- 2 days ago
Seth and Sean lay out and assess the biggest questions that are still facing the Texans after almost 2 weeks of free agency.
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00:00Man, it's it's interesting how much this Wyatt Teller signing, at least perceptually, has kind of opened things up for
00:09what's possible in the draft now that they've addressed.
00:12And granted, it's at the end of the day, it's just a two year deal for a 31 year old
00:16guy.
00:16So it's not like long term. This is some foundational thing.
00:20But for purposes of 2026 and 2027, I suppose, is they've they have addressed maybe not full.
00:28They've addressed the interior of the offensive line. They've they went out and got Wyatt Teller.
00:32They got Braden Smith, who could slide over there if you need to.
00:35Even Evan Brown, who is a depth piece there and I think is going to compete at center.
00:39He might end up being your starting center for the team.
00:42It's really kind of shifted some things in terms of maybe priorities or if if we know Nick Casario cringes
00:50at the notion of drafting for need said last year.
00:54I don't even know what that means, even though we know full well, he knows what he well, he said
00:57that there's a little bit of a sliding scale.
01:01That is how you got him to open up about it. Yeah. And tell the truth.
01:06But I do think I do think there is a best player available theme that goes on for sure.
01:12What direction they go in the draft, including do they move up? Do they move back?
01:16The draft became much more intriguing with what they did in free agency.
01:20I think that I think that if there's been a theme of this offseason, it's very clear that they want
01:26more physicality on offense.
01:27And every guy that they've signed so far seems to be a more physical version of the guys that they
01:33had before.
01:35So I whether it's in the run game or otherwise, you know, Foster Moreau is a.
01:42A really good pass protector by tight end standards. He's OK as a run blocker, but he's not like he's
01:46not like a George Kittle talk or anything, but he's a more physical version of some of the tight ends
01:51they've had on the roster.
01:52Yeah. So I think that that becomes less about which specific position they they draft, but also maybe more that
02:02they're going to continue to try to make the offense more physical.
02:05So it becomes. All right. Is are they leaning more towards offense? Is that the tiebreaker?
02:11If you've got if you've got an offensive lineman that you really like in a defensive tackle that you really
02:16like, does it is that the tiebreaker?
02:18Now that, man, we need more physicality on offense. Let's take this guy.
02:22Let's take the offensive lineman instead of the defensive tackle with what they've done in free agency on the offensive
02:26line.
02:27And with the David Montgomery trade to address running back, they do really have an opportunity here now to go
02:34over the top in one of those two rooms, you know, to go like, hey, let look.
02:39A lot of these mock drafts had them taking to even three offensive linemen with those first four picks that
02:44they have.
02:45They've got picks 28, 38, 59 and 69. If they decide to use 28 and 38 or 28 and 59
02:53on offensive linemen, and I think they still need to address center.
02:56I could really see a center being one of those picks. But if they use two, man, and even three.
03:00Now, all of a sudden, you've got this room that's just full of guys.
03:03Similarly, if they were to use 38 or 59 on Jadarian Price, if he's there.
03:08And now you've got a running back room that's David Montgomery, Woody Marks, and one of the top three rookie
03:15running backs.
03:16Now, all of a sudden, you've got a room where we're not biting our nails over a guy, you know,
03:21leaving a game in the middle of the game.
03:23I'm like, man, I hope this guy comes back next week. Otherwise, it means, you know, Damian Pierce is back
03:27in the mix, that kind of thing.
03:29I have zero issue with that. If they want to take a position, you know, tight end.
03:33And, you know, like you said, Foster Moreau is more journeyman type, but he does fill a type for them
03:39at tight end.
03:39If they want to use, if Kenyon Sadiq falls to them at 28 from Oregon and they use a pick
03:45there, I would be thrilled with something like that.
03:47So I think what they've done in free agency, I think, really sets them up to go over the top
03:51at some of these positions if they want to.
03:53Yeah, and I think that the signing of Wyatt Teller is really interesting, partly because the way he is a
04:02good run blocker,
04:03is different than the way a lot of guys are really good run blockers.
