- 1 hour ago
Seth and Sean talk with Texans Sideline Reporter and Head of FootballTakeover.com, John Harris, about what the Texans might do in the draft and the prospects that have been most mocked to the team.
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00:00The great John Harris, Texan sideline reporter, the founder of footballtakeover.com,
00:05great draft info and intel and mock drafts and so forth there.
00:09And he joins us live right now on the show, I believe, from NRG Stadium.
00:14And we brought him in to discuss the draft.
00:17Also, we're going to play a game where we ask, we're going to give John Harris a name,
00:21and he's going to tell us whether it's an Astros player or somebody in our IT department.
00:27Yeah, exactly.
00:28Whoever that poor schmuck was that got beamed as soon as he came into the game yesterday.
00:32I will fail that game.
00:34I will fail that game in a heartbeat.
00:37Dustin Harris does some fine accounting work for us.
00:41Yeah, you know, it's funny.
00:43You know, Sean says, you know, this is my Christmas.
00:45I'm like, man, I do all the work for Christmas,
00:48but then I get a chance on Christmas Day to sit and get fat and watch football and open presents.
00:52I got to work all through this Christmas.
00:55I mean, every hour I'm on the radio, but I wouldn't want it any other way.
00:59That's right.
01:00This is great.
01:00You know, it's not really Christmas.
01:01It's a working Christmas, but I'm okay with that.
01:04Yep.
01:04And, Johnny, what time do you guys get started at 6 o'clock tomorrow on draft coverage?
01:08That's right.
01:08We'll take Texans All Access from 6 to 7.
01:10And then we'll kick off the draft from 7 until it's done that night.
01:14And then Friday night from pick one of the second round all the way through.
01:19And then Saturday, the first half, I'll be with you.
01:22And then the second half, Mark and I will take it home.
01:24And we'll have this thing in the books about 6.30, 7 o'clock on Saturday.
01:28Can't wait.
01:28Can't wait.
01:29John, we were talking earlier in the previous segment about Malachi Lawrence, actually,
01:35because you were one of the first guys that had mentioned us to him about how you really
01:39like him, the edge rusher out of UCF.
01:41And one thing we've been talking about is, man, I think in a lot of these mock drafts,
01:47you can tell the mock drafters don't realize that, yeah, the Texans have Will Anderson
01:51and they have Daniil Hunter, but they don't have the depth at edge rusher that they did last
01:57year right now on the roster.
01:58Are you starting to feel more and more like there's a chance the Texans end up taking
02:02an edge rusher in the first couple picks?
02:04Yeah, I do, actually, because two reasons.
02:07Number one, Malachi Lawrence is a badass.
02:09And so my worry now is that I don't even know if the Texans can get him at 28.
02:14So I think there's just been a lot more steam as it pertains to Malachi.
02:19I mean, his numbers are off the charts.
02:20I mean, his RAS score, I don't even know what it is.
02:23I mean, it's astronomical.
02:24Economical.
02:25He is just twitchy and explosive in all the good ways.
02:29He's got some good pass rush maneuvers that he goes to.
02:32Still, obviously, is a little bit raw.
02:34But I think people automatically, oh, he went to UCF.
02:37He must be raw.
02:37No, this guy's got some polished pass rush maneuvers that he uses.
02:42I mean, he tore up the University of Houston.
02:43I just don't think he's going to even get to 28.
02:46But I do think because of this pass rush, I don't want to call it glut, but, you know,
02:53there are a couple of dominoes that, you know, kind of have to fall with the pass rushers.
02:58You know, where does – obviously, up front, you know, you've got Bayley and you've got Reese.
03:02You know, who goes two?
03:03Potentially, the other one goes three.
03:05Does Dallas go up to get one of them, you know, trading with Arizona?
03:09As the coordinated Nugget Hussie information came out about what the Cardinals were doing a couple days ago,
03:14it was kind of interesting to watch.
03:16But then after that, you know, Bain, he'll be top 12.
