00:00We're coming up on rookie minicamp for the Texans.
00:03And so we get to see some of these guys in practice.
00:06But last week, some NFL executives gave their weight in on the Texans draft.
00:12And I wanted to turn to that.
00:13Shout out to The Athletic for giving us that.
00:16Obviously, we know what the draft class was with Rutledge and Caden McDonald at the top,
00:21Marlon Klein, Fembechi and Weewoo, Wade Wood as in the middle.
00:24And then towards the back end of it, Kamari Ramsey, Lewis Bond, Aiden Fisher.
00:28I take you to some of the insight from these executives, of course, anonymously,
00:32because nobody will get out here and say it with their chest.
00:34I'm still waiting for the one that says, here, put my name on that.
00:36I would love that.
00:37I would love that so much.
00:38Like, hey, I got something to say.
00:40You can go ahead.
00:41My name is Howie Roseman, and this is what I think.
00:45I mean, we would take these a little bit more seriously, though, wouldn't we?
00:47Yes.
00:48Hey, I'm Stephen Jones, and that was the dumbest trade they ever did.
00:52You're like, all right, dog, whatever you say, man.
00:54Didn't you trade your best pass rusher a little while ago?
00:56All right.
00:58All right, so one executive said about the Texans, Houston doesn't care about anything.
01:02If you look at even their extensions, they don't just set the market.
01:05They set the market.
01:07All right, they lean into it.
01:09They are not really taking their time or being patient,
01:13talking about the way that this draft laid out, which, I mean, that makes sense, right?
01:17Of course.
01:18Is there anything that's said there?
01:20No, I think that's good.
01:21That's what you want, right?
01:23Is it?
01:24Okay.
01:24That's the question.
01:25That's what you want.
01:26Go ahead and lay that out for me.
01:27Proactive.
01:29I want my general managers to be proactive and maybe not risk-averse.
01:35Something that if you have the confidence in what you're doing, go ahead and set the market on that.
01:40If you have the confidence in what you're doing, go ahead and draft that guy that is a fifth-rounder
01:44on most boards.
01:46It can get you fired.
01:48But so far, the Texans have been pretty good, by and large.
01:52You have to say that with that type of approach.
01:55Yeah, I guess once they're sold on a guy, give him the extension.
01:58Pay him more.
01:59Get him early.
02:00I think that the lengths of these deals help a good amount in the ways that they obviously work within
02:05Windows.
02:06And I recognize that I am moving away from the thought process that the salary cap is one of those
02:14things that you can manipulate to almost no end.
02:16But it feels like there will become a time when this comes due, and we haven't seen it yet, I
02:21guess.
02:22Well, a lot of it depends on something I know we're going to talk about, and that's C.J. Stroud's
02:25contract, depending on the number that is there,
02:28or if they can be proactive and get him to bite and agree on a contract that is maybe a
02:35little less right now, maybe shorter, whatever it may be.
02:37More of the executives here said, quote, another one, rather, said,
02:41I thought Houston did a really good job of maneuvering the draft board.
02:43Nick Casario has a real good feel for how things were going to play out in the way he moved.
02:48The consensus among teams that I talked to, again, this is still the executive,
02:51was that Rutledge was really highly thought of, and I think Caden McDonald was coveted by other teams as well.
02:57That is, I'm sorry, but that to me is intel that they know.
03:02I think those two players right there, Caden McDonald, and we talked about this last week as well,
03:08easily could have taken him at 26.
03:10Sure.
03:10Easily, but they didn't.
03:12That's intel that they had and they felt confident in.
03:14Yeah, I liked hearing this because I think we could easily surmise it,
03:18but I like getting the confirmation from someone who has direct access to these things
03:23that those moves up felt necessary.
03:26Because that was one of the things of draft night for Nick Casario that made me slightly uneasy,
03:32as uneasy as I got, I guess, was, hey, you're giving up these, you know,
03:36you're moving up two spots, which they talk about as, oh, that's not really doing anything.
03:40But you are giving up the spots, the slots on the backside.
03:44Sure.
03:44Right?
03:44And that, I mean, that changes your draft class if you're picking in certain places.
03:48I know for some of us, we looked up and we go, hey, couldn't you have gotten Mike Washington Jr.,
03:53the running back who went one pick before you ended up selecting,
03:56in a spot where you had moved back because you had given up that value to move up,
04:01you know, and make one of these selections.
04:03And ultimately, hearing that, no, you know, teams were looking for these guys,
04:07not saying directly that, hey, somebody would have taken them at, you know,
04:10taken Rutledge at 27 or somebody would have taken McDonald at 37.
04:14But the implication there is, hey, it feels like a lot of teams wanted them
04:18and y'all got them at the places that you did in a way that disappointed others.
04:22I think that that confirmation feels good in the way that they went about it.
04:25And it makes me feel a little bit easier about the ways that Nick Casario moved
04:29that it maybe wasn't just, you know, haphazard.
04:32Yeah, because they could have maybe gotten a Mike Washington at a particular spot,
04:36but at the cost of a player that they coveted more, maybe?
04:39And at the higher spot.
04:40And something that another executive said, I love what they did in the trenches.