04:06And it's that he's got, he doesn't have a martial arts background in terms of he himself.
04:11He wasn't a high school wrestler or anything.
04:14But when I first really started paying attention to him, I thought this guy was definitely a high school wrestler
04:18because he uses leverage really well.
04:20What it actually is, is he had an assistant offensive line coach in Cleveland.
04:24I think his name is Scott Peters. I might be getting that wrong.
04:26But he's a former NFL offensive lineman who got into Brazilian jiu-jitsu and ended up winning a couple championships
04:33in some form of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
04:36And when he started working with Wyatt Teller in Cleveland on exactly how to use his leverage and use his
04:45hands to create power,
04:49I think the MMA term is zero range power.
04:54Like it's where when you're in close quarters and you just torque a guy and you get him set up
04:58right,
04:59it's fun to watch Wyatt Teller's really good run plays because he'll do that thing where it looks like there's
05:06a stalemate
05:06and then all of a sudden the defensive lineman is on the ground.
05:09And it's very technique-based and technique-driven.
05:12I don't know how much of that Wyatt Teller can teach to the other guys on the offensive line,
05:16but it's kind of a force multiplier in terms of, okay, if you think you've got a physical guy,
05:21but then you add to this, this really extreme technique in hand placement and everything,
05:27it turns guys into monsters.
05:29And that's what happened with Wyatt Teller when he started working with him in Cleveland.
05:33I love that because it's technique.
05:37It's more than just the guy's measurables and everything.
05:41That's the kind of veteran that you have in the room that can work with younger guys.
05:45You take a draft pick and you add to that, this, this kind of unorthodox technique amongst offensive linemen,
05:51you might really get the most out of him.
05:53I don't want to call him a player coach, but he could potentially be a real asset in that regard.
05:57Scott Peters, you got it right.
05:59Yeah.
05:59Currently the offensive line coach for the Cincinnati Bengals.
06:02But he was in Cleveland 2020 through 2023.
06:06And this is what AI says, this is what Gemini says, playing a key role in developing one of the
06:11NFL's top rushing units
06:13under Bill Callahan, known for his tip of the spear techniques.
06:17Is that what it's called, Seth?
06:18Tip of the spear.
06:19They're basically forcing all that power into just one spot, which is your hands.
06:24He utilizes a unique background in MMA and Brazilian jiu-jitsu to teach leverage and hand placement skills to offensive
06:31linemen.
06:32And then there's a video of him teaching it.
06:34Yeah.
06:34I need to pull some of the audio from that.
06:36There's a lot of guys, especially with the offensive line and defensive line too, that, because, and that's where I
06:41always,
06:42with interior offensive and defensive linemen especially, that's where sometimes you can just see, like, okay,
06:48I'm pretty sure this guy has a wrestling background.
06:49They just understand how to use leverage better.
06:52And, like, I don't know, like, I wasn't a good enough athlete to have made it in the NFL, I
06:55don't think,
06:56if I didn't have a wrestling background, because it really, it really helped me in that regard.
07:00So when I see it on film, it's jarring.
07:05You're like, oh, wait a second, this guy knows something.
07:08And that was, you know, Wyatt Teller started off at Buffalo and goes to Cleveland and was just kind of
07:13a guy.
07:14And then in 2020, I think it was his first all-pro season, that was when he started working with
07:19Scott Peters.
07:19I think it was, I think 21 through 23 were his three Pro Bowls.
07:232020, he was all-pro, second-team all-pro.
07:25Oh, was he?
07:25Okay, gotcha.
07:26All right, there you go.
07:27There you go.
07:28He didn't make the, he did Daniil Hunter, your second-team all-pro, but didn't make the Pro Bowl.
07:33Yeah, I was, in my mind, I was thinking of his pro football reference page where they put the little
07:37star next to the season,
07:38they made the Pro Bowl.
07:39Yeah.
07:39And he made the Pro Bowl the next three seasons after that.
07:41So he had all four of the years that Scott Peters was in the building, he was a great player
07:45for them.
07:46It's one of the weird things about Cleveland that, as bad as they've been in this stretch of time,
07:50there's, you look at the top interior offensive line free agents this year,
07:54and it was, okay, Kevin Zeitler, he was in Cleveland for a while.