03:19But then you've got Keldrick Falk, Cassius Howell, Zion Young from Missouri,
03:23R. Mason Thomas, T.J. Parker, Malachi Lawrence, even Gabe Hockis from out of Illinois.
03:28You've kind of got that glut of guys that if you like one of those guys, I think you can
03:33get at 38.
03:35I'm not sure that all of them get to 59.
03:38So, you might, if you do look at 38 and say, oh, yeah, I think we can get one of
03:42these guys a little later,
03:44you might have to take 59 as you're watching the draft unfold and say, hey,
03:47we might need to package something and get up into the low 40s, early 50s to get one of these
03:53guys
03:53to make sure that we do get a young pass rusher that we can develop here in Houston.
03:57But, yeah, I would really like Malachi Lawrence.
04:00I mean, I go to bed and I have dreams about that dude on the outside with Willie Anderson rushing
04:05over the center,
04:05Daniel Hunter on the other side, and then Sheldon Rankin's rushing in the middle.
04:09Like, okay.
04:11Yeah, that makes a move, to be honest.
04:12So, I wouldn't mind Malachi Lawrence at any point in this draft.
04:16Johnny, and by the way, when people are listening, Johnny's being serious about that.
04:20He does dream about these things, just so people know.
04:22And by the way, Johnny, the last time the Cardinals were sitting at number three in the draft,
04:27they traded with the team that had the number 12 pick in the draft, like the Cowboys do,
04:31to allow them to draft an edge rusher.
04:33So, they've done it before.
04:34They could do it again.
04:35Absolutely.
04:36And do it with a team in Texas.
04:37But, you know, it's interesting.
04:40I wonder if Monty Austin Fort, now with hindsight, looking back, would you make the deal?
04:46Because the other thing that people forget is the second piece that the Texans got back
04:51was a fourth rounder in 2024, but they then traded up a few spots and used that to get Kalen
04:56Bullock.
04:56So, people forget that part.
04:58So, I think Monty Austin Fort is heart of hearts, you know.
05:02But, who's to say, maybe they stay at three and take Tyree Wilson and make that mistake
05:05because a lot of teams are going to make that mistake in 2023.
05:08Luckily, the Texans didn't.
05:09They did not.
05:10They did not.
05:10John Harris joining us here on Payne and Pendergast, Sports Radio 610.
05:14Johnny, just coming off of the previous segment, you know we do the mock draft injection at 745 every day.
05:20I think it was Brett Coleman.
05:22We did a few of them today just because we're, you know, we're kind of running out of time
05:27to get as many opinions as possible.
05:28He had the Texans.
05:29This is the only one I've seen where somebody had the Texans drafting Jacob Rodriguez,
05:34the linebacker out of Texas Tech, whose window of where he could get drafted
05:38might be as big as any player.
05:40And I've seen him as high as the Cowboys at 20.
05:43I've seen him in the third round.
05:45What are your thoughts just in general on Jacob Rodriguez and Jacob Rodriguez as a Houston Texan?
05:51Hey, I love that dude.
05:52Absolutely love him.
05:53I think he would fit the ethos of this team 100%.
05:57I mean, he is an absolute – he's a Texan.
06:01I mean, I sat down with him at the Lombardi Award, did about a 10, 15-minute podcast,
06:05and it took about 10 minutes for whatever reason to get everything all set up.
06:08And so we were just kind of chatting about things.
06:10I was asking him about the season.
06:12And this dude is a Texan.
06:13And yes, sir, no, sir, he is the exact kind of guy off the field that I think they're looking
06:20for.
06:20And I should say in total, because what have we all realized about the players the Texans are bringing in,
06:26whether they're free agents or whether they're rookies?
06:28They're mini D'Amico Ryanses.
06:30They're guys that off the field you'd want your daughter to marry.
06:34On the field, they're raging psychos.
06:36And that's what I see with Jacob in a good way.
