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ITL debates draft prospects and which players fit best for Houston.
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00:00We are continuing to get ourselves ready for the NFL draft for you Houston Texans 2026 54 hours 56
00:06minutes and 16 seconds 15 14 time going by fast it's moving 80 hours yesterday right yeah just
00:14that's how that's how time works I think um but yeah we're moving towards the draft and in doing
00:20our you know draft prep and everything one of the things that we've seen people talk about a little
00:24bit more is how edge might be more of a play especially because it's a little bit of shallower
00:28of an edge pool right you'll hit a little bit of a cliff sooner rather than defensive tackle which
00:33we had kind of thought about a lot earlier in the process it seems like there there are different
00:37uh defensive tackles choose your flavors as you go throughout the uh throughout the draft process so
00:42maybe it might just be a little bit of an earlier pick for edge rather than defensive tackle maybe
00:47in those first few rounds and so I wanted to play a little bit more scouting profile pick them here
00:53with some draft draft prospects I'm going to throw up a number of uh edge rushers okay but
00:59we're going to look at profile profile blind and I'm going to want you to uh to kind of rank
01:03them as
01:04we go okay I'm in uh so we begin here with uh with this profile here um he doesn't this
01:12edge rusher
01:12does not have the pass rush quickness or diversity that will scare offensive tackles but sets a firm
01:17edge in the run game uses nfl caliber measurables heavy hands to open pathways to open the pocket
01:24uh he has a the floor of a quality backup and the ceiling of a starting base and for physical
01:31nfl front that is just the profile so I'm going to give you the profile if you want me to
01:35give you
01:35some strengths and weaknesses I can but if you feel like you're ready to go ahead and rank him in
01:39or
01:39at least think about where you have how many all together are we going to have I'm going to give
01:44you five he is the early leader for four really you're not feeling that strong I think he they
01:51well we know what they like you know guys that can just wreak havoc on the edges that was some
01:56of
01:56the weaknesses all right so let's get with some of the weaknesses here on this edge rusher
02:00inconsistent leveraging to the the point can be moved by double teams is one of those uh another
02:07one also inconsistent rush plan not overly skilled with sequencing but remember D'Amico Ryan's recently
02:12in talking about this mentioned how hey man we can get you in here we can coach you up as
02:16long as
02:17you're you know willing to be coached as long as you listen to our guys and I believe him when
02:20you
02:20talk about Matt Burke who will be on the drive at 3 40 p.m to my today mind you
02:24um Rod Wright the
02:26defensive line coach and then you talk about Sheldon Rankins being in the room you talk about
02:29Daniil Hunter being in the room I feel like not having a well-sequenced uh rush plan that'll get fixed
02:36real quick in this system if that's a guy that you want I still I still believe the D'Amico
02:41Ryan's philosophy is kind of like Major League Baseball we want to be really really strong up
02:46the middle uh defensive tackles linebackers you know you're you're tackling safety uh just really
02:52really strong and solid there I think on the edges that's where he likes the pizzazz you know that's
02:57where he likes the uh the now there's a lot to be said I'm not downplaying setting the edge we
03:02all
03:02know how important that is but I think he likes the guys that can really wreak havoc and get to
03:06the
03:06quarterback okay I'll put him at four maybe maybe lower ultimately and you have a you reserve the
03:11right to move things around but uh that's the first edge rusher out the gate how about this guy
03:16um he is described as a linear mover lacks ideal bend but he offers skill as a pass rusher stack
03:24shed
03:25toughness versus the run and demeanor that will help him carve out a starting role at the next level
03:30despite being an older player he still has upside um so there you go that's the general profile I
03:36need you some pros and cons if you so choose I think demeanor and the speed or strengths and
03:41weaknesses I think the demeanor and the speed is is is going to be a big they can teach him
03:45the rest
03:45you know in terms of uh how they how he fits in as an edge rusher I'm gonna say I'll
03:51leave a little
03:51room there I'm gonna say two okay yeah so you've got uh rusher number one number one at four
03:57the second rusher that I threw up there you've you've blind ranked him at two yeah uh again
04:02opportunity to move these around as we continue this scouting profile pick them here in loop on
04:08sports radio 610 all right I bring you yet another edge rusher and this one needs to expand the
04:14consistency of his impact beyond winning as a high side rusher but his athletic twitch play speed
04:21and violent demeanor made for the type or make rather for the type of package that you bet on at
04:26the
04:26position at worst he should be a designated pass rusher with the ceiling of a versatile NFL starter
04:32Hassan Riddick is named what do you think he could be moved around on the front um I got him
04:38lower than
04:39the last guy I think I'll have him at three yeah I was yeah I think I'll have my three
04:43yeah potential
04:44okay yeah all right I bring you another guy here uh as we continue this edge rusher roulette of sorts
04:50this rusher has more almost plays than impact ones on his tape but you bet on a developing
04:5621 year old player with his exciting traits he's similar in ways to michael williams as a prospect
