- 1 day ago
ITL debates whether fans should trust the Texans’ patient approach to free agency or if the lack of expected moves is reason for concern.
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00:00We are going to be waiting anxiously to see if there are any things that address what feel like the
00:06meat and potatoes of what the Texans need to address, which is the offensive line.
00:09As we do that, your thoughts, your feelings, your everything in between, send in on the base power text line,
00:17713-572-4610.
00:19Also, we always appreciate the Mo Camera and Drew Lawyers for the live streams.
00:22We keep it 100.
00:23The YouTube page is Sports Radio 610.
00:25The Twitch chat is 610 Houston, where I know that we're supposed to remain calm.
00:30Yeah.
00:31It's only one day really completed in the legal tampering period of free agency.
00:38But also, one-fifth of the top 150 free agents have found their way onto some level of agreement.
00:46Are you calm?
00:48Have you managed to remain calm?
00:50I am telling myself to remain calm.
00:51You know, I'm always, you know, you ask me how I'm doing.
00:54I'm great.
00:54You know, I'm one of those guys every day on the green side of the grass is a great day.
00:58But I'm all right.
00:58I'm all right.
00:59Okay, so that represents a market step down.
01:03Because for some people, all right, it's like, all right, he's rolling.
01:05Yeah.
01:06I find myself as the person who I try not to lie.
01:09It means something to me personally, even though it means nothing to anybody else.
01:13So I don't like doing the, I'm good, when I feel like I'm not good.
01:16So I'll give you the, I'm living.
01:18Yeah.
01:18Or I'm making it.
01:19Yeah.
01:20Right?
01:20I'm here.
01:20I think I still exist in what the obligation is societally to, like, not burden that person unnecessarily.
01:28But also, I'm not going to lie to you.
01:29But so you saying I'm all right is somewhat of that.
01:33Absolutely.
01:34I'm living.
01:34Yeah.
01:35I'm making it.
01:35I want to believe that Nick Casario, because he always looks ahead, has something up his sleeve.
01:40But I'm just looking at what's out there.
01:42Does he always have something up his sleeve?
01:43It seems as if he's, you know, he's trying.
01:45You know, he's trying to get something, two moves ahead of everybody else.
01:50But as much as I want to believe that, I'm looking at what's out there in free agency.
01:55I mean, it's slim pickings, just to put it, I think fairly, it's slim pickings.
02:01You know, Wyatt Teller, if we get the report during our show that they're signing Wyatt Teller, I'm good with
02:06that.
02:07But everybody else to me that's out there, at the guard position in particular, there's some questions.
02:13You know, is it going to be something of a rental with an older guy like Joel Batonio or Kevin
02:20Zeitler or something like that?
02:22Or is it going to be a guy that's coming off injuries?
02:24You know, some of those players that are out there, they all have questions.
02:27Most all have questions.
02:29So it's like, yeah, I think he's got something up his sleeve, but is there anything there to grab?
02:35Also, when you talk about having something up your sleeve, is that something of the magnitude that feels like it
02:41answers the call of the situation?
02:43The tough thing about it is, again, to the original question of, are you managing to remain calm?
02:50The answer is probably no, because the context is, we did this last year, right?
02:56Almost to a T, you jettison one player from your offensive line, probably for monetary reasons, maybe for other ones.
03:01And then you go, all right, let's see what kind of aggression comes on the backside of this.
03:06And it ends up being, we're waiting, we're waiting.
03:09It's like, all right, these are okay moves that we could see in a certain context coming together.
03:14And that felt like that did not answer to a high enough level, right?
03:18You ultimately saw the way that it looked, and you eventually got to a place where it was passable what
03:23you did.
03:23But passable did not feel like good enough.
03:26It did not feel like it rose to the occasion.
03:27So you would have hoped that that experience would inform this next situation.
03:33And the fact of the matter, as you were talking about it, is you will have a very limited way
03:37of getting better.
03:38And I don't even know if it's a ceiling-raising type getting better, or if it's a slightly floor-raising
03:44getting better.
03:44And I know that that might sound like a distinction without a difference, but I feel like there's a real
03:48difference, right?
03:49I keep coming back to the numbers of, this was a 29th-ranked rushing offense last year.
03:54And that was with, all right, well, you cobbled some things together and you got a little bit better.