06:39Anyway, he is incredibly fast, incredibly smart.
06:44He'd wear the green dot, there's no doubt.
06:46I saw him at the Senior Bowl.
06:47That was the first time I got a chance to see him in person.
06:49And the way that he moves was just different from all the other linebackers.
06:5428 does feel a little bit high.
06:57I think I have him right now in the 40s, like the mid-high 40s in my Harris 100.
07:02So 28 is not outside the realm of possibility.
07:05And again, we don't know the contractual situation going forward with Aziz and with Henry.
07:10Both of them are in their final year of their deals.
07:12So you've got to be prepared for that.
07:14And this is a really good linebacker group.
07:17So I wouldn't have any issue with them taking Jacob Rodriguez, because I know who this dude is.
07:23I know that he's got a pretty high ceiling to play linebacker.
07:26I think about, you know, I don't even want to put Fred Warner, because Fred Warner is so hard to
07:31even think about.
07:32But I think about how Fred Warner grew under D'Amico Ryan's tutelage out in San Francisco.
07:37I think Jacob Rodriguez has got the ability, the smarts, everything you're looking for.
07:41Do play quarterback in high school.
07:43And I always feel like that helps when a guy goes to the defensive side of the ball, just to
07:47know route combinations.
07:48What can happen behind you, you know, quarterbacks, cadences, everything when you're blitzing, all those kind of things.
07:54I think he just has, he's got experience with that.
07:57So I really wouldn't have an issue with that at 28.
08:00Like I said, it's a little bit higher than I would want to do it.
08:02But I feel, like you said, there's so many different ways the Choose Your Own Adventure can go for him.
08:10I'd love to get him at 38.
08:11But if I had to do it at 28, I'd be okay with that Thursday night.
08:14John, it seems like there's about five guys who are the consensus best centers, at least from, you know, all
08:21the guys I read and everything.
08:22If you include Trey Zune, who converts from offensive tackle to center.
08:26Do you, who do you feel fits the best for the Texans?
08:30Kaelin Rutledge.
08:32Okay.
08:33And I know that's not one of the five.
08:34Yeah, yeah.
08:35But I, but I had this epiphany, you know, like Sean said, you know, I go to bed kind of
08:39thinking about all this stuff.
08:41This one, I actually, thanks to you guys, I don't know why, but you guys were talking about something and
08:46I was listening.
08:48And all of a sudden, out of the blue, it hit me like, wait a second, when I was at
08:51the Senior Bowl, Keelan Rutledge was cross-training to play center.
08:55And Keelan Rutledge is the guard at Georgia Tech.
08:58And my comp for him is Wyatt Teller.
09:01And to me, they're kind of like that Spider-Man meme where they're pointing at each other.
09:04Like, they kind of have the same build, you know, the big old neck roll.
09:07You know, he goes out and he wants to put people in the dirt.
09:10I think he would be good in his own scheme, good at the linebacker level.
09:14But at the Senior Bowl, he was cross-training at center.
09:17And this whole time, I've been thinking, like I just said with Jacob, the one thing we have to think
09:21about is, are these guys swarm worthy?
09:24Are these guys that, when the scouting report is written, this is a D'Amico kind of guy?
09:29This guy is swarmy.
09:31Keelan Rutledge fills that to a T.
09:34And I think all of us at number 28 want a player that comes in and has an impact right
09:40away.
09:41Well, if you draft a quote-unquote guard, if Teller and Ingram are healthy, well, that probably isn't happening.
09:47A tackle, you have four guys that have started a tackle on this team at some point over the last
09:53couple years.
09:55But what if you took a guard and converted him to center?
09:57Obviously, you talk about doing it with Trey Zune, taking him from tackle to center.
10:01But Keelan Rutledge is a guy that I think would give you even more in the run game than maybe
10:07you were even expecting and move him to center.
10:10So, I think Keelan Rutledge would be a name that I would really get excited about, thinking that, yes, guard
10:16is the natural position.
