00:00You tell me, Clint, because right now they are banking.
00:04And this is, to me, one of the biggest things with this offense, Clint,
00:08is how many ways can they be effective, right?
00:12And it seems like right now run game, run game, run game,
00:17and CJ don't mess it up seems to be where it is.
00:20What else do they have if that is somehow taken away or not a success?
00:25Well, look, we just spend so much time, rightfully so,
00:28talking about the quarterback and then the way that they address things
00:30on the offensive side of the football this offseason,
00:32talking about this run game as if we brought five Trent Williams in here
00:37to all of a sudden move mass.
00:40And rightfully so.
00:42If CJ doesn't play better and we can't run the football
00:45like at least top half of the league, if not top quarter of the league,
00:49it's going to be rough on the offensive side of the ball.
00:52But those two big pieces are definitely important.
00:55But when you get beyond that, our conversations yesterday about Nico
01:00got me thinking, man.
01:02When you get beyond the CJ Stroud and the run game,
01:09the expected run game for the Texans in 2026,
01:12what does the season really hinge on?
01:16And I think there's three things.
01:17I think it's health of your superstars,
01:20particularly Dalton Schultz and Nico Collins more importantly.
01:23Number two, I think it's scheme.
01:25I think Nick Cayley has to not only take the next step from year one to year two,
01:30but I think there's some scheme things that have to be expanded in a big way
01:38in order for this team to have the success.
01:40And then there's unknowns.
01:41And when I say unknowns, I'm talking about players, right?
01:44And so I'll start with the health overall.
01:46As I said, I think the reality of it is the way they built this offense,
01:53the way that they built this offense to date right now.
01:57If you lose one, or God forbid both, we saw what that looks like,
02:02of Nico Collins and Dalton Schultz, you are in trouble offensively.
02:07You are absolutely 100% in trouble offensively.
02:11I don't care how well you're running the ball.
02:13You can run the ball like the Detroit Lions if you want to.
02:16That's damn sure what they showed us the last time.
02:18If you lose one or both of those two guys, right now,
02:23and some guys may emerge in training camp, all the what ifs and the speculators,
02:26okay, fine.
02:27But right now with the Houston Texans, the season, I believe the season,
02:32definitely the offensive success in 2026 for the Texans hinges on the health
02:38of Nico Collins and the health of Dalton Schultz.
02:42And the reality of it is Nico Collins hasn't proven to us
02:45that he can stay healthy throughout a season.
02:47And even worse, he's shown us that in critical moments when this team needs him,
02:53he's been injured in the past.
02:55And so how much do you trust as a Texans fan,
02:58how much do you trust that Nico Collins is going to be healthy
03:01and available when you need him the most?
03:04Because we know what this thing looks like without Nico Collins,
03:07and I know there's some guys out there like Jaden Higgins.
03:09I know there's some guys out there, folks out there, ladies out there
03:13that really like what Noel does in the kick return game.
03:17But the reality of it is we don't know how high those guys' ceilings are.
03:22We don't know what they're capable of doing.
03:24And when they're out there on an island by themselves without Schultz
03:27and without Nico Collins, we're going to have some problems.
03:29So I think number one, Ron, for me, beyond CJ and beyond the ability
03:34to run the football is just overall health with your main two targets.
03:39Let me ask you this because I'm seeing someone text this in
03:44because I understand the thought of it because right now,
03:47would you say those are their top two non-running back weapons, right,
03:52is Nico and Schultz?
03:54Yeah, look, I think Nico is the only real explosive weapon
03:58that you have on the team.
03:59And then you look at Dalton Schultz,
04:00and he is just as quarterback friendly and very important to CJ Stroud, yes.
04:06As someone said here, doesn't that happen with any team?
04:10If you take away their top two weapons,
04:12why is it so much of a bigger deal for a team like the Texans?
04:18Well, because they don't have the depth behind them.
04:21We've talked about it.
04:22We've talked about it.
04:23There's no offensive coordinator that's going to do more with less.
04:27There's no, beyond Nico Collins, there's really no weapons on his team
04:31that you can say, well, if Nico goes down,
04:33then all of a sudden this guy is going to be our X factor
04:35and this guy is going to take the top off of defense
04:36or this guy is going to be the guy we're going to get creative with.
04:40There are, as I said, there are some unknowns,
04:43which is my number three here.
04:44There are some unknowns that we'll see how they're used
04:47that could potentially fill that void.
04:49But, yeah, to the Texans' point, yes,
04:51it hurts when you lose your top receiver for anybody, right?
04:55But when you lose that guy, do you just –
04:58your offense just go completely in the tank?
05:03That's what happened in the playoff game.
05:04That's what happened in the playoff game, right?
05:05And that's – I think that is a big, big thing for the Texans
05:10is, boy, you are really, really dependent on that one main guy.
05:16And, boy, if you lose him, you could be in trouble, no doubt.
05:19Yeah.
05:20No, and they've got to figure out other –
05:23because they don't even have to be lost.
05:25Like, they just – just teams just say,
05:28all right, man, we're going to take Nico
05:30in the running game away from you.
05:32What are you going to do, man?
05:33Yeah.
05:33Yeah.
05:34Now, the one thing is we've seen CJ in the past
05:38be able to get Noah Brown a guy going,
05:42be able to get, you know, lesser receivers going
05:47when you try – when he either doesn't have his guys
05:49because that's the other thing is we've seen CJ
05:51just not have those dudes and still the offense at times be affected.
05:56Hell, we saw it last year against the Niners
05:58where Nico and I think 2 for 20 were both out for that game.
06:03And we've seen them be able to do it.
06:06That's the other part is the other stuff around,
06:08can your OC create something?
06:13Yeah.
06:14If those guys are taken away or you don't have their services.
06:19Well, to me, that's number two.
06:20I mean, the scheme question is about screen game and quick game.
06:24Can Nick Cayley be just, let's say, on par with other offenses in the league
06:29in that scheme category?
06:31That's just got to happen, Ron.
06:32And that is a perfect fit for who the Texans are.
06:38You've got receivers that y'all claim, first and foremost,
06:40have to be able to block.
06:41Well, y'all have a good screen game, right?
06:42To complement your run game, suck them in, suck them in,
06:45make them pack the line of scrimmage,
06:47and then throw quicks outside and throw screens outside,
06:49out-leverage them to the sideline.
06:51I mean, it's a perfect fit for what you're doing in the run game as well.
06:55It's a perfect complement to what you're doing in the run game as well.
06:58So the scheme thing is a big piece of it.
07:01Then obviously with the unknowns, as I said, I think it's Jalen Knoll.
07:03Like this season is really dependent.
07:05We're talking about having an offense that's humming.
07:07I mean, that's really humming.
07:09I think you've got to keep those guys healthy
07:11and you've got to get the most out of Jalen Knoll,
07:16whatever that looks like.
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