- 7 hours ago
Seth and Luke look at how Warren Sharp ranked the Texans O-Line, what Ross Tucker thinks of their line, and react to Brandon Aiyuk saying he's gonna keep doing things the way he has been.
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00:00How much better should we expect the Texans offensive line to be this year?
00:05It's Payne and Pendergast. I'm Luke Morrow in for Sean alongside Seth Payne.
00:09You can always text the show 713-572-4610.
00:14Get to us in the YouTube and Twitch chats as well.
00:20Yeah, so, you know, as I keep saying, this is the season of lists this time of year
00:26as we wait for training camp to begin in about two weeks.
00:28So, Warren Sharp, who has Sharp Analytics.
00:34It's sharpfootball.com, I think.
00:36No, I can't remember. Yeah, it's Sharp Football Analysis. That's what it is.
00:40Okay. Well, he's a big analytical guy. That's how I'll rephrase it.
00:44Yeah, but Sharp Football, Warren Sharp.
00:46He ranked the best offensive lines for 2026,
00:51and he actually did an article on his website that you could go see
00:54where he gives a blurb for each team.
00:56But on Twitter, he just listed the teams, ranking the best offensive lines.
01:01And you look at, oh, number one, Denver Broncos.
01:02Two Eagles. Okay. You scroll down.
01:04Ten. Oh, Falcons. Nice. Okay.
01:06The Lions, 14th. You know, so on and so forth.
01:08Oh, the Jaguars, 17th.
01:12Okay. Keep third right behind them.
01:13Keep scrolling.
01:14Oh, where are the Texans?
01:15Titans, 30th. Okay.
01:18Houston Texans, 31st on his list, only ahead of the Cleveland Browns,
01:24despite bringing in, you know, three new starters and whatever else.
01:29Warren Sharp right now has the Texans still as having the second worst offensive line for 2026.
01:34Okay, so this falls into a weird category for me of I disagree with them being that low,
01:43and yet at the same time, what am I going to do,
01:45get angry about anybody disparaging the Texans' offensive line?
01:49I think that until they show and prove that, yeah,
01:51this yet-again revamped offensive line can show up and do something,
01:56can actually push human beings more than a half yard or so off the line of scrimmage,
02:01that I refuse to get rankled by any kind of perceived disrespect or anything,
02:08that on paper it just looks like a few new names.
02:15And then some guys that have to play better than they did last year.
02:18Ariante Iresri, I thought, had a very promising rookie year.
02:21He's got to take the proverbial step forward.
02:23I think that some of the rankings of the offensive line right now,
02:28for people like Warren Sharp, who he's always struck me as one of these analytics types
02:34who thinks that NFL coaches are idiots because they don't pass 90% of the time.
02:38Like, you should be passing the ball every single down.
02:41I'm guessing pass protection ranks more highly with him than the run-pass balance.
02:49And, like, Wyatt Toler had some rough spots in pass protection.
02:53He wasn't the classic version of himself.
02:57Ed Ingram was awesome as a run-blocker, less consistent as a pass protector.
03:02You've got either Jake Andrews or a rookie at center.
03:05And then he might not – he probably doesn't – he doesn't weight Braden Smith's run-blocking ability
03:11as highly as he might factor in his pass-blocking ability.
03:15So I get where he might be coming from.
03:18I think it's – I still think it's far too low.
03:21But I refuse.
03:23I fight with every fiber of my being against being offended by it because this is what –
03:28this is the bed the Texans' offense has made for themselves.
03:32They've got to prove that they're actually a viable offensive line.
03:35Yeah, I was surprised with how reasonable Texans fans were about this online,
03:39having pretty much a similar reaction to you of – I don't know if I'd put them at 31st,
03:44but I get it.
03:45I figured a lot of – I figured a lot of outrage of like, how dare you?
03:48We made all these moves.
03:50How dare you?
03:50But, yeah, I think Texans fans are so beaten down here in recent years that it's like,
03:54yeah, you know, our offensive line has been bad.
03:56We have to wait until they actually can prove that they can have a good offensive line.
04:00Here's a guy – I don't know if he's a Texans fan or not,
04:02but I think it probably characterizes it.
04:04I'll try to say this in a furious voice.
04:07It's – minor nitpick.
04:10Texans improved their O-line more than 31st.
04:13Should be four to seven spots higher.
