- 4 months ago
Seth and Sean sift through the report cards various pundits have given the Texans' draft, and tabulate Nick Caserio's draft Grade Point Average (GPA).
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00:00The Texans had a big draft this weekend. They draft eight players and I think generally I'm
00:06I'm pretty happy with it Seth. They were pretty purposeful about wanting to go get guys that
00:13by day smile at you help old ladies across the street and by night they like to swarm and they
00:20like to beat people up. They seem like versions of D'Amico Ryan's which is what we're hoping for
00:25is that D'Amico takes his minister of swarm ability to identify those types of players on
00:30defense and then he applies that more on the offensive side of the ball. I thought last
00:34year was the first year it felt like okay yeah these are swarmy offensive players in the draft
00:38so hopefully these guys are the same. They've been very intentional about it this year it feels like
00:43so that's been good. I feel like this draft was just kind of a continuation of what they were doing
00:47in
00:47free agency. Do you have a grade? Well if you were grading this Texans draft we'll go through some of
00:52the report cards here in a second. If I were a draft analyst I would refuse to do grades and
00:58then
00:58I'd get fired because those things get a lot of clicks. I just I do I'm like that that clip
01:03we have
01:03of Casario from a couple years ago talking about how stupid draft grades are. You agree. You draft
01:08guys with a projection of what they're going to be two or three years from now and nobody knows
01:14even the best GM in the world doesn't exactly know how it's going to play out with his guys.
01:19So you're abstaining from my question. I abstain. I abstain. Yep. Seth's raising his arm when you
01:25raise your arm. You know what's hilarious though is that it's across the board you can look at the
01:29draft grades and as long as you have two first round picks and don't completely reach if you
01:34don't go like the Oakland Raiders did when Gruden was there and and way way reach all the time for
01:38your first rounders you're going to get an A and you look across go five teams six teams had two
01:43first round picks and they all got A's. They all got A's. Imagine that. Oh the Jets traded up
01:47and got a third first round pick. Yeah. I will say this though. I don't when it comes to Marlon
01:52Klein look if you're in that world and you're you know you're you've got your big board and
01:56everything and you're going to grade based on your criteria. I get it and I understand why people
02:01have a low grade on Marlon Klein because in their minds hey you could have drafted him later. We just
02:06never know exactly if you could have drafted him later and the Texans as well as every other NFL
02:12team or most of them they work pretty hard at trying to figure out okay just how much interest
02:16is there on this guy. Am I dealing with an agent who I trust his word about the teams that
02:21they've
02:21been talking to and everything and I think at the very least there's a good chance that other teams
02:27had a much higher grade on Marlon Klein than than the Texans did. Yep. You know and I'd love to
02:32hate on
02:32the Jaguars because they reached it just about every single pick but I do think that that for whatever
02:38it's worth with the tight ends both the Jaguars and the Texans made some moves that really caught
02:45people by surprise. Yeah. And I wonder if part of that is something that's kind of GPS data based
02:51or analytically based to where like they evaluated exactly the way Klein or the Jags tight end. How do
02:59you pronounce his name? Oh the kid from uh from Texas A&M? Yeah. Like Beckinger or Berger? I always
03:04screw up.
03:04Yeah I did too. I'm thinking of something. He caught the winning touchdown against Notre Dame that's why
03:08erased him from my brain. Anyway uh that like that that maybe there's something to that and we'll
03:14see. Okay so here are the grades. But I get nervous when we're putting ourselves in the same
03:17conversation as James Gladstone. Yeah yeah yeah we'll have some Gladstone audio coming up a little
03:22later. Well he likes him some Gladstone man I'll just say that. He loves himself. Yep. So much. He does.
