Will Anderson Jr. Deserves to Be Awarded

Originally aired on January 10, 2026. On this episode, Cole talks how the Astros could become a big competitor with west and east coast baseball teams now with Tatsuya Imai, and how if Jalen Pitre makes certain moves against the Steelers on Monday, we could score big. Your sports talk therapist, Cole Thompson, is here for you, on Space City Saturday.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So how much do you like the sound of the
Houston Texans going to the Super Bowl in twenty twenty six?
Pretty good, right, sounds pretty legit. Well, what have I
told you that? Now? You're gonna be a super well
contender so long as you sign this player to a
long term deal. And with that, let's get this show
on the road. Welcome on into space a Saturday. It's

(00:20):
Cole Thompson rocking with you until one o'clock. Seven to one, three,
two one two, five to seven ninety is the number
to call in on all things Houston sports, Your Rockets,
you're astros, your Cougars. Yes, today we are going to
be talking about the Houston Cougars, not on the hardwood,
but in the world of college football, because I gotta
get into I got an inkling, guys, Frankie, don't look now,

(00:42):
but I think that the Houston Cougar is gonna be
a team that we will be talking about as a
college football playoff threat in twenty twenty six. And of course,
your Texans is they prepare to take on the Pittsburgh
Steelers this Monday night at seven o'clock in the final
game of the wild Card Round seven one three, two, one, two, five,
seven to ninety. But news came out today and to
nobody's surprise, Way Anderson Junior go get your bag. All

(01:05):
Pro first team accolades for the third year. Defensive end
Derreck Singley Junior once again named the first Team. I'll
pro his second selection have getting paid last offseason. Danil
Hunter also named a second team selection as he's als
Shire here and Kamari Laster just left off the list
of both cornerback and linebacker respectively. I got another bone
to pick in a minute. I'll get there. But let's

(01:26):
go to the Will Anderson thing. Number one. Anybody out
there in the world of the NFL, not here in Houston,
because we've all gotten on the same page at this point.
Anybody out there in the world of the NFL that
still thinks Nick Cassario was a moron trading away all
of those assets, all the picks now has to sit
down and shut up for the rest of their lifetime.
They do. Because Will Anderson in two years has gone

(01:50):
from being a rising star to a focal point of
a Texans defense to now one of the best in
the game. And the people fifty voters that come up
with the come up with the lay of the land.
They all have to admit, hey, he's legit. He said
everything that we could ask for. And then some twelve
sacks on the year, twenty tackles for losses. He's been
incredible when it comes to the pass rush win. Wait,

(02:12):
every single time that offense coordinator is having to go
scheme up some players or dill up some motions or
trick ory to be able to get a team like
the Texans to slip off base. They're circling fifty one
every single time that they're in a meeting. They go
where is the terminator on the field? Where the hell
is he? Because if we can stop him, we don't
have a shot. But at least it's gonna be a
lot easier for us because we had to Neil Hunter

(02:33):
on the other side. And so now it brings me
to my main point. Most people look at the Texans
and they say, naturally, you have to pay for your
quarterback to stick around. And I do agree that c J.
Stroud needs to get paid.

Speaker 2 (02:46):
I do.

Speaker 1 (02:48):
Going into the offseason, the only priority that needs to
be made is Will Anderson signing a long term deal.
That's it. If Nick Casseroo can get that done. In
my eyes, he's golden for another year. I'm not saying
that you don't need to go out now in some
good draft picks. I'm not saying that you don't need
to go out and add in some depth, but you
can do that in free agency. And the beauty about
what this coaching staff is with Matt Burke, with the
Damika Ryans thing you throw in now, even Nick Kaylee

(03:10):
Dessert except Frank Ross specifically, they do a good job
of being able to kind of target and pinpoint what
they're looking for in terms of attributes, and they all
seem to paint on out at least in some capacity.
So in free agency, I'm not really worried if they
don't go bring in the highlight running back or they
go after the superstar defensive tackle, because they'll find their
niche player and then guess what, look at that they're

(03:31):
gonna be a superstar or they're gonna at least be
a contributor and they're gonna add more value to the team.
I care about Will Anderson signing on the dotted line
because if you are only going to see him grow,
that's it. This past season, what we witnessed twelve sacks,
twenty tacks for losses, three forced fumbles, one defensive touchdown.
He's been the anchor of a team that is number
one in the NFL in total yards allowed in number

(03:53):
two because of a technicality where he didn't play in
the second half in scoring. That guy is only going
to get better. And what happens when that guy gets better, Well,
he's gonna know what his value is. And then you
go ahead and talk to agents, and you're sitting on
down and you're trying to negotiate, Well, look at what
he did in your four, Look at what he did
in your two, Look at what he did in your three.
Now your four comes around, and we're not gonna settle

(04:14):
for anything less but the best, and the market price
is gonna continue to go on up. People don't realize that.
You know, when you talk about quarterbacks, you talk about
linebackers and defensive ends and offensive tackles. You make an
overpay like Dak Prescott's making over fifty million dollars a
year to be a I would say, solid, but not
a league quarterback. He's never gonna be the reason why

(04:35):
your team is winning a Super Bowl. He could win
a Super Bowl and it wouldn't shock me. The same
thing goes for Jordan Love, The same thing goes for CJ. Stroud,
The same thing goes for a lot. You've got Sam Darnald,
for instance, He's the number one que's on the number
one team in terms of the NFC. They gotta buy
this weekend. Los Angeles has an MVP quarterback, Drake May
is slinging around the yard of Boxborough, but they have

(04:57):
to play. And meanwhile, here comes Sam Darnald making a
cool one hundred million dollars to maybe end up being
decent at best, and he gets a buy. Team can
win a super Bowl this year, but it won't be
because Sam Darnold is the X factor Y so doesn't
matter because of whatever the market dictates is how much

(05:17):
you're gonna get paid. That's just it. You really think
that Jalen Hurts is worth every single penny? Probably not,
But because of you had up a deal and you
had to get him signed to a long term extension.
Guess what happened. The money dictated. Dak Prescott's getting paid
a lot of money, not because if he's worth it,
but because of if you want to have a quarterback,
you're gonna have to match it. And the same thing

(05:38):
goes for defensive ends. The three most important positions on
the football field at any given time quarterback, defensive end,
and offensive tackle. If you can have a solid wide
receiver Cord, that's great. If you can have an elite
shutdown corner like Houston does with Derek Singing and Junior,
that's awesome, totally fine. But when you look at the
necessary priorities, non negotiables, it's left tackle, quarterback as defense fend,

(06:02):
and every single time that market price continues to go up,
that's the next highest bid. So the Texans need to
get ahead of this move now before CJ. Stroud. Not
saying that you can't work out a deal with CJ,
but you need to get ahead of this move now
because of he's only going to get better watching him
at Alabama, and I was lucky enough to be able
to see a couple of his game's life, But watching
him at Alabama, you knew that he was special. And

(06:23):
I will die on this sake, and I'm totally cool
with it. In seven one three, two, one two five,
seven ninety. If you have a different opinion, I would
love to hear from you on the guest line. We're
wide open. We're here for two hours. But I said
in twenty twenty one, Bryce Shrunk's elite. He's a great player.
He's going to go down in history as one of
the best overall mental processors in Tuscaloosa. But will Anderson
deserves the Heisman Trophy. Will Anderson deserves to be in

(06:46):
New York City and they set a defensive player and
they sent the wrong one. And Aiden Hutchinson, Brother, You've
had one hell of a career. You're killing it in Detroit.
You got your bag. You're playing for your hometown team.
I totally get that. I do. But let's just cost spades. Spade,
you did not long in the same category as Willing
Intererson that year, and everybody around the program, and everybody
around the SEC and everybody in the scouting department knew that.