07:58Petonio, been with Cleveland his whole career.
07:59Wyatt Teller, for most of his career, was in Cleveland.
08:02Yep.
08:03Question number two.
08:04So we're doing the four big questions still facing the Texans after the first 10 days of free agency.
08:08Number one was what direction will they go in the draft?
08:11I think we figured out that they could go any direction in the draft.
08:13Number two, how do they view Tank Dell?
08:17And I don't mean literally how do they view him, like those of us viewing him making all these cuts
08:22and jukes on Twitter, on video.
08:24Like literally what, like right now, as they look at their, they probably got a depth chart on the wall
08:29in one of their war rooms or something like that.
08:32Where is Tank Dell on that depth chart?
08:34You know, is he, is he listed as a backup to one of the receivers right now?
08:40Or is he being treated, like sometimes you see injured guys on a depth chart like that, sort of off
08:44to the side in their own column in a different font or color over there?
08:48Yeah.
08:49Is Tank Dell viewed as somebody who is one of the five best receivers on this team right now?
08:56Or is he viewed as somebody that I think this would echo what a lot of people look at, look
09:01at Tank Dell right now.
09:02It's like, hey, if you get anything from Tank Dell, it's gravy based on the severity of the injury.
09:07How do the Texans view him?
09:09I think that they, I think they have to look at it as that, that you, you really hope that
09:15it works out and you love Tank Dell, but the track record of guys coming back from injuries like that,
09:21especially when speed is their calling card, isn't all that great.
09:25It's not like it's never happened before or anything.
09:28The biggest thing he has going for him is that it happened to him while he was young.
09:31And, you know, Joe Mixon had a really bad injury, or excuse me, Nick Chubb had a really bad injury
09:37like that, but came back from it the first time because he was young.
09:42And then he had it again when he was older.
09:44And it hasn't been as good because, I mean, he's really old by running back standards now.
09:49So that's a, it's very, very achievable and it's very possible.
09:54But I don't think you can bank on it until you see it happen.
09:57Yeah.
09:58So that's question number two.
10:01God, getting Tank back, man, just to something close to what he was would be incredible.
10:05Number three.
10:06Did they really replace Tommy Townsend with this guy?
10:09This Kai Kroger fella.
10:11Is this what they're rolling with at punter?
10:12Now, look, I'm not somebody who sits around watching footage of punters around the league.
10:17I'm, you know, there's my fan, none of my fantasy leagues have the punter as part of the, as part
10:22of the mix, part of the calculus.
10:24But so I've not watched Kai Kroger, although Cody Stoots reminded, reminded me earlier this week, he was in camp
10:32with the Texans last year.
10:33Yeah, that's what I thought.
10:34For like one day, for literally like one day.
10:38Yeah.
10:39Yeah.
10:39And he was booming it in that one day that he was at practice.
10:43One little bit and whatever Frank Ross saw of Kai Kroger in that one day, he put it in the
10:48back of his, back of his mind and thought, I'm going to keep an eye on this Kai Kroger.
10:52Yeah, yeah.
10:52You and I are both a fan of alliteration.
10:54Yes.
10:54So, you know, if you, if you want to be able to really, you know, get excited about somebody, somebody
10:59with a name like Kai Kroger.
11:01Kai Kroger.
11:01That's a name worth getting excited over.
11:03Well, and go Google Kai Kroger fake punts and that'll get you excited as well, man.
11:07The guy throws dimes.
11:08There's a, you know what?
11:09I mean, that's kind of one of those things where you could look at it and say, that's a stupid
11:13thing to base a decision on.
11:14But if you look at punters, if you put them into a big group of like, all right, he's a
11:19passable, acceptable punter.
11:20Right.
11:21You know, he's, he's no Shane Leckler or whatever, but we've got a guy that we're good at.
11:25That's potentially one or two games a year that can turn on a fake punt.
11:30Absolutely.
11:30If you've got that in your bag that, and what does it do to teams when they have to anticipate
11:37a fake punt?
