00:00And with that Houston Texans team, I was doing a podcast yesterday,
00:03and an interesting conversation came up that I guess I had not thought enough about,
00:07and so I wanted to bring it to you, fellas.
00:09Is it possible that we are kind of not thinking enough about Ariante Ursary,
00:15the left tackle, for this Houston Texans team?
00:17We were talking about the impact of the 2025 draft class
00:23because this class matters so much.
00:26There is a lot that is staked on this class.
00:28It is not the foundation of this team.
00:30That is still elders of this team.
00:33But the 2025 class is where you have a lot of upside for this team.
00:37I think personally I view this as the 2025 class determines whether you go to Super Bowl or not.
00:42Because does Jaden Higgins, does Jalen Knoll, do they create explosives?
00:47Are they going to be intact with C.J. Stroud to where your wide receiver core is not just Nico
00:53Collins?
00:53That's a huge difference.
00:55Jalen Smith we talked about.
00:56Cornerback three.
00:57I don't know that you can definitively say you're going to be as healthy at cornerback, right?
01:01You would hope that's the case.
01:02But if you need to go there, are you a weak link or are you just another rock that is
01:07in this defense?
01:08Who are your other 25 guys in there, right?
01:10Woody Marks, right?
01:11If he's involved in the passing game, if he is as good in a secondary role as he was in
01:16a starting role,
01:17what does that look like?
01:18And then also in the return game.
01:19Those guys help make the difference between this is a team that's really good
01:22or a team that is going to be damn impossible to stop.
01:24And one of those guys is also Ariante Urshry.
01:28Ariante Urshry is playing what is very widely regarded as one of the, what, three most difficult
01:33or most important positions in football?
01:36100%.
01:37Quarterback.
01:37The guy who gets after the quarterback and the guy who stops the guy getting after the quarterback.
01:41And I mean quarterback, pass rusher, and left tackle, right?
01:44On that blind side.
01:45As you mentioned, look at the salaries.
01:47There is no backup for if Ariante Urshry is not the same.
01:51In fact, Ariante Urshry in his second year, right?
01:53Are we certain that this goes forward?
01:55Is there a possibility that this goes back?
01:57Do you feel like there's any possibility that we have been too lax in what we view for Ariante Urshry?
02:03Well, I think in terms of a possibility, yes.
02:06The answer is yes.
02:07That's not necessarily how I feel it's going to play out, but yes, you know, rookie year
02:13to second year is always a little dicey in terms of, are you going to get that jump?
02:19Is there going to be a step back?
02:22You know, could the league, and in this case, you know, opposing players and coaches sort of
02:28adjust to what you do and where some of your shortcomings are?
02:31Yeah.
02:31Absolutely.
02:32It's a possibility.
02:33I don't feel that, and I think that's why we're all so lax.
02:36I think that's how you put it.
02:38Yeah, I didn't have a great way of putting it.
02:39In terms of, like, just assuming, oh, yeah, he's going to be, you know, pencil in Urshry.
02:43Don't worry about him.
02:44He's probably going to get better, and they have their left tackle for the next 10, 12 years.
02:48I think I feel that way, but 100%, you know, there's a possibility.
02:54I mean, look at just history.
02:56Look at history on this team of some players that, you know, that never really advanced,
03:00you know, especially on the offensive line.
03:02Yeah, not only just advanced, but just kind of stay the same, I guess.
03:06Right.
03:06So, let's say a pretty good rookie year, but what if he had that same type of year for
03:12the next two or three years?
03:13Or a step back.
03:14Yeah.
03:15Yeah.
03:15Yeah.
03:15I mean, the Texans are not entirely unfamiliar with a good first year that then turns into
03:20maybe not as good of a second year.
03:22The thing that I kind of stood on is I think that Ariante Urshry has earned that deference.
03:28Yeah.
03:28I think he has.
03:29The thing that obviously first jumps out to me is he looked like a rookie for a minimal
03:34amount of weeks, and then he was just like, I need to be better, and then he was.
03:38Now, of course, he was not perfect, but for a rookie circumstance, and I think that he
03:42didn't get enough love across the league because the entirety of that offensive line as a collective
03:46was not all that good.
03:48It was better than the year before.
03:49Don't get me wrong, but it wasn't like a great offensive line by any means, and so
03:53his efforts were also in the context of what was happening around him, but he was pretty
03:57damn good, and he gave up on rookie mistakes like halfway through the year.
04:01Like, we did not see very many, damn, this dude looks like a rookie moments for him after
04:05a certain period of time, which is a lot to ask again in a position of that magnitude.
04:10On top of that, who was his running mates?
04:13Because this is one of the things that we talk about on Offensive Line.
04:15That is the question.
04:16Who was with you helping you do your job?
04:19And there was a constant rotation, not just on the offensive line at hole, right next
04:22to him.
04:23Because remember, we came in with the idea of, oh, well, there's a, oh my goodness, what's
04:28my man, I've already forgotten his name, that started the season last year at left guard?
04:33Our Jamaican guy who came in.
04:35Tomlinson.
04:36Yes, Laken Tomlinson, right?
04:37Oh, Laken Tomlinson.
04:37Thank you, I appreciate that.
04:38I felt like Clint for a moment.
04:39I understood his name.
04:41What was my man's name?
04:42Man, I was struggling, brother.
04:43I was fighting for my life.
04:44And I liked Laken so much.
04:45He was so good to talk to.
04:48Great to talk to.
04:49Incredible dude, right?
04:50Really smart.
