- 6 months ago
ITL debates whether the Texans should stay patient in free agency, become more aggressive in the market, or focus on value signings that strengthen the roster around C.J. Stroud.
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00:00Clearly, the Texans have not started the free agency time period
00:04in the way that we would necessarily want.
00:06But that's not their job.
00:06Their job isn't to do what we want.
00:08It's to get something done that tangibly produces results.
00:12And so with that being the case, I will ask,
00:14what's the approach that you would want from the Texans at this point?
00:17Because you can only work off of where you are at this point.
00:20And where you are is a team that still needs to figure out for sure
00:23who you're starting at left guard.
00:25A team that now has your safety position filled in a way
00:29that feels like it's answered with bringing in Reed Blankenship.
00:32It's a team that has another defensive end in tow
00:34that can kind of fit in in the room and see how he fits in.
00:38Maybe this ends up being Darrell Taylor where it doesn't necessarily stick.
00:41Or maybe it ends up being someone like a Dylan Horton who,
00:43okay, this works out, right?
00:44And you go for it.
00:45But with that being the case,
00:46what's the approach that you desire from this point looking forward?
00:50And just as a backdrop, for those who obviously may miss a thing or two here,
00:56the Texans, there's really not a whole lot.
00:59I've been calling it slim pickings.
01:00It's not altogether accurate.
01:02There are some good – there's a good guard out there in Wyatt Teller.
01:06And there's some decent players that have a big-time upside.
01:09I love that Wyatt Teller and Joel Batonio out there.
01:13He's one I was going to mention.
01:14Even though Joel Batonio might retire.
01:16He might.
01:16That's what I was saying.
01:17But the reason why I say I love them is something stupid.
01:19I was trying to watch some tape, and I was like,
01:21oh, I could watch two dudes in once because they were just on either side of a center.
01:23Oh, that's right, yeah.
01:24Watching them both play for the Browns.
01:26Which, by the way, both have a little bit of throw somebody out the club to them.
01:29Yeah, so there are some good players out there.
01:32Batonio is clearly going to be kind of a rental, a windows open,
01:37so let's try to go type of player.
01:39How do you feel about Elton Jenkins?
01:41He's been mentioned a lot today, hasn't he?
01:43I think the morning guys mentioned him.
01:44Yeah, he was a cap casualty for the Packers.
01:4631 years old, plays guard and center.
01:49He played center this past year, I think out of necessity.
01:51Previously, he played guard.
01:53Two-time Pro Bowler, but those years were 2020 and 2022.
01:56So it's been a little while since that's the case.
01:5994 starts across all five offensive line positions.
02:03So versatility is definitely there.
02:06And Green Bay did explore trades before releasing him.
02:09That's all I saw.
02:10I don't know that I saw anybody that was like,
02:12we, you know, these are the teams that were discussed
02:16because I would have very much been interested in seeing if the Texans were there.
02:19I'm not sure if I'm in on Elton Jenkins as a potential left guard solution as well,
02:24but that's another name that's out there if you're talking about it.
02:27Yeah.
02:27And I think, you know, just to reiterate, you know, no big splashes on the offensive line,
02:32which raises a whole other question.
02:34But your question is, you know, how do they play it from here?
02:37I think they're telling us.
02:38I think they're telling us.
02:40They made a big splash relatively.
02:43Actually, maybe not even relatively on the defensive side.
02:46On the offensive side, they're back to the margins, man.
02:49If it's not Teller or something like that, they're back to,
02:53I think this guy, he might have some questions,
02:55but I think he'll fit our system.
02:57He's swarmy.
02:57We'll give him a run.
02:59I don't know how I feel about that because it hasn't worked out great
03:02outside of, you know, one or two here and there.
03:05But I think that's what it's telling us.
03:08I think it's also telling us that, and I mentioned this earlier,
03:11that they might have an overall philosophy in those meetings with D'Amico Ryans
03:16and Nick Casario of like, look, how real, let's be real here.
03:21I don't know if they ever say that term, but let's say D'Amico Ryans turns to him.
03:26I think that Nick Casario gets to him and he's like, hey, let's be real here.
03:28Let's keep him 100, fam.
03:30Those words exactly are the ones that came out of his mouth.
03:33I think Nick Casario might have turned to D'Amico and said,
03:35let's keep it 100, fam.
03:37Exactly in that tone.
03:39Precisely in that tone.
03:41And fam, what I'm telling you is how good really,
03:44how big of an improvement really can we make offensively?
03:48Given, you know, the pickings now are slim on offense.
03:52They have their weapons on, you know, on the outside.
03:55Tank Dale's coming back.
03:56Our running game seems to be pretty set.
03:59Are we ever going to be a 28 to 31 points per game offense?
04:02You know, because obviously it comes back to, you know, C.J. Stroud.
04:07Is he going to be that guy?
04:08Do we want to be that offense?
04:10We want to play safe passes and run the ball.
04:13So they might be making a conscious decision like just improve, you know,
04:18moderately, incrementally on offense.
04:20Let's not turn the ball over.