11:38How often, how, how less, how much less frequently do they rush the punter?
11:43Perhaps that maybe they're thinking about it.
11:45Maybe they're thinking in five dimensional chess here a little bit of like, okay, his punting numbers are the, are,
11:51are what they are.
11:52But he does have an effect on the punt return or the pump block just because, because they know that
11:58he's capable of these can't set up their blocking the way they want to, because they got to be cognizant
12:02of the fake and things like that.
12:04For sure.
12:04Does this, I would say this is probably an indicator of where the Texans are roster wise right now in
12:09terms of the, the depth or the, how they've addressed their needs.
12:13Certainly how they've addressed their needs and free agency.
12:15Bill Barnwell of ESPN.com has a, has a, a column or an article, a deep dive that dropped yesterday.
12:23And it's the, the biggest remaining issue for the 20 contenders in the NFL.
12:29I guess in Barnwell's mind, there's 20 teams that can win a Superbowl and 12, the can't set.
12:33So for the 20 teams that can win a Superbowl, obviously the Texans are one of those teams.
12:38What's missing for each of those teams.
12:41Barnwell, who probably has at least as good, a depth chart knowledge of all 32 teams.
12:47I don't agree with all of his opinions on certain players.
12:50What's missing punter.
12:52That's the Texans big thing.
12:54That's missing right now.
12:55Big missing thing.
12:55That's a good thing to go into the draft.
12:57Most GMs, most GMs have a philosophy of you want to go into the draft without a glaring need to
13:03be able to field a team on a Sunday.
13:04Yeah.
13:05You want to protect yourself from the urge to overdraft or over, uh, overvalue somebody because you really, in the
13:12back of your mind, even though, even though you're consciously telling yourself, no, we don't want to reach.
13:16We take best player available.
13:18You want to protect yourself from that.
13:20And I feel like they've, they've put themselves in a position where they don't have to go into the draft
13:24super desperate.
13:25The one thing I would say is that they do have an offensive line that looks a lot better on
13:31paper, but only if you're ignoring injury history and age, because the guys, some of the additions that like all
13:40the, the veteran players, the true veteran players that you've signed or retained have injury issues.
13:46Trent Brown, long, long history of injuries and not playing the entire season.
13:50The Braden Smith missed a bunch of games over the last few years.
13:53Wyatt Teller's missed four games in each of the last two seasons.
13:56And he's 31 years old that you gotta, you gotta be conscious of that.
14:00All right.
14:00We look good for now.
14:02We look good on in week one, but can we really expect that the depth chart is going to look
14:06anything like this in week eight?
14:08It's kind of funny because we did you, you, especially with Braden Smith, I know brought it up and with
14:13Wyatt Teller too, and his name would pop up.
14:15And I feel like once the Texans signed both those guys, I'm like, well, they sure have addressed things.
14:22Well, yeah, Braden Smith, I was very hot and cold on because of, uh, because of the injuries.
14:27Yeah.
14:27So it's, um, I don't want to forget that.
14:30That's my blind spot that I don't want to stay blind to is that I, I still feel like.
14:36I think that personally, I feel like I'd still want to address the offensive line heavily because even, even if
14:43all those guys stayed healthy, there's still, they're aging and they're on relatively short-term deals.
14:50Ultimately, I think for long-term stability, I want to keep drafting offensive linemen so I can find a couple
14:55at some point that I feel good about being on the team for the next five to 10 years.
14:59I want to draft offensive linemen so that city Sal is not starting a game in week 10, right?
15:04That's right.
15:04Right.
15:04Yeah.
15:05And then no disrespect to city Sal, still a Houston Texan might be a big sports talk radio listener.
15:11Who's listening right, right.
15:12This very minute.
15:13No disrespect to the city Sal to the city Sal's of the world.
15:18No disrespect.
15:19They need depth in that room.
15:21How far of a city Sal away are we from?
15:23Remember that, that one injury on the interior offensive line right now.
15:28And you're right back into a bunch of guys who couldn't win a starting position last year for the Texans.
15:33Evan Brown has been a starter, but he's also been on six different NFL teams.