(07:08):
When he got to the NFL, put him in the
right system, watch him flourish. He went to Houston with
a young up and coming coach in Diamiko Ryans speaks
defense has a tie with the Alabama and so far
he is not disappointed, not even a little bit. And
so now going into the offseason. Now going into an
All Pro capping up an All Pro year with an

(07:30):
opportunity to once again destroy Aaron Rodgers beat the breaks
off of either Justin Herbert or Josh Allen or Trevor Lawrence,
which would bring Jordan to my face. Whatever it is.
You have got to be able to pay for him
to be locked in long term. You have to because
the longer that you wait, the longer that it takes
with this deal to get done, more players are gonna

(07:52):
get paid, more players are gonna get their back, and
now the asking price is doubled. So in my opinion,
it's very simple. The options for the Texans going into
this offseason need to be prioritizing Will Anderson Junior. He
had an All Pro year. And I'll call another thing, Guys,
if Miles Garrett didn't exist and didn't just break an

(08:13):
NFL record setting twenty three sacks that belonged to Michael
Strahan for over two decades, this would be a guy
who I would consider to be at runner for Defensive
Player of the Year. So they can throw in Defensive
Player of the Year award, you throw it an All
Pro season, you throw in the most career sacks, you
throw in the most career attackers for loss. He's the
anchor of your number one defense. He's elite when it
comes to pass rushing. He opens up plays for everybody,

(08:35):
and he's the salt of the earth in the locker room.
One of the nicest individuals that you can have. That's culture.
You want that guy convincing other free agents around the
world of football that he can be a part of
the team. That's what you want, man like that like,
that's what you need. And when you get that guy
locked up in the locker room long term, you gotta

(08:56):
feel like that you're only gonna get taken to upward.
I'm telling you a move like this is not a
let's kind of a conversation later on down the line.
It's uh, I'm not talking to any free agent. I'm
not talking with CJ's camp, anybody else in the locker
room who says I want to bring a new deal.
That's a cool story, sit down and wait in line.
All of that is on the back burn if I'm

(09:17):
Nick Cassario until I get Will Anderson Junior locked up
because if he belongs there now. The other thing I
want to complain about before we move on seven one,
seven nine. I see that we got people calling in
the guest line. Anybody else noticed that there was one
player missing? Anybody? So the first team All Pro featured
two players in the Texans. I have no problem with

(09:39):
Matthew Stafford, no problem with Bejeon Robinson, Pokotakua Jackson, the
jig bit Jamar Chase. That's great. Gets your all purpose player,
Christian McCaffrey. We can maybe argue that one. I'll say
Jimmy or Gibbs, but whatever, not that big of a deal.
Trim mcbradet Arizona gets the tight end spot off its line.
Looks good, defense looks fine. How about we go to
special teams. He got a punter in Jordan Stout. Okay,

(10:02):
I'm okay with that. Ray Davis is a pup as
a kick returner. Feels pretty good. She made a decang
from test. See feel really good. Actually, he's the one
player that tests. He can say, hey he's a pro Bowl.
He looks really freaking awesome. Anybody see who was the
place kicker? Anybody there's Riker from the Minnesota Vikings. All right,

(10:22):
so for starters, roll time went to Alabama. I'm cool
with that, but really not Kyami Fairban. We're really not
gonna put Kayami Fairbar up here. Not even give him
a second team vote. Not even that. Will Reikerd made
ninety four point three percent of his kicks. He also
made one hundred percent of his field goals. He also

(10:43):
had a long of sixty two, and he had one
hundred and thirty total points. Kayami Fairban this year, just
for everyone, would be your minded May ninety four percent
of his kicks one hundred and sixty points, second most
in the NFL, one hundred percent on Pat's and he
led the league in kicks him over forty yards downfield.
Oh and by the way, that wasn't enough. He also

(11:06):
single handedly got the Texans at times to twelve and five.
That was on him. And he doesn't even get a
first place vote. Okay, fine, what about a second place vote. Nope,
not gonna do that either. What are we doing? You
guys realize it, And this is not a shot at
anybody else, But you guys realized that with the incompetence
of the offense at times underneath Ni Kaylee, with bad
play designs, with horrible clock management, with overall underwhelming throws

(11:31):
from CJ. Stroud that as long as you got within
range fifteen was from a lockdown step easy three. Like
you guys are realize that, right, AP voters, you realized
that the Texans would win games twenty to something or
twenty three to something, not because oh their offense was

(11:51):
so elite and they found their way into the endzone.
They sucked in the red zone for the first few months.
Guess what I'll say, The choir part out loud. There's
still questionable in the red zone at times. They are.
But as long as you were in range, Kyomie fairbah
three points easy win locked you instep put you in
a position. Oh if that's not off. He also was
named the AFC Player of the Week three times in

(12:13):
twenty twenty five. That's not good enough for an EP
first ballot vote? Am I crazy here? Probably a little?
Am I complaining about things that really don't matter in
the long scheme? Yeah? But you know what, I believe
that Kyami Fairbaan is the most unsung player in the
AFC this season. We're giving flowers to Trevor Lawrence and

(12:33):
what he was able to accomplish. We're giving flowers to
Drake man what he was able to accomplish. The Texans
are probably a ten and seventeen without Kyami Fairbah. He's
single handedly won you games at times knowing that you
had his leg in place. And it was incredible because
I guess what you lose him for a couple if
he wasn't out for two games and you didn't bring
in the guy from a practice squad. If you had

(12:54):
him out there for the Tennessee game or for the
Denver game, I mean not have to never forget the
Jackson game. He would have had a record setting season
in total kicks and in points. Everyone realizes that, but
not good enough for a first or second place vote.
All right, you're loss. I don't understand what you guys

(13:14):
see from time to time. Maybe I don't know kicking
as well as you guys do. Seven one three two
one two five seven ninety Take quick time out and
we come back. The Houston Cougars can learn something from
last night's College Football Playoffs semi final, and I think
they had the blueprint to go ahead on a run
to the college football Playoff. I'll explain next on space
A Saturday right here on Sports Talk seven ninety space

(13:34):
A Saturday, rolling right along here on Sports Talk seven
ninety Cole Thompson rock with shew on sale about what
does it gonna be? One o'clock, Yeah, one o'clock, seven,
one three nine, if you want to get on the
guest line. Rockets lose last night one eleven one five
to another crappy team, fantastic. Can't wait to discuss that
Texans played this weekend on Monday, actually and against Pittsburgh.

(13:57):
They have one final practice and we'll get to news
on the injury report before we hopefully get on out
of here. And the College Football Playoff has the two
most unlikely teams that you could envision at the start
of the year playing down in South Beach for a
national title with their quarterback Frenanda Mendoza of Indiana being
a native, and then of course Miami playing in their
backyard seven one three. Okay, So Houston Cougar's, let's talk

(14:20):
about them, because I hear from people all the time
you don't talk enough Cougars. You don't talk enough about
the Houston Cougars, all right, And to be fair, for
a while, there was nothing to talk about. One great
season underneath Dana overall you were a G five team
playing in the American Conference. Yeah, you had one year
with Tom Herman where you went you beat Florida State

(14:40):
and the Peach Bowl. Okay, and then he left you
for Texas and he had one great year with Kevin someone,
and then he left you for Texa and that all right.
Now there's stuff to talk about. Houston Cougar's went ten
and three this year. Awesome season, fantastic season. Knowing that
you were able to build something underneath the guy that
is three ruin through wanting to be a part of

(15:02):
the culture down here is awesome. And the best part
is transfer portal numbers are always gonna go crazy. There'll
be a lot of kids that see the bill, they
see the dollars sign and they go, Okay, gotta get
me paid. I'll go play it for Alabama for a
cool three million dollars. You want to stick around in Houston.
You see what Elieh's offering me. You can't offer that.
Peace out boy, scout and got said all the time,

(15:24):
Houston has retained ample talent, and not just in terms
of losing them to the transfer portal, but also they
want to come back for another year. A lot of
kids have said the NFL is great. I can wait
a little bit. I'll be back in I'll be there
in twenty twenty seven. I'm quote that, I'm Ari Thomas, Connor, Wigman,

(15:44):
several defensive players. You're gonna feel pretty good about where
you are with the foundation in place. But here's where
I learned watching Indiana and Oregon play in the Chick
fil A Peach Bowl last night, and you can throw
in Miami a little bit too. They all have one
DNA trate in common. Indiana is a juggernaut that can
stop that can't be stopped. Miami has a defensive line

(16:05):
that is probably a house of horrors for anybody that
they got to go up against. Oregon's organ. They're always
gonna have the dudes. They're always gonna have the studs.
They're always gonna have the first round picks. They're always
gonna have the clean uniforms. That's a selling point. But
all three of those teams have one singular DNA trade
that will make them contenders for the long haul. They

(16:25):
got guys who want to be there, every single one
of them. Look at Mario Christobal christ of Ball, who,
in my opinion, has always been an underappreciated coach of
the public eye. Went from being at Oregon where he
was winning at a consistent rate after taking them from
a four and eight roster to a nine plus win
season on the regular with Justin Herbert as a starting quarterback,

(16:46):
saw the desolate attitude of the Miami Hurricanes, a program
that he is proud of, that he played for, and said,
that's not acceptable. It's not acceptible in the world of
college football. It's not acceptable in the world of sports.
And I can go back and fix the problems in
four years to three to ten wins seasons, one potential
college Football Playoff bid, a number one overall pick at quarterback,

(17:09):
and now they're four courters away from winning a national
title with wins over two SEC teams and Ohio State.
He wanted to be there, He wanted to be in
the three to zero five, and he wanted to help
his team that he was proud of get back to
the level of dominance that we're supposed to know. Oregon
Stan Lanning Mario leaves, They call up a guy from Athens, Georgia,
and say come on up to the Eugene gets there,

(17:31):
immediately starts winning, brings in the right quarterback Bo Knicks
brings in a good play call in Kenny Dillingham. They
start winning. The next season, they go to college them
in the next season, they also win. The last two
seasons going over to the Big Ten, they go undefeated
in year one, they have the number one seed in
the playoffs. Year or two they lose one game to

(17:51):
the national champion runner up or the national champion and
they mollywop both Texas Tech and JMU and their coaches
getting poached. A fitting offers He's getting looked at for LSU,
for Alabama, for Florida State, for these programs that all
have money, and they all say, you know what, we
want you to be the guy in charge. And he
looks at Phil Knight and says, no, I'm happy here.

