- 2 months ago
Zach Gelb and B. Scott take a look at where Texans All-Pro edge rushers Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter stack among the best in football.
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00:00I just want to pick up on where we left off with how the Texans, it feels like they need
00:04more than
00:04just Nico Collins in terms of weapons on the offensive side of the ball. Is that a Nick Casario
00:10problem? Because he's the guy that runs the team. We know he's done a really good job with this
00:15franchise. It's not me going after Nick Casario, but I know where he comes from, and that's New
00:21England. And kind of the Patriots way is to have the quarterback shine, play great defense, and the
00:27weapons weren't always great in New England. Like, for the first wave of those Patriots Super Bowls,
00:32it was Troy Brown, Deion Branch, David Givens, David Padden. Sure, they got Corey Dillon, who was an
00:39exceptional running back. The second wave of championships, you know, they had Julian
00:44Ellman. I know they drafted Rob Gronkowski, but it wasn't as ever if the Patriots had, outside of the
00:50year they got Randy Moss, an elite wide receiver in the offense. So I wonder, yes, Nico Collins is a
00:56top 10 wide receiver in this league, but how many teams now that have two dominant wide receivers,
01:02maybe that's a little bit of an old approach that's showing true here in Houston, and that's
01:07not a good thing. Yeah, so it feels like it's kind of a new approach, though, or at least I
01:14would say
01:15that two years ago they approached it this way at all, when they went out and traded for
01:21Stephon Diggs and traded a good bit to get him and guaranteed him some money as well. Like,
01:28they were aggressive two years ago. To your question, is that a Nick Casario problem? It
01:34feels like it is over the last couple of years, and I don't know if it's for lack of trying
01:38or if
01:39it's just a failure in the effort that he made. Because think about it, last year he brings in
01:44Christian Kirk a late round pick trade for Christian Kirk. And I think with the legitimate
01:50thought that Christian Kirk was going to be their number two wide receiver, even though he's a slot
01:55guy, that because of experience and pedigree and what he had accomplished up to that point, that that
02:01could be a decent number two to Nico Collins, and then they would have other guys around them to
02:07kind of step up as well. But that didn't work out at all the way that they were hoping. And
02:14then this
02:15year, it seems like they've kind of doubled down on that, or maybe even just doubled down on the idea
02:21that the younger guys are going to step up. Kind of speaking to our earlier point about Jaden Higgins
02:26and Jalen Noel and the need to see something from them. But no, it's definitely underwhelming over the
02:32last couple of years. When you think about 2024, just go two years ago, and you have an offseason
02:37where, I know we're talking about offense, but you bring in Daniel Hunter, but on the offensive side
02:41of the ball, you trade for Stephon Diggs, you trade for Joe Mixon, and this is coming off that rookie
02:47year that CJ Stroud had, the breakout year that Nico Collins had with CJ Stroud, and of course Tank
02:53Dale was still healthy at that time. It felt like they were loading up. It felt like they couldn't get
02:59enough of weapons between what they were bringing in. And ever since then, I don't know, you tell me
03:04what you think. Do you think it's because that failed so miserably, because they couldn't get
03:08everybody to stay healthy all at once, that they went in the other direction on that? But it feels
03:14like they went all in in 2024, and it's been very underwhelming in terms of their approach ever since
03:20then, just specifically when we're talking about the weapons around Nico Collins and CJ Stroud.
03:26Yeah, so they drafted Nico Collins, and they hit gold there. Like, he's phenomenal. I think what they're
03:31trying to do now is find their number two wide receiver through the draft. Like, I commend them
03:36when they made the move for Stephon Diggs, and unfortunately he just got hurt, but that wouldn't
03:41preclude me when they should be in win-now mode because of how great this defense is from getting
03:47that right this offseason. Like, why couldn't they have stolen Alec Pierce away in free agency from the
03:53Colts? I know A.J. Brown probably wouldn't have happened because it seemed as if he was zeroed in on
03:58the
03:58reunion with Mike Vrabel and going to the Patriots. I know that Brian Thomas Jr.