03:27Um so let's go through the I've got five grades so we're going to wind up with a grade point
03:32average at
03:33the end of this exercise for one Nicholas Casario. Young Nick Casario sitting in the front room of the
03:38class that is NFL draft. How did he do with his grades? Mel Kuyper Jr. Seth the first professor
03:44to give Nick a grade. C plus. C plus from Mel Kuyper Jr. It's a long write-up. I'm just
03:51going to
03:51cherry pick the things that I think are relevant here. Um he likes the Keelan Rutledge pick. He says
03:56Keelan Rutledge is pro ready with 43 career starts and he amazingly allowed just two sacks over that
04:03entire 43 career starts. He also says that the pick I really liked came shortly after round two
04:09began. The big bad Texans defense got even scarier for all of Rutledge's experience. Caden McDonnell
04:16is the opposite. He didn't start until 2025 but you wouldn't know it from the tape. He lists his
04:21stats which are pretty eye-popping. Um and then he says the rest of the picks because Kuyper are a
04:27little
04:27confusing at least in terms of value. The big one is I was shocked to see Marlon Klein's name in
04:32round two. I didn't even have him in my top 150. He was the ninth best tight end on his
04:37board and
04:38that's that's includes the fact that Mel Kuyper splits the tight ends up into blocking tight ends
04:43and then H-backs. So he said when you take the H-backs and combine the two he's even further
04:49down
04:49the list. You know I saw a few people refer to Klein as a guy who was going to be
04:53a blocking tight end
04:54and I don't I don't I'd be surprised if that's how the Texans are looking at him. They'll want him
04:58to block for sure yeah but I think it's his upside as a receiver that probably intrigues them the most
05:03and you know he's six foot six 250 pounds looks like he's got some room to to put on even
05:08a little
05:09bit more of his full-grown man weight um but I think with those with that big catching radius and
05:16he made
05:16some impressive catches in college a lot of hospital balls he had to reel in with a freshman quarterback
05:22yep um that that's where they probably see his upside yep all right so that's Mel Kuyper jr c-plus
05:29for the Houston Texans all right that's what I would have expected based on the because of the
05:34reaches that they made the perceived reaches that they made I I'll be surprised if you tell me other
05:40than Chad Reuter than anybody gave him a B or higher I'll be surprised okay we'll be ready to be
05:44surprised really okay Nate Tice and uh Charles McDonald okay good I like that because those guys know
05:51offensive line B plus oh B plus I respect those I did I already respected those guys I I look
05:58forward
05:59to listening to their podcast later here's why Houston made an unorthodox pick in Rutledge at
06:04the bottom of the first round but he makes sense as a hard-nosed player who fits their blocking scheme
06:09they made what could be the home run pick of the draft in Caden McDonald when they traded up to
06:14get
06:14him there's an incredible amount of playmaking and skill for a bigger nose tackle Wade Wood as in the
06:20fourth round is a nice project for D'Amico Ryans to get his hands on as well so little Wade
06:24Wood as
06:25mentioned from Tyson McDonald they say the most interesting pick is Caden McDonald out of all
06:30these guys he said they say he was made in a lab to play for D'Amico's defense I think
06:35you know the
06:35most interesting one for me is is uh Kamari Ramsey I the one I'm happiest about is Caden McDonald but
06:41Kamari Ramsey the safety slash corner out of USC uh just because I saw Greg Cassell from NFL Films
06:47before the draft saying that he feels like he could be one of these guys that's better in the NFL
06:51than
06:51he was in college and if you think about what happened with Caden Bullock safety out of USC
06:57I think the Texans continue to go to USC as a well of undeveloped talent yes they do a great
07:04job of
07:04recruiting they don't do much with him once they get there right but Caden Bullock ends up being way
07:10better than people would have thought of him when he was at USC he was very raw kind of undersized
07:15and
07:16man he's one of the best safeties in the league now so I I'm not projecting that for Kamari Ramsey
07:21but I it was cool to hear Greg Cassell say that USC is like a thrift shop for guys on
07:26defense
07:27you know what I mean like it's a thrift shop in a fancy neighborhood in a fancy neighborhood but
07:31with stuff in there that boy if you just take it to a dry cleaner no you're gonna get a
07:35ton of