(18:13):
I mean, he's just give me a couple million dollars
to stick around, but I'm happy here. I don't plan
on leaving anytime soon. And he's young, he's like forty,
so he's gonna be around for like the next twenty years.
He wants to be at Oregon. Kirk Signetti took him
till he was fifty five zero, which is a sign
for everyone in life. Whatever is your goals and your
dreams and your accomplishments, you can eventually achieve it. Fifty

(18:35):
years to become a head coach at Division three Indiana
University Purdue A University, Indianapolis, That's where he started his career.
Iup wins, There goes to elon wins, there goes to JMU,
takes into a national title. At the FCS level, they
lose that game, but then they go the FBS level,
they instantaneously win. And then he has this iconic line

(18:58):
when he sat Indiana and being introduced the media, it's simple,
I win. Google me, and what has he done in
the program that was known as the biggest losers in
college football? He's lost two games to the national champion
runner up and to the national champion. And if he
loses on January nineteenth, he will lose to the national champion,
Heisman Trophy winning quarterback. Good culture, great identity, roster attention,

(19:21):
killed at the transfer portal of the last two years.
Took g five talents and brought them into Bloomington and
made them a superstar juggernaut that feels like an unstoppable force.
Now at this point, you probably asked yourself, cool, what
does that have to do with Houston Cougar's football. I'm
so glad you asked. Houston has the exact same DNA
as Indiana, Miami and Oregon. They got the coach, they

(19:46):
got the guy that wants to be here, and they
got the guy they don't have to worry about going
anywhere else. Kirk Signett, he had an offer on the
table for Penn State. He said, nope, I'm good at Bloomington.
Why do you want want me? Then I'm good Now
stick a out here. Willi Fritz at his age, he's
not looking to go anywhere else. He's back in a
place that he want to go. And by the way,

(20:07):
for anybody who wants to know, Willi Fritz had offered
him the table. I don't know how many of you
guys know this, but back in twenty twenty three he
had offers Toy two, he had offers. Georgia Tech was
looking at him, Missippi State was looking at him. They said,
you want to be the next coach here? We like him.
He said, no, I'm good at too Lane. So he
picked to go to the right job. And now that

(20:29):
he's at the right job, the culture can be implemented
and it will. And that's what makes me so excited
for Houston and going into the next season. They've killed
it in the transfer portal. If anybody's been paying attention,
Makai Hughes, that's top ten running back in college football.
And you're gonna see what he's all about the second
that he touches down at TDECU Stadium is make it
plays in week two. That dude is elite and he

(20:51):
was recruited by Willy Fritz and people commit to people.
And he came on down after going to Oregon thinking
that he was going to be a star, got told no,
going to see that's start him on display. Patrick Obermeyer
kid from Kingwin. Phenomenal season to close out twenty twenty
five for UTSA. That's your next Tanner Koisele. Trent Walker
from Oregon State killed it, killed it the last two

(21:14):
years for underwhelming Beavers rosters. Over seventeen hundred total receiving yards,
over one hundred and forty seven catches. Definition of consistency.
Guess what he's gonna be your number two. Stefan Johnson
right now got the eligibility waiver denied, so we'll figure
out with his status speak out to Marie Thomas. Now
I get your running mate with him. You beat up
the offensive line, Anthony Bosma from Toledo, Schadre Hurst from Tulane,

(21:37):
you're throwing Tomorrow, you're throwing Hayden Right from Northwestern and
Drew Tayrell from Miami Ohio. Three of those four have
one thing in common. Anybody wanted to take a guess.
They're all conference players in the MAC or the American
and Hearst is all American. That's your new starting trenches.
Then you're throwing guys like the Marion Thomas from Oklahoma State.
You're throwing a Jvan White from Tulane, another All AAC

(22:01):
player of the year. Can it? That's your culture. Houston
right now is quietly building a team in college football
that I don't think anybody is prepared to see in
twenty twenty six. I don't you got a good head coach,
you have great connections. On top of that, you killed
it recruiting this past year. Let's go a step further.

(22:22):
You also have done a good job of recognizing what
is the right talent you want in the portal. You
retain talent and you didn't lose any of your coordinators,
Sleave Nagel, he ain't gone anywhere. Austin Armstrong killed eight
in year one, He's back in year two. Your schedule's manageable. Two.
Know that out there, and you got a guy that
wants to be at Houston. And the second that you

(22:44):
get that guy, the second that you realize this is
not a stepping stone job. This is not a place
to where I'm gonna be for three or four years.
And then in Alabama comes calling, or Michigan goes ahead
and dials up my agent, or I reach out and
I see Ohio State on the other line. I'm picking
up and he very well could. He very well could.
And I couldn't fault him for that, because those are
jobs in the grand scheme of things that are considered

(23:06):
the greatest in college football. And I want to push
back in one what in any way, whatsoever. But what
I will tell you is he doesn't want those jobs.
He wants to be in Houston. He wants to be
a Cougar, just like Kirkston that he wants to be
in Bloomington, and Dan Lanning wants to be in Eugene,
and Mario Chris Baul wants to be in Coral Gables

(23:27):
because that's where they're meant to be. That's where they're
supposed to go. So you got to buy him from
the coach. You got the most important piece figured out.
If you are a Cougars fan, the problem now you
gotta make sure that they spend the money. He got
him locked up. Now said to go ahead and open
up your walts, Tillman, and if you are in the
Houston area, you also got to open up your wallets.
Seven one three two, one two five seven nine. Take

(23:49):
quick time out and we come back Houston. Let's see
what they're up to. They will win this football game
by ten points if X player does this. Don't go
anywhere but just on sports on Space Saturday, right here
on Sports Talks seven ninety Spacey Saturday. Rolling right along
here on Sports Talks seven ninety. Cole Thompson, your host
for the next hour and a half. On a one seven,

(24:11):
one three two two five seven ninety Rockets drop another
one to a sub five hundred team. Shocker. At this point,
College Football Playoffs features Indiana and Miami in the national championship,
just like we all predict that at the start of
the year, and the Houston Texans they take on at
the Pittsburgh Steelers this Monday on ESPN seven one three two,

(24:32):
one two five seven ninety. Before we move on over
to the Texans, let's get back into the Cougar's conversations
on the guest line James and Kline. Good morning, James,
what's up dude?

Speaker 3 (24:41):
Yeah, good morning.

Speaker 1 (24:42):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (24:42):
This run that Indiana is making it runs me a
lot of the Joe Burrow in the LSU run today
Bay when they win, and the Clemson I mean, they
just don't seem like they can be beat.

Speaker 1 (24:52):
You know, it just feels like the same thing. And
just who feels like Indiana's is gonna take it all?

Speaker 3 (24:56):
And even though it's in Miami, I still think Guinean
is just gonna roll.

Speaker 1 (25:00):
Yeah. I appreciate the phone call, James. I do. No,
they are not twenty nineteen LSU. I want to make
this abutly clear. I know we got a lot of
LSU people that live in the city of Houston, So
let me just go ahead and throw us out. That
twenty nineteen team that we witness down to Mount Ridge,
Louisiana is, in my opinion, the greatest football team ever assembled.
I'm an Alabama grad. I'm sec through and through, I'm

(25:24):
supposed to despise LSU. I tip my cat to them.
They eviscerated opponents behind a cop I mean behind a
Heisman Trophy, future number one overall pick quarterback, three elite
weapons in the passing game, a stable offensive line, and
a legit defense that featured multiple future Pro Bowlers. Patrick

(25:44):
Queen was on that team. He's not the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Grant Delpit was on that on that team, he's now
with the Cleveland Browns. Dereck Singley Junior was a freshman
All American. He was the youngest player of that unit.
He's now an All Pro with the Houston Texans. What
I will say is is that this team has a
similar path out in Bloomington. So what does that mean?