04:04was speculated to possibly be traded. You're probably not having a Jaguars-Texans deal
04:08with the young wide receiver, but I look at a guy like Alec Pierce, I would have liked them to
04:13throw
04:14a lot of cash at him, and you imagine having Nico Collins and Alec Pierce, those two big body wide
04:20receivers here in Houston. I would probably put the Texans in the AFC championship game if they
04:27went out and got Alec Pierce this offseason, or even Jalen Waddell. Like, Jalen Waddell could have
04:31been had from the Dolphins, and it wasn't as if the Broncos gave away, like, really mortgaged their
04:36future to get him. Imagine if this Waddell, someone that has some more credibility in this league than
04:42just hoping that these wide receivers turn out to be the number two in their young careers.
04:47Now you're speaking my language with the Jalen Waddell, and it's not just because he's a Houston-area guy
04:52because he's from here. Like, I thought what Miami was doing in kind of tearing apart their team to
04:58shreds, and also Jalen Waddell's contract, like, I thought that was a much more reasonable and doable
05:04type of deal to make. Like, Alec Pierce got $100 million, $60 million guaranteed. Look, Alec Pierce is
05:12fast and dynamic, and I agree with you that if he's on this team that you got to look at
05:16them a lot
05:17differently, I'm good on paying Alec Pierce $60 million, but Jalen Waddell, what effectively was
05:23a depreciated asset, I like the idea of that much more so than what it is that they're doing,
05:30which is risky. It could work. Like, let's be honest about this. Jaden Higgins in year two
05:35could work out. Like, Nico Collins was not an obvious star until C.J. Stroud and D'Amico Ryans
05:42in this new regime showed up, and that's Nico Collins in year three. Like, he played two years
05:47in the NFL, and no one had really ever heard of him because Davis Mills was his quarterback,
05:51and Lovie Smith and David Cully were his coaches, and nobody really cared. And so Jaden Higgins just
05:57perhaps has not come of age yet. Could be the same case with Jalen Knoll as a much different type
06:03of,
06:03when I was talking about explosive earlier, like, he's a different type of dynamic player.
06:08Jaden Higgins is almost more of a Nico Collins clone. The idea of having two of those guys on
06:13the outside and a speedster like Jalen Knoll is really intriguing, but they're asking a lot of
06:21these second-year guys to contribute and to be those explosive players that, to your point,
06:29they could have been more aggressive in going out there to get. The question is,
06:33how aggressive do you get? Like, do you go all in, like you're suggesting, and give $60 million
06:38guaranteed to Alec Pierce? Or do you try to find something along the margins, a depreciated asset
06:43like Jalen Waddle, who's on a much friendlier contract, but offers kind of a similar type of
06:50dynamic that, you know, goes to a rival or at least an obstacle, a block in your pursuit of the
06:57AFC Championship game? Yeah, and let me be abundantly clear. I'm giving Nick Cassari a lot of credit for
07:01what he's done with this organization, navigating out of the mess that was Deshaun Watson, getting
07:06this team back to be a consistent postseason player, winning postseason games in each of the
07:11last three seasons. But we put all the blame now on CJ Stroud, and that blame is valid. It's fair.
07:20He's been god-awful the last two postseasons. I'm not giving CJ Stroud any out. He needs to be
07:26better, and he doesn't even need to be great. He just can't be the reason why they mess it up.
07:32But I'm just wondering here, like at the end of the year, is the conversation more than Stroud
07:37if the train doesn't get back to move into newer heights and move it on the right direction?
07:42Because you can look at this offense, and you can say, like, yeah, Nico Collins is there. Like,
07:47sure, I like Montgomery and Woody Marks, but the offensive line the last few years hasn't really
07:52been solidified. They've made changes this offseason. If no number two wide receiver emerges,
07:58some people are going to be looking at Nick Casario and saying, dude, you got to go back
08:02to being aggressive. You got to be like Les Snead and say, F them picks. You got to go for
08:07it,
08:07because this defense is Super Bowl caliber, and you don't know how many shots that you're going to
08:12keep on getting to take here, with the offense keeps on being the reason why they're getting let down.
