- 23 hours ago
How the Texans’ roster shakeup impacts Stroud, protection, and offensive philosophy.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Nick Casario has been active on this Monday morning.
00:03When I saw the news that Titus Howard had been traded to the Cleveland Browns
00:08for a fifth-round pick where he ultimately got a three-year,
00:11$63 million extension, I was like, oh, okay.
00:15So Nick Casario, as much as he will talk about, obviously,
00:19the side of the draft with the testing not mattering or whatever,
00:24he's still out there doing the convention portion of this.
00:27I have a strong feeling that this wasn't something that just materialized
00:31over the weekend.
00:31It's possible that it was, but I feel like there had to have been conversations
00:35in Indianapolis.
00:36Oh, absolutely.
00:37You talk about the convention aspect of it.
00:39I think he's got a deal in place because it's such a bold move.
00:44Let's just focus on the Titus Howard thing.
00:46You're sending it away, and we really haven't talked about it specifically
00:49to what Titus was on this team.
00:51Yes.
00:52Your best offensive lineman.
00:53Correct, as of right now.
00:54You just traded away your best offensive lineman.
00:57Offensive lineman.
00:58So let's think about that.
00:59Why would you do that?
01:02Even if he somewhat asked for it or wanted to get a new contract,
01:05and you're like, eh, I don't know if we can afford that
01:09with the other contracts coming up.
01:10You still wait.
01:12You still sort of try to figure it out.
01:14You still understand that you have capologists in the building,
01:18and you're probably one yourself if you're Nick Casario.
01:21I hope so.
01:23To not necessarily just say, okay, you're gone.
01:26We'll trade you for a fifth.
01:28But didn't we have this type of energy with Laramie Tunsil last year?
01:31Because I was forward when they traded Laramie Tunsil
01:35and thinking they about to revamp this whole line,
01:37but they kind of went through the hand-me-down.
01:40I'm glad you said that.
01:40I'm glad you said that.
01:42What makes you feel confident that this is different?
01:44Because about what we're going to talk about here in a minute,
01:46but just trading Titus Howard by itself, you're thinking, wow,
01:50why would you do that?
01:51Well, the only reason you do that is because at the convention,
01:54you already have a wink-wink, this deal is done deal
02:00for another offensive lineman.
02:02Free agent is what I'm talking about.
02:04You have to have that in place.
02:05You don't just do that willy-nilly.
02:08Yeah, we'll move him, and we'll worry about the rest later.
02:10You just don't.
02:11So I think that's done, and then it leads to what we're going to talk about here.
02:14Every move you're making, running back, Titus Howard, free agency, draft.
02:20Well, free agency and draft you haven't made yet.
02:22Yeah, exactly.
02:23You know, all these moves that you're, well, wink-wink on the free agency part,
02:26but all these moves have to do with one person,
02:29and that one person is C.J. Stroud.
02:32This is all about C.J. Stroud.
02:34Yeah, and so how do we take that?
02:36Because you're talking about the offensive line,
02:38and that is your best offensive lineman,
02:41but also the dude who it seemed like he was stepping up as some level of leader
02:44in the offensive line.
02:45Now, how much of that is our impression from the outside looking in?
02:47I'd be very intrigued to kind of get some insight into how they viewed
02:50the offensive lineman and who was the leaders,
02:52because if I had to guess, I can't,
02:55it's hard for me to think that Trent Brown was a leader in there inherently
02:58because he was injured a little while,
03:00but he does give leadership qualities very easily.
03:02He was a teacher, mentor, been in that system before.
03:06Right, how much was Jake Andrews as the center
03:09in the organizational and communicational piece?
03:12How much did he have leadership?
03:13But that, regardless, Titus Howard showed up in some way
03:16of leadership in that offensive line, and he's not there.
03:19For C.J. Stroud, especially if you have,
03:22and if you believe that C.J. Stroud had offensive line confidence issues,
03:25how does this help?
03:26Because, yes, maybe you're thinking about the contractual situation.
03:30Maybe even you get so far as thinking Titus Howard
03:33is still a link to the previous regime that you had some questions on
03:37how swarmy they were, how tough, how gritty,
03:41so on and so forth, right?
03:42Maybe that is how you view this.
03:44You are also, even if they do the thing where I hope that they do,
03:48where they go and they get a free agent dude that you know
03:51can play this game, has played this game at a high level recently,
03:55and you can drop in, that is still a dude that does not have the continuity.
03:59Like, you have even less continuity,
04:00and you will have to do some figuring out.
04:02How does that help C.J. Stroud and his confidence level
04:05as you try and get a full accounting of what he actually is?
04:08I know that they could say that, you know,
04:10there's 50 other games outside of those two games that you had
04:14in the postseason that were no good, terrible, horrible, bad games
04:17for C.J. Stroud.