(26:05):
I think that when you look at the talent level
of what you're witnessing out in Louisiana in twenty nineteen,
there will never be a combination of players that make
the jump to the NFL at that rate the way
that we see ever again, it just won't happen. But
Indiana is elite at one thing, one major thing, and honestly,

(26:25):
that means that they're really freaking good at everything else.
If not great, if not elitd iss and I put
like iss in like an apostrophe, what, Frankie, what's it called? Uh?
When you like like when you put the you put
the asterisk asterisk next to the name of a like
something that like you think is somewhat like real maybe not,
you like throw a little tidbit down the bottom of
the at the bottom of the narrative. Indiana does the

(26:46):
fundamentals at an elite rate. They don't have the self
inflicted wombs. They do everything in pristine, perfect condition. And
when you can't rattle a team like that, you're unstoppable.
Because of that leads to you being incredible on third down.
Indiana converted on sixty eight percent of their third downs
last night. It allows your quarterback to be playing in

(27:07):
a rhythm that is almost unstoppable. You ever heard the
term touchdown interception ratio like with CJ. Stroud twenty three
to five and twenty twenty three. Here, let me change
it for you. How about how about touchdown incompletion ratio?
Because for Nana Mendoza two college football playoff games has
eight touchdowns and five incompletions because if they do the

(27:28):
little things at an elite level, they don't miss open
field tackles, They pounce on the football, they play impressed
man coverage at a high rate. They don't let receivers
get past them. They make sure that they're in the
right gaps in the right situations. And at the end
of the day, the offensive line plays through the whistle.
And you want to know how you know that because
you got the coach e'rerope forty two to fifteen. It's

(27:52):
a three score differential, and you have a false start
and it looks like Kirk Signetti is about ready to
blow a gasket. Which, come to find out, Frankie I
don't remember his name, but the guy from the Incredibles,
who's mister Incredible's boss, that's what Curtsey got. He looks
like like, that's that's one hundred percent who were throw
the glasses on, swoop the hair out instead of being spiky.

(28:13):
You got the guy Wallace shown like that's who it is.
But he's losing his mind on the sidelines because if
you have a false start and instead of a third
and one, it's now a third and six. Despite being
up by two scores, you have a pass interferits call,
and he's about ready to yake the All Pro quarterback
D'Angelo ponds off the field. Like that's the mentality. And
so like from Indiana standpoint, they're elite because of they

(28:37):
are so good at doing the meticulous little details at
the highest level. But the twenty nineteen LSU team, to me,
will always gonna ask the greatest football team to ever
assemble by a guy who right now is having more
botox than he is job offers. And that's an insult.
I get it. I know, like I get you want
to stay useful. I don't know if Brananda Mendoz is

(28:58):
gonna turn into an NFL quarterback that we were talking
about twenty five years from now the way that we
will with Joe Burrow, but he's making a case and
he's gonna be the number one overall pick and he's
gonna be also a Heisman Trophy whenn't just like Burrow.
But that team that we witnessed down in Louisiana was elite,
Like I mean, it was so well put together, up
with talent that you knew from the second that it
touched down it was gonna be on the NFL level,

(29:20):
it wouldn't. I think with Indiana you got probably five
or six guys that could have really long standing careers,
but it doesn't matter because of their just playing the
Saturday game at such a rate to where they look unstoppable.
And I would actually love to see if in twenty
nineteen versus twenty twenty five and Diana met on a
football field, who would have win. I say it would

(29:40):
have been I say it would between the thousand nineteen
LSH I do. What I will say though, is that
of all the national champions we've seen since twenty nineteen,
so twenty twenty Alabama, the two Georgia teams, Michigan, Ohio State,
Indiana or Miami, I think Indiana, if they win, would
be the closest in terms of scores. I just don't

(30:00):
see anybody beaten that twenty and nineteen l SHOOT team.
I just simply I don't. But you have a shot
to go sixteen and O, which again, that will be
something that you can say that LSU never could, mainly
because of the fourteen College Football Playoff was in place,
which at this point I may think it off my
high horse and say the twelve teen playoff is awesome.
Seven one three, two one two five to seven ninety. Okay,
what am I rant? Take another quick time out, then

(30:22):
we'll get to the Texans. If X player does this,
they win the game by ten points. Who is that player?
Don't miss up space, say Saturday next right here on
Sports Talk seven ninety space a Saturday rolling right along
here on Sports Talk seven ninety it is called Thompson
Rockman Chew until one o'clock seven one three two one
two five seven ninety Rockets dropping out of the game
to a sub five hundred team. Not shocking. Indiana and

(30:44):
the college football National Championship very shocking. Following their win
over Oregon and the Texans, they take on the Pittsburgh
Steelers Monday for an opportunity to go to the wild
Card round, first time in franchise history. They will be
playing on the road in the wild card around. That
one is very interesting, and that somewhat is a bit
nerve racking. Seven one three two one two five seven ninety.

(31:07):
All Right, I know that we're going to talk Texans,
but you know the roll around here, you call it
the show. You get right to the phone lines. Yankees
Keith what's.

Speaker 2 (31:14):
That yegges Keith, good morning, how are you?

Speaker 1 (31:18):
I am fantastic, my dude, how are you?

Speaker 2 (31:22):
I'm a little per black. I just saw report that,
uh that yeah, well, Lamark Jackson re signed. His contract
is seventy four million dollars.

Speaker 1 (31:32):
You're talking about for the for the Ravens. He's on
a contract right now already, so that's.

Speaker 2 (31:36):
The thing, all right, But they're renegotiating his contract and
they're saying that his next contract is seventy four million dollars.
They compete whatever they're trying to do, so.

Speaker 1 (31:49):
That'd be the highest contract in the NFL. You're right
on that right now. His annual cap hit, his capit
for twenty twenty six, seventy four point five million dollars.
That's his cap hit if he gets an out. So
so the point is that if he were to move on,
the capet against the race, So I think this where
you're at, Keith, the cap hit against the Ravens would

(32:11):
be seventy four million dollars if they were to move
off of him. That's not his annual I mean that
that that's what he's expecting to make next season, set
or a million, seventy four point five million.

Speaker 2 (32:23):
Good Lord, have mercy. Who do you who do you
see as a Ravens new coach? I'm saying, Jesse Miner,
who do you think?

Speaker 1 (32:30):
See here's the thing, Keith Dude like, okay, how how
let me let me let me put you on the Spotify.
How'd you feel about Kyle Winningham getting hired by Michigan?
How'd you feel about that?

Speaker 2 (32:41):
Well, they had to get rid of that, uh, nothing
that they had anyway, So I don't know about I
don't know that guy, but I know they had to get.

Speaker 1 (32:47):
Rid of it than that they right, But do you
know that that the knucklehead Sharon Moore who currently is
probably dealing with more litigations than he is dms in
his on his Instagram account, you do realize that he
was part of the Harbough coach tree, So you go
against the Harbord coaching tree. So, Jesse Minter, with the
Harback coaching tree, basically what you're doing is you're bringing

(33:10):
in a younger version of John Harbaugh. And so the
question that you got to ask yourself if you are,
if you're the organization, do you basically want to run
it back with the Harback clone? Or somebody that has
harbor intentionals or do you want to go a different pathway?
And I say go the different pathway. That's just me.
And the reason I say that is because if there's
a guy by the name of Brian Flores who's had
elite defensive play and I think deserves another shot of

(33:33):
being able to cut could be a head coach. He's
interviewed for the last few seasons. It just seems like
to get back to the mentality of what you are
as a Baltimore Raven, which is defense, physical in the trenches,
no nonsense mentality. A guy like Brian Flores is the
right fit for the team and that's who I would
hire if I I was the Ravens.

Speaker 2 (33:54):
Well, I like Brian flore is, but doesn't me black
ball just being a head coach. I think he got
black bow man. I don't believe there but no teams
going to hire man at a coach.

Speaker 1 (34:04):
I believe that this will be that this is the
year you will see him get hired. Now, if he
doesn't get hired this cycle, I think that we can
have a conversation about it, which again is stupid because
of let's just call a spade a spade to a
certain extent, he's right about what happened out in Miami
because Chris Career is no longer employed and to a
time about law I got benched and they don't want
to have him around long term. How we went about

(34:26):
it was terrible. It absolutely was. So there's a fault
on his side. But nothing he said at this point
is actually wrong.