04:21How many times have we heard them say that?
04:24And let's not try to necessarily, you know, shoot the moon, so to speak, offensively.
04:28Now, I wish they would have gotten better linemen because even on an offense like this,
04:32you need better linemen.
04:34But maybe they're making a conscious decision.
04:35Look, we're so badass on defense.
04:38Let's just be good offensively.
04:40And that's kind of the strategy they're playing.
04:42Yeah, but the thing is.
04:43But you still need linemen.
04:43I was like, even if you want to be safe and you don't want to, you know, be too scary
04:50and aggressive,
04:50you know what's really safe?
04:51Running the damn ball, especially with some aplomb.
04:53Right.
04:53Right.
04:54If you can move dudes and run the football, you can get rid of wide receivers entirely.
04:58We could just.
04:58Now, of course, that is extreme, and I would never advocate for such a thing.
05:01Please don't quit me saying that.
05:03But, no, that would make it well.
05:05You know what you need to do if you're going to do that?
05:06Have some linemen that are going to clear some gaps.
05:08Yeah, that's the one thing that's still out there.
05:09You're a really good one, right?
05:10Like, it's, there's no philosophy in football that is a successful one that completely ignores
05:16offensive line.
05:17That's the thing that makes this interesting is that maybe you can make an argument, and
05:21there's teams that haven't been successful or maybe not been successful at various different
05:25times that one thing is less valuable.
05:27Maybe we don't need a wide receiver one.
05:29Maybe we don't need a stud wide receiver or running back.
05:32There are teams that have even gone into seasons, and we've seen one win a championship
05:35this year, with, do we need the top end quarterback in all reality?
05:40Maybe, yeah, we would like one, but if we can't get them, do we need that to make it
05:43happen?
05:43All these things are, I think, negotiable to some degree, right?
05:46We'll have conversations, maybe even arguments.
05:49Line ain't one of those.
05:51Yes, but, and I figured, you look like you want to weigh in.
05:53I think Nick Casario believes, yes, line is not one of them.
05:57I think I can get some guys on the margins and make them work, you know?
06:00Yeah, I think he, maybe, I'm not sure, but it seems like he's probably looking for another
06:06Ed Ingram type of project, where he got from last year, he got David Montgomery, maybe he
06:12feel like this is the right type of line.
06:14Maybe he feel like he don't have to pay a lot of money for a top-notch lineman in this
06:20free agency.
06:20Maybe he feel like he could get another Tay Ersery, you know, somebody like that.
06:25But I just, I don't know, for some reason, I just feel like they are okay with how they
06:31played last year.
06:32I agree.
06:32Well, and I think, to your point, I think that that is, if I'm trying to be realistic,
06:37but also have some level of hope, because I'll be damned if I become somebody who's just
06:41straight curmudgeonly about all this.
06:43The approach that I want from the Texans at this point is planned obsolescence.
06:48Is, all right, if you're going with this at the offense line largely, obviously, there's
06:52still going to be, there's got to be something at left guard.
06:54Trent Brown is a placeholder at best.
06:56But even if you have to have him as your starter week one, I think planned obsolescence is the
07:01way that I go.
07:01And when I say planned obsolescence, what is planned obsolescence, Lopez, to explain it
07:05to those of us that are not that smart person?
07:08What is planned obsolescence?
07:09Oh, you're going to ask me again?
07:10Yeah.
07:11Damn it, I was going to see if I could put it off on him.
07:12All right, so the idea is, and this, honestly, we're all mad at this.
07:15We've all felt this, where you get the phone and you're like, I know that it's not going
07:19to last more than two years, because they kind of built it to fail within two years,
07:23so I have to come back around.
07:24I think that that's kind of what I think they should be doing in some ways, which is, all
07:29right, this is the dude for now, because I'm planning that he is obsolete by whoever it
07:35is that we draft or put behind them, because the potential is there, even if they're not
07:39ready right now.
07:40So that by week five, hopefully by week seven, that you have a guy that's capable now and
07:45is up to speed at the NFL, they can take over their job.
07:47Short version, windows open, let's get what we can now, whether it's a veteran, whether
07:52it's a guy that maybe is going to be a placeholder, or maybe it's a guy that's just good enough
07:57to get us to where we want to go, like an Ed Ingram.
08:01Well, you know what's confusing to me, though?
08:03What's that?
08:03There is something about all this that is confusing to me.
08:06They were setting up free agency as if they were going to go big.
08:09It did feel like that.
08:10They really were.
08:11We were reading tea leaves, and it's possible you read tea leaves wrong, right?
08:14I mean, the dollars don't lie.
08:16And free agency is not over.
08:18However, some of the big dominoes, the ones that felt like they were easy answers to getting
08:23better, are not there.
08:25There's still, obviously, some guys out there.
08:26We mentioned a few names, only so much, right?
08:29There's still even tackles out there that maybe you end up going and swinging on and
08:33see if that creates a better offensive line cohesion.
08:36Although, the only thing that stops me when I start talking about tackles is interior is
08:40the big question, and center, getting better at center is a question.
