- 6 weeks ago
Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast look back at their questions before training camp and determine whether the Texans answered them.
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00:00Okay, so you and I did 10 questions leading up to the season for the Houston Texans, or leading up
00:05to training camp.
00:06So we started 10 business days before training camp, and the first day of camp, we counted all the way
00:13down to question number one.
00:14How did the Texans do in answering these questions? Let's go through these. We'll rapid fire them.
00:20Question number 10 was, is the offensive line actually improved, or are they just older and more expensive?
00:28Well, if you look at Mike Clay's composite offensive line grades, where he lists every starting offensive lineman in every
00:36unit in the league.
00:37Who's Mike Clay?
00:38He's a fantasy football guy. He has the Texans currently ranked 32nd in the NFL with their offensive line.
00:47That seems to me to be mathematically impossible to be an improvement.
00:51Right, right, right, right, right. I feel much more optimistic about them than that.
00:56And I think it's honestly, it's one of those things where, you know, there's a lot of teams out there
01:01that have a few average ranked guys,
01:02and then a couple of all pros, like a Laramie Tunsell or something, and that lifts your overall score up.
01:07With the Texans, you look, and they're not red, they're not blue, like it's color-coded, they're just neutral white.
01:15Right, that's, like, it's a very common theory that, man, as long as you've got five average offensive linemen,
01:21as long as they play well together, you can have a solid offensive line.
01:24I think Keelan Rutledge is going to end up graded a lot higher by the end of the season.
01:28I think Ariante Urseri, Ariante Urseri graded a lot higher in the second half of last season.
01:33So, yeah, if you go by his grade overall last year, it's not as impressive.
01:37But I think that, A, they do act like a more cohesive, well-coached offensive line,
01:43and, B, I think that the rankings based on individual players' performances right now don't tell the whole story.
01:50I think it's going to be a better offensive line.
01:51How many potential pro bowlers do they have on the line?
01:55Oh, that's a good question.
01:57I would say, I mean, without thinking about who they have to compete with,
02:01I think Ariante Urseri has the potential to be.
02:04I don't know if it's this year or not.
02:06If the offense takes a big step forward, that helps out a lot.
02:08I think Keelan Rutledge could very well be, like, a Quentin Nelson type of player
02:13that gets a lot of recognition his rookie year.
02:16Ed Ingram is an interesting one because people really respect him as a run blocker.
02:20He's just got to show it in pass protection.
02:22And, you know, I don't think that's, it's probably past Trent Brown by.
02:25I, so I'd say two, two and a half.
02:28Yeah.
02:28I'd put the over-under on two and a half.
02:30Two and a half.
02:30Yeah.
02:31Well, I'd put the over-under on one and a half.
02:33One and a half.
02:33Yeah, yeah.
02:34And that makes sense.
02:35Yeah, when I say potential pro bowlers, I just mean that they're in that sort of conversation.
02:39Yeah.
02:39You know, that you can, with a straight face, you can argue that they deserve that type of accolade.
02:45Yeah.
02:45So I'm with you on that.
02:46And if I were power ranking, Keelan Rutledge would be far and away the number one on that one.
02:51Okay, so you feel they're actually improved then, the offensive line?
02:56And I feel like every production meeting is going to ask about Keelan Rutledge and highlight him during games.
03:01Yeah.
03:01So when it comes to voting, people are going to see and hear his name a lot.
03:06And the interesting thing about that question is the genesis of it, are they improved or are they older and
03:13more expensive?
03:14The spirit behind that question was probably thinking that Wyatt Teller and Braden Smith were going to be part of
03:20the starting offensive line.
03:21Two guys that were older and somewhat expensive, and now both of those guys are backups for this offensive line.
03:27All right, question number nine, counting down.
03:30How confident are the Texans in receivers not named Nico Collins?
03:34Right.
03:35How did that one get answered?
03:36On a scale, I would say if we include Jaden Higgins in it, 8.5.
03:42Yes.
03:43If we have to exclude Jaden Higgins, I think they're really optimistic about Jalen Knoll.
03:50I agree.
