- 2 days ago
Seth and Sean lay out 9 things they're genuinely excited to see at Texans OTAs, and discuss our pal, Cody Stoots, being the lone man who seemingly has an issue with the Texans giving Nico Collins more money.
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00:00All right, so let's get to this. So you and I are going out to OTAs right after the show
00:03today,
00:04so hopefully we get to see a bunch of the stuff we're about to talk about here.
00:08But the nine things we are genuinely excited about.
00:13Yeah, my knee-jerk reaction is to say, ah, it's non-padded practice, can't tell a damn thing.
00:18It's football.
00:18No, there are actual things that matter that I'm excited to see.
00:22I'm a fiend, dang it. I've got to get my fix.
00:26Starting off with just C.J. Stroud in general, and you did a good job of pointing this out yesterday.
00:32There's only so many things you can tell with a quarterback.
00:34Everybody, when you're not really competing in pads on, every quarterback in the league looks good.
00:39You're going to hear about how well guys are spinning it.
00:41But C.J. does have a physical transformation.
00:45He looks a little bit sleeker, physically leaned out a little bit.
00:49Hit the toe, man.
00:50Yeah, got his hair cut.
00:51Yeah.
00:51He's been operating almost every step along the way, like he's a young Annapolis midshipman or something.
00:59Yeah, yeah.
01:00Like he's just doing everything to a T.
01:02But I'll leave this to the actual throwing mechanics experts and whatnot when they start watching the film and looking
01:09at this stuff.
01:09There were times last year where it looked like he wasn't as pristine with his footwork or his mechanics as
01:16he is capable of being.
01:18There were times where he did look pristine.
01:20Yeah.
01:20But it just didn't seem to be as consistent at times.
01:23I don't pretend to be a throwing mechanics expert.
01:26I think for me, more than anything, the thing that I'm really hoping to hear is just how he handles
01:32the press conference and the questions about, you know, whether or not they've talked about getting a new contract.
01:37Only because so far he's handled it perfectly.
01:40There hasn't been a peep of any agitation out of his camp or anything like that.
01:44And I don't expect him to say anything scintillating.
01:49But I'm just curious to hear what his response is to the inevitable question.
01:52Hey, are you trying to get a new contract?
01:54I am too, but now that we're talking about the transformation, I'm genuinely curious, was there some sort of epiphany?
02:03How much did that game in New England factor into what appears to be some changes?
02:07I guess the first thing would be, what changes have you made?
02:10Right.
02:10Because he looks different.
02:12Is he operating different?
02:14We have not gotten a major glimpse into what exactly he does day to day other than the occasional social
02:19media posts that usually aren't even his.
02:21It's somebody else with him working out with people in California.
02:25So I'm really curious as to kind of like how the whole sauce with C2.0 here.
02:30You know, like what did something trigger in you?
02:32Was it that game?
02:34Was it, hey, I just, was it the contract?
02:36I think there has been, you know, he's been pretty open at times talking about, I mean, he's been, even
02:40in talking about his faith,
02:42he's talked about how he's had to get back to being on track without going into any details or anything.
02:49I feel like with CJ sometimes, you know, you hear about somebody got off track and you, like, with your
02:54standard athlete,
02:56you might be thinking like, oh boy, he must have been, he was going on vendors or something.
02:59I feel like with CJ it's that he just, like, missed a Bible study or something.
03:03And he just, he feels tremendous guilt over it and he needs to get back on track.
03:08But it's a, it's a steady process for most young quarterbacks that you stack on a little bit every year
03:13and you understand more what you need to focus on.
03:17And, and it does feel like, and it feels like just watching from the outside.
03:22I think each of the last couple off seasons, he's cut off some of the, some of the flack,
03:28like the, some of the fat, like some of the extraneous stuff that doesn't matter
03:31and, and tries to get more and more dialed in.
03:34I, yeah, but I'm intrigued to hear what he answers about that specific part of it.
03:38I like this list, man.
03:39This is a really good list you got here.
03:41Okay.
03:41So CJ is number one, nine things genuinely excited about.
03:45What's number two?
03:46Tank Dell.
03:47And this is it.
03:48Tank Dell might be number one for a lot of people.
03:50If we're, if we're, if the rankings mean anything,
03:53we're talking about the NFL and you have to lead with the quarterback.
03:56100%.
03:56So related to the quarterback, Tank Dell and a hundred percent.
04:00Yeah.
04:00In my heart, it is Tank Dell.
04:02A, just to see him out there.
04:03If he's out there practicing with the team, doing team drills and everything.
04:08That's a huge already, just given how devastating his knee injury was.
04:12But then after that, if I see actual production out of Tank Dell.
04:16Yes.
04:16In OTAs where they're not in pads.
04:18So you can't tell much about the line or the linebackers or the fullbacks or anybody like that.
04:23The receivers working versus that defensive backfield.
04:26Those guys are competing.
04:28They are competing.
04:29And that's as close to real football as you can get at this time of year.
04:32I got the reminder yesterday.
04:33I saw a video of Deshaun Watson throwing a touchdown pass to Isaiah Bond.
04:37A contested touchdown pass and a seven on seven.
04:40I'm like, that's right.
