- 14 hours ago
Seth and Sean hear Brian Baldinger's excitement for the Texans' offseason, discuss the Athletic's disrespect of the Texans by not including them anywhere on their list of teams that had the best offseason, and assess if they think they had a good offseason.
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00:00NFL Network was going through the off-seasons of the various AFC South teams, the Texans, Colts, Jags, Titans, and
00:09it would be Brian Baldinger, Cameron Wolfe.
00:12They were on the set yesterday, chopping it up about the Texans.
00:16We enjoy Brian Baldinger on this show. We love the Baldy breakdowns that he does on Twitter.
00:21He's carved out a good niche.
00:22In the modern social media world where everything's so toxic, his niche is extreme enthusiastic positivity.
00:31With very little technical sizzle.
00:34It's him basically holding his phone, filming his laptop screen, and just gushing about whatever he's looking at.
00:43I was talking to somebody from NFL Network a few days ago about Baldy.
00:49That's not like a shtick or anything.
00:51He's just, he is low-tech.
00:53Yeah.
00:54He's a dinosaur.
00:55He's basic in a good way.
00:57Comes to trying to figure out how to connect to the internet and everything.
01:00It's like, yep, it's just not always ideal.
01:03Connect to the internet.
01:05Comes to turning on a light switch.
01:07He's a little challenged.
01:08That's all.
01:09All right, so here's Brian Baldinger yesterday on the NFL Network talking about the Texans draft.
01:15I thought Nick did a great job, and they addressed some real weaknesses.
01:17They've been trying to rebuild this offensive line, trying to toughen it up.
01:21Trying to get a better protection for C.J. Stroud.
01:24So, Keelan Rutledge came in from Georgia Tech.
01:27And maybe some people thought he was going to get drafted later, but regardless, I think he's got position flexibility.
01:32It won't surprise me to be the starting center for the Houston Texans with his overall toughness and attitude.
01:37So, I thought Keelan Rutledge coming in there was huge.
01:41And then, you know, they just gave big contract extensions, right, to Will Anderson and to Daniil Hunter.
01:47They needed a better push inside.
01:49And so, I think their ability to go out there and get Caden McDonald from Ohio State to go with,
01:54you know, the guys that they have there right now,
01:56I thought that's really important to really work on the push up the front, keep that rotation with Sheldon Rankins
02:02and the guys there, you know, really going strong.
02:06And so, I thought, like, those first two picks, I'm in Marlon Klein, the tight end out of Michigan, just
02:11a good blocking tight end.
02:13I thought they addressed some needs right in the trenches that really helped fortify this team.
02:17Okay.
02:18So, that's Baldinger.
02:20Yeah.
02:20The one thing I would disagree with there is if he's talking about push up front in terms of pass
02:24rush, that's not why they signed Caden McDonald.
02:27You know, I think, look, they've rushed the passer pretty damn well.
02:30And they've gotten good push up the middle.
02:31They don't have a bunch of guys that are going to get a boatload of sacks or anything.
02:35But, I mean, the Caden McDonald, it's – I was honestly kind of surprised that Casario and D'Amico talked
02:44about it as openly and specifically as they did.
02:47They basically said, no, yeah, he's here to stop the run.
02:50You know, anything on top of that is a bonus and he can develop into that.
02:54But we're not – repeatedly they were asked about, like, you know, what's his upside as a pass rusher?
02:59And Casario all but said, we don't care.
03:02We need to stop the run.
03:04Yeah, that's his role.
03:05Yeah, so that's – I mean, that is – especially in specific situations and in short yardage and against certain
03:12offenses, they just – they want a massive body in there to help stop the run.
03:16You know what the goal is?
03:17My goal for Caden McDonald this year, Seth, now that we're playing Baldy here and talking about the breakdowns, if
03:23Caden McDonald gets a Baldy breakdown, that'll be a successful rookie year for me.
03:28He's turned into that where a lot of – that's what young defensive linemen or love is when they get
03:34a Baldy breakdown.
03:35Yeah, if he gets one.
03:36It's something that you almost aspire to.
03:38Oh, yeah, yeah.
03:39That if you kind of made it, if Baldy does a breakdown of you.
03:41If he does a breakdown of you, that's what I'm thinking.
03:44If Caden McDonald, if we're in like week five and we get a Caden McDonald, like Baldy going, oh, look
03:49at Caden McDonald here.
03:50Look at this guy.
03:51He brings his lunch pail every day.
03:53Look at him shed right here.
03:55He brings his Happy Meal in.
03:56Yeah, his Happy Meal.
03:57Yeah.
03:57Oh, he's making dad jokes about McDonald's.
03:59He'll make 17 jokes about Happy Meals and McDonald's and everything.
04:02Yeah, so that would be good.
04:03I'm not listening to this Cameron Wolfe.
04:05I'll let you set this up.
04:06Oh, this is Cameron Wolfe.
04:08On the same set as Baldy.
04:09I just didn't get that far in the video.