04:16That's the way it is.
04:17It's a depressing – it's a depressing thing to get in an argument about.
04:20Like, no, no, no.
04:21Listen, they are not the 31st offensive line.
04:24They are at least 27th, sir.
04:28Yeah.
04:29Anytime you start off an objection with –
04:32that's a pretty good indication that people aren't overly P.O.-ed about this.
04:35Yeah, it's true.
04:36So I was a little surprised because usually everyone's all –
04:38anytime you say something negative about their team, they're ticked off.
04:41But Texans fans get it.
04:42Exxon's fan says this.
04:44Texans improved significantly, expecting them to be closer to 15.
04:50Like, yeah, all right.
04:52You bastard, you're calling them bad when, in fact, they're mid.
04:56Yeah.
04:56How dare you?
04:57How dare you disrespect our very mid-offensive line?
05:01Now they –
05:03really what it comes to with the offensive line is it's –
05:06it's got to be faith in Popovich, in Cole Popovich, the offensive line coach,
05:13because there's just – you know, you can find a bunch of people that will tell you,
05:17look, man, you can have five average offensive linemen
05:19and have a really solid offensive line as long as they're all coached up real well
05:23and playing together.
05:24And I think they made progress in that last year.
05:27And it still wasn't what you wanted, but they were playing more uniformly with good technique,
05:34not making as many mental errors in the second half of the season.
05:38And I think that – just by virtue of adding a bunch of veterans as well.
05:42And I almost – I'll include Trent Brown in that because you didn't know that Trent –
05:46last year at the beginning of the season, you didn't even know if –
05:48I didn't know if Trent Brown was ever going to play football again.
05:51Like a guy in his 30s at that size coming off a patellar tendon tear,
05:55that's a big deal for an offensive lineman.
05:56So going into this season compared to last year,
06:00the thing that I'm most optimistic about is that they've just got a better complement
06:05of veteran players who play a certain style of football.
06:09There's more of an actual theme than what they've got on the offensive line right now.
06:13I feel like they've got a purpose, and it's that we're going to be a team that can run the
06:18ball
06:19and we'll take care of – we'll use that to make it easier in pass protection
06:23by virtue of the play action and everything else.
06:25So I feel – I do feel like – because I think Warren Sharp labeled this ranking as predictive, right?
06:31Like what he's predicting they'll be.
06:33And I would predict that, yeah, at the very least they're going to be a mediocre offensive line.
06:38And then above and beyond that, that's where maybe Cole Popovich can start to make a name for himself
06:43as an offensive line coach.
06:44If he takes this group and turns them into a genuinely good offensive line,
06:48I will heap praise upon praise for Cole Popovich because it'll be –
06:55evidence that he really knows what he's doing.
06:57Warren Sharp did say that the Texans could be the team that exceed these rankings
07:02to the largest degree.
07:03So in a sense, they might have like the highest ceiling or the highest potential.
07:09He said they shifted from 27th in man blocking percentage in 2024 to number two last year,
07:18only behind the Rams where Nick Caley came from.
07:21But he said with an offensive line not suited for it and without a real number one running back,
07:26year two of Caley running this system might be better.
07:30Yeah, and that's how I've been with the offensive line in their strategy over the last few years.
07:36Well, and especially running on into D'Amico's first year.
07:39I had a hard time figuring out what kind of guys they even liked.
07:43You know, because you'd have some guys that look like more athletic zone blocking type guys
07:47and you have other guys that are just huge maulers.
07:51And going back to OTAs this year and that first OTA,
07:56I think my first impression of just seeing the offensive line as they were walking out as a group
08:01was that, okay, this is a more physically impressive offensive line.
08:06Like this looks like a classic, they get off the bus and you're thinking,
08:09oh, this is going to be a physical battle today.
08:12And it feels like they have more of a theme for the type of guys that they're going after.
08:16So that alone, you know, it's just the old, what's the old saying?
08:21A good plan, well executed will beat a brilliant plan, poorly executed, you know, every single time.
08:27That's where it feels like they've got a good and solid plan at least.
08:32And you don't have to stock it up with a bunch of all pros to make it work.
08:35If you just execute the plan and you at first, A, have a plan and B, execute it properly.
08:41Have a theme, have a philosophy, know what you want out of your offensive lineman.
08:45It feels like they're more on the same page with that now.