04:41Yeah.
04:41They actually compete at some of these positions in OTAs.
04:45And wide receiver and corner is one of them.
04:46So now, if you're doing seven on seven, the defensive backs are at a disadvantage.
04:50But still, it's a competitive group he's going against.
04:53And any kind of production out of him, I'll be really excited about.
04:57That'll be great.
04:58I made the mistake of watching a cut-up reel, a highlight reel I had made of Tank Dell a
05:02couple months ago.
05:04Oh, he was so good.
05:05Highlight reel.
05:06But they delude you into thinking like, oh yeah, that's what happens every single time.
05:10But it is.
05:11Because, I mean, the ways they've been able to use him and when they started to have to
05:16use him kind of creatively in 2024, it does, you think about adding him into the mix of
05:23wide receivers and how much versatility he gives you as an offense.
05:28Just regardless of what his overall numbers look like or anything.
05:31You know, Tank Dell is a guy that on a jet sweep, it affects a defense.
05:36Remember when the jet sweep took the NFL by storm and it seemed like everybody was
05:41running 10 jet sweeps a game.
05:42The defense has caught up.
05:44They figured out exactly how they need to tweak and adjust.
05:46And now it almost feels like sometimes you sweep, you know, great.
05:51Here's a one-yard game maybe.
05:54But with Tank, I mean, he's so quick that he kind of, he makes the defense pucker up a
06:01little bit.
06:02You know, and it can affect the defense in ways that it doesn't with other athletes.
06:05It gets lost in the wash sometimes because the injury he suffered in 2024 was so
06:10graphic and devastating.
06:12Yeah.
06:13And it's taken a full year for him just to get back onto the radar.
06:16And we'll see how on the radar he is in these practices.
06:19So it gets lost in the wash, kind of how his season, his rookie season ended early.
06:24He had scored a touchdown in every game for like a month before he broke that leg against
06:30the Denver Broncos.
06:31So Tank, that was on his way possibly to the Pro Bowl that year.
06:34Real quick, because we get asked this question all the time, you know, there's a lot of young
06:39slot receivers on the team right now, you know, including last year's draft pick.
06:44Yep.
06:45But so people will say, well, how's that affect Tank Dell?
06:47Tank's not a slot.
06:49Like he takes the majority of his snaps outside.
06:51And then especially even more so now, you know, I don't want to subject him to any more
06:57physical trauma than he needs to.
06:59So it's not, he doesn't, he doesn't affect the slot position because he's mainly an outside
07:05receiver.
07:06All right.
07:06So CJ Stroud, Tank Dell, number three.
07:10Number three is the offensive line and most specifically Keelan Rutledge.
07:14Okay.
07:14And how many snaps has he taken at center?
07:16And he's, I would imagine, I would imagine these first few days, it's going to be Jake
07:21Andrews running with the ones, but maybe I'm wrong on that.
07:24Um, but Keelan Rutledge, just by virtue of how I haven't played at center might give
07:30us a clue about whether they really are, you know, taking their time with him, or if they
07:35think there's a really good chance that he's going to be out.
07:37They want the five best guys out there and he's got a chance of being the best center.
07:40So they're just, they're, they're playing them primarily at center and very little guard.
07:43Okay.
07:44Rank these three things in order of how shocked you would be by each of them.
07:47Keelan Rutledge related.
07:49Keelan Rutledge running with the ones at center.
07:52Keelan Rutledge just getting some run at center, kind of mixed in here and there, or Keelan
07:57Rutledge getting zero snaps at center.
07:59I would be, oh, that would be the one I don't want to see.
08:02Yeah.
08:02Him getting zero snaps at center would be, I would be shocked.
08:05Would you be surprised?
08:05I'd be shocked.
08:06You'd be shocked at that one the most, you'd be more shocked by him getting zero snaps than
08:09him being the first string center right now.
08:11Yeah.
08:12Okay.
08:12Yeah.
08:13Yeah.
08:13I would too.
08:14I had now the grumpy old man in me, the veteran football player.
08:17I think the most likely is the middle one.
08:18I don't like seeing rookies out there with the ones immediately without earning it.
08:22Yeah.
08:22But I, I get it.
08:23Yeah.
08:23Yeah.
08:24I've relented a little bit.
08:24You know who changed my opinion on that?
08:26Kamari Lasseter.
08:27No.
08:27Oh.
08:28Andre Johnson.
08:29When they started it, they started it.
08:31Also good at football.
08:31He started like immediately right off from mini camps and everything.
08:34I went, and then I watched him play football and I was like, oh, okay.
08:39I get it.
08:39You'd be an idiot to pretend that he's a second string.
08:43But Corey Bradford.
08:43Yeah.
08:44Hey, hey, hey.
08:45Corey was the number two, I think.
08:47He was still out there.
08:48So, yeah.
08:50I wouldn't put you, I wouldn't put you in harm's way talking about former teammates.
08:53I love Corey Bradford.
08:54I do too.
08:55All right.
08:55So, so offensive line, specifically Keelan Rutledge, it sounds like is the biggest thing
08:59you're looking at there with the offensive line.
09:01Yeah.