08:17Honestly, Zach, it's a shame that the offensive line, it's another reason why,
08:21it's a shame that the offensive line has been as bad as it's been, because it's kind of masked
08:27the issue of the last couple of years, or we're going into year two with this being a legitimate
08:31question about these weapons, and where are the non-Neko explosive plays supposed to come from?
08:38Credit to Dalton Schultz for having a career year, or at least his best year as a Texan last season.
08:43They've at least got that, so they got a solid tight end. They've got a top eight, certainly top
08:4810 wide receiver in Neko Collins, but after that, we talk about it here on the station all the time,
08:54that they got a bunch of maybes. It's not that they're bad. It's just so apparently unclear,
09:03right? You don't know what to expect, and it could be a wide range of ho-hum, not really impressive
09:11at
09:11all, to, again, these breakout seasons that it's just hard to anticipate that these guys are going
09:16to have that, but eyes are on Jaden Higgins, a second-round pick, by the way, so eyes are on
09:22Jaden Higgins. You talk about Nick Aserio. Use a second-round pick on a guy. He needs to be a
09:27real
09:28player for you, and that's not to mention all of the whiffs that he's made on the offensive line
09:32with high draft picks. You know, they just sent out a second-round center in Juice Scruggs over the
09:38season. They did that the previous offseason with Kenyon Green, a first-round offensive lineman.
09:44Point being, the offensive line has been such an unmitigated disaster that it has masked the fact
09:51that the last couple of years, they've just asked CJ Stroud and Neko Collins to go out there and do
09:57it
09:57with kind of a ragtag cast of characters around them, and so it's got to be much better than that.
10:03It's got to be much better than just Neko and the guys. They need one of these other guys to
10:08step up.
10:09It could even be, man, it could even be Woody Marks, the running back, who was ill-placed last year
10:16as their three-down running back, which is not what he's supposed to be, but as a dual threat,
10:22as a guy that can catch passes out of the backfield, as a guy who can line up along with
10:27David Montgomery, not to suggest that he's Jameer Gibbs, but could have that sort of role
10:32in this offense, they need to be tapping in to all of that, which is why I look at Nick
10:38Cayley,
10:38the offensive coordinator. I'm looking at this offensive line, and by proxy, Nick Casario,
10:43the guy that put it together, and back to the conversation, these weapons, and where are those
10:49explosive plays supposed to come from? Getting to the defense, the thing I'm most fascinated
10:54about with this NFL Top 100 list, since I think we could safely say now, barring some miracle,
11:00C.J. Stroud is not going to be on the list. I'm going to be fascinated to see how high
11:05up
11:05Will Anderson will be, and how high up Daniel Hunter will be. Last year, Daniel Hunter came
11:10in at 25th. Will Anderson came in at 46th. I think Daniel Hunter and Will Anderson are two best pass
11:19rushers in the NFL. Like, Miles Garrett is number one. I think he's going to be number one on this
11:24Top 100 list this year. Aiden Hutchinson is a Top 5 pass rusher. Micah Parsons, even coming off the
11:30injury, is a Top 5 pass rusher. Will Anderson, like, those four guys are non-negotiables for me.
11:35Garrett, Hutchinson, Parsons, and Anderson need to be on your Top 5 list just for pass rushers.
11:41And then I would put Daniel Hunter in the fifth spot. So that means, like, Nick Benito, I have
11:47Daniel Hunter being better than. Nick Bosa, Max Crosby, T.J. Watt, Brian Burns, Trey Hendrickson.