04:19You could say that, but you're still trying to see
04:21exactly what you have in him in this year.
04:23The idea, at least in my mind, is that you set him up
04:25for maximum success.
04:27How does this help towards that end?
04:28Well, and from the moment that that Patriots game ended,
04:32let's say give it a day, every single thing they've done,
04:36not just, you know, the Titus Howard thing,
04:39not just the David Montgomery thing, goes back to C.J. Stroud
04:43and the confidence you have in him and, or lack thereof,
04:46and the way you want to surround him and help him become
04:50the best possible quarterback he can.
04:52And that includes philosophical changes in what you're doing offensively,
04:57coaching changes, everything you've, every single thing you've done
05:02points to how we're going to equip C.J. Stroud to give us the best shot.
05:08That's what this is about.
05:09And ultimately what's weird about it, it's still going to come back down
05:13to how C.J. Stroud returns when we see him in OTAs or training camp
05:18or whatever and how he fits in with this offense.
05:20But they're doing everything they can from Szaplinsky to, you know,
05:24the acquisitions and moves they're making.
05:27Everything comes back to C.J. Stroud.
05:29Yeah.
05:30And I think as much as I'm still, and I get you,
05:34the people that are like, I'm not here for the same hopium that you have.
05:37I get that.
05:39You honestly, it's well within your right.
05:41Even if you're existing in a place of hopium that Nick Casario has demonstrated
05:45with the secondary move of going in actively and aggressively going
05:49and acquiring David Montgomery.
05:50I'm like, okay, they are on the front foot,
05:53and hopefully they put that same level of aggression into the offensive line,
05:58right, going and adding, whether it's a Tyler Linderbaum,
06:00which I think that this has energized my thought,
06:03even though I had fully let that one go,
06:05the idea that Linderbaum would be something that Texans would go after.
06:07It's energized it to a point.
06:09I'm not in the place where I think that they're going to make it happen,
06:11but okay, there's a possibility.
06:12If they're going to be aggressive, all these things are possibilities.
06:16But even that, I go, that is another change.
06:19And CJ Stroud, if you have concerns about CJ Stroud, it's not about the technical ability to do things.
06:25That's been there.
06:25It's about between the ears.
06:27Do you have any concerns that this additional change where we've talked about different coordinators,
06:32we've talked about now a different quarterback coach,
06:34we've talked about different systems, all the differences and changes,
06:37and this is another one in the offensive line with one fewer dude that there's familiarity with,
06:43is that not a concern to getting the best out of him,
06:46which ultimately a lot of people think is, regardless of what you do,
06:49if your CJ Stroud ain't right, that your team isn't going to be right.
06:52100%.
06:53100% it's going to come back to him.
06:54And I think it not only puts pressure, you know, this move of Titus Howard and David Montgomery
06:59not only puts a lot of pressure on Nick Casario to swing big on the offensive line,
07:05and I think more than just one free agent, at least a free agent or two,
07:10or at least a free agent and a first-round draft pick,
07:12not only does it put pressure on him to do that,
07:14but it puts pressure on them to ultimately make the decision after this coming season.
07:19This is the most important season for a lot of people over there,
07:23not just C.J. Stroud, but mostly C.J. Stroud.
07:26If it doesn't work now, do you make a decision on him?
07:31Do you make a decision on him?
07:32Like, look, man, we did everything.
07:33We did everything you asked, whether he asked for it or not.
07:36I mean, who knows if he did, but, you know, we're changing the offensive line.
07:39We're upgrading.
07:40We got two running backs now.
07:41We got you a quarterback coach that is specific to this Patriots system that we're running.
07:47We're equipping you with everything that should make you happy
07:50and should make you a better fit.
07:52Reggie, if it doesn't fit now,
07:54does it affect how you feel about C.J. Stroud after this coming season?
07:59I think it has to.
08:00Yes, but I need to see that.
08:03I need to see them follow through on what I hope they do.
08:05Because, again, I'll keep saying I am operating with a sense of optimism
08:10and hope that this gets done, but I have not moved on from last year
08:15where it is possible that the thought process is let's do what we thought
08:20we were doing last year, which is we thought we would have a high-quality
08:24running back, and then we believe in our capability to build this offensive line
08:28with talent and fundamentals.
08:31They tried to do that offensively, and, look, I don't think that this is the way
08:35that they're going, and I sure as hell hope that it's not the way that they're going
08:37because I'd be very mad.
08:38But there is a line of thinking that could exist where you go,
08:42oh, the problem was that Joe Mixon wasn't healthy.
08:45I don't think that's the right takeaway.
08:46I don't think so either.
08:47The right takeaway is the talent needs to be significantly better,
08:49and there's been certain things like Nick Casario saying that Jake Andrews was fine,
08:54but they could look to upgrade that if possible.
