00:00I've seen a lot of people frame this as the Texans say, oh, they signed another journeyman.
00:04Like, no, no, no, Braden Smith isn't a journeyman.
00:06He's played his entire career.
00:09Journeyman means a guy who bounces around from team to team.
00:11He's been on one team.
00:12Right, he's been on one team his entire career.
00:15He doesn't get, he's not.
00:17He's not a pro bowler.
00:18He's not one of the priority free agents, but he's a solid starter in the NFL.
00:23So he's not a journeyman.
00:24He's a, like, he's a solid starter.
00:27That's, it's different than saying a journey, a journeyman is Lakin Tomlinson.
00:32Right.
00:32Ed Ingram would be journey, like journeyman status, even though he'd only been on one team, he'd
00:36been benched.
00:37He wasn't a priority free agent or anything.
00:39So going into last year, you kind of look at him as that.
00:42Trent Brown is kind of a high level journeyman.
00:45Yeah.
00:45Trent Brown's a journeyman.
00:46Yeah.
00:47Braden Smith is a solid starter.
00:49So the question though, isn't all right.
00:53If you're upset because this doesn't make the Texans O-line a genuinely good O-line, that's
00:59good.
00:59You can be upset about that.
01:01I'll be upset if they don't continue to build and add more guys like Braden Smith.
01:05There's still plenty of guards out there available.
01:08Braden Smith can play either tackle or guard, but it's, they're better off today than they
01:13were two, two days ago.
01:15Yeah.
01:15And that doesn't mean that this is where you end, but I'm happy with this signing as long
01:19as they continue to build, as long as they draft in all of that.
01:23But there's nothing, there's nothing about signing Braden Smith that should independently
01:28make you upset.
01:28It's a good signing.
01:30Yeah.
01:30It's just, it's not enough in my mind.
01:31No, no.
01:32There needs to be more.
01:33Here was the guys on the athletic football show, the athletic, of course, the, you know,
01:37the website talking about the Texans approach on the offensive line.
01:41The Texans sitting there and saying, okay, we've solved this enough where if we had to play
01:45a game tomorrow, we could, and we can use our draft capital and those second and third round
01:50picks, whatever way we want, maybe add competition to the room.
01:53I think it's a reasonable approach.
01:55I enjoy the way the Texans are approaching their offensive line, like a, like a baseball
01:59outfield, just like platooning guys.
02:01They're like, as long as we got the bodies to handle the spots, we'll figure out where
02:05they all go later.
02:06I can understand teams looking at the sticker prices of a lot of these guys signing in free
02:11agency on the offensive line and saying, we have no interest in that, right?
02:14Like if you're the Texans, would you rather just say, and we'll get Braden Smith for $10
02:18million rather than paying Zion Johnson $16 million when really the difference in that
02:23is some nebulous idea of potential because he's a little bit younger.
02:28Like I, I think history tells you that second contract guys are worth chasing in free agency
02:32interior offensive lineman.
02:34I think the conversation changes a little bit because of what matters most there.
02:38And I think certainty is really important at those positions.
02:41I think, I think one of the things that should be pointed out with specifically Brayden
02:45Smith and one of the reasons why he was only 10 million versus they use Zion Johnson as
02:49an example.
02:50So that's fine at 16 million is Brayden Smith has not been fully available for the last
02:55few years.
02:55Right.
02:56Yeah.
02:56And that's another reason why like right now it's still tenuous.
03:00I feel better about this O-line depth chart today than I did two days ago, but I'm also
03:07looking at it and saying, you've got a guy in Trent Brown who's been notoriously injury
03:11prone, very rarely plays a full season at right tackle.
03:15If they have, if they do have Brayden Smith play left guard, he's been banged up and injured
03:20a lot.
03:20And you're just one player away or two players away very easily of being in the exact same
03:24situation you were last year.
03:26So they've got to keep building it.
03:29When the first guy there, who's the first guy?
03:32I don't know.
03:33I should have written down their names when I, the guy with the beard.
03:35Yeah.
03:37Well, the other one is, um, it's a Robert Mays, Robert.
03:41Oh, that's right.
03:41Robert Mays was on there.
03:42Yep.
03:43So I, it's, I do like the strategy too, but it's like any strategy.
03:48It has to be well executed.
03:50I don't feel comfortable in the Texans.
03:53Haven't proven to me that they're capable of executing this strategy, mostly because
03:58they haven't drafted well on the offensive line.
04:00So if your strategy is, Hey, get these veteran types, these solid guys draft to build your
04:06long-term guys.
04:07Cool.
04:07We just, we don't have those guys other than Ariante Ursary possibly.
04:12Yep.
04:12I'm very bullish on Ariante Ursary, but he still isn't as good as he needs to be.
04:16So that's the part where Texans fans will hear that explanation about that strategy and
04:22say, cool.
04:23That's great.
04:24Cool story, bro.
04:25Now just actually execute the strategy.
04:28Execute it.
04:28Yeah.
