00:00OTA's turning to minicamp this week now, don't they?
00:03It is indeed here as of tomorrow.
00:06And so what's the next step that you want to see for this Texans team?
00:09It seems like it's been a lot of thumbs up.
00:11It's been a lot of green lights, which I guess summer football is supposed to kind of be that, right?
00:15It's the time where we all just kind of wax poetic in a positive way.
00:19And then we kind of don't think too much about the negatives if we don't have to.
00:23However, what is the next step that you want to see as your Texans progress towards a season
00:27in which they need to contend for something big?
00:30Well, so minicamp, you know, how is it different than OTA's?
00:33First of all, it's not voluntary.
00:34I mean, yeah, it's not voluntary.
00:36That's right.
00:37So they do need to be there.
00:38Don't expect anything with the Texans.
00:39So, Daniil, get out here, baby.
00:40Let's go.
00:41Don't expect anything with the Texans in terms of nobody showing up.
00:43But the other big difference is they really put, they clamp down on the time spent on the field,
00:50you know, player association rules and NFL rules and all that stuff.
00:53So I started thinking about that.
00:55And I looked it up.
00:56You can only have 10 hours of participation a day.
00:59Now, that includes meetings.
01:01Only, I believe, three or three and a half hours on the field.
01:05So it did get me thinking about this.
01:07You know, all these things that they're throwing, they're spitballing.
01:09They're still going to be doing a little bit of that during minicamp because it is just minicamp.
01:13It's three days.
01:14But I think we're going to start seeing, like, legit so-and-so's running with the ones.
01:19So-and-so is in the rotation at wide receiver.
01:22So-and-so is at tight end.
01:24Because there's just not a lot of time.
01:25I mean, and that's what you hear D'Amico Ryan say all the time.
01:28You know, it's, it's, I've called it this in the past, and I do believe it the most unbanked, you
01:34know,
01:35because, yes, it's just minicamp.
01:37We can all say that together.
01:39But the fact that Keelan Rutledge, you know, kind of ended OTAs getting more reps, just as an example, with
01:45the ones,
01:46if he trots out there with the ones now, that is extremely meaningful.
01:50Absolutely.
01:50Yeah, they're extremely meaningful.
01:51We've talked about it, right?
01:52Like, this undertaking that they are having where you are switching a guy from one position, in theory,
01:59or at least cross-training is the way that they are terming it.
02:02Yeah.
02:02Let's be honest.
02:03If things go the way that we all optimally want it to be, he is switching positions from guard to
02:08center.
02:08But he's switching into one of the more cerebral positions of football.
02:11Like, that is, that is a large undertaking for a guy.
02:14And as you mentioned, and a lot of people have decried, coaches, players, there's not a lot of time in
02:19the offseason because of collective bargaining.
02:21You only have so much time to have him in those places to learn, pick up the cerebral.
02:26You need to use as much of that time as possible to give him a runway to be capable of
02:31handling that position.
02:32So, any rep that he gets as a one along the people that, in theory, if he is starting, that
02:37he will be playing alongside is going to be important.
02:39Any time to go back to something that Clint had talked about in a way that was a little bit
02:43uncomfortable.
02:44And as much time as he had with CJ, hand, underneath him, right, I think it's a good thing because
02:49it puts him in a place where he has an opportunity to be comfortable
02:52and to hit the ground running as you are going up immediately against some interesting teams.
02:57Even if their defenses aren't incredible, you're going up against some good teams early on in the season.
03:00And there's other things that, again, you do have to temper it, but it is meaningful.
03:06How are they going to handle 11-on-11 reps?
03:09Because here we are about, hey, sometimes...
03:11The Will Anderson Jr. of this?
03:11That would be the biggest part of it, yes.
03:14How much is it going to be ones versus ones full bore?
03:17Or are you going to try to get more good reps for the offense, or at least early, before they
03:24put on the pads in training camp, to get used to things?
03:27That's another thing that I think, because of the time constraints, they may do that more.
03:31And by the way, we're going to have people out there watching minicamps, so we'll have all that for you.
03:38The other one that jumped out to me, and I'm kind of curious more than optimistic, not that I'm not
03:45optimistic, but just curious to see how it plays.
03:47That is Jaden Higgins, you know, the wide receiver room, and they've talked about moving him to all three positions
03:52and all three slots in the wide receiver reps.
03:57We'll see how that plays out.
03:58So a lot of this just is really meaningful.
04:00Tank Dell, I don't think it's going to be the be-all if he doesn't participate, but if he does,
04:04it's going to be a great advancement.
04:08No, 100%.
04:09I think that wide receiver, or receiving core in general, is something that I'm very intrigued about, because something that
04:15I've been thinking about, and I didn't know if I was going to bring it to air,
04:17it's one of those things that I think is currently in the stage of just something that you ponder, because
04:22yes, outside of work.
04:24You do a lot of pondering.
04:24Outside of work, still pondering about this football, as I think a lot of us do, is do they carry
04:29four tight ends, and how much do some of these tight ends possibly factor in
04:34when we're talking about the wide receiver room, and what the depth is there, because they have been absolutely glowing
04:40about Brevin Jordan.
04:42Yeah, that's a good one.
04:43And they've been glowing about Brevin Jordan for three years straight now.
04:46He just has had the misfortune of not being available the last couple years.
04:49If he's available, what does that do to the way that they run this?
04:54Do we even see as much of the slot position that we're thinking about, or is Brevin Jordan the type
05:00of player where he factors into what's happening here?