03:50Keishon Booty, I think it's a classic, you don't know until he's in the building and see exactly how they
03:56use him.
03:57I would probably put it at a six right now because there's still a lot of show me.
04:02You know, D'Amico, that's what D'Amico let off his press conference with.
04:06We've got to show it.
04:06You know, we can't talk about it anymore.
04:08We've just got to show it.
04:09But I think they're really optimistic about Jalen Knoll.
04:11How confident would we be in that group if they had not made the Keishon Booty trade?
04:16Oh, yeah.
04:17That would be about a three and a half.
04:18Yeah.
04:19Yeah.
04:19I mean, you're talking about a lot of inexperience or just guys that haven't really done it.
04:23Or seeing the best version possible of Xavier Hutchinson.
04:26Right, which he had his moments in camp.
04:31But the first few practices after Jaden Higgins went down were not great for Xavier Hutchinson.
04:35Yeah.
04:36Nor was that Raiders game.
04:38So, yeah, I think the confidence level is, I would say, a decently high amount for a team that lost
04:45its second best wide receiver in the preseason.
04:48All right, question number eight.
04:50Will the new Derek Barnett please stand up?
04:54Well, that's a ten.
04:54That's a ten.
04:55So, we were wondering about Derek Barnett and how you're going to replace him.
04:58They go out and get Jadeveon Clowney.
05:00Yes.
05:00He's still a very impactful football player.
05:03We were wondering who's going to be the guy that comes in and gets five sacks a year like Derek
05:07Barnett.
05:07Right.
05:07Well, you've got a guy that got eight and a half sacks last year and a boatload of tackles for
05:11a loss.
05:12And a more complete and impactful player than Derek Barnett.
05:16Yeah.
05:16So, that was answered very successfully, I would say.
05:21And I think, man, I really like Sebastian Harsh.
05:24And I don't know how much he even plays early in the season.
05:26But this is a kid that, after that third preseason game, I think the Texans were going into that game,
05:33probably thought,
05:33okay, we'll probably waive him and hopefully he makes the practice squad, hopefully he makes it through wavers.
05:39He played so well in that preseason game that I think they couldn't risk it.
05:43You know, it's very possible that they had to change their plans based on that performance.
05:48He might have Graham Mertz'd his way onto the roster.
05:51Yeah.
05:51Remember last year, Graham Mertz went like 12 for 14 for $1.50 and they're like, crap.
05:56There's no way he's getting through wavers.
05:58Someone's going to pick him up.
05:59All right.
06:00So, that was, yeah, question number eight.
06:01Question number eight might be my favorite one.
06:03Yeah, they say, yeah, well, the new Derek Barnett stand-up.
06:05Yeah, his name's Jadeveon Clowney.
06:06They answered that one big time.
06:08Question number seven.
06:10Okay.
06:11I don't like this one.
06:12Yeah.
06:13How big an issue is linebacker depth, especially after EJ Speed's injury?
06:18I would say still an issue.
06:20Yeah, the biggest issue I'm having with this right now is how to number rank it because the
06:2410 has been a positive here where if you ask the question, how big of an issue is linebacker
06:29depth?
06:30I'm right at, in concern level, I'm at nine or a 10 or so.
06:33Yeah, yeah, yeah.
06:34I think that, like, Aiden Fisher, I think Aiden Fisher would have been a practice squad
06:39candidate if any one of the other linebackers had stepped up and done something and really
06:44shown it.
06:45Other than Wade Wood as in his interception return for a touchdown, by and large, nobody
06:50really stepped forward.
06:51And by that, I mean literally stepped forward.
06:53Like, go up and play the run aggressively.
06:56Aiden Fisher, Aiden Fisher might be the guy they most trust right now, that if they have
07:00to stop the run or they have to play in their 4-3 defense, that he can go out there
07:04and play
07:04with the instincts and physical ability of an actual linebacker.
07:09That's crazy.
07:10Think about what you just said.
07:11The seventh-round rookie who was playing almost all of the third preseason game might be their
07:16most trusted third linebacker right now.