04:28So Brayden Smith has played right tackle for his, virtually the entirety of his career
04:34in the NFL, but he came into the league as a guard.
04:37This was Brayden Smith back in 2020, talking about the move from guard to tackle.
04:44I mean, it was kind of crazy.
04:46I mean, I never thought honestly, I was going to play tackle in the NFL.
04:50I always thought I was going to be a guard.
04:52I mean, I played a little bit in college, mainly just like practicing and stuff like that.
04:56I mean, I had one start against Jacksonville State my sophomore year at right tackle.
05:01So, I mean, I didn't much experience with it, but, you know, as you get more years under
05:07your belt, like, you know, I got my first star as a rookie in week five.
05:11I mean, you just take every game and then every year and you're constantly learning from
05:15it.
05:15I mean, getting that experience, which is awesome.
05:19I mean, helping having the coaches and great players help, help me develop over the years
05:24was very helpful.
05:26I mean, you got a great room as you already know.
05:28I mean, guys see in there and then we had some of the vets that were there my rookie year
05:33to help me along.
05:33So, I've had a lot of help along the way and it's been very beneficial to me.
05:38I'm assuming AC is Anthony Costanzo from back in the day with the Colts.
05:42It is an unorthodox move.
05:44In his career, he's been a right tackle his entire career.
05:49He played left tackle a couple of games his rookie year or his second year.
05:53I can't remember.
05:54But, like, he's been a right tackle.
05:55Maybe he's played some guard as a, like, in an emergency situation.
05:58But, he's listed as a starter at right tackle for pretty much every game in his career.
06:03Where is he in week one for the Texans, if you had to predict?
06:06What position do you think he is?
06:08Okay, all right.
06:08I mean, like, obviously, we don't know who else they're going to sign.
06:12There's a draft coming up.
06:12I get it.
06:13Yeah.
06:13Yeah.
06:14I think it's most likely that he's a left guard.
06:17Okay.
06:17I think.
06:18But, if they sign a guard in free agency, another guard in free agency, he's starting at right
06:25tackle over the right round.
06:25Absolutely.
06:25If we get a Schefter bomb today that says they're signing Joel Batonio for one year,
06:3110 million bucks, he's a right.
06:32Braden Smith is a right tackle at that point.
06:34I don't think the Texans right now would tell you with certainty if he's going to be a guard
06:38or a tackle.
06:38I agree with that.
06:39So, this is the other part, because I know a lot of people have a lot of skepticism over
06:43like, wait a second, you're signing a tackle and you're going to start him at guard.
06:46A, we don't know that for sure.
06:48B, that's not that big of a deal.
06:51It's way harder for a guard to move to tackle.
06:53What I push back against sometimes is people thinking that, oh, if you're a really good
06:59tackle, then you'll definitely be a good guard.
07:01That's not the case at all.
07:03There's some guys who are awesome tackles that wouldn't play guard.
07:05It's just a different skill set.
07:09But, for him, he looks and moves and you could very conceivably see him playing guard.
07:16Sure.
07:16And, it's not a conversation that they wouldn't have had with him before they signed him.
07:22So, it's not going to be a shock out of the blue if they have him play guard.
07:26I think his versatility is why they like him.
07:28And, there's a chance that he could, any number of scenarios could happen between now and starting
07:33in opening day.
07:35Right.
07:35From a versatility standpoint, he fills that Titus role at far less money than Titus is getting.
07:41I'm not saying they're the same player, but they can play the same positions.
07:44I think he is much more of a swarmy type of player.
07:48I think in terms of, is this a Cole Popovich guy compared to Titus Howard, a Cole Popovich
07:52guy, Braden Smith looks a lot more like a Cole Popovich guy to me.
07:56There's just no, I mean, that's, and I say this in the most respectful way possible because,
08:01man, look, Laramie Tunsil's an awesome football player.
08:06He's not a swarmy football player.
08:08He's a finesse player.
08:10Yep.
08:10Titus Howard is a solid starting offensive tackle, but he is not tough and gritty and
08:16nasty in the run game.
08:18Braden Smith is tough and gritty and nasty in the run game.
08:21I did a video yesterday on my YouTube, and boy, I used the first game versus the Texans
08:27in 2024.
08:29So Braden Smith, first pass play of the game is lined up against Daniil Hunter, and Daniil
08:34Hunter had a very Daniil Hunter type of play.
08:37Beautiful spin move to the inside.
08:38Anthony Richardson rolls out to the right so he doesn't get sacked on the play, but it was
08:42a rough snap for Braden Smith.
08:44Braden Smith had some good snaps in that game.
08:45He had some bad snaps versus Daniil Hunter, you know, so it's what you expect to see.
08:49But in the run game, he had a couple of plays where he really took it, too.
08:54One play to Daniil Hunter, another play, I couldn't tell from the film, but I think it
09:00was, I can't remember who it was.
09:03But look, he's got, he plays with a level of physicality and tenaciousness in the run
09:08game that Titus Howard does not.
09:10So I think Cole Popovich looks at him as more of his type of guy.
09:13Yep.
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