09:01Then, you know, you brought this up yesterday that should we really just assume that Braden
09:07Smith is going to be the tackle from day one?
09:10It's an interesting dynamic because Trent Brown's been in the league a long time, played
09:13well for the Texans last year.
09:14They're undefeated with him at right tackle.
09:15The way normal NFL teams operate, you sign a free agent to a really healthy contract like
09:19that, he's probably going to be starting right tackle.
09:21Follow the market.
09:21But who knows how they handle it.
09:23Yep.
09:23Yep.
09:23So we'll see.
09:24All right.
09:24What's next?
09:26Defensive fronts.
09:27And this isn't something we're going to be allowed to report on, but I am intrigued because
09:30they don't like this.
09:31They let us out there, but they don't want us to say, you know, hey, they lined up in a,
09:36under front, a bunch, which they, um, the, the Texans don't typically put a guy on the
09:42center, a nose tackle right over the center a whole lot.
09:46Um, and I don't think they have to change their defense because Caden McDonald's a certain
09:50type of way.
09:50Caden McDonald's can run the defense exactly the way the Texans have always done it.
09:55But I wonder if with him, with a big space, a space eating run stuffing type of dude,
10:01if it does give them a little bit more flexibility and kind of open up the, the types of defensive
10:08fronts they run.
10:09Um, so if they start doing that in, if they start doing that in OTAs, it'll, it'll pique
10:14my interest.
10:14I like that better than, you know, cause I'm taking a real general view of the NFL here
10:19with this, but when you hear like, well, I don't know if he's a fit for that guy's
10:23system.
10:23It seems to me like with Caden McDonald and other things that D'Amico does defensively,
10:27he looks at it more like having a new toy than he does like, well, just not if
10:31this is what I do.
10:32Right.
10:32No, no.
10:32A hundred percent.
10:33And I think the, I think that for some people, some people thought, oh, Caden McDonald's a
10:37nose tackle and the Texans don't even use a nose tackle.
10:40Why would they bother?
10:41And there's two parts to it.
10:42One is that Caden McDonald played all along the, uh, the defensive line and he could do,
10:47like I said, he could do every Texans already do, but it does potentially, you know, give,
10:53give D'Amico more options to run a little bit more of a diverse defense.
10:58It also, it helps Keelan Rutledge out in adjusting to center.
11:01Yeah.
11:02If he can face, if he can face that look more where, you know, a lot of times the Texans
11:06offense, they've got all their, their issues to begin with, but then they go against the
11:10Texans defense that they run a lot of just, I'll call it even fronts where you've got
11:16the, the defensive tackles are not over the center.
11:18And then all of a sudden for the first time in the regular season, they face actual nose
11:23tackles and all the different tweaks and adjustments you have to make in protection.
11:27It's kind of dicey.
11:28So I would, for the good of the offense, if the defense can start running more of that,
11:32it might better prepare them for the season.
11:34Dude, this, this non-padded stuff they're going to be doing the next few weeks is going
11:37to be such a tease for when training camp gets here.
11:40Yeah.
11:40I'm going to be so ready for these, a lot of these new offensive linemen to go against
11:44this defense, especially as bad as it looked last year with last year's group.
11:48They got dominated in training camp.
11:49Okay.
11:50So you skipped over offensive wrinkles.
11:52I did.
11:52You did.
11:53Yeah.
11:53And that's a, that's a four and a five right there.
11:56That's skipped all the way ahead to number six.
11:58Let's go back to four and five.
11:59Yes, yes, yes.
12:00So offensive wrinkles in two specific positions.
12:03Okay.
12:04Tight ends.
12:04Yeah.
12:05Because Aaron Wilson is reported or talked about a couple of times on his live stream,
12:09at least that Kate Stover is going to get a lot more work at fullback.
12:13How do you feel about that?
12:14I feel like, okay.
12:16All right, James Casey, you know, the eight, it's so much more.
12:19So it really, they're talking about him being an H back, you know, where he's, sometimes
12:22he's a fullback.
12:23Sometimes he's lining up at tight end.
12:25I do like it because what's the, what's the age in the NFL 13 personnel, three tight
12:31ends on the field.
12:32The Rams did it a bunch last year.
12:34I think Nick Caley was planning on doing it a bunch last year.
12:37Remember Nick Caley came over from the Rams.
12:39The problem was that two of their top three tight ends ended up on IR within a couple of
12:44weeks of the beginning of the season.
12:45And you're just, you just, you couldn't do it with the Harrison Bryants and the other
12:49guys you pick up off the, off the scrap heap.
12:51So I think there's a really good chance that we see more just three tight end personnel out
12:56there.
12:57And I'm guessing, you know, again, this isn't the kind of thing we're allowed to report
13:01on, I guess, until they show it in a preseason game.
13:04Yeah.
13:04Right.
13:04Is that the, is that the rule now?
13:06I forget what the, yeah.
13:07They don't want us talking about actual formations and personnel usage and stuff, which I get.
13:11But yeah.
13:12So we usually let other people do that.
13:14So the other wrinkle would just simply be, and this isn't like an ornate wrinkle or anything,
13:18but Woody Marks now, because you have David Montgomery back there, Woody Marks being used
13:24more as a receiving threat.