08:48Ice cold funk train on YouTube said they haven't proved anything.
08:52So I agree, 31st seems fair.
08:54You know what else I found interesting was ESPN, again, speaking of lists or rankings,
08:59ESPN did a ranking this week of the most talented rosters in the NFL based off of starters.
09:05And they have the Texans have the ninth most talented roster, but that's even with them
09:10saying, biggest weakness, offensive line, this group is perhaps the NFL's shakiest starting
09:16five and remains a major concern.
09:19That's a real credit, I guess, to the defense where you can have the ninth most talented roster,
09:23even with what they list as maybe the worst offensive line in the league.
09:27Right, the worst offensive line.
09:28I'm guessing they don't have C.J. Stroud ranked all that high.
09:32People generally aren't all that enthusiastic about David Montgomery outside of Houston.
09:37Yeah, it's a testament to how good.
09:39You almost say, all right, well, yeah, if the Texans are number one or number two, then
09:43they've definitely got the Texans' offense ranked down around 18 or 19 or so to end up
09:49with that average of ninth best roster.
09:53I think with the offensive line, one thing that I've heard from a couple different people
09:57that I like is that you might take their top eight or nine offensive linemen and say this
10:05is one of the deeper groups in the league in terms of guys who can legitimately play NFL
10:10offensive line.
10:12You know, they're okay.
10:13This guy's, you don't question whether he's a viable starter or not.
10:17Um, and that's in, if you include the first round draft pick in there, but in terms of
10:24their actual top five, you don't feel nearly as good about it.
10:29Where I like that is that, man, what we've seen in the past few years is just that they've,
10:34they've had to play a whole bunch of offensive linemen.
10:36If you go back to 2023, which is the last time people were really excited about C.J.
10:41Stroud's performance, they were, they finished the 15th ranked offensive line in 2023,
10:47which I was kind of surprised when I went back on PFF.
10:50I went back to PFF just to look for it, just to try to be objective about things.
10:54And the thing about that year was that they had a long stretch of like capable offensive
11:03line play, but then they had a whole bunch of injuries.
11:06They ended up playing 14 different offensive linemen during the season that year.
11:11But the big thing is, okay, Laramie Tunsil was still Laramie Tunsil and still a good offensive
11:14lineman.
11:15Shaq Mason, I think that was, that was just as he was getting, he was starting to get
11:19old, but he was still a viable offensive lineman.
11:22But then George Fant was the swing tackle that you didn't really expect much out of that
11:28came in and actually played way better than you expected.
11:31And there was a little bit of a, there was more of a veteran stability on that offensive
11:35line in a lot of ways than I think C.J.'s had in the last couple of years.
11:39And it was lo and behold, with a mediocre offensive line, that was when C.J. Stroud had his most
11:45promising performance as an NFL player.
11:47That's why, like, to me, getting back to mediocre is a big step forward.
11:54And you get a better feel for exactly what C.J. Stroud is as a quarterback.
11:57Yeah, because look, I was going to say, how could you be the ninth best team in the league
12:01if you have the worst offensive line?
12:03But then I was thinking, they kind of did that last year where their offensive line was
12:06towards the bottom of the league, and yet they finished in the top, you know, really
12:11should have been top.
12:1213th in scoring.
12:13Okay.
12:13But just, you know, overall, I'm saying as an overall team, they still finished.
12:17Oh, yeah.
12:17You know, I mean, they should have been, for all intents and purposes, the AFC representative
12:21in the Super Bowl.
12:22So usually you wouldn't think of a team being that good without a decent offensive line,
12:29but the Texans have been doing that.
12:30So imagine if they do get decent on the offensive line.
12:32That's been the whole conversation.
12:34Right, right.
12:34Yeah, no, look, it's not, look, it's, it might be the most lopsided of the teams that are
12:40in the top third.
12:41Are they one of the most lopsided teams in terms of how, like, where you would rank their
12:46rosters right now?
12:47The Seahawks, the Seahawks are ranked third, excuse me.
12:52The Seahawks are ranked third, and obviously their offense was way better than the Texans last
12:57year.
12:58The Ravens are fifth.
13:00The Ravens are, the Ravens are interesting to me.
13:02I think I told you earlier this week that I feel like people are talking about the Ravens
13:06as if John Harbaugh is still the head coach, that they just, they, because that's what
13:12they did with the Saints for a couple years.