08:56Those admissions are encouraging, but there is a possibility that they come
09:01into this and they go, well, if we have better running backs
09:03and then we just keep pushing forward on the fundamental way that we get our guys
09:09to increase their level and that we get five fingers in a glove
09:13and they're all going to move together and that makes it better.
09:15I think that that's a possibility, and it would be absurd for me to talk about this
09:19as if that's not something that they could possibly do in this circumstance.
09:24It's kind of two different things going on.
09:27Number one, how many times are you going to try to fix the offensive line?
09:31Because with this going on, what?
09:32As many times as it takes to get it right.
09:33This is three years now where they said, yeah, the offensive line really wasn't that bad.
09:36Because even last year, not talking about 2025, 2024, Nick Casario was talking
09:42about this offensive line.
09:43Well, you know, it was probably better than people give it credit for, you know,
09:45even though we all knew better.
09:46And then, you know, last year's offensive line and now this year's offensive line
09:50where it's a must that you have to sign, you know, somebody big here.
09:54And then you go back and you look, okay, he didn't work with Bobby Slowick.
09:57Let's change that.
09:58All right, so we're going to change quarterbacks coach.
10:00All right, so we changed the offensive line coach.
10:02Now we're going to change the offensive line again.
10:04Now we got you another running back.
10:05We got you Joe Mixon.
10:06Now we got you Nick Chubb.
10:07Now we got you David Montgomery.
10:09Dude, at some point, it's not just C.J. Stroud that you have to start looking at,
10:13you know, a little funny.
10:15But what they're doing on the offensive line, Nick Casario.
10:17But the thing is, this is kind of bad timing too because you do got to pay C.J. Stroud.
10:21I mean, that time is coming real soon.
10:24So, I mean, they can look at C.J. Stroud and say, hey, maybe he ain't the quarterback.
10:29And, you know, so it's kind of bad timing because if C.J. Stroud was already signed up,
10:35then it's like, all right, C.J. is here no matter what.
10:38So we need to do whatever's best.
10:40But they could totally point the figure at C.J. if they really wanted to, if it don't work out.
10:45Yeah, I mean, it does.
10:46It creates pressure in a lot of different ways.
10:48I think that the pressure was on just generally on this team in a lot of different angles
10:54with the way that the season ended.
10:57I wonder just how much the pressure is on Nick Casario in that spot.
11:00But I think you're right.
11:01Like, this is another instance where he has made it incumbent upon himself that he needs to hit this
11:06because if you're moving on from a dude, mind you, with another move where the cost does not quite
11:13or the get-back does not quite make the most sense to the layman on the outside, right?
11:19Maybe you could just say, we all don't know what we're doing.
11:21Okay.
11:22But, I mean, the way that if you compare this to other deals and other tackle deals
11:26and other, you know, offensive lineman deals, you didn't get back as much as it feels like you should.
11:31If you don't hit on the other side of this, I think this brings even more pressure to Nick Casario's
11:35doorstep
11:36because you willingly made this move.
11:37At some point, you have to, you know, quit banging your head against the wall.
11:42Like, you know, we gave him, you know, we understood that he hasn't had a good draft.
11:45And, you know, five of the last six draft picks that he's had,
11:50and even there might be some question in terms of development and how good he gets, you know, with Ursary,
11:55have been misses, you know, just flat out.
11:57Two second-rounders and a first-rounder are now gone.
12:01That's a lot.
12:02If you're CJ, I'm not trying to change the subject,
12:05but do you trust what Nick Casario is doing right now?
12:09Because this is his second year in a row, one of his best O-linemen is out of here.
12:14I trust him.
12:15Like, how do you feel if you're CJ Stroud?
12:17Well, I see what you're saying.
12:19Yeah, I mean, I think that's the question.
12:20How much more can you trust him in from an ownership perspective?
12:23He got beat up pretty bad last year.
12:25At what point does the ownership say, you know, we love the guy.
12:28He's been great for us.
12:29He's made some great moves.
12:30Look at the defensive roster.
12:31Look at the trades he's made.
12:32But, damn.
12:33I think ultimately my answer is it's a mixed bag.
12:36It's the Facebook status of it's complicated is ultimately what it comes down to.
12:42Because, again, there's a level of aggression.
12:44Recognizing that the running back room was not good enough and you need to go get David Montgomery.
12:47But, also, at the same time, sending away one of your few knowns on an offensive line.
12:53And, even if they're aggressive in handling this, which, again, I'm hopeful of, what is the trust level that they
12:59get it right when they evaluate on the offensive line?
13:02Because, even with a more shotgun approach that they took this past offseason headed into the 25 season, they ended
13:09up with a mixed bag of results.
13:10And, I understand acquiring talent is not going to be a 100% proposition.
13:15But, there's also people that hit at a higher rate.
