00:00That the Texans, they are signing former Indianapolis Colts,
00:03so they take one from the division offensive tackle,
00:06Brayton Smith, to a two-year deal.
00:09This, according to Ian Rapoport and Tom Pellicero,
00:12worth up to $25 million, $13.5 million is fully guaranteed,
00:17according to sources.
00:19And it looks like they brought him in to play right tackle at this point.
00:26So they bring in, it looks like this right side,
00:29they signed Ed Ingram yesterday to a deal worth about $12.5,
00:33and now Brayton Smith to potentially play that right side worth $13.5.
00:39So now it looks like Ursary and Brayton Smith are the tackles,
00:43and it looks like they may still be looking for a left guard,
00:46but they filled in another one of those spots.
00:49Yeah, look, I really like this sign.
00:51Again, I think it's solid.
00:52I'm not going to oversell it here, but I really like this sign.
00:56I think when guys are wired a certain way,
01:00when you're trying to accomplish something,
01:02and you have a chance to bring in somebody that's wired in a way
01:06that is precisely what you're trying to accomplish on the offensive line.
01:11In other words, if you've got a chance to bring what I would say,
01:14let's say a Cleveland Browns offensive lineman,
01:17or an Indianapolis Colts offensive lineman,
01:20or let's call it now a Detroit Lions offensive lineman,
01:24there's just a certain way that these guys are wired.
01:29If they've been there a long time and they had staying power
01:32and they were part of success,
01:33there's a certain way that these guys are wired in the physicality department.
01:39You don't just stumble out there and all of a sudden have staying power in an offense
01:44that's a downhill run attack unless you are a downhill grinder, mass mover, road grader.
01:51If you don't have that mentality, then you're just not going to stick.
01:55And so I love this for the Texans.
01:57I love it for what they're trying to accomplish,
01:59the identity they're trying to build up front.
02:02I do think they need confident veterans in that room,
02:04not guys that have just struggled their whole career
02:07and then had one good year in Ed Ingram,
02:09not guys that got cut and then had some staying power in Jake Andrews,
02:13not rookies or second-year guys like Ariante Urshry.
02:17I'm talking about tried and true, pelts on the wall,
02:20knows how to go about business every single day,
02:22and I think that is who Braden Smith is.
02:26I'll tell you a quick story, Ron.
02:27When I was with the SEC Network and Gus Malzahn was at Auburn,
02:33Kevin Steele was a defensive coordinator at Auburn,
02:37and great coaches, been around a lot of really good players.
02:41And when I – we did a – I don't remember what the visit was.
02:44I want to say it was one of our spring content captures there.
02:49But I'm in the O-line, in the offensive meeting room,
02:53and there's – it was spring ball, so they're over there.
02:56You know, they got their – all their stuff covered up, you know,
02:58of their – kind of their grades on their O-line
03:01and all their players and everything covered up over there.
03:03I could see Braden Smith.
03:04And Braden Smith's grade was really, really good.
03:06I can't remember who it was,
03:07but somebody in that class was getting all the hype.
03:10And Kevin Steele all but said – that's what brought Braden Smith up.
03:15And Kevin Steele said,
03:17Braden Smith's the one out of this class right here.
03:18Braden Smith's the one on this team that is a true professional.
03:22He's going to play forever.
03:23As long as he wants to in the NFL, that's the guy that's a difference maker.
03:27And I can't remember – again,
03:28there was other players that were getting all the hype.
03:31But that was – that stuck with me, man.
03:34And so, I think the Texans here are getting a really, really solid player
03:39and a really, really solid pro that fits what they're trying to do.
03:45So, I like this one for the Texans in a big way.
03:47No, yeah.
03:47I think this is – this is Kansas City kid, by the way, as well.
03:53So, this is a – this is a solid player that you know exactly
04:00what you're going to get from him, right?
04:02Now, the one thing that you got me with and got me thinking,
04:05now you're seeing reports, you know, about his potential versatility.
04:11He's coming in to play at right tackle, right?
04:14I would think so.
04:15I mean, his entire professional career has been at right tackle, again,
04:20in a scheme that really makes you – you know, turns you on with him coming here.
04:26So, yeah, I mean, I would think right tackle.
04:30He's been playing on the right side.
04:32I think it would be strange to sign him and Ed Ingram
04:34and move either one of them to left.
04:36But this group is full of strange decisions,
04:38and they try to sell it to you like it's normal.
04:40But, yeah, no, look, I think this is – it would surprise me if he played guard.
04:45I think this is a right tackle move.
04:47I think you're hitting the nail on the head.
04:48I think it – I really like them bringing Trent Brown back.
04:52But to your point, immediately when they brought him back,
04:55and even today, they can't – that can't be the end-all, be-all at right tackle.
05:00Whether it's a young guy they draft and bring along
05:03or it's an older guy they sign and say, hey, this is – you know,
05:06he's going to be your insurance policy.
05:08I think Braden Smith is the right tackle for the Houston Texans.
05:13With all the guards and interior offensive linemen that have resumes at the NFL level,
05:18to sign a right tackle and pay him $13.5 million or whatever it is,
05:22and then bring him in and play him at guard would be a – now, again,
05:27it would not shock me with Nick Casario and the guys that are running this offense.
05:32It would not shock me one bit.
05:34But that – I think that would be a real risk.
05:38So, I think he's your right tackle.
05:40Yeah, I'll hit the people and you the same thing I asked Tyler earlier when I came in
05:47because we're starting to fill it in.