13:13They would talk about the Saints as if Sean Payton was still the head coach, because when
13:17a head coach is there for so long, you almost start to just identify a team as being like,
13:23well, the Ravens are always consistently competitive, and they've got Lamar Jackson, and look, their
13:27defense, people still errantly believe that the Ravens' defense is always good, when in
13:32fact, in the last few years, they've had these weird seasons where they're actually a bad
13:37defense for the first half of the season, then they play in the second half of the season
13:40like one of the best defenses in the league.
13:43But there's a lot of things systemically about the Ravens that I just, I don't have as much
13:47faith in them as it seems like a lot of the power rankings do.
13:51In case you were curious on this ranking, the Jaguars were 16th for most talented roster,
13:58Colts 20th, Titans 28th, so that's the rest of the division.
14:03Here's friend of the show.
14:04Who was 16th?
14:06Jaguars.
14:06Okay.
14:07I believe, right?
14:08I think I have that right.
14:0816th, Colts 20th, Titans 28th, when looking at the rest of the division and how their rosters
14:14stack up.
14:15Friend of the show, Ross Tucker.
14:17Was this what Houston Stressens, is that where this audio comes from?
14:20This is Garrett on Garrett Williams' YouTube channel.
14:23Awesome.
14:23Here's Ross talking about the offensive line, first talking about how Casario made a bunch
14:28of moves.
14:29So this is the second year in a row where he's thrown a lot of volume at the position.
14:37But right now, I think they have 10 guys that have played, or a first-round pick, right?
14:43So 10 guys that you'd like to think, if they were out there, would be good enough to not
14:52be the reason why the Texans lose.
14:54And give them depth for injuries.
14:57I think...
15:01Oh.
15:02Bad edit by me.
15:03Oh, okay.
15:03Sorry about that.
15:04I was waiting.
15:07I was waiting for it myself.
15:09What, Ross?
15:10Yeah.
15:10It's hard with Ross because he's a very slow talker.
15:13And he takes pauses.
15:14So I should have cut that, I think, out of there.
15:16Sorry about that, Ben.
15:17I should be at the edge of my seat of, like, what are you thinking about, Ross?
15:20I think...
15:23Luke, there's something, there's a little quirk of pain in Pendergast, is that I try to help
15:28Ben out by editing audio myself and end up making it way more miserable for Ben.
15:33So, yeah, as far as that, though, like, the 10 guys who have actually played in the
15:38NFL, like, that's a...
15:41What he's saying there, I agree with partly in that a lot of those backups, if you had an
15:47offensive line composed of nothing but the 6th through 10th guys, then that's not going
15:52to be a very good offensive line.
15:54But there are guys that you can plug in, just like most good offensive lines in the NFL these
15:58days have at least one guy on there where he's just along for the ride.
16:02But if you can keep his workload and exactly how much pressure and focus there is on him
16:09to a minimum, then, yeah, you can still be offensive line with that.
16:13But they at least now have, as opposed to the last few years, I think, where they were just,
16:20they were penciling guys in as starters early in training camp who still hadn't even proven
16:26that they could play in the NFL.
16:27You know, when you just, you go into camp and Kenyon Green's getting all the reps at left guard
16:33and wondering where, like, why is this guy not facing any competition?
16:37I just don't get it, that it doesn't feel like that anymore.
16:41And I do, like, I think that, I think the best evidence of that is that right now it's
16:47really easy to draw up the depth chart and say, okay, Wyatt Teller's your left guard and
16:51Braden Smith is your right tackle.
16:53I'm not convinced that that's 100% of certainty, even with health.
16:57Because remember, last year you signed Cam Robinson as a veteran offensive tackle and free
17:02agency, do a nice chunk of money, not an exorbitant contract, and he's off the team within the
17:07first few weeks.
17:08So I feel good about those additions with Braden Smith and Wyatt Teller, and I don't think either
17:12of them will be off the team within a few weeks.
17:14But I think Braden Smith and Trent Brown might be in more of a competition than you realize.
17:18I think if perhaps, you know, depending on how healthy and consistent Wyatt Teller is during
17:24camp, if Keelan Rutledge is struggling at center but is looking really good taking guard
17:29reps that Wyatt Teller might be facing some competition from Keelan Rutledge.