13:17And, so, if I'm C.J. Stroud, and I don't even need to get to if I'm C.J. Stroud,
13:22as Reginald Atula, it's a mixed bag in my confidence level that they get this right.
13:26And, that's why I'm like, at the very least, I need you to be right on the aggression level.
13:30I need you to be right on how much you put towards this to make sure that this is right
13:35when it comes to the offense.
13:36Or, at least to give yourself the best chance of being right on the offensive line.
13:39So, that you can get a better evaluation on C.J. Stroud.
13:41So, that you can, hell, even all those things, so that you can win football games in the time of
13:46year that we've been waiting for you to win football games for year, over year, over year.
13:50That's what I need.
13:51Yeah, I'm kind of nervous about it, to be honest, man.
13:55Like, last year, I was a little bit okay with them trading away Laramie Tunsil.
14:01Because, I thought they were going to upgrade all over the place.
14:05And, they didn't really do that.
14:08They was kind of shopping in the hand-me-down bin.
14:11And, it's kind of the, it kind of feel the same this year.
14:14And, I hear what you're saying, John.
14:16I think, I will probably lean more towards you.
14:18But, I'm still a little nervous about that, man.
14:20Because, I had the same exact thoughts last season.
14:23Yeah.
14:23But, one thing that we simply cannot do is, once, you know, free agency is over and the Texans have
14:29pretty much, you know, established their roster, the draft is over.
14:32We can't be sitting here like we were last year having this discussion of, well, who do you think is
14:37better?
14:37Cam Robinson or Trent Brown?
14:38We can't have the maybe this, maybe that.
14:41It has to be sure things.
14:43How would you feel if they kind of went into that approach last season as far as, I guess, just
14:49waiting for the draft to address some of the O-line?
14:52Not good.
14:53Not good at all.
14:54You know, we were wondering, okay, is Trent Brown what's left?
14:57Cam Robinson what's left?
14:58These margins that he was working in.
15:00You can't be doing that.
15:01You know, there can't be any uncertainty about, you know, who's going to be your left tackle or right tackle,
15:07depending on what they do with Ursary, because there's just too much on the line.
15:10You can't do it.
15:11You have to have some sure things.
15:12You have to go big and make those big swings.
15:14I see you on the text line, 713, alluding to an ESPN piece that pointed to Titus Howard being 52nd
15:20out of 68 qualifying tackles and pass block win rate, 49th in run block win rate.
15:26I hear you.
15:27But with that being the case, right, and again, conversations about payment, I think all influence the way that this
15:33thing goes.
15:33And when I say payment, I mean the possibility of an extension, which it feels like Titus Howard and his
15:37side were probably very interested in.
15:40And you no longer have that, right, even at that level, you know, still your best.
15:44And so you still you still need to answer this.
15:46And at this moment, we don't know.
15:48Right.
15:49Because we are in the middle of this.
15:50Right.
15:51There's going to be a version of ourselves three, four or five months from now that we'll be able to
15:57look back on this conversation.
15:58I say you guys are being foolish or boom, you were spot on.
16:01But in this moment, you've taken yourself even further out of a place where you have any answers on the
16:07offensive line.
16:07It may not have been the answer that you love there, dear texter, but there was an answer that felt
16:12more confident than the place that you are right now.
16:14And the reason why there's trepidation in the way that I'm talking about this is not because they don't have
16:19the avenues to get better.
16:20It's that we've gone through this thing before with Laramie Tunsil where the way they went and addressed this was
16:25not good enough.
16:26Have they learned their lesson from that?
16:28We will ultimately have to see.
16:29But I think that it's fair to acknowledge that there's a possibility, even if it's small, that they don't do
16:34the thing that we're hoping for, which is go go a full sin on make sure this offensive line is
16:38much better.
16:39I do think they will.
16:40You know, short answer.
16:41I do think they do realize, you know, that they just have to do it.
16:45There's not much choice.
16:47But how much, you know, how big of a deep dive are they going to?
16:50Are they going to sign a big free agent and draft, you know, someone in the first round?
16:54That's the big question.
16:55I think they should.
16:55And they need to.
16:56That is ultimately the takeaway is you need to be as aggressive as you were with getting David Montgomery, maybe
17:03more so.
17:03Because now four places on the offensive line, maybe you say three, depending on how they feel about Jake Andrews.
17:09You need to have better production, significantly better production.
17:13You need to improve on Jake Andrews, too.
17:15I think so as well.
17:16But now you've got three big open holes, and I don't know that you can do two out of three
17:21of those in the draft.
17:22It needs to be.
17:23You definitely can't do all three of them in the draft.
17:25So it needs to be aggressive when legal tampering hits on the ninth.
17:31I need to hear it.
17:32Or last week.
17:32I need to hear it.
17:34I need to hear it.
17:34At the end of the season, to be honest.
Comments