15:37Right.
15:38Yeah.
15:38I would much rather that some first rounder or second rounder that's had to wait in the wings all of
15:44a sudden gets thrust into action
15:46and hopefully he's shown some progress in the first five or six weeks and he's learned some things than being
15:52in the same position you were last year.
15:53Yeah.
15:54You're not that far away from city Sal starting for you at some point.
15:57Go pick some guys, man, wherever he is right now.
15:59Yep.
15:59I'm with you.
16:00Where is he?
16:01Who picked up city Sal?
16:02He's a, he's a Texan still.
16:03They, they re-signed him to like one of those, I think futures contracts or whatever.
16:08So he's, that's why I said he might be listening right now.
16:10Cause he's still on the team.
16:12He might be in the building.
16:13He might be driving in to go do his workout.
16:15So he can start a game in week 10 against Jacksonville again.
16:20And he's like, man, these guys are trash talking me.
16:22Eli Cox is still on the, uh, still on the roster too.
16:26Center out of Kentucky, man.
16:27Yeah.
16:27They still got some guys.
16:28Who are the guys on the Texans roster that you're surprised are still on the Texans?
16:32You know, I forget about Luke Lachey, the tight end.
16:34Oh yeah.
16:35Yeah.
16:35He did some things in training camp that, that, uh, Lane Pryor.
16:39No idea.
16:40We haven't had a single Lane Pryor discussion this off season.
16:43Yeah.
16:43No, no, no idea who he is.
16:45Do you, is there, are there tight end?
16:46He's tight end Lane Pryor.
16:48Okay.
16:48You say so.
16:49Um, all right.
16:50The four biggest questions.
16:51We hit three of them.
16:52What direction do they go in the draft?
16:54How do they view tank Dell?
16:55Four biggest questions.
16:56Post free agency for the Texans.
16:58Did they really replace Tommy Thompson with a guy who's at the bottom of all the puntalytics websites?
17:03Um, number four, this may be the biggest one.
17:07How is CJ Stroud's off season going so far?
17:10What's CJ Stroud up to man?
17:11How's he been adapting to life after a four interception playoff game?
17:16I, uh, you know, I, boy, I gotta get, I gotta get over some kind of mental hurdle because
17:21we've, we've kind of put CJ to the side during all of these discussions.
17:24You know, he's going to be the quarterback next year.
17:26Yeah.
17:27The, I, I, I'll be surprised if they extend him this off season.
17:31Maybe they do, but I was at a, uh, I was at a family dinner this weekend and somebody
17:37asked me a question about CJ Stroud and there was nothing that I wanted to talk about less
17:44in the world to a bunch of casual or non-Texans fans than CJ Stroud.
17:49What did they, was it just in general, like what's up with CJ Stroud kind of thing?
17:53It was just a, just a vague.
17:54Yeah.
17:54So what's up with CJ?
17:56Cause they'd watch.
17:56That's even worse.
17:58That's even worse than if there were like a specific CJ thing, then you just answer
18:02that and you move on.
18:04Yeah.
18:04Hey, what's up with that?
18:05Oh, it's like, Oh, I got to start off.
18:07Yeah.
18:08Yeah.
18:08I got to start off from square one here and relive the playoff game again.
18:13And, uh, yeah, I gave him a really weak take and just moved on to the mashed potatoes.
18:17Oh, good for you.
18:19Good for you.
18:20So they were like, after you left, they're all like, how does Seth have a job?
18:23Yeah, basically.
18:24Wow.
18:25That was the most boring conversation I've ever had about CJ Stroud.
18:29Yeah.
18:30You're supposed to entertain us, Seth.
18:32I did.
18:33No, I gave a, it would have been a weak sports radio take, but I think he probably appreciated
18:37like a 45 second rundown.
18:38Is there anything with CJ Stroud this off season, if we were to hear scuttlebutt or whatever
18:44that you don't have an appetite for?
18:46I don't want to hear about his personal records in the weight room.
18:48That is 100% something that I don't want to hear about that.
18:53He's missing OTAs, but don't worry.
18:55He said a PR in the bench press.