03:58How much more can you raise if you're changing one, maybe two spots on the offensive line at this point?
04:06That is a thing that continues to keep that anxiety riser for me as I'm looking at this,
04:12because I would hate to be in this place where the urgency has raised when you talk about,
04:17you see the defense is good enough, you are going further, you're even shorter on the remaining years of contracts
04:26that are nice and controllable and comfortable under the salary cap.
04:34All of these things are adding to the time clock that's ticking for this team.
04:38And I would hate to end up with a free agency at the very least, but even a draft where
04:43you come out and you go,
04:44all right, how much better is this offensive line better?
04:47Actually, I would have loved to be in a place where I can go, this offensive line is definitively better.
04:51Upgrade.
04:52And now let's go.
04:53And I think that's why most people, if they're being honest, and you tell us honestly,
04:57713-572-4610 on the text.
04:59And of course, excuse me, YouTube and Twitch.
05:03You all right?
05:03As well, I'm fine, man.
05:04I'm good.
05:05Get choked up over there, man.
05:07A little choked up.
05:08But I think that's why most people are a little bit bothered, even if they don't want to admit it,
05:13because it looks as if we're going down the same path.
05:16You just alluded to it.
05:17You know, working the margins, trying to find value.
05:21And you talk about the offensive line was passable last year.
05:25Well, let's think about that for a second.
05:27It took, what, five, six weeks?
05:29That's correct.
05:29To get to passable, to find an offensive line that could start consecutive games.
05:33And then after that, there was a little bit of a decline, and it's still, what'd you say, 29th in
05:38rushing?
05:39Yeah, after week four.
05:40After week four.
05:41So passable was, eh, you know, somewhat passable.
05:46Well, if he's going down this same road again, I think that's what makes me nervous.
05:49Did you not learn?
05:51Did you not learn from last year that, you know, taking those kinds of risks can backfire?
05:57I mean, I think that's what it comes down to for me.
05:59But do you feel like they don't think the O-line was that big of a problem and all that?
06:04That's a possibility.
06:05It feels like we've had, we've had.
06:07Nick Casario said some things where it's just like, wait, what?
06:10Y'all ain't talking about the O-line?
06:11No.
06:12Being an issue?
06:12Yeah.
06:13Maybe they feel like this formula is the way to go.
06:17But the formula didn't work, if we're being honest.
06:19Do they feel like it didn't work, though?
06:21And they've had things that they've said, both Nick Casario, D'Amico Ryans, that you
06:26could probably use to, you know, validate either side of that argument, where you go,
06:31all right, they did not believe strongly enough in what this offense was, and maybe they did
06:36look, they're looking for upgrades.
06:37That's something that has been said.
06:39Or that, you know, this was sufficient.
06:41This was good enough to make things happen.
06:43And I don't know that either of those really even lands with me.
06:47Ultimately, the job is making your, I think any time that you're in, you know, player acquisition,
06:54team building, the job is to make the team better.
06:56And as of right now, the path to doing that is slimmer than it was before.
07:00And maybe that is reactionary.
07:02Maybe that is vying away from the calm that you're supposed to have in this moment.
07:06I'm having a hard time doing it.
07:08I see you on the text line from the 832 saying, guys, they still have the draft.
07:11And I do agree with that.
07:13But this is where I, especially as someone who understands that draft prep and evaluation
07:18is a full year job.
07:19And I know that they're in the, you know, NRG Stadium, they have people that are doing
07:23it all year long.
07:24We're the ones that are parachuting in, trying to get a feel for it.
07:26So I lean on the people that do it every year and do it all the time.
07:29And the general consensus that I seem to be gathering from those types of folks is that,
07:35especially when it comes to offensive line, there are dudes that you can get in here,
07:39but I don't know that there are dudes that are going to make immediate, large impacts.
07:42And again, I come back to how much of a change from last year, from that 29th ranked offensive,
07:48rather rush game rating via DVOA, how much higher can you go from there?
07:53That is the question that I asked.
07:54Now, when it comes to the draft, I do think that it is fair to acknowledge generally in
07:58the NFL, you build your line through the draft.
08:00Yeah, sure.
08:01However, how much can you do that immediately?
08:04And I was hoping that, and it feels like at least, let me go this way, that the plan has
08:09to go from a clear upgrade on offensive line straight like that to plan obsolescence.
