00:00That is right with week four approaching for the Houston Texans.
00:04We just heard last segment from the head coach, D'Amico Rines,
00:07as he had his media availability out at Reliant Stadium with the media.
00:12We just heard from him last segment.
00:14We will hear from C.J. Stroud next segment, so don't go anywhere.
00:17But right now it is stock talk, and we are talking about the Texans, of course.
00:210-3, wah-wah, as things stand, looking for that first dub of 2026.
00:26And I want to get the negatives out of the way, as I am known to do.
00:30We're on the show, Hughley, starting with you.
00:33Stock down for these Houston Texans right now at 0-3.
00:36Listen, there's a lot of different ways you can go stock down here.
00:39Yeah, there's a lot of options.
00:40Yeah, 7-1-3-5-7-2-4-6-10, YouTube and Twitch.
00:43I'm sure you're going to slide in with yours.
00:46I'm going to go a little non-conventional.
00:49I don't think anybody else is going to put this up here.
00:52Mine is Ben McDaniels.
00:56Ben McDaniels is the Texans' wide-receiving coach
00:59and a passing game coordinator for this team.
01:04Look, I know Nico being out hurts this team.
01:08It does, and hopefully he can return.
01:11But, Clint, it's not just lacking from a talent perspective with these guys.
01:17Yes, Jarrett Wayne and Noel and Xavier Hutchinson and even Keyshawn Boutte are not as talented
01:27as those guys.
01:28But, Clint, it is clearly, and again, he is not just a wide-receivers coach, baby.
01:35He's the passing game coordinator.
01:37And everything I'm about to say ain't just start happening this year.
01:42These are things that have been problems.
01:43Not only are they not as talented as Nico, Clint, he also doesn't appear, I'm not going to just say
01:53him,
01:53but his job description, I think it's hard not to look right at him,
01:58is those guys aren't prepared, it appears.
02:02Right, like, multiple times we have seen wide-receivers in the same area on pass plays.
02:14Oh, Dan Orlovsky did a segment on it about wide-receivers, not this year, but last year.
02:20I think it was last year.
02:21He's done one, since Ben's here, been here forever.
02:23So, with Ben being that guy, Dan Orlovsky did, he was one of those that ain't only the quarterback,
02:28it's not only the pass protection, these receivers are just not, you know,
02:34yeah, it wasn't this year, but he's done it before, yes.
02:36We saw it multiple times in the Colts game.
02:38Jalen Knoll and multiple receivers seeming to be in the same area where you see incomplete passes
02:45with four people standing around them, two receivers and two defenders.
02:52And then the passing game part of it, this passing game is, the last two weeks, you know,
02:58when it matters, has been rough, right?
03:00And, I mean, they've completed some yards a little bit, like, right,
03:04the big yardage against the Bengals was Dalton Schultz in the middle,
03:08but you're the passing game coordinator, and Kayshaun Boutte and Dalton Schultz
03:11have five targets together.
03:14I guess Bryce got one back, didn't he?
03:16Yeah, so to me, yeah, Ben McDaniels is, he is my stock down.
03:23The passing game, the wide receivers just don't look anywhere close to even NFL-ready caliber right now.
03:31I love that.
03:32I love, I mean, that's real talk right there, boys.
03:35Yeah, as we're on the show, Hugh Lee said to start that little rant there.
03:39Well put, by the way.
03:41A lot of bad to choose from.
03:43Stock down for you, Clint Sterner, with these Houston Texans sitting at 0-3.
03:47I'm going to go with Keelan Rutledge, rookie offensive lineman, left guard.
03:53And I don't know that all of this is on him, but I feel like his stock was talked.
03:59His stock was talked way up, y'all.
04:04You know, he was, from the time he got drafted,
04:06this is what we want our offensive line room to look like.
04:10From every time he was talked about, the physicality and the finish and all this kind of jive was there.
04:16It was built up that this guy wasn't just going to be wherever he played, guard or center.
04:22Wasn't just going to be a good player.
04:24He was going to basically rebuild or rebrand, if you will, the Texans offensive line unit.
04:36And the reality of it is, he may end up being a really good offensive lineman,
04:41but I'm going to tell you right now, at the NFL level,
04:44he's not going to go out there and be super physical on these dudes.
04:50Right now, and watching Keelan Rutledge,
04:52I ate in the run game,
04:55about average from a physicality standpoint.
