- 3 weeks ago
BREAKING NEWS hits as the Texans make major moves ahead of Free Agency, trading for Lions running back David Montgomery and sending Tytus Howard away for a 5th-round pick. ITL reacts in real time to what these moves signal about the direction of the roster, how Montgomery fits into the offense, and whether moving on from Howard was about performance, money, or something bigger.
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00:00All right, the breaking news of the last, I don't know, 20, 30 minutes here
00:04is that the Houston Texans have acquired running back David Montgomery
00:09from the Detroit Lions for a package of Juice Scruggs, offensive guard,
00:16and a fourth-round pick and a seventh-round pick,
00:18which now leaves the Texans looking kind of normal, I guess, at least.
00:22They'll still have a first-round pick.
00:24They'll have Washington's second-round pick in addition to their own.
00:27A third-round pick that they acquired from the Giants,
00:29remember when they traded back, a fourth-round pick, a fifth-round pick,
00:33or two fifth-round picks, rather, and a seventh-round pick.
00:36I don't know which fourth and which seventh they ultimately still have.
00:38I said 2027, I just saw.
00:40Oh, it was a future seventh they put in there as well.
00:43Okay, so that actually, I'll need to correct that.
00:45But, yes, the Texans acquire a running back.
00:49The seventh-round pick to the Lions, according to Adam Schefter, is 2027.
00:52Okay, got you. I appreciate you keeping me clean there.
00:55But keep letting us know, how do you feel about this?
00:57What are your thoughts with this move on the base power text line, 713-572-4610?
01:03Two texts that came in, very different, which, of course, you would expect.
01:07People are going to feel differently about all sorts of different moves.
01:09One person goes, the Texans have traded for Joe Mixon 2.0.
01:13Someone else from the 2.1.0 says, it's another crappy trade by Nick,
01:19trading for another aging running back on his last leg.
01:22Well, I don't know about that.
01:23You know, these days, we understand that the 28-year-old running back
01:27is not like the 28-year-old running back of four years ago, three years ago.
01:30There have been so many people that have proved otherwise at that age.
01:34I love it.
01:35I love the pick itself.
01:36Now, I mentioned this to you during the break, and I think it's important.
01:39It's a tacit acknowledgement by Nick Casario that he can't trust himself in the draft.
01:45You know, and I think that's a good thing.
01:47I mean, you know, know your shortcomings.
01:49He's going to have to go out because you're making such a big priority on the offensive side.
01:56The priority is so high on the offensive side of the ball now.
01:58You went out and got David Montgomery.
02:00Montgomery, you traded Titus Howard, which means, I mean, you have to.
02:04Like, you have no option but to go get a top-tier free agent at tackle or center or help,
02:11even on the interior.
02:12You have to go get at least one top-tier guy.
02:14Well, if you're relying on the draft and the window is open now,
02:17which is what you were talking about a little bit with the Titus Howard thing,
02:20there is no, you know, future.
02:23You know, you can draft a guy, but you can't count on him to step in and be the starter.
02:27I mean, if you look at his drafts,
02:30his drafts of offensive linemen, most recently, we can view it as a success for now,
02:35but there are still some questions and some proving it to be done by ursery,
02:39by anti-ursery.
02:40But, yeah, you're right to some degree.
02:42I don't have any concerns.
02:44But I think there is, I mean, you know,
02:46there is still something left to prove for him a little bit.
02:50But we like that one, all right?
02:51Beyond that, you're talking about Blake Fisher.
02:54I still don't think he's going to be on this squad moving forward.
02:57I mean, right now, that is your right tackle.
03:01That's your right tackle, barring you bringing back Trent Brown and then obviously doing other things.
03:06No, it's not.
03:08At this moment.
03:09Not that you are playing at this moment, as we were saying, but yeah.
03:11No, it's not.
03:12That's a second-round pick, Blake Fisher.
03:14We know the story of Kenyon Green.
03:16That's a first-round pick.
03:18And Juice Scruggs, you know, kind of a throw-in here,
03:21and we know that he hadn't been really in their plans very much.
03:23He's still a second-round pick.
03:25That was a second-round pick, man.