10:18And if something happened to Teller or Ingram, he could slide in at guard, learn guard the way the Texans
10:24play it, and go.
10:25But I would think that Keelan Rutledge moving over to center might be something that would get me really excited
10:31because he's going to move dudes off the ball.
10:34He is going to be strong in the run game and would fit in between Teller and Ingram.
10:38And now, all of a sudden, you've got an interior run game that can move people off the ball, and
10:42your running backs can do some work.
10:43John Harris joining us, Texans sideline reporter, footballtakeover.com, NFL draft expert, joining us here on Payne and Pendergast.
10:51Johnny, wide receiver, how do you think the Texans, or do you think the Texans, address wide receiver in this
10:59draft,
11:00given the fact they've used a lot of draft capital in recent years on wide receivers, particularly last year?
11:05They've got Tank coming back, but we don't know what that is, and it's a young room right now.
11:09How do you think, or do you think at all, they address wide receiver in this draft?
11:14I think wide receiver ends up being, I don't want to say down the road, but wide receiver every year
11:21from here to eternity,
11:23because of the way colleges are playing, teams are playing 11 personnel, 10 personnel all the time,
11:29three and four wide receivers on the field.
11:31So there are a boatload of wide receivers in every draft going forward.
11:35I don't think they have to have Mekhi Lemon, they don't need to have Jordan Tyson,
11:42and then they're not going to have the opportunity.
11:45Omar Cooper, I know, has been mocked to them.
11:47I don't even think they need him, although I think his skills would fit for this team.
11:52My thought being, because they have two second rounders, and then they've still got their third,
11:57and they've got that early fourth, my gut tells me that 106 is a spot where they could look at
12:02wide receiver.
12:04They've got the night to think about it, Friday night, hey, let's reset our board, let's take a look.
12:09Is there a playmaking weapon that can play inside the formation?
12:15And that might be a tight end.
12:16It might be an athletic tight end like a Joe Royer from out of Cincinnati.
12:21You know, maybe a, I'm trying to think who other tight ends.
12:23You know, maybe Max Clare from out of Ohio State.
12:25He ain't going to block anybody, but he's a really good pass receiver.
12:28So maybe what you end up with is a pass-catching tight end,
12:33that plays more like a wide receiver.
12:35Or you end up finding a wide receiver.
12:37Like my last mock, I had Brennan Thompson from Mississippi State getting drafted by the Texas at 106,
12:43because that dude's a 4-2-4 and a 40.
12:45And now all of a sudden, with that sort of speed,
12:47you open things up for everybody else that you just talked about.
12:51And that might happen.
12:52And so maybe it's a one-trick pony that's got elite size, elite speed,
12:57some sort of elite trait that you're looking for, elite on special teams,
13:01that you can then combine with being a receiver if you need it.
13:05Because the thought that you draft two guys in the second and third round,
13:09those have got to be your guys this year.
13:11There's no doubt along with Nico.
13:12And then with Tank, I think anything you get from Tank is going to be not a surprise,
13:17but that's a nice little gift.
13:19I mean, that's, hey, I didn't go to the bottom, bring up Christmas,
13:23I didn't go to the bottom of the stocking and found the Andy's mints that are down there.
13:26Man, this was fun.
13:27So that could be what Tank Dell is.
13:29So the guy that you get at receiver can end up having more specific trait.
13:34With a guy like Thompson, that ends up being serious speed,
13:38and you just make this team as fast as humanly possible.
13:41If we move a little bit in towards guys that do catch the ball to tight end,
13:46Kenyon Sadiq, the thing that I've heard people talk about with Kenyon Sadiq
13:51that makes me skeptical that he's going to slide all the way down
13:54to where the Texans might be able to make a trade is just that
13:56where he's projected to go in the draft, if it's mid-first round, give or take a little bit,
14:02is there's multiple teams that really like their tight ends
14:06and might have need for a tight end.