05:02that so it's not my quote no michael uh the character and upside are promising but how early
05:08a team drafts him is dependent on its appetite for risk I'm going to switch him to four and the
05:13other
05:13one to five okay I think he's a lower end but but I think he's probably got more potential than
05:18the
05:18first one so you're going to switch him to four yeah and then the first prospect to five yeah and
05:23I
05:23leave you with the final prospect here and we'll dig into this a little bit I'm curious this is
05:26curiosity killing me all right here here is here's the uh profile as we see it he won't consistently
05:32out race NFL tackles but his powerful proficient technique and aggressive play demeanor should
05:38translate well to the next level he projects as a rotational edge defender hmm I gotta make another
05:45move here don't I okay yeah I think I got uh where you got number two lopez I probably got
05:50him one
05:51move two and three up okay to one and two yeah and I'll put him at three okay yeah yeah
05:56all right so
05:56the lowest rated pass rusher at least of that evaluation five and right is technically edge rusher
06:04number eight in dame brugler's rankings first and second first to second round grade missouri edge zion
06:11young okay um some of these strengths and weaknesses that you didn't ask for quality bull rusher who can
06:17barrel through gaps uh and develop the love for the weight room at a young age still has that fire
06:24weaknesses inconsistent leveraging at the point I mentioned that an inconsistent rush plan as we
06:28talked about zion young feeling good about it who they have had in four visits zion young is one of
06:33those guys that they have visited with which ones is this number five this is the this is the guy
06:37that
06:38you guys had the least interest in just looking at the very bare bones gotcha assessment of I'm
06:42feeling okay with our with our assessment here okay rusher number four that at least the one as
06:48you ranked him yeah that is auburn edge edge number four in this class mind you the highest of the
06:54guys
06:54that I brought you keldrick falk okay okay how's that make you feel because keldrick falk is one of
06:59those guys that people have had large conversations about him some people are interested in here
07:04uh rangy guy long long guy uh I I feel okay about it we'll see what the top three holds
07:12for me here
07:12yeah versatile pass rush swat scheme diverse defender right versatile multiple position on
07:18the defensive line we talked about some of the weaknesses that pop up here he'd be a little
07:22upright and aimless in his rush plan but again that does not strike me in the same way because if
07:27we're
07:27talking about rush plan I feel like this is a place where the rush plan will come together for you
07:31yeah you can get it for sure more strong than than explosive when punching off yeah that's why
07:35I put him at four I think I think that is significant I think they want the explosive here
07:40that's what it's all about on the edges I found it interesting that you ranked this guy as the third
07:45most interesting of the profiles because he is the lowest ranked right now of the edges that we
07:51discussed he's edge number 11 according to dame brugler this is illinois edge rusher gabe
07:56akus uh this is this is a dude that the texans have talked to and that some people are really
08:02interested in especially if you're talking about because he has a second to third round grade maybe
08:06this ends up being one of those guys that if you if you have a couple of other priorities when
08:10you
08:10talk about 28 38 you start talking about uh 59 is this a guy that you go okay we're in
08:16some of
08:16these ranges or maybe in the fourth round where you go all right we can pick up an akus and
08:20uh
08:21get you know have an edge rusher that filters in in that rotation I think that's probably more
08:25traits than anything uh that he showed uh he you know especially a year before last uh you know
08:31he had a really good year so we'll see that that one all of a sudden maybe we should have
08:34flipped but
08:35go ahead yeah no problem and that's the thing is I like the idea of maybe taking away some of
08:39the
08:39preconceived notions and getting to maybe the the and of course I'm giving you the very essence of the
08:44scouting profile there's more depth to this and we know with the texans there's a whole different
08:48element of who they are as people but even with that I take you to your second ranked uh profile
08:55here uh and this is one that I think is actually getting a little love he's technically ranked as
09:01edge number seven for uh Dane Brugler but again first or second round grade here UCF edge rusher
09:07Malachi Lawrence and we have I read some stuff about you haven't talked about him much but this is a
09:11guy
09:11that's gaining a little at least their scuttle but he might be gaining a little bit of love at
09:15in that building as much as we could say who they like um he's aggressive on the field easy going
09:21off
09:22of it though and that was one of the things that really jumped out to me like the personnel
09:25a scout described him as he keeps himself not a leader type but very good toughness
09:29solid football character and I found that to be interesting because I go how do you think a guy
09:34who's maybe a little to himself plays in that locker room I think he plays great in this locker
09:38like sting sting is the one that you look at right yeah sting is one and I feel like they
09:43have the
09:43leaders uh but but he has he has and I just happened to come across something with him
09:49yesterday or the day before apparently like his moves his skills his actual pass rushing
09:55you know techniques are are what's turning a lot of heads darting lateral cuts to cross blocker space
10:01and creative entry points like this dude's a creative player um at that and you know plays