07:35compliments on this yeah there's no but about it yeah have that you go to a fancy neighborhood
07:39thrift shop yeah and uh like in a you go and you can find a you can find an espresso
07:45machine for
07:45like five bucks crazy it retails for 500 that's right that's right I've been told and drank coffee
07:52from yeah and no shame in that no shame in that all right so we've got a c plus and
07:57a b plus for
07:58the Texans all right you mentioned him Seth easy grader Chad Reuter of nfl.com what does he have for
08:04the Houston Texans it's got a b oh that's equivalent of a d minus by Chad Reuter p and I
08:10will tell you
08:11right now there is only one team that even has a b minus from Chad Reuter and it's the Atlanta
08:16this is
08:16like a c minus this is yeah this is like if you're going on a curve this is like a
08:21d because the Atlanta
08:22Falcons are the f and then the Texans are one of several teams that uh they got a b in
08:28this process
08:28from uh from easy easy grader Chad Reuter I'm trying to search down search by team and see what
08:34he says about them there we go the Houston Texans um he goes he's pretty consistent he grades by day
08:40also he's got day one b day two b day three b minus um says they upgraded the offensive line
08:47with
08:47Rutledge who's a strong finisher and um but but he said this is what I don't like they gave up
08:52two
08:52mid-round selections to move up just two spots to select him one they probably had to do that because
08:58I'm guessing there were other teams that wanted him two they also got another pick back aside from
09:03the pick that they used for Rutledge like he makes it sound like they didn't get a later third
09:08round pick back depending on the math adds up to somewhere either a fourth or a fifth round pick
09:13depending on which chart you're using he says they gave up two mid-round selections that's just not
09:17true but anyways I digress um mentions uh the first one I've seen of these report cards Seth that
09:23also mentions Weewoo says they drafted Weewoo with a pick acquired from Washington for Laramie Tunsil
09:29Weewoo is a versatile lineman but lacks athleticism um would as says also came off the board a little
09:34earlier than he expected um he likes uh he likes Fisher actually Aiden Fisher that they drafted in
09:40the seventh round from Indiana so Weewoo's athleticism this is interesting because I watched a good chunk
09:45of Weewoo this weekend uh he is strong as an ox and it shows up in functional strength it's not
09:51just
09:51weight room strength and he's got a really wide base he plays I can see him transferring that power to
09:58the NFL it's not the same as like in Kenny Green one thing that made me nervous when he was
10:02in
10:02college was there's a whole lot of bear wrestling going on um where he was gonna have to clean up
10:07his technique I think Weewoo is more advanced than that already but his lack of athleticism let's talk
10:14about how offensive linemen are expected to move on the field they can make up for a lot of lack
10:19of
10:19foot speed or testing measurables just by executing the plays properly he was really impressive as a
10:25puller and it was because he understood the angles he understood exactly where he was supposed to fit
10:31um he just he stays tight to the formation he's he's pulling he's got a lot of really impressive
10:37clips of him pulling that I did not expect to see because I read his scouting report before I watched
10:42anything on him so that part of it when I think about Cole Popovich looking at these guys and thinking
10:48all right I know his measurables I know all of this but let me get out and watch him and
10:52see
10:52see him play he moves way better functionally than a lot of guys who might be better you know
11:00athletes by the combine stats and whatnot so I was I was really I was skeptical going into it I
11:05had
11:05really I'd only just seen a few highlight clips of him here and there um but I I grew increasingly
11:11excited about Weewoo doing good I like hearing that I like hearing that a lot um all right uh fourth
11:16report card so we got a C plus a B plus and a B uh the next one is Nate
11:21Davis USA Today which we know
11:24is USA Today Seth is basically an online pamphlet for the Houston Texans they love the Texans during
11:30the power rankings this year Nate Davis or whichever version of AI they use to generate their articles
11:35does they yeah exactly exactly I don't know how many humans are still working there um they uh they
11:41gave the Texans Nate Davis assuming he's real gave them a B also same as easy grader Chad Reuter gave
11:47them a B minus right no no no no a B I'm on USA Today B minus is the last