Speaker 2 (34:36):
Well, that's I would love to see Brian floor Is
as a head coach. But I'm hoping that all the stuff,
all these little baggage has been uh has been excused
at this point hopefully.

Speaker 1 (34:52):
All Right, I appreciate the phone call Yankees Keith. Yankees Keith,
why don't even go to you now? I want to
you because you're a nice person. But still Yankees Keith,
Really Yankees on this platform? I mean, beat the Astros
at least before your cars off the Yankees Keith in
the city seven. Okay, player X does this thing in

(35:14):
the wild card around the Texans win by ten points.
Most of you are probably saying it's gotta be an
offensive mine gotty Nico Collins what he marks? How about
we throwing some Jaden Higgins love. How about maybe we
say CJ. Strodd got look really good. I get all that.
The player that is going to have the biggest impact

(35:36):
on this game is Jalen Petree. I said it. I'll
let you go ahead and think it over right now
that you've had time to think about it, let me explain.
Jalen Peachree plays in the nickel. That means that he's
got to defend the run, and he's got to defend
the pass. That means that he's gonna be covering line
running backs, tight ends, slot receivers, and coverage. The Steelers

(35:58):
are one of the more codependent teams on trusting their
running backs in the passing game, and if not, then
the tight ends. Look at Kenny Gainwell. Kenny Gainwell is
probably the most quiet superstar in the NFL this season
because of how valuable Key is to the Steelers. Only
five and thirty seven rushing yards not really that great
of a number. Jalen Warren has almost double. He's number

(36:21):
two on the team in targets. He's number I mean,
he's number one on the team in targets. He's number
one on the team in receptions, and he is four
hundred and eighty six yards and he's averaging seven point
seven yards to play. He has six plays of over
twenty yards downfield. That's because of nobody in the nickel
can tackle him. That's because nobody in the nickel will
be able to bring him by down behind the line

(36:41):
of scrimmage. So you gotta be total with him on
that game. Who's the next and most important portion on
the field for the Pittsburgh Steelers? What's Pat Fryarmouth Four touchdowns,
forty one receptions, four hundred and eighty five yards, seven
plays a twenty plus yards dounfield. If you're in the nickel,
you're covering the tight end ninety percent of the time.
And if it's not him, it's John new Smith, John

(37:02):
new Smith and Arthur Smith Darling the offensive coordinator for
the Steelers. Two hundred and twenty two yards eight point
five yards playing two big plays of over twenty plus
yards downfield, two touchdowns. Guess what he plays, Guys, he's
in the slot. He's lining up a lot in the slot.
Guess who's got to cover him. That'd be Jaalen Petree.
And then you throw in the rushing attack to the
outside corner. He got dk metcalf on one side blocking

(37:25):
Dereck Singley Junior. He got Calvin Austin, or you got
you got Roman Wilson, or you got Adam Thaler on
the other side blocking Kamari Laster. Guess what happens. You
need to be able to have a one on one
battle to be able to get off the block and
get in the backfield and stop Jalen Warren and kid
a Gainwell, guess who does that. That would be Jaalen Petrie.
He is gonna have to be the human highlight reel

(37:46):
in this game to make it a one score affair
and basically eviscerate Aaron Rodgers and company from doing much.
Tell me his stat line set the over under it.
Let's say twelve times thirteen tackles. He has more than
thirteen t you win the football game. Pass breakups, let's
send at two and a half. He has three or
more pass breakups, you win the game. Let's say interceptions,

(38:08):
I'll two point five. So basically as he have a
pick in this game, going toe to toe of Pat Fryarmouth,
shutting down to Calvin Austin, making plays against Johnny Smith
go and making sure that you go ahead and jump
the rout for a Kenny Gain while swing pass, one interception,
you win the football game. You just tell me. Jalen
Petrie stat line. We look into the future. I'm Zoltar
of sitting with my crystal ball and I'm saying, all right,

(38:29):
thirteen tackles, two and a half pass breakups, one interception,
and a fumble recovery. He does all those things that
Texans are gonna win by ten points. The most important
factor of Houston's defense and probably the biggest unsung hero
the last two years since making the switch down from
safety to the nickel, has been Jaylen Petree. And it
was evident in that game against Kansas City last season

(38:50):
in the Divisional round, how much missed number five on
the field because guess who beat the breaks off of you?
Travis Kelcey over one hundred receiving yards seven receptions, did
everything at a high end level. He looked like vintage
Pat when he was catching balls from vintage Kelsey, when
he's catching balls from Patrick Mahomes. And that was because
he didn't have a guy whould cover him. They're gonna

(39:12):
force feed Calvin Austin, They're gonna force feed Kenny Gainwell,
they're gonna make place to Pat Freyermouth, what does that mean?
It means that your nickel defender has got to be
the most important person on the field. And if you are,
if you are Arthur Smith, as much as you want
to go ahead and shut down, shut down Will Anderson
Junior and Danil Hunter because best of luck stopping those two.
And if it's not up for them. You got interior

(39:34):
pass rushing from Tommy TOGII, who's been elite. He got
great play from from Sheldon Rankins, who's been awesome. All
of that. Ah, that's right there. It does not matter
because of I think in this game, the value of
the positions that Pittsburgh salivates over of targeting is almost

(39:54):
as important. I mean, is only going to lead to
more opportunities for Jalen Petree. What he does in this
game will tell you everything. Yet you need to know
about the Texans and if they're going to win by
double digits. I think the Texans are winning this football game.
I have not given my prediction yet, but I'll just
tell you right now. I think it's gonna be twenty

(40:16):
three to ten. I think that you were settling for
field goals either that you will find your way in
the end zone twice. Opening drive, You'll get a big
time shot downfield at either Jaden Higgins or Nico Collins.
You'll run it on him with what he marks, or
maybe get a pass off to Dalton Schultz. You get
a late touchdown and you relying on field goals. You're
gonna stop Kenny Gainwell, You're gonna stop Pat Fryarmuth. You're

(40:37):
gonna stop Calvin Austin because you've got Jalen Petree. He
is the most important player on the field on Monday night.
Because if you take away Aaron Rodgers' ability to just
think and dunk his weight to victory, and you say,
all right, run the football, you're gonna stop the run.
I'm out intimidated by Jalen Warren. I'm not intimidated by
Kenny Gainwa as a rusher. You got a quarterback that

(40:58):
can't move. I mean, basically, is gonna have to be
a human statue on the afternoon. All those things right there.
What Jalen Peachrew does is gonna tell you the entire
story of the game. That to me is almost a
non negotiable. I think it's gonna work, I really do.
I think the Texan's are gonna win this game big.
I think it's because of you shut down at Kenny
gain Well, you shut down to Calvin Austin, you shut

(41:19):
down at Pat Fryarmouth, and you allow your job to
be a lot easier because Derek Singley is gonna be
great on the outside. Going toe to toe with DK
Kamario last year, again, most slept on player probably at
his position in the NFL. I wouldn't even really argue
with that one at this point. Kaylen Billock, whoever the
hell's playing safety, I think it's gonna be Jalen Reid.
I do. I'm not sure that's a good thing. Two
young players in the back end that could lead to

(41:40):
explosive plays if they get past the quarterbacks. It's a
little intimidating, but still, you know it's Aaron Rodgers. As
good as he's been playing, he also is not throwing
for three bills every single week, so for like one
hundred and forty two, So for like one hundred and
forty seven, and you just shut him down like that,
you're in a good spot. Texans offenses needs to do
the bare minimum, do what they've been doing all season,
getting the field goal range for Kayimi. Make it three,

(42:02):
call it a day, move it on back, and then
trush your defensive value out of trouble. And it starts
and ends. In my opinion with Jalen Petree, seven one three, two,
one two five, seven ninety is the number to chime
on in Rockets, Texans, Cougars, Astros, or anything in the
world of college football that you want to talk about.
The phone lines are open. One hour, down, one more
in the books. Let's go back to the AP first

(42:26):
Team All Pro list, because somebody it's about to get
paid a lot of money by the Houston Texans. I'll
explain who next right here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
All right, let's get this show on the road. Cole Thompson,
rock with you until one o'clock right here on a
Space City Saturday, Sports Talk seven ninety Indiana and Miami.
We'll be playing in the National Championship next week. Just

(42:49):
like we all predicted back in Week one, every single
one of us. Just like we predicted that the Houston
Rockets would find a way to beat the Portland Trailblazers.
All wait, that did happen? Nope, another sub five hundred
team beat Saba, the Rockets and the Texans. They have
to wait forty eight more hours before facing off against
the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night football in the wild
Card round seven seven ninety. The guests phone lines are open.