13:26And last year.
13:27I'm actually, that actually is underrated for me in terms of how excited I am about that.
13:31Yeah.
13:31Woody Marks, new type of usage.
13:33Yeah.
13:34Because we just, once he was learning how to play run, like lead running back as a rookie
13:39last year, they really, you know, they were just trying to do everything they could to
13:43get him on board with doing that part of his job.
13:46But now you get him more involved in the passing game.
13:48It should be cool.
13:49Well, it's probably stuff you can do by having Montgomery and Woody Marks out there at the
13:51same time too.
13:52Yeah.
13:53You know, having two backs out there that are, that are threats.
13:55So that, that's good.
13:56Okay.
13:56So plus, yeah.
13:57And if you call Cade Stover a running back, let's run the old, let's get the wishbone and
14:01the wing tee and everything else out there.
14:03Hell yeah.
14:03Okay.
14:03So we've, so we're up to six now of nine things we are, and thus far, I'm really excited
14:10about the ones we've done so far.
14:12Number seven.
14:13Number seven.
14:13Is just a complete defensive backfield.
14:16Last year, they played six different guys at safety opposite of Kalen Bullock.
14:22They were a hand with like three quarters of one of the fingers chopped off.
14:26I can't remember.
14:27I tallied it up at one point.
14:28It was Jimmy.
14:29I included Jimmy Ward in that six.
14:30So if you go before training camp, Jimmy Ward was the starting.
14:33They were counting on him before his legal issues.
14:35And yet TJ Gardner Johnson.
14:37And then at one point, I think Miles Bryant got a start in there at some point.
14:40You had Jaden Reed.
14:41Yeah.
14:41Jalen Reed.
14:42Jalen Reed.
14:43Yeah.
14:43Jalen Reed.
14:43You had a, God, I always call him Jaden.
14:45Jalen Reed.
14:46You had Kevon Wallace.
14:47That's right.
14:48The end of the year.
14:49Kevon Wallace era.
14:50Oh, MJ Stewart was in there starting for a little while.
14:53So that's six right there.
14:54Yeah.
14:54It's a lot.
14:55And this year, if it could just be Reed Blankenship the entire time.
14:58You know, the old saying, if you have six safeties, you really have any safeties.
15:03Yeah.
15:03Yeah.
15:03So I'm excited about that.
15:04And the next one, the guy, whoever replaces EJ Speed.
15:10So I'll be intrigued to see who gets the most run with the ones out there.
15:15And I think that there's two guys that we haven't talked about hardly at all that I think
15:20might have a really good chance to be that guy.
15:22One is Marte Mapu, who the Texans traded for this offseason via the Patriots.
15:29And he's...
15:30You don't say.
15:31Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
15:33He's a really good blend of size and speed.
15:36And I think might be the most intriguing out of all of the non-draft picks, the non-rookies.
15:43Wade Wood as intrigues me because he's, between him and Aiden Fisher, he brings to the most
15:48the most athletically.
15:50But then also, Jake Mullen.
15:53Is it Mullen or Mullins?
15:56Jake Hummel?
15:57Hummel, Hummel, Hummel.
15:58It's not either of those things I said.
16:00Jake Hummel.
16:01Hummel, yeah.
16:02Evidence that I haven't talked about him enough.
16:03I think he's another special teamer that plays linebacker and that I think might get a chance
16:10to compete for that fill-in role for EJ Speed.
16:13But I think it's wide open at this point.
16:14EJ Speed played way more snaps than people think he played last year.
16:18Yeah.
16:19Right?
16:1945% of the defensive snaps.
16:21Yeah.
16:21I mean, that's for a rotational guy.
16:23That's a lot.
16:24All right.
16:24So that's eight.
16:25What's nine?
16:26What's the final one?
16:27Just the rookies in general.
16:28And I think Lewis Bond, we probably haven't talked about a whole bunch in the sixth-round
16:34wide receiver.
16:35Sometimes it's an Xavier Hutchinson.
16:37Sometimes it's somebody that you never remember his name.
16:40Well, of all the positions where a day three guy could make the team, wide receiver's right
16:45there.
16:45Yeah.
16:46There's only five wide receivers on this team that have done anything in the NFL.
16:51Yeah.
16:51Yeah.
16:52Like, if they want six receivers, there's a chance for a rookie to, or a fringe guy
16:58to, you know, to make the team.
16:59The guys that I've neglected too much, I think, are Lewis Bond, the wide receiver, Kamari
17:05Ramsey, which really annoys me from a name stand.
17:08I feel like Nick has been trying to do everything he can to screw me up.
17:12Last year, it was all the Jalens and the Jadens.
17:14Yeah.
17:14Now, you draft a guy named Kamari Ramsey.
17:18You've already got a Kamari in the defensive backfield.
17:21Yes.
17:21And Ramsey is like, oh, he's a defensive back named Ramsey.
17:25Yeah.
17:25You think Jalen Ramsey.
17:26Oh.
17:26Which adds to all the Jalen.
17:28The Jalen's in the J.
17:29Tangentially, it does.
17:30There's not a chance in hell I end up getting Kamari Ramsey's name correct more than 50%
17:38of the time.