03:26So you got two seconds and a first that, bye-bye, gone.
03:29And that's not to mention, you know, the other guys that you've drafted,
03:32such as Jarrett Patterson, you know, whatever you think of him,
03:36you know, Austin Dekulis, guys like that.
03:39I mean, they're acknowledging we haven't done well on the draft,
03:43ursery notwithstanding.
03:45So they're going to go free agency, and they have to.
03:47Well, I hear what you're saying there.
03:50I think that there's a little bit more context to that portion of it,
03:53but I don't want to quibble on that because they have to,
03:56if for no other reason than there's nobody,
03:59there's not really anybody there.
04:00And window open.
04:00Right?
04:01Because sense of urgency was the thing that when we saw the earlier trade
04:05that happened today, if you didn't see that, let me say that here.
04:09Titus Howard has been moved on.
04:11Apparently the Texans remain in good communication
04:13and in good standing with the Cleveland Browns somehow
04:16as the Cleveland Browns trade for Titus Howard.
04:19They send a fifth-round pick,
04:21and they have already done an extension with Titus Howard
04:23for three years and $63 million.
04:26That very much also tells me that Titus Howard was ready for an extension.
04:31Maybe the Texans weren't willing to get to the places
04:33or maybe just weren't ready for an extension as well.
04:36So he will move on to Cleveland where they needed literally
04:39all five starting offensive linemen.
04:41They didn't have any of those returning.
04:42So they have an answer there, but the Texans do not.
04:46Right?
04:46And so there's people that are looking at this move here
04:49that's corresponding with, okay, you add a David Montgomery,
04:53a dude who at very worst is part of a one-two punch with Woody Marks
04:57and eight red zone touchdowns or eight touchdowns last year.
05:01So, you know, you imagine that he will be able to punch in touchdowns
05:06in the red zone, and you'll have a little bit better opportunity at that.
05:08But how do you make that jive with the fact that you now don't have
05:12offensive linemen?
05:13You have to use that money.
05:14Have to.
05:15In free agency.
05:16I mean, there's no choice.
05:17And also still draft.
05:18I mean, we would, you know, be burning down the city, you know,
05:21if they just run it back right here.
05:23Because they need right now four offensive linemen, in my view.
05:26Depending on what you think and, you know, at the center position.
05:31But you need probably both guards and a right tackle.
05:34Maybe Ursary moves to right tackle, and you go get a big-time left tackle.
05:37Who knows?
05:37But you need four offensive linemen.
05:39It's a must.
05:40It's an absolute must.
05:42Yeah.
05:42I think that what this texter says is right.
05:45The trades are setting this team up to be aggressive in free agency.
05:48They've already shown that aggression here early.
05:50And I think it, again, it narrows the places that you need to go.
05:53I don't think that you are still, well, not even, I don't think.
05:55You're not still in a place where you need to go and shell out free agent money
06:00or a free agent contract for a running back.
06:02That is all isolated in offensive linemen, offensive linemen,
06:05offensive linemen, whether it's Tyler Lindebaum,
06:07whether it's someone like Braden Smith, right,
06:10the right tackle that played for the Indianapolis Colts,
06:13whether it's someone like that, whether it's Isaac Samalu,
06:16the guard who plays for the Steelers, right,
06:19who was a pro bowler two years ago.
06:21One of those guys, maybe multiple of those guys, I don't know.
06:24Yeah, Cade Mays, a center, right?
06:26Whether it's something like that, I think that you, this is a,
06:30this almost guarantees to me that one of those guys come home to the Texas
06:33because if they aren't, I don't understand how you do this.
06:35At least one, at least one, I think.
06:36And I want to get back to, this is Joe Mixon 2.0.
06:39I don't know if they were being complimentary or not.
06:42Yeah, let's get into it.
06:43Let's get into it.
06:44Is that a compliment or not?
06:45I don't look at that as a bad thing.
06:46Because Joe Mixon was great.
06:47That first shot was good.
06:48Yeah, Joe Mixon was great when he was on the field.
06:50But then we all know that, you know, how it ended with, you know,
06:53he might have had surgery, that famous quote from Nick Casario.
