveless guy walking out for warm-ups?
12:08What's funny is not many of these dudes feel like they're that guy who needs to show the
12:13bravado.
12:14I don't think it would come from that place, but in my brain, I'd go Daniil.
12:17I'd go Dalton.
12:18Dalton Schultz.
12:20You think so?
12:20Really?
12:21Yeah.
12:21Even coming from Cali?
12:22Oh, yeah.
12:23Oh, yeah.
12:24Well, he also played in Cali, but he also played in NorCal.
12:29And we think of Cali.
12:30You say Cali.
12:31I think you might be thinking Southern California.
12:32It's not all sunshine up there in Northern California.
12:35Daniil's a good pick.
12:36I think Daniil's going to have the guns out, man.
12:38Yeah.
12:39I feel like the muscles insulate him.
12:41And he's a machine.
12:43It doesn't even matter how cold it is.
12:45Oh, you know who it is?
12:47Jake Andrews.
12:48100%.
12:49Really?
12:50Oh, yeah.
12:51Because he's the kind of undersized, all-effort guy that, obviously, he's not having a great
13:00year, but sort of is there.
13:01Don't do that.
13:02He's not, but because of his effort and heart and toughness and all that, it's going to
13:09be Jake Andrews.
13:10Sleeveless, at least.
13:11It's not going to matter in the way that I think you're asking the question.
13:15I think Jakob Johnson is also a good shot for it.
13:18I could see that one.
13:19I mean, German dude, pretty yoked in and of himself.
13:22I feel like he might end up out there with the shirt off.
13:25Cade Stover.
13:26Good.
13:26Oh, yeah.
13:27Yeah, that's probably it.
13:28Good answer, 832.
13:29That's probably it.
13:30Good answer.
13:31And it always fascinates me because they know they're cold.
13:36They know we know they're cold.
13:38Everybody knows they're cold, and they still do it.
13:41And it's not, and to be fair, and to be clear about this, it's not about just, you know,
13:45not just wearing sleeves.
13:46It's like the performative nature of not wearing sleeves.
13:50Yeah, like David and Joku who go out there with no shirt at all.
13:54They all want to wear a parka, but they go out there shirtless or sleeveless because
13:58it's like, hey.
14:00I want you to see.
14:00I want you to see that I'm not cold.
14:02I'm right off of Lake Erie with no shirt.
14:04This is nothing to me.
14:05Yeah, exactly.
14:07Stover is the answer.
14:09Stover would be a good answer.
14:10Either way, I think that that's also indicative of the cold.
14:13He doesn't, like D'Amico, even as he's like, hey, we just got to get that yard or what
14:17have you, he doesn't often give off meathead, which I think is kind of a credit to him
14:22because it could easily get to a point where it's like, oh, there's the meathead head coach.
14:26I kind of appreciate it in that moment.
14:28Give me a little meathead head coach, right?
14:29Like, give me a, hey, man, just get out here and thug it out, guys.
14:32Be tough.
14:32It's cold.
14:33Who cares?
14:34Get out.
14:34Play football.
14:35But either way, super excited.
14:36Someone said Fairbairn going shirtless.
14:38You know what?
14:39He might.
14:40No, he is not.
14:41I could see him doing it, trying to get it for himself.
14:43Like, it's less about trying to show anything than just like, hey.
14:45That brother going to be in the turtleneck.
14:47Yeah.
14:47In the trench coat out there.
14:49Going to have the gloves, the little parka gloves that go up to your elbow.
14:52Oh, but also, we might have missed an easy answer, which is just Will.
14:55Will.
14:56Will going to be out there early working just because he's excited to do it.
15:00He's excited to play football if it's rain, hail, sleet, or snow like he from the USPS.
15:03Like, that's how Will gets down.
15:05All right.
15:05Excited for this game as we continue to work towards it.
15:08And like I said, in 24 hours, we will be wrapping up with one Nick Wright and getting ourselves
15:14ready for this game.
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