17:38Boy, I went back and looked.
17:40I think it was Dane Brugler, the athletic, put his top 50 players from before the season.
17:48Yeah.
17:48He put that list out just to go see how it all ended up playing out.
17:52Like, this is where I'm like before the 2025 college season.
17:55Like, Peter Woods of Clemson, who ended up going in the first round.
17:58He was number one.
17:59Yeah.
18:00Kamari Ramsey was on that list.
18:01Kamari Ramsey was like Dane Brugler's like 41st best player in the country going into
18:06last season.
18:06But as has been pointed out many times, and I think this is something the Texans probably
18:11liked about him, he unselfishly did kind of a position role change for them.
18:16Yeah.
18:17And it was a stock hit for him.
18:19Yeah.
18:19He played like nickel for them.
18:21Yeah.
18:21He went from safety to center field.
18:22And just so he's done all those things.
18:24Yeah.
18:25Big surprise.
18:26I believe he was a team captain.
18:29It's almost a prerequisite.
18:30If you're a Texan and you weren't the team captain, you are an outlier.
18:33I think.
18:33I'll have to fact check myself on that.
18:36But also, I mean, he's yet another guy who comes out of USC.
18:41And USC, I feel like, and Nick would never give us a straight answer on this if we asked
18:46him.
18:46I feel like there's certain programs that he loves.
18:49Oh, he definitely wouldn't answer this.
18:50He loves Iowa State.
18:53And he loves that program.
18:55USC, I think they look at it as, oh, these are diamonds in the rough.
18:59Yeah.
18:59These are guys like Kalen Bullock that, or, you know, Woody Marks is a little bit different
19:06because he played at two different spots.
19:07Right.
19:07And I think that was more of a.
19:09I think civically defensive guys.
19:11Defensive.
19:11Yeah.
19:12USC defensive guys, they look at it as, oh, wow.
19:14When he gets some actual coaching.
19:16Yep.
19:16Imagine what he might be.
19:17Kalen Bullock, Jalen Smith, Solomon Bird is a day three pick they've had who's still
19:23hanging around.
19:24Now he knows more.
19:24And now Solomon Bird's different because he was, he would, he, I, did he play at three
19:28different schools and he was pretty polished and everything.
19:30He was old too when they drafted him.
19:32Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
19:33But I think with Kamari Ramsey, they'd probably think, oh yeah, we're getting him some good
19:36coaching.
19:36Here we go.
19:37Those are good.
19:38Those are good reasons, man.
19:39I am.
19:40And we'll, we'll, we'll hit him again later before we get out and, and speed out of here to
19:44go to, uh, to go to training or to go to OTAs today.
19:48By speed, we mean drive the speed limit on Buffalo Speedway.
19:51Yes.
19:52Frickin jackbooted thugs of West U police.
19:55Well, I've already, I'm talking to you.
19:56I've already put my business, I've already put my business out there that I'm a chronic
19:59red light runner early in the morning.
20:01They're already looking for me.
20:03That's right.
20:04Along Kirby.
20:05Ah, the West U cops know I'm just joking.
20:07Yeah.
20:07They know I'm just kidding with you.
20:08Yeah.
20:09Yeah.
20:10Crap.
20:11Hey, listen.
20:12I know.
20:13I know.
20:13Listen, um, so what's, you, you mentioned this earlier.
20:18Cause you, you said you did a, uh, a video with those nine reasons.
20:22You also did one with about Nico Collins and people just don't seem to be reacting to the
20:26Nico Collins pay raise with a whole ton of emotion.
20:29I don't think there's a whole big appetite for it.
20:30It looks like it's one of those things where people, people hear that, oh, okay, you got
20:34his contract tweaked.
20:35And I think that there's, there's a certain nerdy side of it where you think, all right,
20:41boy, this is, is this setting a bad precedent?
20:43I talked about that yesterday.
20:44Yeah.
20:45Um, I guess the most, if you wanted to be really juicy and say, well, Casario is too
20:51soft.
20:52He doesn't negotiate hard enough for anything, but I don't, I think largely I'm not worried
20:57about it just because this is the kind of thing where a precedent is only a precedent.
21:03Uh, you only have to follow that precedent if, if two parties agree to it.
21:09And I think this is what happens every single time you give somebody a pay raise based on
21:13merit is you go down that slippery slope of saying, well, now everybody's going to want
21:18one, which is true.
21:19Yeah.
21:19That's, that's human nature.
21:20There's going to be guys on the team that think, well, you did it with Nico.
21:22Why don't you do it with me?
21:24The, the tough part of it and the hard reality of it is that at some point the GM and
21:27the
21:27head coach say, well, you're not Nico.
21:30Yeah.
21:30You know, that's the difference.
21:32Would you like to go watch some film?
21:33And I can, we can do it.
21:34I know we've done it already, but, uh, well, I know, I know we've told you and critiqued
21:38you and everything, but we'll show you exactly why you're not Nico Collins.
21:41Yep.
21:41Yep.
21:42Okay.
21:42So Cody Stoots, who he's got his own YouTube channel and, uh, Houston football with Cody
21:48Stoots.
21:48Cody does a, he does a phenomenal job.