14:07Do you see a possibility of him sliding past 16 or 17?
14:11Yeah, it's going to be tough.
14:12I don't, Seth.
14:13I mean, he's 13 for me in my Harris 100.
14:17But you start thinking about teams.
14:18You know, he's been mocked to the Bucs a lot.
14:20I mean, look, the Bucs just re-signed Kate Otten, but Sadiq changes that offense.
14:27The Vikings at 18, TJ Hawkinson's going to be a free agent after this year.
14:31They really don't have much.
14:32They're sitting at 18.
14:34I mean, I could see those two teams in particular.
14:37I could see a team trading up.
14:39You know, the Rams have talked all along about wanting a wide receiver,
14:43but they play so much 13 personnel.
14:45You also can give them Kenyon Sadiq.
14:47My God.
14:49They could do whatever they wanted to at that point.
14:51So, yeah.
14:52Oh, and the Panthers.
14:53Jatavian Sanders is supposed to be back,
14:57but even Sanders and Tommy Tremble, their two tight ends, are just, okay.
15:03Sadiq would give Bryce Young an outlet.
15:05Hey, I'm going to throw this ball to the flat.
15:07Sadiq, you go hurdle that guy, and then you run over the safety
15:11and go get us a first down.
15:12He's the type of guy that would do it.
15:14Now, he's still got to do some work on his hands,
15:17but he is a more than willing blocker.
15:20He's very good in the split zone type stuff.
15:22He will go toe-to-toe with a six technique.
15:25Not tremendous, but he'll swap paint.
15:29So, from that standpoint, at 240 pounds, he's going to lose some battles.
15:34They all do.
15:35Even Blake Fisher, as the six offensive lineman,
15:38lost battles out there.
15:39It happens.
15:40These defensive ends are pretty damn good.
15:42But what you can do with him on top of the passing game,
15:47and again, we go back to if a team has a receiver issue,
15:50then you could look at Sadiq as an answer to that
15:54on the interior of your formation.
15:56And I think that's the way the Texans could look at it.
15:58Hey, we could satisfy some of our wide receiver need
16:01through this quote-unquote tight end that we can use all over the field.
16:05So, that might be a way to scratch the itch.
16:07And so, I think there are too many teams probably thinking that way
16:09that are using more 12 personnel, using more 13 personnel like the Rams.
16:14And I think Sadiq is going to be, he's going to be, I think,
16:17long gone before the Texans could even maybe sniff a trade at that point.
16:21That's John Harris, Texan sideline reporter, footballtakeover.com.
16:25And he is going to be on all the draft coverage throughout the weekend.
16:29Six o'clock, Texans all-access tomorrow.
16:32Leads right into draft coverage for night one.
16:34Johnny, I'm looking forward to Saturday,
16:36one of my favorite days to do radio of the year,
16:38doing day three with you.
16:39So, I'm looking forward to that.
16:40Yeah, I appreciate it, boys.
16:41Y'all are the best.
16:42Y'all have been pumping up footballtakeover.com,
16:44and I really appreciate that.
16:45I'm putting up right now all of my team needs,
16:50all of my draft boards for all 32 teams.
16:52They're going up over the next 24 hours.
16:54So, before the draft, you can take a look at whatever team that you want to see
16:58and what I think the draft board could be.
17:00And I write up every single position unit for all 32 teams.
17:03So, that has been a labor of love, to say the least.
17:06But it's really helping as we get towards the draft.
17:08But I really appreciate what you guys have done for me
17:10and for footballtakeover.com.
17:11Love you, boys.
17:12Yeah, I love you too, man.
17:13Appreciate you, Johnny.
17:13Good stuff, man.
17:14A big board for all 32 teams.
17:16That is some good stuff.
17:18Footballtakeover.com.
17:19Houston Texans sideline reporter John Harris.
17:21And you'll be able to hear him throughout the weekend,
17:23Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday afternoon,
17:25on our draft coverage here on Sports Radio 610.
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