05:50Like, right now, it feels like we're looking at Braden Smith as the right tackle,
05:55Ed Ingram as the right guard, Jake Andrews as the center hole,
06:01and then Ariante Ursary, and they're still going to fill that void.
06:04Who knows where that comes from?
06:06We're starting to see a lot of interior guys come off the board.
06:09I think Wyatt Teller's still there.
06:11Both the Browns guys are still around, but we saw a couple of others go off the board
06:16in the last, you know, several hours.
06:19And then, obviously, Ursary on the left side.
06:22Well, you know, as you're running down, I love the – you mentioned Wyatt Teller.
06:27I love for this group, I love the older player, the two-year deal, right?
06:33The two-year, we ain't going to break the bank kind of deal.
06:36We've talked about it a lot.
06:37On the defensive side of the football, they know exactly who they are.
06:40They know – I mean, there's some rookies mixed in there, but they know exactly who they are.
06:44And in key positions, they've got veterans that are real role players
06:47or veterans that are real rotational pieces that impact the game.
06:51That same approach on the offensive side of the football, I think, is where we're at.
06:55But, so, I don't have a problem with those older guys you mentioned.
06:58Yeah, so we'll – yeah, so there's still – we'll see what happens in that space.
07:03And you don't seem – you've kind of pushed this or at least set people to be aware of it.
07:08I'll be honest, Tyler and Clint, I thought when they moved on from Titus Howard
07:14that they would at least bring somebody in that is definitively better than Titus Howard.
07:19At guard?
07:20Anywhere.
07:21Like, I thought anywhere on the line, it may have been Linderbaum, it may have been –
07:25like, it's somebody that you're like, that guy has made a Pro Bowl
07:29or has come really close to making a Pro Bowl.
07:31I thought when they moved on from – they were at least one that is better.
07:36Braden Smith, who knows?
07:37Contract-wise, it's clear that the league or the Browns or whoever sees it different,
07:42he got 13.5 guaranteed and Titus got 37 guaranteed.
07:48You surprised by that?
07:50Are you surprised that they didn't – because that was my thinking is,
07:54they're moving on from Titus, they're opening up a lot of money,
07:57and they're going to bring in a stud.
08:00Now, Trent Williams, that is a talking point that could be out there really less likely now.
08:05Yeah.
08:06Because I don't think Ursary's getting moved to the bench somewhere, right?
08:09And unless, you know, Braden Smith comes over to play guard and that's the plan
08:14and he goes over to right, I guess.
08:16But it feels less likely when they go after Smith.
08:18If that feels like their tackle.
08:20I am a bit surprised that they didn't go hunting for one big one.
08:25I thought when they let Titus go that somebody this year would definitively be a better player than he is.
08:32Yeah.
08:32Well, I would hope that it would have been a center, but I don't know.
08:34It doesn't surprise me that they go, okay.
08:37I keep throwing the number $21 million a year out there because that's what Titus ultimately ended up getting, I
08:42believe.
08:42But $21 million a year, I think they look at it like, hey, man, we can go get us a
08:47tackle at 12-5 a year
08:49and then we can get us another guard at 8 or 7 a year and we can actually save some
08:53money.
08:53Or a center.
08:54You know, I think that's – I think they saw Titus Howard as a guy that was making enough money
08:58to pay two guys,
09:00two solid guys, and now much less three years in the future.
09:05So, no, it doesn't surprise me.
09:08Now, my heart, I mean, I wish –
09:11There's still one more spot.
09:12Well, no, I still don't think it's going to happen.
09:14I mean, but I wish – but, Ron, it just makes – like if you were going to go out
09:19there
09:19and you were going to get aggressive after somebody,
09:23the Ed Ingram thing makes sense because you know him.
09:26He's your guy.
09:27You know exactly what you're getting.
09:28And so, it makes sense, especially if you can get him at $3 or $4 million a year
09:31less than what the market is expecting.
09:34But the center position – I know I was passionate about the center position.
09:38The center position is one to me.
09:40If you're D'Amico Ryans and – I mean, you've got to be right at center.
09:45I mean, if you're going to spend extra money, if you're going to risk and spend extra money
09:48to improve this offensive line immediately, this place to do it would be the offensive – the center.
09:54Now, if you don't and you stick with the cheap route of Jake Andrews, you better be right.
09:59And maybe they are.
10:00Maybe they believe that Jake Andrews is the guy that can direct the traffic the right way
10:05if you just put the pieces around him.
10:06But you better be right because that is a critical piece to what your quarterback is able to do
10:11or not able to do.
10:13Yeah.
10:14Do you take that workload off of – you're seeing it right now.
10:16We talked about it yesterday.
10:17You're seeing it.
10:18The Las Vegas Raiders signing the best center available and paying him $27 million a year.
10:23You're hearing everybody right now talk about, hey, man, you just took an extreme load off
10:29of Fernando Mendoza if you're going to take him number one overall, right?
10:32You just gave your running back, your top draft pick last year.
10:36You just gave him the opportunity to really produce in a run game because that center
10:41immediately, individually, makes your run game significantly better.
10:45That's the power of a center, and that's exactly what the Texans need.
10:49I know he's not a rookie, but that's exactly what they need to be doing for C.J. Stroud.
10:53And I know Jake is not physically a Tyler Lindenbaum, but he better be mentally a guy
10:59that can direct traffic at an elite level, or I think this could be a huge mistake by D'Amico.
11:04Maybe you're too improved from last year from where he was there.
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