21:50I think he does a really good job with, uh, what he puts out to his subscribers.
21:54He had a, he had a, a piece yesterday that he wrote and the headline was Texans handed
21:59out an unnecessary bonus to Nico Collins.
22:02I've seen more neutral and positive than I've seen people as overtly negative as Cody is
22:08on this.
22:08And Cody acknowledges some of the dynamics of things.
22:11He's just not, he's not ready to tear people's heads off over it, but this is definitely the
22:15strongest opinion that I've seen that the Texans should not have done this.
22:18Right.
22:19Right.
22:19So I'm going to read a few sentences from this piece and let's see if, if, if Cody's
22:23got a point or if you want to counterpoint him on these.
22:26Okay.
22:26So the headline is Texans handed out an unnecessary bonus to Nico Collins.
22:31Here's the first sentence that I'm conveying to you here.
22:35This served no benefit for the Texans.
22:37Only Collins benefited from the cash.
22:40Right.
22:40Right.
22:41Um, which is true if you're looking at a ledger and this was a, this was a pure raise.
22:46There was no year tacked on.
22:48It didn't improve the salary cap position or anything.
22:50And I think that's where it gets into the squishier side of things of, all right, the, the culture
22:56and what do you reward in this culture and how do you treat your veteran players and all
23:00of that.
23:01And I think that's where the, the hard part for the GM is always balancing out the human
23:06side of football with the cold, hard spreadsheet side of football.
23:10And I think that you can make a bunch of arguments about how the Texans do benefit from this.
23:15Um, for me, really what it is, is that, and, and the, the thing that I always am impressed by
23:23with
23:23D'Amico and Xavier Hutchinson said this in that podcast that he did a couple of weeks ago.
23:28He said, Xavier Hutchinson said something similar, something along the lines of, he's never seen
23:34somebody who's as consistent as D'Amico in terms of living out, like living the way he preaches and
23:42just like what, taking what he says at face value and abiding by it.
23:47And I think that's from top to bottom.
23:49They, they want to reward guys who do things the right way and who produce on the football
23:55field.
23:56And it's a, and it's an incredible example to the younger players on the team.
24:01So D'Amico understands better than most people.
24:04I think that human beings, they learn by imitating and, and it's just any more complex than that.
24:11The way he teaches and the technique and everything is he shows examples, guys imitate those examples
24:18and the way guys conduct themselves in the building, um, guys imitate.
24:23And so I've been on so many teams where the head coach is up at the front and I can
24:27imagine
24:27Bill O'Brien's, uh, meetings went exactly like this and he's laying out a path and telling
24:32the rookies how they have to operate.
24:34And this is what you need to do.
24:36Follow these rules and you'll be great.
24:37And you'll, you'll get a big contract and we'll win a Superbowl.
24:40But then the rookie, uh, leaves the meeting after, after seeing 29 PowerPoints of the way
24:46he's supposed to operate in three of the highest paid guys on the team are not, are, are just
24:51like freakishly gifted athletes that are just better than you because they're better than
24:56you, you know?
24:57And like, that's who are the, who's the rookie going to listen to?
25:00Is he going to listen to the PowerPoint presentation?
25:02Or is he going to see what's in front of him and flesh and blood and call a guy that
25:07doesn't
25:07do anything extra or anything he doesn't have to do a vet vet.
25:10Like in that mind, in my mind, that's a vet vet.
25:14So D'Amico is really good at doing that.
25:16Most coaches are not.
25:18It, it basically like rewarding the behavior that he wants.
25:22And I think that's what they're doing with Nico.
25:24It's a hundred percent.
25:25We're going to reward the behavior you want.
25:26And if other guys operate that way and they end up being as good as Nico, then yeah, maybe
25:30you end up getting a, a, a, a random pay raise as well.
25:34But there's very few guys that operate like to a tee, the way they want them to off the
25:39field, in the weight room, on the practice field, and are also a top five guy at their
25:43position.
25:43That's the big thing at the end.
25:45You got the, you know, you gotta be, you have to be good at your, at your job.
25:48And Nico is a couple more sentences here from, from Cody Stutes, his piece, um, where he's
25:54again, the headline Texans handed out unnecessary bonus to Nico Collins.
25:58Collins has not replicated his 2023 breakout season.
26:01Almost every per game metric from the past two seasons is lower when compared to the stellar
26:072023 season.
26:09End quote.
26:09I will, now I will acknowledge, I didn't want the quote to get too long.
26:12Cody does acknowledge that the play around Nico kind of decreased over 24 and 25.
26:19It's not all on Nico.
26:20No, and I think that that's like some of the same excuses that you, or explanations you
26:26might make for CJ Stroud.
26:27I think you can, you can also say for Nico Collins, it's the, it's a sum total of what's going
26:31on.
26:32And Nico is still very much a driving force for like the, the good things that they do
26:38or are able to do.
26:39It's just, it's not always borne out in individual statistics.
26:42In stats.
26:43Yeah, it's exactly, it's exactly right.
26:44My, my counter to that would be, is there anything in watching Nico Collins in the games?
26:49He was out there, I understand injuries have been an issue, but in the games where he's
26:52out there, did any of us come walking away from NRG stadium that day saying, boy, something's
26:56wrong with Nico?