07:18Yeah, I'll be really interested to see in that first game if they play their 4-3 at all.
07:25And if they do, who is it?
07:27You know, Wade Wood as can play with this thumb injury, supposedly, but I have zero clue what
07:32they'll do.
07:33Well, here are the names.
07:34So tell me the confidence level and the names, just for the benefit of the audience.
07:38Wade Wood as, who's probably going to be playing with a club hand.
07:42Jake Hanson, who's practicing again.
07:44Jake Hummel, who is largely a special teamer.
07:47And those last two guys are both special teamers, yeah.
07:50And then Aiden Fisher.
07:51Yeah.
07:52Aiden Fisher's the most complete linebacker, I think, when it comes to just playing the
07:56linebacker position.
07:57Yeah.
07:58And that's, but I don't know.
08:00I don't know if they saw enough of him that they feel like they can keep up when he's going
08:03against starters and all of that.
08:06So, Hanson has played in games before when they've needed him to.
08:11And it's, he does, like he runs around and makes a lot of plays and everything.
08:15There's a big drastic drop-off in his ability to take on blocks and the physical element
08:20of the game.
08:21So I have zero clue right now.
08:22If we're just doing, if our scale of one to ten that we're doing here on these questions
08:26is how well did they do answering the question, this one's like a two.
08:30Yeah, it's a two.
08:31You know, it's like a two.
08:32All right, question number six.
08:34What does the tight end room look like, the ideal tight end room look like for the Houston
08:39Texans?
08:39They answered that.
08:40And Brevin Jordan made it easier, at least as of now, because we don't know if he's
08:45even going to be available in week one.
08:47But I think if you go Dalton Schultz, Foster Moreau, Marlon Klein, and Cade Stover, for
08:53a team that wants to use a lot of tight ends, they seem to be pretty happy with that group
08:57of four right there.
08:58And then whenever Brevin Jordan comes back, it's a lot of tight ends.
09:02But as Nick said yesterday, they've kind of got a different skill set for each one of
09:07those guys.
09:07So they've got a lot of different ways to attack offenses with multiple tight ends.
09:12Of players on this roster I'm excited about, Marlon Klein is way higher up the list than
09:17I thought he would be before training camp.
09:18Yeah.
09:19I'm super excited about Marlon Klein.
09:21Yeah, and for him, you know, based on comments from Foster Moreau and C.J. Stroud, they both
09:26pointed out that they really like him, but that also, you know, he's got to get up to speed
09:31on really learning and understanding the offense, which is normal for a rookie skill position
09:36player, especially in this offense.
09:38So that's the big question is, okay, how much of Marlon Klein do we see early on?
09:42Are they using him in a limited capacity, or does he just, you know, really progress on
09:46the mental side of things over these next couple weeks enough that they can use him a lot?
09:50All right, question number five.
09:52Seth and I are counting down the questions that we asked on a daily basis heading into
09:58training camp.
09:59Question number five.
09:59Are we concerned about the overall depth in the running back room?
10:06I'm not because of the way that they use their guys on the practice squad.
10:11I think that Jawar Jordan and Noah Whittington, if you have to call upon him this year, I feel
10:16okay with them.
10:17Who gets the elevation in week one?
10:19I think it depends on game plan by game plan.
10:21Versus the Bills in that defense that they're trying to figure out, I think it ends up being
10:27Jawar Jordan.
10:28Okay.
10:29Yeah.
10:30It's a lot.
10:30If they elevate anybody.
10:32I think they're going to elevate a running back.
10:34I don't know, going into game day, that they're going to go in with just Woody and David Montgomery.
10:39And British Brooks.
10:40And British Brooks.
10:41Cario said the other day, we don't carry a fullback.
10:42Yeah.
10:43I think they look at British Brooks as the third running back.
10:46Yeah.
10:46Yeah.
10:47I'm not so sure, just because of the way he talked how fluid the elevations are.
10:52Yeah.
10:53But you can't, okay, so then by that definition, if you're looking at those guys as guys that
10:57one of them is going to get called up every week, then by definition you can't be happy
11:00with the depth because you can only call those guys up three times in a season, each of them
11:05three times.