11:51one oh all right I looked
11:53okay yeah yeah B uh for Nate Davis and up now they are they are the worst of all the
11:59Bs because what
12:00Nate Davis does is he grades them but also power ranks them so 11 through 20 on the power rankings
12:07all got
12:08a B but the Texans are 20th so you know if B is like 80 is like 82 through 87
12:14is a B they got an 82
12:16big swath on the bell curve of the uh yeah in the between the 25s yeah yeah I like that
12:22they got a B
12:22from USA Today last one pro football focus and this is their staff that they attribute this to not just
12:30one person but this is their B minus this is the second lowest grade other than Mel Kuyper's C plus
12:35that
12:35the Texans got they got a they got a B minus now they're pretty married to their grades they grade
12:40all these guys in college as well you know pro football focus has a a bunch of college graders
12:45as well but they give them a uh they give the Texans a a B minus um the highest graded
12:52pick
12:52Caden McDonald and if that that's the if there's a recurring theme Seth and people evaluating the class
12:57in its totality yeah people love the Caden McDonald pick and people are scratching their heads over
13:04the Marlon Klein pick day day two for the Texans where they made two picks yeah it's definitely a
13:09tale of two narratives here this um I really this is the thing that's bothering me about the Klein
13:13because I like I like Klein I'm intrigued by the pick it raises an eyebrow when you go this far
13:18against the the consensus opinion usually it means one of two things you're either really really
13:25smart or you're being really really dumb or it's Cahali wearing yes yes yes so um the thing that
13:31annoys me though is that people keep bringing up that he's relatively new to football and I don't
13:37but if a guy played high school football and then goes on to Michigan where they churn out NFL tight
13:44ends I don't look at that as a guy that's like oh wow he's only been playing football since high
13:50school he's not leaving that's plenty and he's not he's not sorry he's not leaving early right like
13:55he stayed there for four years like he's not a he had one more year because I know a lot
13:59of
13:59Michigan people thought that he was he might come back okay yeah they were wondering why he left
14:04when he did okay he probably more eligibility left yeah okay I mean he only started one year yeah so
14:09that's the part of it I would more I think some of the rawness might come from only starting one
14:13year
14:13yeah more so than he didn't like I unless I'm missing out that there's just all these high schools
14:18have nothing but the best coaching and guys are they might as well have gone to one of these uh
14:24pro
14:24academies or whatever I just uh like he is he is what he is he only had um he only
14:29had 12 games
14:29started in his NFL career he was stuck behind a bunch of really good tight ends when he was an
14:34underclassman that's where I see the underdevelopment but I don't want to give him any benefit of the
14:38doubt just because because he was born in Germany yeah no I don't either and I'm curious and we'll
14:42get Nick Casario on with this at least one more time before uh the Texans you know go away for
14:49summer vacation but that'll be one to ask him about is is Marlon Klein like how does a guy like
14:54that pop up on your on your radar you know were you watching other Michigan guys and you kind of
14:59noticed him a play here and a play there and you started to dial in on him a little bit
15:03more or
15:03were they so deep at that position that maybe you had heard from people already like hey this next guy
15:07coming up is someone you want to keep an eye on like somebody like that that has such a small
15:11body of work well he's just I mean part of it is just he you're going to notice him when
15:17you show up
15:18at practice he's 6'6 he's 250 he moves really well yeah like I don't it wasn't like this was
15:23some
15:24gem out of southwest Utah state or something yep final GPA for Nick Casario and his staff Seth
15:302.86 enough to stay eligible but a GPA that would have made my parents a little angry
15:36back in the day you can get into a pretty good grad school that is if your parents are rich
15:41you know
15:41it's uh it's why my parents were mad at it they're not rich yeah not that I was going to
15:47grad school
15:47I barely went undergrad um so 2.86 Nick if you're listening uh you're still you remain eligible
15:55to be a GM you maintain your uh you're not suspended you're not academically suspended
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