04:10I haven't listened to it since yesterday, and who knows what happened yesterday other than basically World War III to
04:17the Astros roster.
04:19This is Cameron Wolfe talking about the building off of what Baldy had said about the offensive line, just what
04:26happens with C.J. Stroud this year.
04:28Keelan Rutledge kind of exemplifies a D'Amico Ryan's type player.
04:32They want to bring that swarm mentality on offense.
04:35Look, the reality is they've got to learn a lot about C.J. Stroud and this offense this year.
04:39They picked up his fifth-year option.
04:41There's going to be the big question around his contract lingering for years.
04:45You've got to give him the best chance to win.
04:47He's been one of the most sat quarterbacks over the last two or three years.
04:50You've got a guy in Rutledge.
04:51And I love the points you brought up about center.
04:54He played center at the Singer Bowl, and his head coach told teams, from what I understand, that they think
04:59his best position is center, and he could be an all-pro at that spot.
05:03And so the Texans signed Wyatt Teller.
05:06They have Ed Ingram at guard.
05:07I wonder if he plays center day one for the Texans and helps solidify that offensive line.
05:12I think that's a great piece for them to be more physical, more tough up front.
05:17I think this is another one of the maybe misconceptions about the issues with the Texans over the last couple
05:23years.
05:23The sacks improved a lot last year.
05:26And a lot of that was on Kaylee and C.J. doing things where the quarterback kept them from getting
05:34sacked.
05:34The pass protection, I think some of the grades on the pass protection are a little more positive than they
05:41should be.
05:42Because, again, going back to the quarterback getting rid of the ball quickly, making do, and turning what could be
05:48bad in these situations into acceptable situations, a lot of that's on the quarterback.
05:53That's why they always say sacks are a quarterback stat more than an offensive line stat.
05:57But C.J. got better in that regard last year.
06:00I think the run game is what's going to help C.J. out the most.
06:05And that is just the thing that's been missing is a steadily consistent and doesn't have to be an awesome
06:12run game.
06:13It just has to be an acceptable run game at the very least.
06:17He's really never had that.
06:18And that's where the focus has been on the offensive line.
06:22It's not about pass protection.
06:23They're almost intentionally going after guys whose profile is really good as a run blocker, but he's got some question
06:32marks and pass protection.
06:33Like, they want to be able to protect the passer well by using the play action a lot.
06:40Sure, sure, yeah.
06:41So that when you run the ball on first down, you're either using play action or you're actually gaining yards
06:46with the run that you call.
06:51And I think that's, like, I like that they've had one specific mindset and strategy in how they're going to
06:59improve the offense.
07:00And it all starts with increasing the physicality, making them more swarm-like on the offensive side.
07:05In general, I like the offseason the Texans have had.
07:08Do you like the offseason they've had?
07:11Yeah, I do.
07:12It's weird.
07:13No, it's funny.
07:13We talk so much about it, and just, like, that very simple question.
07:17Yeah.
07:17If we were to grade it, you'd have to tell me to either grade it or put it into a
07:20tier.
07:20Okay.
07:21Well, grade it.
07:22It's a sports radio, Sean.
07:23There are no yes or no answers.
07:25Let's power rank this compared to all their other offseasons, yes.
07:27Do you like it or don't like it?
07:29It's a little too binary.
07:30That's true.
07:31I'm going to dislike something about everything, damn it.
07:33What would you give, like, your gut feel grade to the offseason for the Texans?
07:38My gut feel grade on it is that I still, I'm, do I like it or dislike it?
07:44I like it.
07:46I think I'd put it at a B.
07:49That's what I, I was going to say a B.
07:50Yeah, yeah.
07:51I was going to say a B.
07:52I mean, you look at what the Bears were able to do with their offensive line last year
07:55in one fell swoop by being super aggressive about it.
07:58Yep.
07:59That's what I would have loved to have seen from the Texans last year.
08:02They chose not to.
08:04So over the, and then this year too, I mean, you know, it's not like Braden Smith or Wyatt
08:10Teller were guys that were highly coveted, like, you got to go get those guys.
08:16And now I'm not an advocate of spending a boatload of money all the time in free agency.
08:23I think the fact that they just, they've aggressively addressed the offensive line both just by quantity,
08:30you know, by a couple of free agent signings, by retaining Ed Ingram, and then by drafting
08:35two guys in the first four rounds for the interior offensive line specifically.
08:41Yep.
08:41Because we know that's, like, the interior offensive line has been really the thing that
08:45you knew, you could almost set your watch by it these last few years.
08:49Man, if they face a defense that has a stud interior defensive line, it's going to be
08:54tough sledding most of the time for the Texans.
08:56Yep.
08:56It's going to be a long day.
08:57I'm with you.
08:58I would put it in that B range as well.
09:00It's just interesting.
09:00You know, I'm looking at Ted Wynn of The Athletic had the, you know, kind of the best offseasons.
09:07He had the nine best offseasons with some honorable mentions.
09:10He put them in buckets of teams that are, like, rebuilding teams.
09:13That's the way you do it, Sean.