11:06No, I know.
11:06I think it's something where I think they view whoever they bring up as the third running
11:10back, but they know they've got to figure something out by like week five or six.
11:13Somewhere along the way.
11:14Yeah, yeah, yeah.
11:15Because I think Brooks is on the team more for special teams than he is his running back.
11:20But it's the third running back.
11:22We're probably splitting hairs here.
11:23I would say, all right, then I'm at my confidence level there is a 6.5.
11:28On the depth, as to how they answered that question in training camp.
11:32Yeah.
11:33Because also, we don't need to be Sean Payton who used to have like five awesome running
11:38backs on the roster as the Saints at any given time.
11:40No, no, no.
11:41And I would say, too, just to stick with the running backs for one more second here, you
11:45know, the overall depth implies the number of bodies.
11:49I would say, going into training camp, I would have thought David Montgomery is going to be
11:53the bell cow here.
11:54Yeah.
11:54And then Woody Marks would be a change of pace guy.
11:57I think Woody Marks is on an even playing field with David Montgomery now after watching
12:01him in training camp.
12:02So, you talk about depth behind those two guys.
12:05You talk about depth off the roster like Casario did in his press conference and with us
12:09yesterday.
12:10But I think, too, depth addresses like what's the workload going to be on your front line
12:16guy.
12:17And I think you're going to get a fresher version of David Montgomery because of the
12:21way Woody Marks returned to camp this year.
12:23Well, and also, too, because we've been hit by injuries on the offensive side of the ball
12:27so much, because they've been hit by injuries so much, you've got to remember, yeah, the
12:31depth is still, okay, your first and second running back, even though that might change
12:35from week to week, if either of those guys go down, the other one's certainly capable
12:40of just being a bell cow for a couple weeks if you have to.
12:42I don't, I'm more nervous about it with Woody because of how much he got injured last year.
12:47But it's not like, it's not like an injury to one of those guys all of a sudden means
12:51that you have to play your third string running back a whole bunch.
12:54Yep.
12:55All right.
12:55Question number four, as we count them down, how did the Texans do in answering our preseason
12:59or our pre-training camp questions?
13:02Number four, who is the Texans' most important newcomer?
13:06So newcomer could be a guy they brought in in a free agent, a free agency, a guy they
13:11brought in in a trade, or obviously a draft pick.
13:13I forget, I honestly forget who my answer was to this one.
13:17Oh, really?
13:17Oh, originally?
13:18Originally, yeah, yeah, yeah.
13:20I probably said, I probably said David Montgomery, but I'm going to flip it over to Reed Blankenship.
13:29Ah.
13:29Just because I think, because, not because I expect him to be all pro or anything, but because
13:35now they have five actual veteran starters in the secondary, they're going to be able
13:41to, they're going to be able to add some wrinkles to the defense, and they're going to, they'll
13:45have fewer mental errors or missed assignments in the backfield that might push them up into
13:52that historic defense category.
13:54Not just, not just the best defense this year, but an historically great defense if they all
13:58stay healthy.
13:59Yeah, I, that'll be interesting.
14:00You know, we did the, the Texans collective last night, the stream that I do with Reggie and
14:04Landry Locker and Cody Stutes, and one of the topics we had was give a, something nobody's
14:10talking about in training camp for the Texans.
14:13We each had to come up with one, and mine was, we have not talked a lot about Reed Blankenship
14:17in this training camp, and I think some of that is due to the star power on the defensive
14:22side of the ball.
14:23He's pushed way down on that list.
14:26Most of the focus has been on the offensive side of the ball for the Texans.
14:31But I also think too, with Reed Blankenship, there's a, there's a little bit of wait and
14:35see because he, he, he did not have as good a season in Philly last year as he did in
14:41the
14:41Superbowl season when CJ Gardner Johnson was on the team.
14:44He had a bigger role because they got rid of CJ Gardner Johnson.
14:47He didn't, I get, you know, I didn't watch every Eagles game.