04:51But yeah, man, Laken did not pan out by any means.
04:55And we were thinking that that was going to be a veteran next to Ariane Territory that
04:57helped him out.
04:58But he can help himself out.
05:00Then you're talking about, is Jarrett Patterson playing here?
05:03Is Drew Scruggs playing here?
05:06Is C.D.
05:15Is Howard playing out of position in a different position, although a veteran, right?
05:19I don't think that that can be ignored in that he had all of that.
05:23And now you take all of that and you move it into Wyatt Teller, a dude who clearly is
05:27an offensive line leader.
05:28Like, that should also help Ariane Territory take what was a good rookie year into a better
05:32one.
05:32No, look.
05:33I think that's an enormous factor.
05:35Wyatt Teller right next to him, you know, forming that group.
05:38That's the other key thing.
05:39I think they're going to have five guys and it's going to be pretty much those are the
05:43five guys, you know, early into training camp.
05:46So that's going to help.
05:47The question becomes not just are people going to maybe, you know, not figure him out, but
05:53have some better counterattacks to what he does.
05:55Is he going to plateau or whatever?
05:58But the other aspect of it is even just the options behind him.
06:03If there's even just a minor injury, all of a sudden, I mean, you're looking at Blake
06:09Fisher.
06:10Yeah.
06:10And we all know, we all look at Blake Fisher a little funny in terms of playing.
06:14Heavy on you.
06:15Yeah.
06:15Heavy on you looking at me.
06:16Especially me.
06:17That's right.
06:17No, but I mean, I think it's fair, right?
06:18Because not only that, Blake Fisher, when's the last time he actually ran at left, right?
06:22He's been at right.
06:23Otherwise, the guys that you feel confident about playing tackle are both Rice Bradenmuth and
06:29Trent Brown.
06:30Like, are we looking at the possibility of, do they bring someone in?
06:34Are one of these undrafted free agents, one of the guys that end up being your backup left
06:38tackle?
06:38And none of those sound like things that I'd be all that excited about seeing in a real
06:43football situation where you're trying to win football games.
06:46So yeah, I think that that is also the part that has to be acknowledged is that he has
06:51to be good.
06:51He also just has to be healthy.
06:53Well, he has to be healthy based on what we just said.
06:56But the reason I've never even really considered that, and you're right, we should.
06:59I mean, it's out there that you could, we just talked about it.
07:02We've seen players do that before, reach a certain level and maybe regress or whatever.
07:05But my thing is, not only, as you said, did he not look like a rookie in the first four
07:10games, the last four or five games, he got even better.
07:14He was really a lot better player toward the end of the year.
07:17So I'm not worried about it, but it is something to consider.
07:20Yeah.
07:21So I hadn't considered, I was one of the people along with you that hadn't considered it.
07:24I think he's earned it.
07:25I think he's played at a level that's high enough where I feel good about him.
07:29The only thing is that injury thing pops up for me.
07:31But I'm, I'm honestly, I'm swayed and I was moved.
07:34I think we talked about this when D'Amico Ryans was talking earlier on in the spring
07:37and he was mentioning, hey, you know, Ariante Urseri, they're trying to make him more of
07:41a vocal leader.
07:42Yeah.
07:43And we talked about it more in the context of, does it feel like they're trying to make
07:47sure that they never fall back into the place that they did previously with the likes
07:50of Laramie Tunsil and Titus Howard, who I don't want to disparage, but obviously weren't
07:55those vocal leaders quite in the way that you wanted.
07:57And this is a clear shift in the culture, but again, for a second year player, for D'Amico
08:02Ryans to be like, not only do I want that guy to be a leader, I want to make sure
08:05that
08:05he's vocal.
08:05A vocal leader.
08:06You don't do that with a dude that you have in play.
08:09Right.
08:09And that's certainly a factor that while we're all sort of confident, but you're right in
08:13terms of behind him, not just Blake Fisher, they have two undrafted free agents that they
08:18know on the depth chart anyway.
08:19So it is something to consider.
08:21Yeah, it absolutely is.
08:22So yeah, because who is, who's most likely your mind to be a swing tackle here?
08:27Ooh, Brayden Smith.
08:30And I, I'd have to, I'd have to really dig and see if I can find the time that Brayden
08:34in there is what I'm saying.
08:35I would probably say Trent Brown.
08:37Does he go to left tackle?
08:39Especially because Trent Brown, not to, not to try and disparage him.
08:42I feel like left tackle, you definitely want a little bit more athleticism with that black
08:46backside.
08:46I don't know that Trent Brown is as athletic as I would want there.
08:51He's definitely big and imposing.
08:52I kind of like him more on the right side.
08:54I do wonder if that ends up being the Brayden.
08:55Then you're kind of moving two positions.
08:57I mean, affecting two positions.
08:59No, 100%.
09:00Yeah.
09:00Yeah.
09:01And I guess it ultimately kind of would probably just be whichever one of the ones that do not
09:05take down the right tackle spot.
09:07Yeah.
09:07Then kind of has to, hey, wipe, wipe with your other hand and learn a little bit more left
09:11tackle just so that we have some insurance.
09:13Because that is kind of one of the depth spots that we have not talked a lot about that could
09:17be problematic if something really dangerous happens.
09:20Go ahead and knock on wood with me right now.
09:22Because Ariante Ursari, I just would want him to play 17 plus games and continue to develop.
09:27I think that that's what happens if he plays those.
09:29But yeah, I was like, hey, maybe we've taken Tay a little bit for granted in this point.
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