(43:12):
Love to hear your thoughts, your conversations, whatever's going on
in your world today. It's Saturday, I mean, it's it's
actually a nice day outside. Frankie, have you been like
very much a c like, are you very much loving
this weather that we're about to start having? I think
I think it would be good. Yeah, Okay, I let
me Okay, I don't mean to go on a change
on this, but it does bother crap at me when
it comes to this thing. Did you hear what the

(43:33):
weather man said yesterday about how we're going to be
reaching frigid temperatures over the weekend? No, do you know
what he said was frigid temperatures? Okay, what do you say?
Sixty one degrees?

Speaker 2 (43:44):
Yeah?

Speaker 1 (43:45):
Come on, guys, guys, I know that there are times
that we can be soft when it comes to going
around the snow and that you know, you see an
inch this kind of stick to the ground. We at
the Cancel School and nobody goes into work and the
power shuts down. I get that. But if you think
that's sixty two is cold, brother, you need to go
start spending a little bit more time out in the
East coast. You need to go to the Midwest. I

(44:06):
dare you to spend a week in in Bozeman, Montana
and then actually talk about when it gets out of
sixty two. Oh, it's gonna be a little chilly in
the area. Oh do I need my parka? Oh do
I need to go and make sure that I bring
up my winder close again like a come on, come on.
We are a better society than that. This city is
so much more than just seeing a sixty two degree
weather shut us down for a span of forty five

(44:29):
for our span of forty eight hours. I pity you
if you are one of those people that can't handle
sixty two, because you're sure as how can't handle thirty one,
and thirty one is not even cold to me. That's
just like a brisk morning seven one two, one two
five seven ninety Okay. The Houston Texans have two players
in the first team AP Ballot one is Derek Singley Junior.

(44:49):
He did it a second time he just got paid.
The other one's Will Anderson Junior, first time AP All
first Team Pro, and his reaction was awesome. You haven't
seen it, go look on the Texans Instagram account. Rob
Maddie from AP Sports is telling him all about, you know,
the accolades and your goals and what do you want
to accomplish. He's like, oh, I just want to do
it for my team. He goes, oh, well, you know
you just uh your named first team on Pro and

(45:10):
he runs off the camera and he's like the kid
in a candy store who just got told you have
a two minute shopping spree whenever you can put in
this basket you get to take home. He's losing his mind.
It's absolutely an awesome moment because you just see and
have to be reminded that this six foot four to
two hundred and fifty pound behemoth monster truck of a

(45:31):
human being is just twenty three years old acting like
a kid like it's just it's so mind boggling. It's
like we can see a cat and you think he's
gonna say now, and he's like, whoof. It's like you're
gonna crap yourself. Like it's just it's so incredibles that
to see it that way. So the reason I bring
all this up when it comes to the Ape pole
is that Derek Single Junior last season made the eight

(45:51):
people and then he got paid and he was the
highest paid defense back in the NFL. And well he
should be because in my opinion, he is the best
running back in the NFL. I mean, you've got cornerback
in the NFL. If I am Nick Cassio, there is
a non negotiable before I make a contract offer or
anything else, I am ensuring that Will Anderson Junior is paid.

(46:14):
That's my number one priority of this offseason because he's
earned it. He very much has. Look at the numbers
this season, twelve sacks, career high, twenty tigers for losses,
career high, three force fumbles, career high one defensive touchdown.
On top of that, he has also the anchor to
the number one defense in the NFL. On top of that,
he has been probably the most underrated pass rusher from

(46:36):
the public landscape. His teammate Daniel Hunter is getting a
bag because of what he's been able to accomplish. And
if you take away Miles Garrett for having a record
setting season on something that has been broken since the
nineteen nineties. You probably are having a conversation about Will
Anderson Junior as your defensive player of the year. You are,
You simply are, And when that becomes a thing, you

(47:00):
have to agree that even though quarterback is the most
important position on the field, because it is, this is
the guy that I gotta pay first because money talks,
and contracts talk, and money is constantly moving. The market
for a quarterback right now is averaging anywhere between fifty
five to sixty million dollars. That's only going to continue
to expand. But that's the going rate for a defensive lineman.

(47:24):
You look at the major contracts right now, it's over
forty million.

Speaker 2 (47:29):
It just is.

Speaker 1 (47:32):
It's only going to continue to expand with several names
that are going to be up for contracts in the
next two years. And with that in mind, why would
you not want to get ahead of it? Because when
you see monkey, see monkey do the only thing a
new contract is regardless if it's the right player or not,
it's just the going rate for the next guy. That's
for your agent is supposed to do. He's supposed to

(47:53):
reach out out and go, hey, we want this amount
of money. You don't want to pay us this amount
of money. Okay, then we're walking. And then another team
will look out and say weike it out of them
on in hell, Yeah, we'll pay that price. Welcome to Baltimore, Hello,
Kansas City, front and center stage, ladies and gentlemen. Because
you waited too long, Will Anderson Junior is gonna get
his money somewhere this offseason. I mean, it's gonna get

(48:13):
his money at some point. But the longer you wait
for a deal to get done, because if you gotta
go pay your quarterback first, a quarterback who's been good,
a quarterback who probably can lead you to a postseason
conference championship, maybe a super Bowl, that money is always
going to continue to be there for Will Anderson Junior.

(48:33):
It's only going to continue to expand. And so I
look right now, and I say he's coming off of
a career year. You know for a fact that there
are gonna be other defensive linemen paid. Why not just
go ahead and get this deal done. Michael Parsons is
making forty six million, angily A Hudson's making forty five million,
anily TJ Wat's making forty one million annually. Daniel Hunter's

(48:56):
getting thirty five million, clearly, Uh, Miles Garretts getting fort milm.
That's going great. You want to what it will be
in two years from now, after you have another All
Pro season from the defensive end, talk about fifty five.
Maybe we're talking about fifty eight, because somebody is gonna
do it. Somebody is going to have the cajones to

(49:17):
go walk out and say, here's fifty million dollars for
one player angling that's not a quarterback. And then when
that happens, Will Anderson Junior is gonna have fifteen sacks,
he's gonna have twenty five tackers for loss, he's gonna
have a defensive touchdown, he's gonna have four force fumbles.
So all numbers better and bonified. Sure, no questions, ask
first team All Pro and with those numbers, depending on

(49:40):
what happens with Miles Garrett, TJ. Watt, Aiden Hutchinson, Mac Crosby,
you know the big guys, he's gonna be a defensive
Player of the Year. And then you throw another accolade
onto it. What does that mean? Now another ten million dollars.
Now you're gonna outbit yourself because now you got a
little in a world to where you can't afford to
keep both Danil Hunter and Will Anderson. And maybe Daniel's

(50:04):
last year will be next season. I don't know he
has another contract. He was added onto the deal because
if it was a lucrative extra pay for what he
did last season. But you also know that I'm at
the pay CJ. And you have the wonder are you
gonna pay an eat go again? And you gotta wonder
what you could do with your offensive line, and you
gotta wonder what you could do with your linebacker with
disease Alshaier, And you're gonna have to pay Kamari Laster
at that point, and Kamorrow, I think is a non

(50:25):
negotiable at this moment. So all these little things that
go along with it, and now you have to ask yourself, well,
Will Anderson Junior, we didn't pay for him in twenty
twenty six, so we let him walk, and ultimately that
now costs us a player, that costs us a really
good name that was going to be a factor for
our team. He looked legit every single time that he

(50:45):
was in the locker room, smile on his face, got
along with the media, did his job at a high
end rate, never complained, was a leader in the clubhouse.
And because if we decided to go ahead and play
the oh, we got to pay the quarterback first game.
Now we lose the star player. Like I'll be completely
real with you, and I got a lot of pushback
for this. Back in twenty twenty three, I did. I

(51:06):
said that if I were the Texans, I would draft
Will Anderson Junior at number two because if I loved
his tape so much, I remember watching when he was
coming out of Alabama. And in twenty twenty one, when
Bryce Young won the Heisman Trophy, my first thing, the
first thing I said afterwards, were was Alabama won and
won a Heisman Trophy. It went to the wrong Alabama player.
The guy that should have won it was sitting at

(51:27):
home while Aiden Hutchinson, who again great player, already got
in a bag, definitely been an impact for Michigan and
certainly has been a key name for the for the
Detroit Lions and they rebuild. He was the defensive player
invited and again said to myself, wrong defensive player is
sitting in the Big Apple. It should be Will Anderson.
He should win the whole freaking thing. I knew the

(51:49):
kid was going to be special the second that he
declared for the draft. And I knew that when Demiko
Ryans was named the head coach, you bring him in,
it's only going to be prosperous for you. And so
I said, they were watching a CJ. Stroud got drafted,
and I'm starting to write away on an article and
then I see texting straight on up and they do
get him, and everybody who has a problem with it,
and somebody who says, I can't believe that the Texans

(52:10):
were willing to give up all of that assets to
go land a guy like Williamerson Junior. Have you seen
the names that Arizona's drafted. I'm telling you it's a yeah,
they're okay, sure, they're part of the team. I guess
they exist. That's cool. It's all that. And it's not
a dang thing about Williamerson Junior. You hear about will

(52:30):
Anderson Jr. You know immediately stud player just elite, one
of the biggest, if not the biggest name of the
city of Houston right now in professional sports. Now, I
maybe make a case that Kevin Durant because of again,
he's been around forever. It's a big time deal. But
for the long term, this is probably the most impactful
player that the Texans have had since JJ Watt. It is.