14:49I'm just going off of things that I heard Eagles people say about Blankenship.
14:53Didn't have as good a season, still was fine, but didn't have as good a season.
14:56But I do wonder, like, there's not a lot of places to attack on this Texans defense.
15:02Yeah.
15:02And in that secondary, he is, if you're going to pick somebody in that secondary, he's
15:07the one guy who's not a pro bowler, all pro level conversation guy.
15:11Yeah, but he's also a safety.
15:13So it's like, I, yeah, I guess I'm just, I'm not.
15:16I mean, they attacked the safeties last year with the Texans.
15:18Right.
15:19They attacked them by making them look dumb when they had rookies back there.
15:23And they had, like, that's the biggest thing is honestly, I, when I say I don't need him
15:27to be an all pro or a pro bowler, that's exactly what I mean.
15:31It's a guy that plays with the proper leverage.
15:33That's where he's supposed to be, that the defense has some integrity to it on the back
15:36end.
15:37That's like, that's the huge gain.
15:39I don't, I really don't, I don't have high expectations or demand them of him.
15:44I just like that.
15:45He's a veteran defensive back.
15:46Yeah.
15:47I, I, I love the, let me be clear.
15:48When we did all the like favorite moves that Texans made in the off season, he was number
15:52one for me on every list we ever did.
15:54He was number one for me.
15:56My, my whole thing is like, we just haven't seen it in the regular season yet with him.
15:59So I'm just anxious to see it.
16:00That's all.
16:02Question number three, aside from injury, is there any way, speaking of the secondary, that
16:08this secondary is not the best in the NFL this season?
16:11Uh, I mean, partly, yeah, I guess if, uh, so the confidence level there would be, um,
16:20I'm confident that on a level of eight, that they'll be the best secondary this year.
16:24Yeah.
16:24Um, there's one thing, like some of the things is just by virtue of the types of coverages
16:28they play, like, like when it comes to defensive backs, for instance, Patrick Sertan is just,
16:34he has to play a lot more man because he's on a defense that blitzes a lot.
16:38And you're always going to get an extra, you're, you're going to get a check plus on top of
16:44whatever else you do, um, because you have to play so much man.
16:47That's why people always have him as number one and Derek Stingley number two.
16:51They're in most, most rankings of the cornerbacks.
16:53If you flipped roles and you send Stingley off to Denver and Sertan here, I think Stingley's
16:58ranked the number one cornerback overall.
17:00Um, so, uh, yeah, I think, yeah, but without health being a factor, I have a hard time seeing
17:07that they won't be the best secondary.
17:09So it's all up to an 8.5.
17:11Yeah.
17:11Yeah.
17:11Yeah.
17:11I think, yeah, I'm confident in it for sure.
17:14Question number two, what is tank Dell?
17:19That was the question.
17:21That was the whole question.
17:22I guess compared to, yeah, what is tank Dell?
17:26We have, I don't think we've got answers on that one.
17:29I think we're still at like a three on that.
17:30Yeah.
17:30Right.
17:31Yeah.
17:31We don't have a clue.
17:32I can tell you what, where I am on me expecting to see him.
17:37The thing that was interesting yesterday that, that Casario told us was that it's the top
17:42end speed that's still giving him some issues.
17:45And, and that makes sense.
17:46Well, everything that we saw that was impressive was all this short area stuff where he's, you
17:50know, running agility drills and everything.
17:52But when it comes to really opening it up and, and flying down the field, it's, it's hard
17:57for a smaller guy, especially if you're not offsetting.
18:00And if you're not offsetting, you know, some of your size with people just being afraid
18:04of getting beat deep, it's a lot easier for them to get their hands on you.
18:09And I, so that, that I've got concerns with that.
18:12If he's not all, if he's not all the way back up to his top end speed that I don't
18:17know
18:17how much of that he recaptures over the next couple months.
18:21We've got Casario talking about tank.
18:23So just to back up what you were just saying, let's, here was Nick Casario.
18:26When we asked him about tank, I think I asked him the question.
18:29I said, Hey, have there been some setbacks?
