00:00And this has kind of been the hallmark of the day for me.
00:03I don't know if this is good or bad, but I feel like it's close to accurate.
00:10Clint, Keelan Rutledge, he may already be this team's best offensive lineman.
00:14Now, I don't know how great that he is.
00:17I've watched.
00:18I don't think I've seen anybody else that plays center better,
00:22like in terms of what he's able to do, especially when he gets off the ball.
00:26And I watched him at guard today in the last couple of days.
00:30He's looked better at that than anybody else.
00:33Like, I think he's the best guard and center on the team.
00:36He may be.
00:39He's at least their top two.
00:43He's at least their top two lineman on the team right now.
00:49And to me, and it is, I don't know how good or bad that is.
00:54I'll give it to Nick.
00:58Nick Casario.
01:00I'm clapping my hands for Nick because, Clint, I wondered about this move.
01:04But it absolutely fits everything that they were looking for, they needed,
01:10and Buddy can play too.
01:12Like, it's not just, Clint, that he's not afraid to get in Will Anderson's face
01:18or not afraid to get into Max Crosby's face.
01:22But today, Clint, boy, when they let him pull and he's coming around that corner,
01:28he is coming for anger, with anger, and coming to hurt somebody and is doing it.
01:34And he's, I mean, he is, he is moving people that they have had some misses.
01:41Nick Cayley, Nick Casario, especially since Casario has been here, they have had some misses.
01:47That does not appear to be one of them.
01:49No, it doesn't.
01:50Look, you could talk, the O-line draft picks of late, now we can't go too far back,
01:55but the ones of late, Ariante Urshary and now Keelan Rutledge seem to be real home runs.
02:01And to your point, the Keelan Rutledge thing goes even further because, you know,
02:06you're of the thought that he may be the best offensive lineman on his football team already.
02:10And I'm not going to give you any pushback simply because there's a certain level of dog
02:16that you've got to have in you to play offensive line.
02:18And when you have that in you, it's much easier to get to that next tier of offensive linemen.
02:24It's much easier to say, okay, this guy's a first-round draft pick, could potentially play as a rookie.
02:30All right, man, it's impressive.
02:32He can maybe play center as a rookie.
02:33To all of a sudden, you go up a tier when you show that, like you said, you'll get into
02:39Will Anderson.
02:39You'll get into Max Crosby.
02:41There's no, like, fitting in to what's going on around you in the O-line room.
02:46I can argue that since I've been covering the Texans, there's been a fit-in problem with the offensive line,
02:51right?
02:52Yes, there was a Laramie Tunsil, easy, cool, calm, collected mentality,
02:56don't do any more than you have to to play kind of thing.
02:59There was some of that there, but there was a big, yeah, we're going to be yes men.
03:05We're going to fall in line.
03:06We're not going to be heard from, and we're not going to step on anybody's toes.
03:09We're not going to ruffle any feathers.
03:11And to your point, I think Keelan Rutledge is a tier better at this point than we're used to,
03:17and then I'm really comfortable giving him simply because he's got that dog in him.
03:25He's got a level of physicality in him that a lot of offensive linemen claim they have,
03:30but when you watch them play, they don't really have it.
03:33He's got it.
03:34And so, yeah, I got no pushback on the fact that he may be the best offensive lineman
03:38on this football team.
03:39And people are texting in Ursary or Ed Ingram.
03:42Like, listen, man, I personally, from what I've seen,
03:47I think Keelan Rutledge is a better guard than Ed Ingram.
03:52Just personally, and again, you know, obviously he hasn't played in a real NFL game,
03:58but when you just watch it, right?
04:00You can – like, I don't think people had – and this isn't the same thing.
04:04I'm not saying he is this cat, but I don't think it took very, very long for people
04:09in Indianapolis when Quentin Nelson started rolling around there that, okay,
04:13this guy's probably a little different than the rest of these cats we have here.
04:17And I think there is some of that there.
04:20Maybe Tay Ersery, we'll see because, you know, he really kind of came on
04:24and solidified things at that left tackle spot and obviously plays that.
04:27But, I mean, he is playing and moving from center and moving to guard
04:33and playing just seamlessly.
04:36Yeah.
04:36Yeah, Ron.
04:37Look, Ron, I think you mentioned – which one did you mention?
04:41Quentin Nelson.
04:41Yeah.
04:42I think that's the big one.
04:43Let's talk about the last 10 years that you watched his tape in college
04:46and you're like, yeah, buddy's different, right?
04:49But you – we can even go into the – what's the kid's name that played
04:52at the small school and came out – with the Denver Broncos right now.
04:57Oh.
04:59I mean, he is a – well, he's one of them.
05:02Like, a good offensive lineman, you question was he worth the draft pick
05:06because he came out of a small school, and then all of a sudden you watch
05:08his play style and you're like, yep, I'll take him.
05:11I want him in my interior offensive line.
05:14And so, yeah, there's – every year there's one of those guys that seems like
05:19a young up-and-comer that just leads with dog, and it's clear that
05:23Keelan Rutledge has that.
05:24Yep, Texan line company, and Keelan is the lineman that Texans fans
05:28have been praying for.
05:29Yes, and again, it's not just that he has that physicality and that dog
05:36that people want to say and, you know, all of that.
05:39It's not just that.
05:41It is once he gets done with showing you he's got no back down,
05:46he puts his hand in the dirt, Clint, and he is good.
05:50Yeah.
05:51You know what I mean?
05:53This far – and again, he's a rookie.
05:55He's going to have some mistakes.
05:56He's going to have some problems.
05:58I mean, we've run it down.
05:59Like, yeah, in game one, is Ed Oliver maybe going to get him?
06:03He might.
06:04Dexter Lawrence may going to get him probably.
06:06Probably, but, like, you look at it, this dude, especially when you compare –
06:14now, again, I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing, Clint,
06:17that he walks right into the door and he's the best offensive lineman
06:21or it feels like at least the top two offensive linemen on the team
06:26and you have drafted and invested in guys.
06:29But, again, I want to give credit to Nick Caley because I have fairly crushed
06:36Nick Caley and his offensive line selections over the years.
06:40Again, fairly.
06:43Ariante Urshry looks like he is somebody that is promising.
06:48And this joker that they went and got, oh, 66, I'm telling you, boy,
06:53that – like, he is exactly what they have been, I think, trying to get.
06:59And it looks like that joker is going to be there for, I mean,
07:03the next eight to ten years is what it looks like playing, I think,
07:08hopefully center Clint because that is, obviously, to me,
07:11the more important position.
07:14But, hey, man, it don't matter, right?
07:17Like, he's playing the guard position so well
07:20and Wyatt Teller is playing it so bad.
07:22Hell, he might keep Jake on the team.
07:24Well, that's the thing, Ron, is if – clearly it was a home run draft pick, right?
07:31Because, as you said, not just is he one of your better interior offensive linemen
07:35across the board, but he brings a level of physicality
07:38that could potentially change your entire offensive line.
07:41Like, he could actually be the answer to D'Amico Ryan's responsibility
07:45on the offensive side of the ball, which is demanding a certain level of physicality
07:50regardless of what your scheme is.
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