(52:51):
And when you get that guy and he lives up
to the billing and he proves everybody wrong, and anybody
out there that's having a conversation and saying, you know,
did they really need to go ahead and trade up
to number three? Overall? You just shut them all up
with another MVP caliber season, with an All Pro campaign
where you should have been considered for Defensive Player of
the Year. If Miles Garrett doesn't exist in this world,

(53:13):
maybe in another lifetime you see Miles Garrett becomes a
palaeontologist and he's just a really big dude that's going
to discovering fossils and you're winning the Defensive Player of
the Year. One. I don't know, but that's what I think.
And when you get that guy, he's locked in. You
gotta pay for him, and you gotta pay for him now,
because if it's only going to lead to more contracts,
quarterbacks are always gonna get paid, offensive linemen are always

(53:35):
gonna get paid. A defensive player that can reset the
market and you be the reason why, and Nick Casseio's
done stuff like this before, Like Nick Cassiro was the
first guy to go out and make a major deal
for his second round pick, saying, oh, by the way,
we're gonna give you a fully guaranteed contract, and then
everybody else behind him how to follow suit. We gotta
get a guaranteed contract to second round picks. So if

(53:56):
there's ever a player to bank on being the first
fifteen billion million dollars defensive end, Will Anderson should be
in the conversation. If it's not fifty million, at least
forty seven million, forty eight million, and he's probably worth it,
because if you look at the accolades at this point,
he's still getting better. And it just feels like right now,
with another all with an All Pro accolade attached to

(54:18):
his name, there's not much more you have to see
to realize we can keep both of our players from
the twenty twenty three draft. We know quarterback is important.
We're not saying that we're thrown into the wayside and
that it's not going to be a move that we
believe is supposed to be one that we make. What
this is, it's saying one guy has guaranteed lived up
to the billing entirely, and now he deserves to be rewarded.

(54:41):
That would be the only deal if I am Nick
Cassario going into the offseason, I'm not doing anything else,
not making phone calls for trades. I'm not going out
and I'm signing free agents. I'm not begging a franchise tag.
I'm not renegotiating some contracts outside of what maybe would
be used to go make this deal happen. But I'm
not doing a damn thing looking toward the future of
the team until the biggest piece of my future of

(55:04):
this team is locked, sign sealed, delivered for the long home.
Until that deal gets done, that as the only priority
that Nicosia needs to happen the offseason, and I can
guarantee you come Monday night, we're gonna watch his will.
Does will things terrorize Aaron Rodgers, break the will and
the spirits of Steelers fans everywhere, and thus guaranteeing why

(55:26):
he deserves to get paid seven one three, two, one
two five seven to ninety Take quick time out when
we come back, Let's talk some astros. Tetsu Emi officially
a part of the rotation got some other deals done.
What did the recent moves of arbitration maybe say about
something that could happen long term for two key players.
I'll explain next right here on space Saturday, Sports Talk

(55:47):
seven ninety Space eight. Let's start that out again. Actually,
hang on, let's play for a second, because of course
it went down the wrong pipe right when you're starting
in an hour, all right, spacely Saturday with Cole Thompson
right here on Sports Suck seven to ninety seven nine.
If you watch, I'm on in Texans, forty eight hours
away from Molly Woppin' the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Miami Hurricanes

(56:11):
are having a home game unless Indiana has anything to
do about it because their fans travel in the National
Championship following wins in the College Football Playoff semifinals and
your Rockets, shocker, they lose to a sub five hundred
team one fifteen to one to eleven final score out
in Portland. Back to back losses to the Trailblazers. Okay,
let's get to some master's conversation. We're inching closer toward

(56:33):
spring training. Pictures and catchers reporting to camp out in
West Palm and then Eventually, the regular season will be
here and we will see the debut of Tatsuya Emi,
and I cannot tell you how excited I am to
watch him. I mean, I'll be real with you. So
most of you guys know, I do some side hustles.
I tak college football for a living. On top of this,
I love doing it, and I spend a lot of

(56:55):
time watching film, watching the college game and seeing what
can I talk about with this? Who are some players
that are under the portal. They're gonna be really fun
to watch, Like I do that all the time. I
started mixing in more of Tatsuya in my film on
my YouTube channel, like I've just started watching a little
bit more, and oh my god, I am so excited
to see that vulcan curve in person. He's got a

(57:17):
five pitch arsenal. He hits ninety five on the regular.
He's got a two fastball combination, he's got a great
changeup augh and then his release point. It's sick. It
is so awesome to watch the way that he just
kind of like lets it go and it automatically feels
like you are screwed from the second that that ball
leaves your hand. Had a great season last season out

(57:37):
in the MPB League. He's been phenomenal since twenty twenty four.
He's not gonna be part of the Astros rotation. He's
your number two. But there's a reason why I bring
this up because I don't know if you know this
arbitration happened for the Astros. They got deals done with
most of their players, Yanner Diaz, an Esak Parades. They're
still trying to work out a deal, and I completely
understand that, but you look at the other deals that

(58:00):
were made. Jake Myers signed through a long term. I mean,
Jake Myer's got the arbitration. You always got arbitration doumb
with Nick Allen, Bryan A bray You, stephen O, Kurt
Jesus Sanchez, Bennett Susa, was Nesky, two guys that I
think could be back by mid season that will add
tremendous value. And then the course guys who you want
long term. But I left two names off. Hunter Brown

(58:22):
and Jeremy Payna also got deals done with arbitration, one
year contracts, and they are not going into negotiations with
the I Diaz and Essac Predes they're not. So why
is that important. What are Tatsuya Emi, Jeremy Pania, and
Hunter Brown all have in common? Anybody, dude, dude, all right?

(58:43):
Times up sucking tribec. They're all represented by Scott Boris.
Scott Boris just had his client that could have gone
anywhere Seattle, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, New York, teams that
are trying to expand in the Asian market, which again
I understand, and I'll be excited to see if data,

(59:04):
if Jim Crane is keeping his word and saying we're
gonna expand, or if he's just making his personality because
he came on back from Japan. We'll find out about that.
But all those teams are looking to expand into the
Asian market, and all of them have at least some
bit of Asian talent around to where there would be
a good communications standpoint, there would be a good balance,
and you would feel like that there's at least some

(59:24):
homage and overall hospitality there. And instead Boris goes, hey,
you know what, go to Houston, let's get a deal
done with the astros. Come on down. Maybe you're there
for one year. If you like it there, you're there
for three years. It's a win win deal for you
and for us. You're getting paid thirty million. The market
is going to allow you to be able to opt

(59:45):
out of the deal if you're so elite, and then
you want to stick around, they'll sign you know, a
long term contract. But that's something that is really influential
to me because as Scott bars, clients usually don't get
deals done with Houston long term. And again this may
not only be enough being a three year deal, but
right now it's a one year deal that could be
a three year deal. That's with a Boys client. So

(01:00:07):
why is that so influential Because simply put, Hunter Brown
is gonna be up for a deal not so just
in future, and Jeremy pang is gonna be up for
a deal and the not so just in future. And
I've told you guys this for months back Reynaud's on
the eight team, back Reynaud did Nightcap when we did
space Ay Saturday Morning Drive with Dan and Cole from
six to ten. I tell you all the time, Jeremy
Panyga is a non negotiable for me. That is the

(01:00:28):
one player that I have got to see get signed
to a long term deal. I have to I think
he's about ready to hit his stride when it comes
to the batting. I think that he is still elite defensively,
and I think he's gonna be situated at third, I
mean at shortstop for the majority of his career. He's
gonna be more like Trey Turner than he is Carlos Korea,
because straight turn is gonna be a short stop. Like