18:32Because tank hadn't been practicing for, for a minute here.
18:35And, or is he where you thought he would be now heading into training camp?
18:40Yeah, no, it's fair.
18:41He's, he's probably had some good moments.
18:43He's had some setbacks along the way.
18:44I would say minor setbacks, nothing like significant.
18:48I think the big thing from his standpoint is really the high speed running is the long,
18:53you know, high yardage, long distance.
18:56You know, we, there's been, he's participating in individual drills, running routes, you know,
19:02as a part of his return to football protocol, like, you know, he had a route up here, a
19:06route day where he was running, I don't know, eight to 10 routes, you know, in 15 to 20 yards.
19:11I mean, he has had his quickness.
19:12He had his change of directions, catching the ball.
19:14Well, it's more of some of the long speed and kind of getting some back to the high speed
19:18running, but overall he's on a pretty good track.
19:22You know, I think some of this is, and I can't speak for the player, but mentally they want
19:26to make sure that they're in a good enough space where they, when I step on a field, like
19:31they feel confident and feel like they can do the things that they're capable of doing.
19:34You know, we all saw what tank did, you know, his first two years in the league and he made
19:39a lot of electric plays.
19:41So whether or not he can get to that same level of performance, you know, we'll, we'll find
19:45out, but overall he's, he's definitely making progress.
19:48I'd say it's more minor tweaks than anything else.
19:51And I think he'll be able to build his capacity and maybe some of his high speed, like long
19:55distance running and then see if we can get them to, you know, 20, 21 miles an hour and
19:59running speeds that he was running before the injury.
20:02In re-listening to that, Seth, yesterday and re-listening to it again, if I could have
20:07asked a follow-up to that.
20:09Like how fast was he at his fastest?
20:11Well, that, and also, is this something that he's been held back from working on?
20:15You know, has he just been working on the short area stuff, the quick twitch stuff?
20:21Is there, is there been a mandate with tank to not let it rip in terms of the top end
20:27speed stuff?
20:28You know, is that part of, part of him coming back?
20:31Is that like the cherry on top of the cake?
20:33Is that the last thing we're working on with him?
20:35And what's the confidence level that he gets back to that too?
20:38You know, like that's, but that, I thought, Nick's been pretty forthcoming on this show
20:43when we've asked him about Tank Dell.
20:46So I thought that, you're right, that was interesting yesterday that the top end speed is still the
20:50thing that they've got to work on here.
20:51And I think like, even I'm thinking this as he's saying that, I'm like, oh, I wonder if
20:55they could play him at slot.
20:56And then I remember, oh yeah, no, because slots take a whole bunch of physical abuse.
21:01I think that, you know, if there's one thing in the NFL, I'm going to ask Cecil Shorts about
21:04this, forever, you know, people wondered when they started really policing the illegal hits
21:09and everything, whether you're going to be able to just get away with any route anywhere
21:14on the field.
21:14NFL defenders have got really good, just like Jalen Petrie, at clean, legal, vicious hits
21:20over the middle.
21:21And it's just not so simple to just think like, oh yeah, these guys aren't allowed to
21:26hit you, just, you know, run all these crossing routes and everything.
21:30I don't think you want to be doing that with Tank Dell.
21:32Well, just, just because the hits are illegal doesn't mean they're not going to happen.
21:35You know, but I'm saying the legal hits are just as vicious as they used to be.
21:39No, I agree with you.
21:40I'm just saying like, but, but the, you know, like just, just because they've legislated
21:45it, tried to legislate it out of the game doesn't mean it doesn't happen anymore.
21:48You know, it happens and then guys get flagged and fined for it.
21:50We see it all the time.
21:51Um, someone saying on the text page, Tank ran a 449 at the combine.
21:56That's less than 19 miles an hour.
21:57Nick wants him at 20 or 21 miles an hour.
22:00What?
22:00His fastest in 2023 was 20.82 miles per hour, I think.
22:07Oh, you're looking at like the next gen stats?
22:09Yeah.
22:10Well, yeah, it was one, one of the, yeah.
22:12So I don't know.