26:57Right, right.
26:57No, he like play to play.
26:59He's looked like the same guy for three years now.
27:01Yeah.
27:01I think the, um, the biggest thing about the actual performance would be the games that
27:07he's missed to injury.
27:08Yeah.
27:09And that's our, so availability.
27:10So as we talk about all of this though, too, um, there's what we don't know, there's things
27:16we don't know and Cody alluded to this.
27:18Okay.
27:18It was, you know, was there a chance that it was going to disrupt chemistry because Nico
27:22was disgruntled or something?
27:24Who knows?
27:24Nico's never going to show any kind of disgruntlement outwardly or to the media.
27:28No, he just doesn't operate that way.
27:30Um, so we don't know that, but we also don't know what were the conversations they had when
27:35they gave him the extension the first time where they did it very early in the process.
27:40And, you know, Rosenhaus is the type of agent that has a good relationship with GMs and
27:44everything.
27:45Was there some kind of a casual conversation about like, okay, look, we're going to do
27:49this.
27:49We'll do it early.
27:50We understand that maybe if we had played it out longer, it could have been more, whatever.
27:54Um, but like, let's revisit this in a couple of years, you know, maybe tweak it a little
27:59bit because they didn't make him, they didn't reset the market.
28:01He's still the 11th highest paid wide receiver in this contract.
28:04Yeah.
28:05So it might, there might've been an understanding that they might modify it.
28:08We'll make it right.
28:09Yeah.
28:09We'll make it right.
28:10Well, and Cody kind of alludes to that with one sentence here towards the end, I'm kind
28:13of skipping around now, but the Texans ripped up their well-negotiated deal with Collins
28:17for a reason, not clear to people outside the building and quote, and you're right.
28:22It isn't clear to people.
28:23It is, it is definitely if whether you're for or against what they did with Nico, it,
28:28the, the impetus for it, we don't know.
28:31Yeah, we don't know.
28:32We're going to have Nick on next week on Wednesday.
28:34Maybe this is something we ask him about is, Hey, tell us, tell us how, tell us how you arrived
28:38at, you know, given Nico Collins, this, this pay raise out of nowhere.
28:41Yeah.
28:42Cause, cause I, I brought this up yesterday that just the timing of it is very interesting
28:48that they agree to this the day before the first really important voluntary thing.
28:54Yeah.
28:54Nico doesn't strike me as a guy who had missed the voluntary stuff, but he also, you know,
28:59he's a human being who $17 million tacked onto your deal is a lot of money.
29:03I want to, what if it's, um, I just hope that, uh, we'll ask Nick and he'll say, well,
29:08you know what, fellas, the, uh, we're not getting a good answer.
29:11The fact of the matter is actually that, uh, what we did was we told him he has to wear
29:16a guardian cap every game.
29:19And he said, and he said, well, I don't want to sacrifice that swag without being remunerated
29:25for it.
29:26I, this, the whole damn team needs to be wearing guardian caps.
29:29I don't give a damn.
29:30Look at your best players last year.
29:31Look at your best players last year, Nico Collins, Jalen Petrie, two of your best players.
29:36You missed time due to the total of six games between the two of them, six or, and then
29:42the half games added in even more than six games due to concussions.
29:46Your quarterback.
29:47Oh, that's right.
29:48Him too.
29:50Him too.
29:50Well, Titus missed.
29:51I mean, Titus didn't hear any more.
29:52Yeah.
29:52And Titus, Titus after Titus in the off season had said about he wouldn't wear a guardian cap because
29:58it just doesn't look good.
29:59That felt missing time with a concussion.
30:01That felt like the football gods getting angry with him at that quote.
30:04Oh, really?
30:04You don't think it looks good?
30:05Here's a concussion.
30:07We are.
30:07You are cursed.
30:09Jalen Petrie wearing the guardian cap is a good step in the right direction in terms
30:12of normalizing it.
30:14I agree.
30:14Yeah.
30:15I think it made the Rasheed Rice hit look even more momentous in some way.
30:18Did he have the guardian cap on?
30:19You got beat by the guy with the guardian cap?
30:22Oh, my God.
30:23He turned him into just a bowl of jello, dude.
30:25He was quivering on the ground.
30:26Is that Mark Kelso or Jalen Petrie?
30:28Mark Kelso.
30:29He had the big kazoo helmet, right?
30:31Mark Kelso had the big kazoo, but another one of the Bills did, too.
30:34Did Bibi have one, too?
30:35I think Bibi also wore one later in his career.
30:36Kelso had a huge helmet.
30:38Yeah.
30:38Huge helmet.
30:39A lot of people weighing in on the Nico thing here.
30:44Where is it?
30:45There's a...
30:45Oh, I disagree with Cody completely.
30:47This is holdout insurance.
30:49You just bought a policy that prevents Nico from holding out this training camper next.
30:53God forbid you keep one of your big stars happy.
30:56Yeah.
30:56The holdouts have lost their luster because of the way the CBA is right now.
31:00Once a guy's under contract, it's really rare for him to hold out.
31:04They can't waive the fines anymore.
31:05Yeah.