17:34So, like, now you've got, okay, you've got a first-round draft pick that might be competing
17:38with a former all-pro guard for who's going to be the starter.
17:43As opposed to last year when it was, all right, Laken Tomlinson and Juice Scruggs are going
17:48to battle it out to see who the starting left guard is.
17:52And six months later, neither of them are even on the team.
17:55And in the second half of the season, those guys aren't even playing.
17:58Like, that was a much worse situation than what they have right now.
18:02They've got actual competition now.
18:04You mentioned Keelan Rutledge.
18:06More Ross Tucker here with Houston Stressons.
18:09Ross talking about how Rutledge is the key.
18:12It's debatable how much Wyatt Teller has left.
18:15I thought he still did some really positive things last year.
18:18I think Keelan Rutledge is going to be, pardon the pun, but the key.
18:25You know, to move a guy that was at guard to center to kind of give him the keys to
18:31the castle.
18:32I mean, that is, that's a significant, significant decision.
18:38They must really, really believe in the young man.
18:41I certainly loved his tape at Georgia Tech, love him getting after people, snapping the ball first.
18:49You know, the mental aspect of playing center is a little bit different.
18:53You know, Stroud's getting there in terms of experience, but I wouldn't call him a wily veteran yet.
18:58So, I do think, you know, they are going to test Rutledge early, both physically and mentally, and it'll be
19:08sink or swim.
19:09We'll see whether or not he can rise to the challenge.
19:11There is a chance, you know, there might be some growing pains in a new position early.
19:16Ben, I need you to throw the, I think, at the end of every time we play a Ross Tucker.
19:19Yeah, I think, this is what Ross Tucker thinks.
19:23Yeah, that's, and we saw that in OTAs in minicamp.
19:27They're going to get Kaelin Rutledge a lot of snaps at center, literally.
19:31And now I'm doing, they're going to, because he needs to just get the physical muscle memory of snapping the
19:39football
19:39while also making, doing all the mental work and the physical challenges of learning to play in the NFL.
19:45Well, it's a lot, and some guys have done it, you know.
19:48Like, there's a good number of examples of guys who played guard or tackle in college
19:53and then went to play center in the NFL.
19:55The guy that I always think of first is Matt Burke, the Minnesota.
19:59He was a tackle at Harvard.
20:02And when he got drafted, we, those of us who played in the Ivy League, we're all kind of like,
20:06huh, wow, really?
20:08Like, it wasn't like he was an incredibly impressive, overpowering offensive lineman
20:13when he was a tackle in the Ivy League.
20:15He gets to the NFL, and they try him out at center, and he ends up being a perennial all
20:21-pro at center.
20:22So it's like there's any number of examples of guys who have done it, but it's just not,
20:28it's not as simple as, oh, yeah, since he's a good enough athlete to play guard or tackle,
20:34then certainly he'll be good at center.
20:35It's just a different set of challenges.
20:38And those first few weeks of camp, the biggest thing that I'm looking for first and foremost
20:42is that his shotgun snaps are more consistent because that was the one thing during OTAs
20:47that, man, all those other centers, whether it's Evan Brown or Jake Andrews
20:51or other guys who have played the position, they're a lot more consistent with the snap.
20:55And even then, we know that Jake Andrews had some issues with the snap in the Steelers game.
21:00That if he can consistently snap the ball well, while also still handling guys like Tommy Togiai in practice,
21:07that's going to be a really good sign.
21:09That's a rare offensive lineman that I think you could actually read into a lot of what's going on in
21:17practice.
21:17Because it's hard to evaluate in practice, the offensive lineman, interior offensive lineman,
21:23and defensive lineman because there's so many of the physical things they can't do.
21:26But I think that if he's consistently snapping the ball well and he's having good reps and pass protection
21:31and looks like he's getting movement in the run game in the first couple of weeks,
21:35then I think it's an almost certainty that it'll be the starting center.
21:38If he's struggling, then there's going to be questions, you know, and we're going to have to see.
21:43I feel like it's the most under-talked part of this Texans team,
21:46and maybe I'm just not hearing the conversations.
21:49But yeah, Keelan Rutledge, the fact that you're going to have a rookie,
21:52already a struggling offensive line with a young quarterback,
21:54you're hoping to improve this offense,
21:56and you're going to have a rookie center who's moving over.