22:13The, what you have to remember is okay.
22:14There's like on a football field in a game versus when they're testing it at practice where
22:19he's just loading up and running full speed, you know, and in lab conditions, maybe he gets
22:23up to 21 or 22.
22:25It's different when you're, you know, after you've, if you've already run a route, you
22:28catch the ball and you're wearing football gear and on a grass field, that's a different
22:32dynamic.
22:33Well, I would say of the two things, the quick twitch change of direction and his straight
22:37line speed.
22:37If Tank has to get one of those two things back at full strength, I'd rather it be the,
22:43his ability to change direction.
22:45You know, that his, his ability to get open in tight spaces, I think is more predicated
22:49on that than him just running past people.
22:52Yeah.
22:52Um, so, so, you know, hopefully of the two things, hopefully it gets them both back, but
22:56hopefully of those two things, it'd be the quick twitch.
22:58Yeah.
22:59What is Tank Dell?
23:00My confidence level in that question, actually getting an answer in the preseason in training
23:05camp is like a two.
23:07Cause I think everything's still on the table.
23:09Like I think there's as good a chance that four or five weeks into the season that they
23:13open his practice window.
23:15I think there's as good a chance of that as there is that he doesn't play a snap this
23:18season.
23:19Yeah.
23:19Like the range of things that can happen with Tank Dell has not shrunk at all for me, this,
23:24this training camp.
23:25So we don't have a good answer on this.
23:26Yeah.
23:27My opinion.
23:28Um, question number one, what is the one thing you need to see from CJ Stroud in training camp?
23:35Um, oh, and just real quick on the mile per hour thing.
23:37The guy said at the 40 miles, uh, the 40 that's, you got to calculate in, uh, acceleration
23:43there and everything on the 40.
23:44So like the top end speed is going to be different than the average speed.
23:47Uh, okay.
23:48So what's the next question?
23:49I'm glad we resolved that.
23:50Yeah.
23:51It was very important that he and I resolve that.
23:53Yeah.
23:54Um, what is the one thing you most need to see from CJ Stroud in camp?
23:57Oh, in camp.
23:59Okay.
23:59So this one, we have a definitive answer on already.
24:01Mine was, all right.
24:03The pre-snap operation.
24:04They had focused on it so much during OTAs and mini camp.
24:07And it was markedly better this year than it was last year.
24:12Um, the overall operation of the offense and the overall effectiveness of the offense
24:16was light years ahead of where they were last year when they were going against the Texans
24:19defense, but especially in that pre-snap operation, you know, Ross Tucker called me yesterday
24:25to get some info about the Texans or a couple of days ago, uh, cause he's doing the color
24:28commentary for the game.
24:29Yeah.
24:30And remember he was on the call when Jeffrey Simmons had that sack against Tennessee last
24:35year.
24:35It was a great call and yeah, it was awesome.
24:37Cause he was like, Oh my, Oh my goodness.
24:40I can't remember what he said.
24:41So that was the one where Jeffrey Simmons was unblocked, where meanwhile, four Texans
24:45offensive linemen were all blocking the one non-Jeffrey Simmons defensive tackle.
24:49They got that guy hemmed down.
24:50And I brought that up to Ross.
24:52I was like, Ross, that was completely about pre-snap communication.
24:54They got off to the line late.
24:56Uh, CJ either didn't get out the call quickly enough or not everybody heard the call and they
25:01were, they were running anywhere between two or three different plays.
25:05He's on the offensive line there.
25:06And that's the kind of stuff that happened a lot in the first half of last season.
25:10We haven't seen that in training camp.
25:11It's been much, much cleaner.
25:12So a 10 on that one.
25:1410 on that one.
25:15All right.
25:15Like that.
25:15All right.
25:15There you go.
25:16Those are your, uh, your 10 questions heading into Texans training camp.
25:19Re-answered.
25:20How did we do?
25:20They, I would say they did pretty well in most of them.
25:23There's a couple of them that are still very open-ended heading into week one against
25:26the Buffalo Bills.
25:27That's the Buffalo Bills.