18:57That's exactly what I knew.
18:58Oh boy.
18:59That was the missing ingredient.
19:01I didn't realize.
19:02Finally, our quarterback didn't, didn't have a max bench that was worthy of all pro status.
19:09CJ shoulder gate last year.
19:11A lot of people care about, you know, whether or not he's integrating himself into the offense
19:15and how he's working with Nick Caley.
19:17No, no, no, no, no, no.
19:18Rest assured.
19:19It's all worth it because he's got a PR in multiple different exercises.
19:23Yes.
19:24My God.
19:25Yes.
19:25Especially if you want to think, it's not like he's Jalen Hurts or something.
19:29It's never going to be his calling card.
19:31No.
19:31So if, if Jalen Hurts did, if he, if Jalen Hurts set a PR in some record, I'd say in
19:36some
19:37exercise, I'd say, Oh, okay.
19:38Wow.
19:39Yeah.
19:39Good.
19:39But he's still really, really, really strong.
19:41Yep.
19:41CJ.
19:41I don't need, I don't need to hear about it.
19:43No, I'm with you on that one.
19:45All right.
19:45So those are the four big questions that, that, that we have a post free agency way in
19:50on the base power text line.
19:51Seven, one, three, five, seven, two, four, six, 10.
19:53I'll read a couple of texts and then we'll move on.
19:55Um, this is from 11 minutes ago.
19:58So I'm assuming this is right before we invoke the name Kai Kroger on the show.
20:02I'm curious why the Houston media isn't discussing that the punter, the Texans traded for is a
20:06really, really bad punter that could come back to haunt them later.
20:10Don't we think we do?
20:11That's as far as really, really bad.
20:13You gotta, it's dicey with punters.
20:15When you start looking at net punt yardage and everything, cause there's always a whole
20:18lot more nuance to it.
20:19And I'm going to be open with you.
20:20I'm not going to do the research.
20:22All right.
20:22I don't care that like at some point, the,
20:25the, the, they either like Kai Kroger or they go out and they get somebody else.
20:29It's the, if you're worried about whether or not you're going to get coffin corner punts
20:33and everything.
20:34Cool.
20:35That's good on you.
20:36You can, you can use mental bandwidth on that, but I just, the fact that they signed him and
20:42that his net punt yardage and everything was as low as it was while he was on a bad, uh,
20:46a better football team than they used to be.
20:48But, uh, I just, I don't worry about it as much.
20:51I kind of just let, I leave that, I leave that to Frank Ross to worry about.
20:56Someone is saying on the, on the, uh, the base power text line that left footed, left
21:00footed punters are in new England slash Belichick thing.
21:03Oh yeah.
21:04Does it matter?
21:05That it was just to the spin.
21:06Yeah.
21:06The spins different and everything.
21:08So you're not as, yeah, as a returner, you're not as used to judging the ball and the way
21:12that it's operating in the wind.
21:14And yeah, so we're playing a little bit of chess here, huh?
21:16Yeah.
21:17Yeah.
21:17Like I said, it's five dimensional chess.
21:18Yeah.
21:19His, uh, his threat as a fake punt guy, the fact that he's a left footed punter.
21:23Oh yeah.
21:24Oh my God.
21:24The AFC has got to be shaking in their boots right now over this transaction.
21:28This is the depth of my punter analysis.
21:30If you go out and you sign an Australian, I am all in, uh, that's a, that's what's all,
21:34that's what's the rage these days.
21:36Yes.
21:36Yes.
21:37Especially cause they might get in on, on tackles too.
21:40If they played rugby or whatnot back, back in the old country.
21:43Yeah, this dude's from Illinois, which is one of the least Australia like places in
21:47the world.
21:47I can vouch for that.
21:48That is true.
21:49That is true.
21:50Hi, text message.
21:51Hi, this is city Sal.
21:53I'm a big Seth fan.
21:55I don't know why that tickles me.
21:56Well, maybe you should earn my, uh, earn, earn my trust.
22:00Yeah.
22:00Okay.
22:00Yeah.
22:01Yeah.
22:01He said he's a big fan of yours.
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