11:55Like, a lot of those guys are tremendous pass rushers, but it shows you how great this Texans
12:00defense is, where I don't think it's a far stretch to say that if they don't have two of the
12:06top five
12:07pass rushers in this NFL Top 100 list, that I'd be a little bit disappointed. I think that they'd be
12:12getting screwed in the national recognition that Daniel Hunter and Will Anderson should be getting.
12:17I think you can fairly put both of those guys in the top eight of pass rushers across the NFL.
12:25And this is, like, just without controversy. And we could even narrow it down and argue it to death
12:30as much as we want to. But I think as far as you're going to get before the argument just
12:35gets
12:35ridiculous, if you were to leave either one of these guys out, is about eight. I don't think you're
12:40going to get to eight pass rushers in the NFL before you have named both of these guys. And
12:45they're probably closer to the top six or seven. But I'll leave room for eight, kind of to your point.
12:50I know I mentioned that ESPN poll from earlier in the week as well. They did this thing amongst the
12:56coaches, executives, and they've got them top six, right? They've got only Miles Garrett and Micah
13:04Parsons coming ahead of Will Anderson Jr. So they got Will Anderson Jr. as the third best pass rusher
13:11in football. Max Crosby behind him. Aiden Hutchinson behind him. And then Daniel Hunter
13:17tapping in at number six. I don't really have a huge problem with that list or that order. You can
13:23quibble with it and you can reorder it all you want. But that's just to say these guys are somewhere
13:29in the top six, seven, or eight of all the pass rushers in football. And they are the reason why
13:35you can
13:36take the Texans seriously as, or I think it starts with them, as to why you can take the Texans
13:42seriously
13:43as a Super Bowl contender, despite your questions about CJ Stroud that you might have, despite your
13:48questions about the overall offense that you might have, whether that's the offensive line,
13:52the weapons, the coordinator, or again, the quarterback himself, or a combination of all
13:57of it. You go over and look at that defensive side of the ball and you're starting with two,
14:02no worse than top eight, probably top six or seven pass rushers in Will Anderson Jr.
14:06and Daniel Hunter. It doesn't get much better than that. And I think they're clearly the best
14:11pass rushing tandem in the NFL. So I think this is the best way to say it. You have two
14:16of the top
14:1610 pass rushers. Personally, I'd say they're two of the top five. Then you got Derek Stingley who on
14:21that ESPN ranking list came in as the second best corner in the NFL. Only Pat Sertan in front of
14:27him
14:27and Christian Gonzalez right behind Stingley. That's a lot of elite talent on a defense. And it once again,
14:32puts even more heightened awareness and more pressure on CJ Stroud. And here's the other
14:37thing, because I've always been a big fan of Will Anderson. Daniel Hunter is one of the more
14:43underrated players in the NFL in the last decade. He has 114 and a half career sacks. Like let's say
14:49he gives you, cause he's 31. Let's say if he gives you a three or four more, like let's say
14:54four more
14:55really good years, he could add 50 more sacks to that sack total. Like Daniel Hunter is an
15:02underappreciated player nationally. That's why I'm so hell bent on seeing his ranking. Just go
15:05up and up on this list. Cause this is a guy that when his career ends, he should have a
15:10spot. If
15:11it continues to go the way that it's been going in the pro football hall of fame in Canton, Ohio,
15:15I don't know how many people have actually thought about that with Daniel Hunter,
15:18like three or four years ago, the guy has shown no signs of aging or slowing down. But the wild
15:25part
15:25about it is. And he's 31 years old. It's like, he's been around for like a decade now. And he's
15:32one of the most like the most understated and underrated guys that you'll find like, and he
15:37doesn't talk. He's a quiet guy is not an attention seeker. And when you ask him a question, he's
15:43pretty direct. Doesn't like, he just doesn't have a lot to say. So he's not a big rah-rah guy,
15:47but all he's been is productive. He's like, you can just pencil them in for double digit sacks pretty
15:53much every year. And he's been an all pro multiple years now. So yeah, he's got a,
15:59he's got a legitimate case for being one of the quieter hall of fame players that we've ever seen.
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