10:06urgency in lateral pursuits as well and that that very much comes to mind because one of the things
10:10you vividly recall seeing is guys finishing plays whether it's uh yeah Daniil Hunter coming on the
10:15backside and going again guys Will Anderson doing junior doing the same you could see this guy doing
10:20similar type things broad shoulders decent build but with that that physical and that ability to
10:25move laterally you go oh that's really interesting especially if we're talking about this player not
10:29just as a rotation piece right now but as a let's get him here and see if maybe just maybe
10:33he could be
10:34the bookend of the future sure once you get down the road Malachi Lawrence is a dude that I haven't
10:38personally talked enough about but I was like oh this is interesting no we haven't again I just kind of
10:42happened on that and I was like well there's his characteristics his traits uh seem to be you
10:47know exactly what this team likes yeah and then finally your highest oh no that was your highest
10:52race well no no we had one more Lawrence right no we had one more uh oh no so that
10:56was the highest
10:56rated I got that backwards you rated him the highest after you moved him up the second highest
11:00you rated was Cassius Howell out of Texas A&M we've talked about him a little bit but uh that's
11:06you
11:06know you you you very much know what he looks like but you know quick initial burst acceleration
11:12uh and he drops a little bit but I don't know that that's something that's necessary in this team
11:16this team doesn't worry about that so that'd be one of those things that you don't necessarily worry
11:20that much about but uh he competes with a chip on his shoulder right and that's one of those things
11:24that you really that you really get interested in but that I which one of these I feel pretty good
11:29about you feel good about the way that you wind this up yeah maybe maybe could have had
11:32Cassius Howell above but uh just on those traits alone and and and he's he's a guy that really
11:38kind of burst onto the scene this year uh Cassius Howell yeah and that's that's when you start
11:42getting into the depths of some of this where you go all right some of these guys how consistent has
11:46the production been and so on and so forth but again D'Amico Ryans when he was talking to the
11:50media
11:50yesterday made mention of one of the easiest names to to cut at uh you know production in the at
11:56the
11:56college level the Neil Hunter not a lot of production at the college level but he has been
12:01an incredible player and you start asking is Neil Hunter like a dude that you talk about as a
12:06Hall of Famer or anything like that yeah right and that's the level of player we're talking about
12:10so I think that especially in that building the the production would not scare them away but they've
12:15like I mentioned they've talked to Zion Young they've talked to Malachi Lawrence those are the
12:18edge oh and Aukis uh they've talked to Aukis as well in addition to some other guys that are a
12:22little
12:22bit lower down but these are guys that are all going to be in that range of first second in
12:28a round
12:28maybe third round type guys that it's possible especially if the Texans maybe do uh go with a
12:34edge as a little bit more of a priority knowing that they can get to defense tackle possibly a
12:38little later just out of curiosity do you have the profile of TJ Parker the kid from uh Clemson
12:43I can give you that profile very quickly because he's another one that might may or may not but uh
12:47more than likely could could be in that range too uh so TJ Parker would fit right in in the
12:53space of
12:54this I think he's he's not as highly rated as someone like a Keldrick Falk but first second round
13:01grade so he's right in the same place I'll give you the basic takeaway grade he's still learning
13:05how to block counter maneuvers but he offers reliable foundation built on leveraged power
13:09and a consistent motor that helps him make plays as a rusher and a run defender he projects as a
13:15solid
13:15NFL starter similar to Jamal Shedd or Shurd rather is what what they went with there so yeah um yeah
13:22that's an interesting player there and honestly I let me ask this as a question as opposed to a
13:28completeness assertion how many of the five that we put there if they did end up with them
13:32and put them in this system would you be upset about uh well I don't know if I'd be upset
13:37really
13:38with any of them because I think they can work with all of the things I would like the most
13:41the
13:41ones I would like the most are probably Falk mm-hmm who you had fourth uh Cassius Howell who you
13:47had
13:47third sorry second you had second second and then maybe Zion Young and Zion Young who you had fifth
13:53interestingly enough so it's kind of funny how sometimes that switches around on you when you
13:57just look at some of the profile of what the players are but yeah there's this is something
14:02that I want I wanted to look at the players that you could possibly be thinking of uh if the
14:06Texans
14:06do go with what it started to pop up in some of the draft uh mock drafts and when we
14:11talk about the
14:11mock drafts they're not the end-all be-all but at this time it feels like you're starting to get
14:14little tidbits of some insight possibly and I I'm I don't know I fell in love with the Matthew Lawrence
14:21as
14:21I was putting this together to be completely honest yeah no I I totally agree and and as you
14:27mentioned it's getting a lot more run for lack of a better way to put it you know that that
14:31could
14:32be one of their picks there you go a little scouting profile pick them here in loop on sports radio
14:36six
14:37you
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