04:44Rutledge is great.
04:45One of my favorite interior guys in the draft.
04:46Right?
04:47Like, these are the things, and we've talked about it.
04:49You hear it on the promo, right?
04:50Who are the guys that can make the most immediate impact?
04:52We talk about Rutledge.
04:53We talk about McDonald.
04:54And, of course, that's the way that it's going to be early on.
04:56But you have two guys that I think you're certain on a team that it felt like
04:59they had already built themselves to be able to play football right now.
05:01Yeah.
05:02You got two guys that you go, hey, I think they can make an impact immediately
05:04on a team that was already in the playoffs and is looking to get better in the playoffs.
05:08And that's in part because of the way that they moved.
05:10So I appreciated that, and it was cool seeing that.
05:13Obviously, now we turn to how the executives felt about the portions of the draft
05:16that were a little spicier around these parts, I guess is the way that I would say.
05:19Right.
05:20Quote, the value pick that I raised my eyebrows on was the tight end in the second round,
05:25which is obviously talking about Marlon Klein.
05:26Really like Rutledge a lot.
05:27I liked most of their picks.
05:29The thing I wonder about Houston, what is their plan?
05:31They have a good team.
05:33I don't know how they are going to keep it together.
05:36Keep the team together.
05:37Yes.
05:37Well, I mean, that's a mouthful right there.
05:41First on Marlon Klein, I said this as soon as we talked about the draft on Monday last week,
05:47and that is, or yeah, last week, when they made that pick, that was their board.
05:52That was their pick.
05:53And it could come back to haunt them.
05:56Now, the second part is where it gets dicey when you're talking about, you know,
05:59it could come back to haunt them.
06:01It really comes back to what you're paying, when you're paying, and how much you're paying C.J. Stroud, you
06:06know,
06:06because if it's $50, $60 million, then these things could come back to haunt you, you know?
06:10Yeah.
06:11No, 100%.
06:12Especially if he's not a $60 million player.
06:15Right, right.
06:15And that's the conversation that it seems like is being had, or is it, right?
06:19That was an interesting piece that came out this weekend that we'll talk about a little bit more.
06:23DJ Biennemi talking to some executives there, right, getting some in.
06:27What I found interesting was kind of the split that happened there.
06:29But seemingly, there's a lot less of a split when it comes to the Texans and the way they handled
06:33it.
06:33It seems like people largely look at it and go, I appreciate the process of what's happening here.
06:38Because where else is there a place, maybe Kamari Lasseter, where, you know,
06:43you're going to have to maybe manipulate some dollars to make it fit?
06:46Yeah, I mean, of the guys that you imagine that they are going to be hell-bent on bringing back,
06:50assuming C.J. Stroud does what is expected.
06:53C.J. Stroud would be the guy, Kamari Lasseter would be the guy, and then who else are you talking
06:56about?
06:57Right.
06:57There's really not a whole lot.
06:59Eventual Nico Collins contract.
07:01Yeah, Nico.
07:01How could I forget Nico?
07:03Like, those are the three.
07:05I don't think anybody's forgetting him, but it does feel like Nico Collins is just constantly
07:08standing in the background whenever we talk about contracts.
07:11We are putting him to the back of the room.
07:13What is he, 12th highest paid, something like that?
07:14Didn't you say that last week?
07:16No, we got low.
07:17It was low.
07:1818?
07:1818?
07:18Yeah, it was something like that.
07:19That's right.
07:20That's right.
07:21But again, I got more important things to talk about, Nico.
07:24We'll get to you, Nico.
07:24We'll get to you.
07:26So there you go.
07:26That was some of the executives and the anonymous executives, how they felt about the draft,
07:31and we get a chance to see these guys, and especially, I think, if I had to give you,
07:36hey, is it the top half or the bottom half of the draft that you're more excited to see
07:39at rookie media camp?
07:40Which one is it?
07:41Oh, I'm more excited to see is bottom half, or actually mid to bottom.
07:44You know, I'm very, very curious on some of these guys.
07:48Obviously, Marlon Klein, you know, would be one that we talk about.
07:51Would as?
07:52Yeah, that's the thing.
07:53Would as is one that I want to see.
07:54It feels like the easy answer would be top half, right?
07:56I want to see, you know, how Keelan Rutledge looks snapping the football, if that's, you know,
08:02how far along that process is.
08:04Marlon Klein, obviously, is he catching the football in the right way?
08:08Are they allowing him to get upfield, some of those things?
08:10But I really actually have a lot more curiosity on some of these other guys,
08:14a little bit down in the Texans draft, and seeing the early portions of what they are.
08:19Heck, Kamari Ramsey.
08:20Without question.
08:22Kamari Ramsey is one of those.
08:23I mean, the things that they get Wade Wood as and Aiden Fisher into,
08:27like how do they look early on in this?
08:29I'm very curious about that, and so I believe Thursday is when rookie media camp starts.
08:34Of course, it's never going to be the end-all, be-all of what these guys are.
08:37Ultimately, you're not going to know until you get them in training camp, full pads,
08:40get them going, but I can't wait to get the little taste, to get the little peek
08:44of what these dudes are that you have gotten for your team.
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