31:06Yeah.
31:07Like, teens used to kind of...
31:08There'd be a holdout, and the team would say,
31:10Okay, Liz, we're not going to fine you.
31:11You know, we'll make this right.
31:13Yeah.
31:13They're not allowed to do that anymore.
31:15So, usually, when there's a holdout now, it's usually a guy that's on his franchise tag,
31:19which means he's not under contract.
31:21Right.
31:21So, he's not getting penalized for it.
31:22Yeah.
31:23But it does happen.
31:24I just...
31:24I'd be surprised if Nico were the one to do it.
31:26Yeah.
31:27I would, too, except it would keep the tradition alive of Texans wide receivers.
31:31Like, Andre held out at one point.
31:33Yeah.
31:33For, like, two days, and then he just couldn't stay away.
31:35Yeah, yeah.
31:36And DeAndre held out for a day or two.
31:38Yeah, yeah.
31:39They both found out they kind of really like football a lot, probably,
31:43or just maybe it wasn't going to work, the holdout that they were doing.
31:46But that would keep the tradition alive at the very least.
31:49There comes that point, too, in the season and a holdout if it gets extended
31:52where you don't...
31:53You end up...
31:53If you don't show up, then you end up in the same situation the next year.
31:58Yeah.
31:58Because you're not...
31:58You lose that year of your NFL experience.
32:03Yeah.
32:03So you just go right back to square one.
32:06Yeah, the contract.
32:07I mean, people do it, but it's just rare.
32:08Okay.
32:09We have someone on here that's insistent that Nico and CJ don't get along.
32:12Nico and CJ don't get along.
32:14Just trust me on this.
32:15Oh.
32:16Okay.
32:16I'll trust you, buddy.
32:17Yeah.
32:19Is that why?
32:21That's one thing I love doing is going up to random strangers and being like,
32:24hey, just trust me.
32:26Yeah.
32:26Uh, and then, uh, and then tell them something crazy.
32:28Particularly the ones that are on a text page.
32:31Those are the ones that I really trust the most.
32:32Sometimes I put a mask on and I'll walk into a bank and I'll tell the teller, just, just
32:37trust me.
32:37Just trust me.
32:38Just put some money in the bag.
32:39Right.
32:39And just trust me on this.
32:41Just trust me.
32:42Not going to shoot you.
32:42Trust me that I have a gun in my, in my, in my jacket.
32:45Yes.
32:46And give me that money.
32:47Just trust me.
32:48Did it really work back in the day when people would stick their finger in their pocket and
32:51just point it like, you know, through their, you know, like they did on TV when they're
32:54robbing banks.
32:55That's the kind of situation where when you're watching it, you think if I were the bank teller,
32:59I would totally ask them to produce the weapon.
33:02Show me the gun.
33:03Yeah.
33:03But in real life, you probably.
33:05Oh, I'd be shoveling money into a bag.
33:07I would cave.
33:08How many seconds would it take me to cave in a bank robbery?
33:11Which, which option?
33:12Okay.
33:13Uh, which is most likely to, uh, to give me the option where I definitely don't get shot.
33:17Okay.
33:18By, uh, by either of an actual pistol or a finger, a finger pistol.
33:22Okay.
33:22Rank the six, 10 hosts in order of how quickly they'd cave in a bank robbery as a teller at
33:27a bank situation.
33:29I would be first for sure.
33:30You think you'd be first?
33:31Oh God.
33:31I would be, yeah.
33:32You know what I think honestly.
33:33Not my money.
33:34You know what I think honestly would be least likely to cave?
33:36Is, uh, Ron.
33:37Me too.
33:38Ron would.
33:38I was going to say.
33:39I think Ron would fight.
33:40Ron would keep arguing after he'd been shot seven times.
33:43He would be like.
33:46He's so.
33:47He'd have, he would have a satchel of cash clutched to his chest.
33:56Ron would bow up.
33:57Ron's got that switch.
33:59You know why not really?
34:00Ron, uh, Ron gets upset.
34:01There's a switch where you see a look in his eyes.
34:04Yeah.
34:04Where like, he ain't going to take no guff.
34:06Yep.
34:06Yeah.
34:06Yep.
34:07I think I would be the worst.
34:08I think Reggie would be number two.
34:10I shovel money into a bag.
34:12Reggie just doesn't want any of that heat.
34:14Um, and then I, I'm with you.
34:16I think of, yeah, I think Ron would be.
34:18I feel like on any given day, it would depend with me.
34:20I could either be least likely or most likely depending on what, what, what, how my biochemistry
34:25is that day.
34:26Yeah.
34:26Or if you went to Twitter right before you went to work that day.
34:29Yeah.
34:30Somebody angered me on.
34:31Right.
34:32Seth went down with a fight.
34:33Why?
34:33He was in his mentions before he went to work.
34:36Some guy started a tweet with, you do know.
34:40No, no, the robber.
34:41If the robber says, you do know, I have a pistol in my jacket.
34:46I'd be like, you condescending.
34:48Oh, it's on.
34:48You condescending piece of crap.
34:50It's on.
34:51How dare you condescend to me.
34:52Oh, my God.
34:56You do know that.
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