08:43I don't know how you do that, per se.
08:45Getting better at one guard, absolutely the case.
08:47In fact, can I ask you about this?
08:48I'm sorry to be kind of what feels like ADHD, bouncing around, but it reminded me of Bill
08:54Barnwell, ESPN, wrote a piece that came out just this morning about the winners and losers
09:01of day one of free agency.
09:02I think I saw that piece.
09:03The Texans weren't even mentioned.
09:04Well, CJ Stroud was.
09:06Okay.
09:06CJ Stroud was.
09:07And you will not be surprised to hear that they were mentioned in some capacity as losers
09:12in this, because obviously, as of what you've seen thus far, when it comes to like moving
09:18and shaking on the offensive line, it has not been a lot.
09:21What he did mention, though, was he was talking about Ed Ingram.
09:25And the way that he talked about them was kind of interesting, right?
09:27I will read this for you.
09:29Casario did choose to bring back the right side of the line, which is worrying, he says.
09:33Right tackle Trent Brown signed a one-year deal.
09:35We know that Texas struck a deal with red guard Ed Ingram.
09:38And then he went further and he talked about Ed Ingram.
09:41Ingram was making $3.4 million last year after being acquired from Minnesota.
09:44We know that he had his best season as a pro, but that's also not saying a whole heck
09:49of a lot, given how much he struggled with the Vikings.
09:51Ingram showed more flashes than consistent play, more flashes than consistent play again.
09:56And he was again a major liability in pass protection, where he struggled with staying
09:59balanced against looks.
10:01He wasn't expecting in twists from teams targeting him on the interior.
10:04He allowed 14 quick pressures and 32 total pressures in 2025, with both of his pressure
10:11rates allowed coming in worse than league average per next-gen stats.
10:16So this is, again, Bill Barnwell is not by any means the end-all, be-all.
10:20But even one of the moves that we're like, okay, I can deal with that.
10:24There's people on the national perspective, 30,000 foot view going, eh.
10:29Right?
10:29Like, that's what we're talking about here on The Offense.
10:31Mike, how good do you really want to be?
10:32You know, how good can you really be?
10:35And maybe that's the difference.
10:36Maybe Nick Casario, by the way, a texter said, he actually told D'Amico, let me keep it a stack,
10:43big dog.
10:45But maybe his perspective is, with this line just being good, we're good enough to get
10:51to a Super Bowl.
10:53I don't know about that.
10:55Yeah.
10:55But maybe he thinks, you know, with our defense, with whatever, you know, we can do offensively,
11:00get us.
11:01I mean, D'Amico literally said, just get me to 20 points.
11:03He said that a couple of times this year.
11:05Just get me to 20.
11:07And it's almost as if they're doubling down that, not just doubling down on that, not just
11:11on the defensive side with Blankenship, but offensively.
11:15Like, we can get there from here with this type of player on the offensive line.
11:18Yeah, it seemed like that's their formula for winning.
11:21And honestly, they were close to winning.
11:23They were close to getting to a Super Bowl.
11:25What does it always come back to?
11:27CJ Stroud.
11:28Yeah, but I would like to see a step up.
11:30And I think the step up on the offensive line is get a left guard that is very much a
11:34more
11:35than capable starter at left guard.
11:37And then beyond that, get some dudes in the draft that have the capability of taking over
11:42those responsibilities, those jobs, sooner rather than later, just off of the strength
11:46of development, which, again, I am more encouraged, as much as there is reason to be, you know,
11:52critical or skeptical about the acquisition of talent, I am more encouraged that they can
11:58develop these guys now with Cole Popovich here.
12:01Draft picks as much as anybody, because they can fit right in and early.
12:05And some of these other guys, I mean, who was it?
12:08But I think it was, I forget, there was a couple of quotes this week about, you know,
12:13just how he never, Cole Popovich just never lets them feel complacent with what they're
12:18doing.
12:18So, yeah, there's something to be said for that.
12:21But again, how far can it get you?
12:23Yeah.
12:23And is this what you want right now when you're, you got that Super Bowl window you're trying
12:28to get to?
12:29Right.
12:29Regardless, that's where you are.
12:31That's where you are in this moment.
12:32We're continuing to wait and see.
12:34Not a lot of things popping off just generally when it comes to, you know, deals being done.
12:39Although one did come down, the Lions signing Isaiah Pacheco to a one-year contract.
12:44So that is the David Montgomery replacement.
12:47The Lions end up with Isaiah Pacheco.
12:49Still a hard deal, you know?
12:50I haven't seen anything yet.
12:51I'm just, just saw that as a deal.
12:54I haven't seen the numbers on it yet, but one-year deal there to replace that.
12:59I'll bring that up a little later because I did see something that kind of brought to my
13:03attention, like how are you feeling about Montgomery, the idea of Jamal Williams and how he had
13:07a little bit of a fall off.
13:09That at all makes you think a little bit differently.
13:11But we'll talk about that later as we continue on here in the loop on Sports Radio 6.
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