06:56Well, can I start with the question of Joe Mixon,
06:58is Joe Mixon done in these streets, in these Houston Texans?
07:00100%.
07:00No, yeah, yeah, he's gone.
07:02Yeah.
07:02He's gone.
07:03But the reason I'm kind of, let's say he was talking about the good Joe Mixon.
07:07I still think that is not accurate.
07:09Because I think this is going to be a true one-two punch.
07:13If you're talking about David Montgomery, he's going to be the next Joe Mixon.
07:16He's going to be what they wanted Nick Chubb to be, and that didn't work out.
07:20I don't think so.
07:21I don't think so.
07:22I think they like what they've seen from Woody Marks enough that they're going to say,
07:26hey, hot hand, reps, you know, this guy's going to do this,
07:30and then this guy's going to come in and be a true one-two punch.
07:32There's not going to be a true number one, I don't think.
07:34Yeah, and Joe Mixon, when he came in, I mean, they had Damian Pierce behind them.
07:39But it was Mixon.
07:40Yeah, that's what I'm saying.
07:41It was the Mixon show.
07:43And David Montgomery, he got experience with that one-two punch.
07:46I think he was the starter when they drafted Jameer Gibbs.
07:49Jameer Gibbs, he was.
07:50It was one of the reasons why, because I still vividly remember that draft.
07:52Sonic and Knuckles.
07:53Was that 22, 23?
07:55No, it was 22.
07:56Because not only did the Lions take Jameer Gibbs in the first round,
08:00they also took Jack Campbell in the first round.
08:02So they went running back linebacker in a draft where you go,
08:05those are not positions that you typically view as valuable in the first round.
08:09They hit like crazy on both of those.
08:11And that just made them, as much as we wanted on the outside to look at them
08:16and go, why?
08:16You already have a running back.
08:17Linebacker's a position that you can get later.
08:19Why did you do that?
08:19You saw the value that it provided there in that place.
08:23Yeah.
08:23And it made both of those guys better.
08:25I think that this is an acknowledgement that they want to do this as a tandem as well.
08:29I don't know that this was a move where David Montgomery comes in as running back
08:33one in such a way that there's not a 1B, right?
08:36Whether he's 1A, 1B, however that ultimately falls, that will be seen.
08:41I think that this is in some ways an acknowledgement to Woody Marks.
08:43We see you, young fella.
08:44We're not putting a dude above you.
08:46We're putting a dude with you.
08:48David Montgomery, he is a plus pass protection guy.
08:51He absolutely can help in pass protection and hold up,
08:53which is something that people have asked about.
08:54We talked about him being a downhill runner.
08:58He runs with aggression.
08:59In fact, his yards per carry, it doesn't look as big.
09:05But one of the things to take into account, he saw the fifth highest stacked box rate.
09:09I mean, people are loading up when he is in the game,
09:12and he's still producing at a certain level.
09:14So I think that that is a context that you need to look at any of his numbers with.
09:18This is a dude that's going to be able to be a big back for you.
09:20And big back not in the way of he eats crazy food,
09:24but big back in that he's going to be aggressive, he's going to be physical,
09:27and he's going to bring some of that nature and that mentality to your offense.
09:29And let's also acknowledge, because this is a remade offensive coaching staff,
09:34and approach the Casario offense, this is what they did in New England
09:39with their running backs.
09:40This is exactly what they did.
09:42I mean, I can't remember all the names, but they had Deion Lewis and LeGarrette Blount
09:46and all these other guys.
09:48I mean, they are a one-two punch kind of approach.
09:49Yeah, they rarely had like a Bill Kyle type of guy.
09:52They always had multiple running backs, even three running backs.
09:56This is what they do.
09:58But I see all this with no offensive line.
10:00Yeah, and that's the thing.
10:01It's still early, man.
10:02But what I will say is they were aggressive.
10:05They have shown aggression.
10:05In fact, I kind of want to talk about this next.
10:07Let's keep it going here because there's a lot of breaking news
10:10when it comes to your Houston Texans.
10:11If you're just catching up, Titus Howard traded to the Browns
10:14for a fifth-round pick.
10:15He already has an extension with the Browns, three years, $63 million.
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