04:58I mean, brutal at times in pass protection.
05:03And there's every now and again where he'll go through the whistle
05:07and almost kind of annoy somebody that he's blocking.
05:11Right now, and again, I'm not saying it's all on him.
05:13He is a rookie, and it should have never been talked up the way that it was talked up.
05:17If he can't play guard better than he's playing guard right now,
05:20he never should have spent three weeks in training camp at center.
05:23So, it's not all on him, but the reality of it is, man,
05:28that stock right there is down for the rookie offensive lineman.
05:31Another first-round draft pick offensive lineman, Ron,
05:35by Nick Casario that appears to be struggling mightily.
05:40Yeah, there was a thought, right, fellas,
05:42that they were saying he's probably our best offensive lineman.
05:46I'm going to tell you this right now.
05:47The last two weeks, none of them have been good.
05:52But he may be the worst out of all of them.
05:56And there's not – like, none of them have been good.
05:59We've seen all of them have bad moments.
06:02He may be the worst out of them all.
06:03And they were thinking coming into the season he was their best lineman.
06:07And we agreed.
06:08We agreed.
06:09Yeah, we talked all that out.
06:10There was a lot of hope in him.
06:11But now that the season started, they start playing these cats.
06:14Like, I see who DeForest Buckner is lining up on in past rushing downs.
06:20I see who they're lining – who they're going to.
06:22And we're going to see who Quentin Williams is going to line up against again.
06:25They are just – I mean, I've watched him just get moved.
06:27Yeah.
06:28Just moved.
06:29Yep, testing that rookie over and over.
06:31Those here stock downs.
06:32We got those negatives out of the way.
06:34I like to do that.
06:34But you are tuned in to Stock Up, Stock Down right here on The Drive.
06:38Sterner, Hughley, Milner riding with you.
06:40And now for Stock Ups, back to you, Ron, the show.
06:430-3, needing a win.
06:45Houston Texans, give me a stock up to believe in, sir.
06:48Stock up for me, I think it's Jadavion Clowney.
06:50And it was good to see him practice today because, Clint, he's clearly important.
06:56Because we've talked a lot about why this defense looks different.
07:01Like, I think they've really only got two dependable guys that can get pressure right now.
07:06And it's Hunter and Will Anderson.
07:09I mean, there's sometimes, you know, Sheldon Rankins makes an appearance.
07:15But, like, legitimately, those are the only two guys that are consistently getting pressure.
07:20And if they are blocked, you know, like, these guys are having time to be able to make big plays.
07:28So, I think getting him back and getting him back on there, he is clearly very important
07:34in terms of these guys having another pass rusher.
07:37We were seeing it in game one.
07:39I'm certain we'll see it again if he can play, that all three of them were in there on pass
07:44rushdowns.
07:45And so, Jadavion Clowney, we're seeing in his absence how important he is.
07:50They desperately need somebody else that can put pressure on the quarterback because it seems like Hunter
07:55and Will Anderson are the only ones that are able to do it.
07:59So, former NFL quarterback Clint Sterner, you please, sir, tell us a stock up with these Houston Texans searching for
08:06a win.
08:06I'm going to go Woody Marks, man.
08:08I told you after tape drop Tuesday that it just appears to me that the best thing for this football
08:14team is for Woody Marks to get more touches.
08:17And I know the head coach is talking about David Montgomery and loving his downhill, fighting for extra yards and
08:22them hard yards.
08:24I get it.
08:25But in order for this run game to really matter, like to really be a part of why you're winning
08:32games,
08:32like you've got to have a guy that can cut one back for 20 or 30 yards.
08:37Every now and again, I ain't talking about doing it at a Derrick Henry level or anything like that.
08:42I'm talking about just you've got to have a guy that can do that.
08:46And I think Woody Marks, even with limited time, has shown that he's more likely to get that accomplished.
08:53And I think he needs to get more touches.
08:55So, in my eyes, and maybe my eyes alone, but that's where I'm at.
08:58I think Woody Marks right now, his stock is and should be higher.
09:03All right.
09:03There it is.
09:04Stock up, stock down.
09:06Woody Marks, I'm with you.
09:08I felt this is even earlier than I thought.
09:11I thought mid-season that we would all look around and think that it is Woody Marks.
09:17Given the better chance, Clint has already arrived there after three games.