21:58It's a new position, new league.
22:00He's only a rookie, and he's going to be that center working with Stroud,
22:04trying to figure this all out.
22:06Look, the ultimate goal is obviously to go win a Super Bowl,
22:08and to my research, only one time has a rookie center started the entire season
22:14and led a team to a Super Bowl.
22:17So obviously it's a hard thing,
22:18and when you already talk about the questions on this offensive line,
22:20it just feels like, man, at the center position,
22:23to have a rookie learning the position and the NFL all at the same time.
22:27It seems like a lot.
22:28It's what they love doing.
22:29They love taking C.J. and putting inexperience and youth in front.
22:33I mean, Jake Andrews last year was the guy,
22:34he played 70 snaps in the NFL up to that point.
22:37It's true, yeah.
22:37And if I recall correctly, none of them were at center in actual NFL games,
22:42and he figured it out and got better as the year went along.
22:46But it's just these first – I mean, we saw it last year.
22:49I have a hard time – the Rams, it's not just the Texans,
22:55it's the Rams who are a really, really good and proven NFL team,
22:59that sometimes they treat these first few games of the season like,
23:03ah, we'll figure it out.
23:04But, you know, when you start off 0-3, like with the Texans last year,
23:09it's really, really hard, and you don't end up with home field advantage.
23:13You know, the Rams don't play any of their starters during the preseason,
23:16hardly at all.
23:18And then they often go out and struggle in the first few games of the season.
23:22Like, man, those are kinds of – you only get 17 of these, McVay.
23:25I know you're not an analytics guy, but that's relatively basic math.
23:29It's true, I know.
23:31But, yeah, I mean, Belichick's done that at times in September 8th.
23:33You read a little bit, like you fool around in September, figure things out,
23:36try to turn it on.
23:38Belichick also – you know what?
23:39This is the thing about Belichick, though.
23:41Belichick was really good at figuring out what his team was.
23:47And over the course of the first half of the season,
23:49a lot of times you'd see these huge methodological shifts.
23:55And, you know, the year they played the Rams in the Super Bowl,
23:57that was the one where all of a sudden midway through the season,
24:00you know what?
24:00We're a running football team.
24:01This is what we do well.
24:02We're going to lean into it.
24:03This is what we do.
24:05And with him, I always felt like it wasn't as much of a –
24:08it wasn't like he wasn't –
24:10it wasn't like he was trying to preserve and rest guys or anything.
24:13It was that he was just genuinely trying to figure out his own team
24:17and, like, what they needed to lean into.
24:19Right, right.
24:19Yeah, that's fair.
24:20I think they were just –
24:21like, I think sometimes they just weren't actually that good a football team
24:24at the beginning of the year.
24:25But they just had – they had really good position coaching.
24:28That's why – and that's why I like D'Amico transitioning to this role.
24:33I realized his job is to coach the coaches as much as it is the players
24:36because Belichick was really good at coaching his assistant coaches.
24:40So you'd see – I would always watch their defensive line.
24:42And at the beginning of the season, I'd be like,
24:45God, these guys, they're just not that good.
24:47And then I would check in midway through the season on the Patriots,
24:51and I'm like, who are these guys?
24:53Oh, it's the same guys.
24:54They're just playing much better football.
24:56They're just – they've actually improved in the midst of an NFL season
25:01at their technique and these details and all of those things.
25:04On the text line, someone says,
25:06the reason you're not hearing a lot of talk about Rutledge is because it's July.
25:09Yeah, okay, so I guess we shouldn't talk about the meteor when it's on the way to Earth.
25:13You just talk about it once it actually hits down and, you know, crushes the world.
25:18You're trying to forecast.
25:19I think it's a very big concern or question for this entire team.
25:23Who said we weren't hearing anything about Rutledge?
25:25Would you –
25:26Well, I had referenced that I feel like it's not as big of a talking point.
25:31I don't hear enough conversations about, like, the concern of trying to have a rookie center
25:36who's changing positions on an offense that has been struggling
25:40or offensive line that we're still trying to figure out.
25:42Right, yeah.
25:43You're specifically talking about, like, for when people are talking about the Texans
25:48and previewing and everything this time of year where those are the kinds of things
25:51where you talk about Rutledge.
25:52I think you're 100% correct in that there's a tendency sometimes to forget that 50% of first-rounders
25:59don't really work out.