08:14And the way that I say that is, you got to be able to fill these spots with dudes that
08:18you know can hold it down.
08:19Whereas, I think a left guard, like a Wyatt Teller, like a Joel Batonio, like a Kevin Zeitler,
08:25right?
08:25There's a lot of those guys that are still out there guard-wise.
08:27But somebody that I know can get in here, and the way that I've been determining it
08:30is, somebody that I feel like can throw somebody out the paint, right?
08:33Like somebody that has that physicality.
08:34I was looking this yesterday at a video that Cody Alexander, he's a, you know, he does a
08:40lot of good things coach-wise around football.
08:43He posted a video of the Texans offensive line run blocking, a duo block, so, versus the front
08:49four of the Tennessee Titans.
08:51And boy, Jarrett Patterson gets his ass whooped.
08:53So, obviously, Dalton Schultz is on the edge with the one-up with the edge.
08:58It's not going to go the way that you want.
09:00And I go, how much different does that look when you have somebody with power that you
09:03push instead of a Jarrett Patterson who's going to fumble in some of those instances?
09:06And I go, okay, you need to have that to start the season.
09:09And then I need to also have draft picks that within six weeks, seven weeks of the season,
09:15I'm anticipating stepping up and making those picks, those guys that we've put in that
09:19spot obsolete.
09:20I think that that's the way that now it feels like you have an opportunity to raise the
09:24ceiling on this offensive line.
09:25Because as of right now, I don't know that you're doing that strictly out of we're getting
09:29news on the line and free agency.
09:31713 says he feels hoodwinked, bamboozled by everything that's going on.
09:36And I don't necessarily feel like I'm going there, but I think we're being honest when
09:39we say we have been hoodwinked, bamboozled, led astray, run amok, and flat out deceived.
09:46Exactly.
09:47Now, I wouldn't necessarily go that far, but I think we're all feeling a little bit sort
09:51of squirming in our chair a little bit because you talk about what this line was today, and
09:56they're not playing a game tomorrow, but today this line is not as good on paper as it was
10:01at the end of the year.
10:02Go ahead.
10:03Go ahead.
10:03No, I was just going to say, where I came from all of this is maybe it's not that big
10:09of an urgency that we thought it was for them.
10:12No, I think, you know...
10:13Because if it was a bigger urgency, they probably would have came out with a guard yesterday.
10:18Yeah.
10:18And maybe they were priced out.
10:20Yeah, yeah.
10:21And I ain't saying they should be out there trying to get a lender bomb or anything, but
10:26I just feel like they probably have other plans.
10:30And then you mentioned, you know, the draft.
10:32Yes, I think the draft can definitely elevate the play of this team, but probably the first
10:38rounder, if that's what they draft at tackle, beyond that, you know, you're kind of playing
10:42with a crapshoot and developing and all those things.
10:45So, would you go into the season with an offensive line where you point at it, and as we've been
10:49saying, that's a better offensive line, or you would say that's a better...
10:53I don't know.
10:54I don't know.
10:54I mean, like I said, the pickings are a little slim, but hopefully Nick has something up
11:00his sleeve here.
11:00Yeah, and ultimately, all we can do is wait, but in the moment, in the midst of waiting,
11:05I'm going to be honest, the nerves are getting me.
11:07Yeah.
11:08The anxiety is getting me.
11:09And I mean, that is built out of, that is born out of, you decided a couple years ago
11:14that you were going to push towards this end, right?
11:17This end of being good.
11:18And of course, it's uncomfortable that you kind of squandered the opportunities that were
11:22in front of you in the postseason.
11:24I imagine we feel a little bit different about this if you could push further, but, or maybe
11:28not, maybe we continue to look at it because the quality of the offensive line was that
11:32regardless of what the outcome actually was, and it feels like, hey, it's a very clear
11:37thing that needs to get better, and as of yet, it has not happened yet.
11:40We'll see how that ends up shaping up.
11:43Hopefully, we get some news today, in day two of legal tampering before we get to free
11:46agency.
11:47But we will be watching that space.
11:48I tell you, again, I'm feeling the anxiety of it, but we'll try and remain calm as we go
11:54along.
11:54They might sign another corner, you never know, man.
11:56Well, we'll get there.
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