09:15Yeah, well, so he was doing, who are the Super Bowl contenders that had the three best offseasons?
09:20Who are the rebuilding teams that had the three best?
09:22And then there was one that was, like, fringe teams or something like that.
09:25I think you could argue to put the Texans in either of the Super Bowl contender or the
09:30fringe teams, depending on how you feel about them.
09:32I mean, they have a Super Bowl contending defense, but Vegas says they're going to win nine and
09:36a half games this year.
09:37You can put them in either of those.
09:38They're definitely not a rebuilding team.
09:40You know, I still open these lists expecting to see maybe honorable mention or they're a little
09:45further down or whatever.
09:46It seems like they've had a, it seems like the ceiling for the national people on the Texans
09:52offseason is, it's been okay.
09:54They filled some needs.
09:56The places where people have disconnects with the Texans offseason is Nick Casario overdrafted
10:02on a few guys, especially Marlon Klein and maybe Keelan Rutledge compared to the consensus
10:06board.
10:07And I think they're, I think they're filling positions that aren't just really quite as
10:11sexy for national people.
10:12Like you're doing interior, you know, you're doing in the trenches type stuff that that's
10:17not as headline grabbing as maybe some of the other things.
10:19Well, and I think also though, I think people look at it as, you know, I think you're a
10:25hundred percent right on that last point is that because the conversation about the Texans
10:29is going to be about CJ Stroud, you know, that's the lead item every single time.
10:34Yeah.
10:34I think in terms of looking at it from the outside, looking in, if you're talking about
10:39helping CJ Stroud, it would have had to been marquee moves in free agency on the offensive
10:44line, a top 15 pick at the offensive line.
10:48Um, or it would have had to been a skill position player or something in the draft or, and again,
10:53probably in the top 15 to where people really feel like, oh yeah, now, now, now CJ Stroud's
10:59got what you need, but they went for quality over bling, I think, or quantity ever quantity
11:05over, I'll say bling, not quality.
11:08Cause again, high price free agents.
11:09It's, it's dicey.
11:10You're walking down the street and you pass a couple of your neighbor's houses.
11:13One of them is having foundation work done.
11:15The other one's having a swimming pool put in the backyard.
11:17Yeah.
11:17Which ones, which driveway is more interesting to walk down and take a look at the water
11:21rank in the swimming pool people.
11:22Yeah.
11:23I don't care if their foundation's crumbling.
11:24What's it matter to me?
11:25You know, just like people in the media outside of Houston, I was like, I don't want to hear
11:30about your solid foundation.
11:31Right, right, right.
11:33I want to take a dip in your pool.
11:34Now, let me ask you this though, cause this is where it's interesting.
11:37So he, he basically gave the three best, uh, in that article, he gave the three best
11:43off seasons for teams in those three buckets.
11:46So the three best championship contenders, the three best off season for teams on the
11:50brink.
11:51And then the third category was rebuilding teams.
11:53Yeah.
11:54Do you think if you had to press him for it, would he have put championship contender or
11:57teams on the brink?
11:58Oh, that's a great question, Seth.
12:00For the Texans.
12:01You, you have the article open right now.
12:02It sounds like who are the teams that are in the, on the brink?
12:05Who are the top three?
12:05I'm just trying to get the quality, like the type of team, the, I don't always say, okay.
12:10So the title contenders, he put as the Eagles, the 49ers and the Rams.
12:18Okay.
12:19Um, okay.
12:20And I don't care about the rebuilding teams.
12:22I got it open now too.
12:23So I got the brink teams right here.
12:24So those are the title contenders, um, all teams at the Texans, well, they didn't play
12:29the Eagles last year, but they beat the Niners and they, they, uh, they, they, they stood
12:34toe to toe with the Rams in week one teams on the brink, Cowboys, Vikings.
12:40Oh yeah.
12:40Oh yeah.
12:41No, no, no.
12:42Okay.
12:42Yeah.
12:42So the Texans would be in the teams on the brink.
12:45No, they'd be the contenders.
12:46I think.
12:47Excuse me.
12:47Yes.
12:48Contenders.
12:48Excuse me.
12:48Contenders.
12:49Yeah.
12:49Um, which is, so that's what I thought too, when I went through the exercise.
12:53Um, and at the same time, you know, the Texans are generally power ranked where about right
13:00now, 12th, 13th.
13:02I would say anywhere from about eight to 13th.
13:04There's a few, they've been in the top 10 in a couple of them.
13:07Yeah.
13:07So I feel like that's more in the, that, that not necessarily championship contenders.
13:11I think most people are going to say, well, until we really see a quality offense and
13:17some superb play from CJ Stroud that we're not going to put them in that championship.
13:22We need to pull a Lopez and add another tier to this thing.
13:25Like, like, like sizzly brink teams or something like that, you know, like soon to be contenders
13:31or whatever.
13:32That's what power rankings are.
13:33They're 32 tiers.
13:34Yeah.
13:34You know, that is what they are.
13:36It is what they are.
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