26:00You know, that it's never a slam dunk.
26:04Oh, they drafted them late in the first round, did they?
26:07Well, clearly, clearly that's going to be – that'll be an impact.
26:13Especially – so 50% on average in the first round, not as high at the back end of the
26:19first round.
26:20Offensive linemen do tend to – there tend to be fewer busts with offensive linemen,
26:25but this is an organization that also drafted Kenyon Green.
26:28So there's just six of one, half dozen of the other, which – it's hard to say.
26:33Track record's not great, yeah.
26:35Yeah.
26:35But to your point, yeah, offensive line's the position group that has the highest percentage
26:39of guys getting the second contract with the team that drafted them.
26:42So it is technically or statistically the safest position to draft, but nothing's guaranteed.
26:47Yeah, it's always felt to me like if I were a GM,
26:50it feels like that's where you get the most bang for your buck.
26:53And I would organize my team around always having an awesome offensive line.
26:59No matter what – no matter where the pendulum swings in the coming and going
27:05of whether offense or defense is more important or running or passing or whatever,
27:09you're just – you're more likely to succeed with your pick
27:12and you're more likely to have them around for a long time.
27:16That's true.
27:17I'm old school.
27:17I still like the old school basketball where you played from inside out.
27:22Instead of today, it's the opposite.
27:23And football, same idea.
27:25Like build from the inside out.
27:26Offensive line, defensive line.
27:27I think those are still the most important units of a successful team.
27:31It's still the thing that makes – if you want to get the absolute best out of your quarterback,
27:37you can make it as easier, as hard for your quarterback as you want
27:40when you have a really good offensive line.
27:42You know, you can put as much on his arm as you need to,
27:44or you can just lean into the run game and – or including – you can –
27:49and obviously you make him a better passer when he's well.
27:53But, yeah, that part of it.
27:55And then just the fact that, too, those offensive linemen that do work out for you
27:58end up to tend – they get really big contracts these days.
28:02That if you can control those costs without having to go out and sign a free agent
28:06or trade for a free agent at some point, you're saving a lot of money in the long term.
28:10Yeah, certainly.
28:12We did spend – it was worth it.
28:14Great conversation.
28:15We did spend more time on that than anticipating.
28:17But I do want to get to this because we've been tracking – even before I stepped in this week,
28:22obviously you and Sean have been tracking this whole Brandon Iyuk thing.
28:24And we played some audio from one of the McCourty's with Jason McCourty yesterday, I think it was,
28:30who said, hey, Iyuk, just put the phone down.
28:33Apparently, Brandon Iyuk is not taking that advice.
28:36Here's the wide receiver.
28:39It'd be like B.A. and his social media antics.
28:43Well, I got to get paid somehow because the employer holding me captive without paying.
28:50At least social media paying.
28:51I mean, I'll tell y'all what, I'll get a job back in the NFL, man.
28:58I'm still going to be on my bull**** on social media.
29:01Yeah, that right there, I'm still going to be on my BS on social media.
29:06Like, that is the clearest evidence yet that he just flat out doesn't want to play football.
29:11I think he is just – I think he's – there's a part of him that's a little bit crazy
29:17right now,
29:17but I think there's also a part of it that he doesn't care because he doesn't really – he's going
29:24to let his freak flag fly,
29:26and he's not worried about it because he really doesn't care if a team signs him or not.
29:30Like, that part right there.
29:33Yeah, I would take a flyer and Iyuk if you could actually get him to sign on a minimum deal
29:37with incentive-laden.
29:38And the first part of the conversation you're going to have is, hey, what's been going on with you, man?
29:43What's – like, is it just that you were confused and angry or whatever,
29:48and now are you ready to just kind of focus on football?
29:51And he's just flat out there broadcasting it to the world.
29:53No, I'm going to keep all of this up.
29:55I will be a distraction in your locker room.
29:58Everything that you're worried about, even if you sign me to a minimum deal,
30:01yes, I will make life miserable for those around me.
30:04I don't think he wants to play football.
30:05Do you think this is all sort of, like, then a bit that he's doing on social media for the
30:10attention?
30:10Because he said, like, I'm not getting paid by my team.
30:12I've got to make money somehow.
30:14Like, is this all, like, a shtick he's doing now?