05:02I would love to get some level of inclination, because I know I'm not going to get a full answer
05:06in this, in watching them do this early on, right?
05:09Training camp is still a ways away, but I would love to get some inclinations as to just how much
05:16the love of Brevin Jordan and his capabilities and his athleticism,
05:19how much does that show up in what they're trying to do offensively?
05:23That is very intriguing to me.
05:24Particularly because now, in the past, it's been Brevin Jordan and a couple of tight ends trying to do a
05:28little bit of everything.
05:30Well, that's not the case anymore.
05:31You know, he'll have more of a specific role with the two tight end and three tight end sets.
05:35Maybe that's a good thing for him.
05:37I think it is a good thing for him, because he has that particular role.
05:40You've got Moreau coming in now, more of a blocker, hybrid kind of guy.
05:44Then you have, obviously, you know, you have the draft pick in Marlon Klein to see where he plays it.
05:50No, I think that's absolutely the case.
05:53Stay healthy and see how they use him, for sure.
05:55But the other thing, not a lot of questions on the defensive side, but there is a question at linebacker.
06:00You know, there is a question.
06:01Yeah, who are your best guys?
06:02This is the time.
06:03Much like Keelan Rutledge.
06:04All right, who's there?
06:05You know, who is getting those?
06:07Because they're not going to waste, all due respect, but just a handful of reps for the guys that aren't
06:12really showing anything at the linebacker position.
06:15So that's going to be big.
06:16Well, I think when you mentioned the defense, and you're especially, like, there's obviously the three levels, the top level,
06:21the secondary.
06:22I am interested to see how far along they are in, like, melding and meshing.
06:27Because that is one thing that you go 360 days from now, or in the past, and we were looking
06:34at the Johnson, going, oh, this is really interesting.
06:36Right?
06:36And I do not believe, let me go ahead and nip this in the bud as I've kind of set
06:39it up.
06:40I do not believe that the addition of re-blankenship is going to be anything like what ultimately happened with
06:46the C.J. Gardner-Johnson experience.
06:47I think that's fair.
06:48Right?
06:48I want to make that safe.
06:49That's sure about that?
06:49That's safe.
06:50Well, I guess you can never be sure about anything.
06:53But, like, I feel pretty comfortable in saying that.
06:57However, like, to what degree does that show up?
06:59And I think we'll talk more about this as we go along on today's show.
07:02But, like, how much better can this be when it comes to that?
07:06Because, I mean, you had instances where Kalen Bullock was doing a lot of covering.
07:10Whether it was for C.J. Gardner-Johnson at times seemingly going into business for himself or other safeties that
07:17were not as up to the standard, with all due respect, to them.
07:21Right?
07:21Re-blankenship is capable.
07:23And what does that unlock in the capabilities within the secondary?
07:25I think that you might start to get a little bit of a feel of that as we continue to
07:29get more time with them on the field.
07:30Yeah, we're just going to start to really understand is there something to the buzz that we've heard about in
07:37the offseason and at OTAs?
07:39You know, people who – Sebastian Harsh was mentioned.
07:43Okay, maybe that's nothing.
07:44And we'll start to find out because if he starts getting reps, same thing with Aiden Fisher, same thing as
07:48Wade Wood as.
07:49Well, that's going to be an interesting thing in many camps as well now that we have the full complement
07:52of Daniil Hunter and everybody.
07:54How are the reps going to play?
07:55What do the rotation on the defensive line start to show up?
07:58One of the most rotated positions in all of this Texans team.
08:01Where are they thinking early on?
08:03Obviously, the competition of this will still ultimately tell what's going to happen with this team as we go into
08:09training camp in a month or so.
08:11But right now, it'd be interesting to just get a feel.
08:14What are they thinking?
08:15Or how much they have some ideas.
08:17How much of this is just going to be a fluid rotation where we're seeing everybody still get reps early
08:22and how early on are they in this process?
08:24Yeah, and the thing about it also is we hear all this buzz, we talk about all these players kind
08:31of peripherally.
08:31And there'll still be some of that during minicamp because they are going to be doing some experimenting.
08:36But players like those that we've mentioned are going to be really, really important.
08:40Ultimately, though, and we'll get into this a little later, I'm sure, the CJ Stroud comfort level.
08:47Everybody's just been talking about it so much.
08:50Yeah, everybody's talking about, oh, he's buying in, he looks great, he's slimmer, all those other things.
08:56It's 11 on 11.
08:57They're going to go 11 on 11.
08:58It's not going to be pads until training camp.
09:00But we all know how hard they go, and they go 100%.
09:03So we'll get a good feel for that.
09:04And that is, I mean, we saved the best for last in this moment because all of the early, oh,
09:10man, he's really grabbing.
09:12The tempo was looking good, right?
09:13He seems to be orchestrating the offense.
09:15All that's fine and good in pared-down circumstances.
09:18And that's a necessary step towards the end goal that we're looking for.
09:22But, like, you go back to when CJ Stroud is being introduced to this offense, and they're showing him clips
09:26of Tom Brady.
09:27And I think we have the audio.
09:28We'll play it a little bit later.
09:29Him talking about how, yeah, it's not going to look like that yet, but eventually.
09:32Are we reaching that eventually where now he can use the offense and all of the push and pulls and
09:37all the tools of that to get to advantages for this offense?
09:41Because that would be a huge difference from what we saw last year.
09:45And this will be an opportunity to see the early iterations of that, hopefully, with minicamp starting tomorrow.
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