30:16Right, because, okay, I don't think – I can't imagine he's blown through the – how much has he made
30:20since he got the new contract?
30:23I can't imagine that he's blown through all that money,
30:26and whatever he's making on social media isn't nearly what he's going to be making.
30:29And if he were paid what his – if he were paid what his sane – like, a sane Brandon
30:36Iyuk is going to make way more money,
30:38if he just keeps his mouth shut or just even just delivers statements instead of blabbing on social media or
30:45whatever,
30:46like, he's just – he refuses to do any of it.
30:49And then he continues to lean into, like, demanding that the 49ers cut him.
30:53Well, he still hasn't filed his reinstatement paperwork that would allow the 49ers to cut him.
30:59And also, like, the 49ers – he's demonstrated already once before, he wanted off the 49ers.
31:05The 49ers tried to help him, set up a deal with the Steelers, and Iyuk submarined that.
31:10And then God knows why the 49ers decided to still give him a contract anyway.
31:15And then everything was a mess afterwards, ever since then.
31:19Like, the 49ers, if they were just being completely calm, cool, and rational about this,
31:25which it seems like they're doing, no, they've got no – he, theoretically, is still a tradable asset.
31:32And you just wait and see exactly if he does file his reinstatement paperwork, see what happens.
31:37I think Iyuk, yeah, just was trying to make it such an uncomfortable and ridiculous situation
31:42that if and when he does sign his file for reinstatement that the 49ers do just want to wash their
31:50hands clean of him.
31:51But he's doing so much damage in terms of his signability right now.
31:55Yeah.
31:56Including with the commanders of the team where it seems like, man,
31:59maybe the commanders really would have given him a respectable contract of some sort.
32:02He's probably completely destroyed that.
32:04Yeah, right.
32:05By the way, Spotrack, whatever it is, he has made $60 million so far in his career,
32:12but he still has another $85 million on that contract.
32:16It's crazy to be, like, walking away, essentially, right now from $85 million with the way he's act.
32:22Here's more Brandon Iyuk saying that, shockingly, Jaden Daniels, his at least former friend, maybe still friend,
32:29Jaden Daniels not accepting his calls.
32:31He said, I don't do that internet s***, bro.
32:33Hit my phone if you've got to talk to me, bro.
32:36He's got my number.
32:37And I call the s***, he don't answer.
32:39Hit my phone, bro.
32:41It's important.
32:43It's the money on the line.
32:45Yeah, it's the money on the line.
32:52Jaden Daniels wants nothing to do with this.
32:54I don't know.
32:55Even, like, the reports that those two are close friends and everything, I'm starting to wonder,
32:59did all of those reports come from Brandon Iyuk himself?
33:02Do we know that Jaden Daniels has actually even really, like, liked Brandon Iyuk for any stretch of the time?
33:09I'm guessing there's evidence out there that they do.
33:11But right now, he's just, according to the source, Brandon Iyuk, Jaden Daniels isn't accepting his calls.
33:17But I don't trust anything that I hear from Brandon Iyuk at this point.
33:20Well, that's also true.
33:21Yeah, and I don't blame Jaden Daniels.
33:23His people are probably telling him, like, don't associate with this.
33:25Stay as far away from this as you can.
33:27Because it's only going to make you look bad getting wrapped up in it.
33:32On the text line, somebody said, first video, Iyuk said, they're stupid for paying me.
33:36Last video, he's saying, I got to make money somehow.
33:38Pick a lane, bro.
33:41So, it's...
33:42There's not.
33:42The people that have...
33:43It's been fun to watch the people who are adamantly defending Brandon Iyuk kind of just steadily fall off the
33:49bandwagon.
33:51They start to realize, all right, man, there's just nothing defensible that he's doing right now.
33:55Especially when he's the only guy that's complaining about the 49ers is this evil organization.
34:00It's true.
34:01You don't find other 49ers players talking about what bastards they are or anything.
34:06Or how Kyle Shanahan is so evil.
34:09He's the only guy that's got these complaints.
34:11And he's also the only guy who's acting like a lunatic on social media.
34:15It's true.
34:15Yeah, he's looking around like, right, guys?
34:17You're with me?
34:17Right?
34:17The Niners?
34:18This organization's crazy?
34:20Debo Samuel had nothing but praise for Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch after he left.
34:24Yeah, no, the guy's just bonkos.
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