(01:00:49):
He's just gonna be a short stop until the end
of time. That's Jerry Panga and I don't want to
lose that. But you had to have the conversation for
a while. Well, he's a Bors client. He's being represented
by the dude who's gonna say, go to the Mets,
go to the Red Sox, go to the Mariners, the Giants,
the Dodgers, hell the Angels. Because at least you're gonna
be playing in a primetime market. And Houston's a great market,

(01:01:12):
but it's not an elite sports market. It's an elite
unit for us. But in the grand scheme of ratings
and televisions and marketing purposes and being able to get
contracts done and sponsorships, you go to New York, I
don't see many people saying, hey, let's go on down
to Tampa Bay to get this contract because they don't
exist because you don't have it out there. But Tatsuya

(01:01:33):
Emi company Houston and signing a deal makes it seem
like that maybe Boris's clients are going to start playing
a little bit more nice and that means that a
deal could get done for both of them. And if
I get Tatsuya Emi as my number two behind an
elite pitcher who I believe is going to win the
cy young this year at Hunter Brown, and I get
to keep my franchise shortstop to pair alongside and be

(01:01:55):
the new face after Josel Tube calls of the career
and they're all bores clients, it's I'm hitting the bag.
It's awesome, it's fantastic, and that's what you want to see.
Because of now there's a communication that where not only
are Bors' clients that you're paying for that are currently
on your team, they're here for the long haul. But

(01:02:15):
it also means that more Boys' clients are gonna start
looking at a place like Houston and consider this to
be the primetime location. And maybe it won't be for
a five year deal, maybe it'll be for a three
or two year deal. But guess what, it's still Bors' clients.
And then that makes Houston a premier destination. That makes
a place like dyke In Park an absolute wonder to
play app It makes the Astros a team that people

(01:02:37):
want to go ahead and play for, because if all
I here with Boris' clients, are you gotta go to
the Mets, You gotta go the Yankees, you gotta go
to the West Coast. You don't need to be in Houston.
Houston is not a place to where you're gonna profit.
And instead now we're seeing, okay, well, the most sought
after pitcher on the market not named I would probably
say from Bravaldoz. But even still, you could say Tatsuya Emi.

(01:02:58):
You could, and all I would argue with you. Maybe
don't cease too, But the most sought after pitcher from
the MPB League. Some people are comparing him to be
the next Yamamoto, and I would love him to be that.
I think he'll be closer to that than he will
be Roki Sasaki. But still that guy is comedy Houston
and he's a Bors client. Why does that tell you?

(01:03:19):
It tells you that even though there's been hard balls
in the past. Now they can be a discussion. Now
there can be a dialogue. And if that means that
Jeremy Pang has locked up long term, hell yeah, that
means that Hunter Brown's locked up long term. Hell yeah.
That means that there's gonna be two or three players
that are Boris' clients that say, I want to go
join these guys down at Dyking Park. Hell yeah. So

(01:03:40):
it's a win. It's a massive win. I think it's
an underlying trait that they were able to sign an
arbitration deal and not get into any discussions or negotiations
like Jainer and Esi Prandes are. I think it's great.
Not only that, I think it's good for Houston to
be able to know those are two pieces that you
are good with for the rest of the season, and
again knowing that you have that tie, knowing that you

(01:04:02):
have the relationship, knowing that you have the rapport and
that you can have a good dialogue. And by the way,
tattoo Ima has already loved in the Houston see have
to pitch, Like anybody see the Rockets game. Anym I
go to Houston, I'm gonna go to the Colts last
week game, By the way, give a lot of credit
Tatoo Imai for being introduced to Texans football watching a
second half where Riley Leonard and Davis Mills are duking
it out for a win, and that that takes confidence.

(01:04:25):
My dude, you're already beloved, whether you're by your comments,
by your attitude, by the way that you go about
the game. And a Boys' client knees out of here.
Hunter Brown can get the deal done. Jamey Pink get
a deal done. For a while, I've been saying I
feel that those will be the two that I will
miss the most from this current machine. Now I feel
like I'm at least gonna get one of them. Hunter

(01:04:47):
Brown may end up leaving because if he wants to
go closer to Detroit, he may't want to go get
a bigger bag. Two hundred plus million dollars. I can
get that. But I do feel like one of them
is going to be here long term. And Tatsuo is
gonna be here long term. I'm not even having the
conversation about him opting out seven one three, two one
two five seven nineties the guest line. Let's talk about
the importance of quarterbacks and why this weekend. You're gonna

(01:05:11):
see why several names that haven't been in the spotlight
are right back on your television screens as the favors.
We do that next right here on a Space Day
Saturday with Cole Thompson, Sports Talk seven ninety, Space Day Saturday,
Cole Thompson rolling right along here on Sports Talk seven ninety.
Rockets lose last night one fifteen to one eleven. Importantly
Trail Blazers Miami and Indiana. In ten days we'll meet.

(01:05:34):
About nine days, we'll meet in the National Championship out
in South Beach and your Texans they take on the
Pittsburgh Steelers in forty eight hours out at a Asctershire
Stadium Monday night football kickoff at seven pm, seven to one,
three two, one two five seven nine. If you want
to get on the guest line. Okay, so this will
be a week to wear. And I'll be the first

(01:05:55):
to say this, Frankie, you know this, Guys who know this.
I have been very hard off on quarterbacks this season,
not to c J. Stroud, but really everybody. I mean
I've been hard than Justin Herbert. I've been hard on
Drake Main kind of saying that he doesn't deserve the
MVP because he played a fourth play schedule. I'm not
gonna go that far. Bo Nicks, Aaron Rodgers, really almost

(01:06:18):
everybody besides Matthew Stafford I've been hard on, Like even
Sam Darnolds are a certain extent with the way that
he was able to come back. I give him his flowers,
but at the same time still thought there were moments
that he cost his team a game. Brock Perty have
kind of the same thing too, So anyways, but my
point of this is, this is the weekend where I
will figure out if I am going to continue to
be hard on the quarterbacks. Will give you your credit

(01:06:39):
because in every single one of these games, I can
promise you there will come a moment that your quarterback
is going to have to deliver. They are It starts
tonight or this afternoon. When Carolina takes on Los Angeles.
It's going to be a storyline to follow the MVP
potential winner in Matthew Stafford playing on the road at
bak of America Stadium. Guys, are not happening. The last
time the Los Angeles went there, well, they ended up

(01:07:01):
having a terrible second half. Bryce Young was awesome, and
Carolina won the football game, and Carolina at eight nine
is now hosting that same team because of that win.
They would have been seven and ten without it, without
the come back of all comebacks, and it was a
great game, excellent second half performance. Briyce Shark was gonna
have to look like how he did in the second
half in the first half to set the towne. Mat

(01:07:22):
Stafford's gonna have to look like he did in the
first half in the second half to end the game.
We've had conversations about Bryce Young. Is he a good quarterback.
He's not a good quarterback. You win this game, you're
getting a new deal, like you're gonna be signed long term.
There's no question about that. Grahame Avers, Chicago, Amazon Prime Tonight,
seven pm. Anymy, look at Caleb Williams last week and

(01:07:42):
say to yourself that guy can win a Super Bowl
because I watched that game. It was dreadful. Offensively, there
was no execution. They were dead to rights from the
very beginning. You saw a little bit of luck kind
of comeback in late in the game, but Caleb Williams
was terrible to start things off, had a bad interception,
finish with two hundred and twelve passing yards going into

(01:08:04):
the third quarter. Midway through it, he had less than
ninety passing yards and you're going up still against It's
still very potent defense in Green Bak. I'm not saying
that will be a lead. I'm not saying that they're
still the exact same version they were when they had
Micah Parsons out there, but it's still a damn good defense.
And Jordan Love on the other side. Jordan Love is
the perfect epitome of what you get in a gunslinger

(01:08:27):
because if he is going to be able to throw
at forty or fifty times a game down the field,
he also is gonna put the ball on Harm's way
from time to time. This season, has six interceptions, and
he's had multiple interceptions in several games, so that's gonna
be really important. Tomorrow. Jacksonville takes on Buffalo. Josh Allen.
You're the MVP, You're the reigning MVP, and in my opinion,

(01:08:48):
you are the best quarterback in the NFL pound for
pound because of your mobility. But you're gonna have to
win this game alone. Brother. Your offensive line is terrible,
you don't have many great weapons, your defense is extremely
hit or man. Yes, you want to prove that you
are able to lead a team to the national I
mean to the Super Bowl. You got to start to
mar against a very qualified defensive Jacksonville. And on the

(01:09:08):
flip side, Trevor Lawrence, you've been good down the stretch.
I'll give you your credit. You actually had to make
me shut up a little bit, because if I do
not think that you're a great quarterback, I think that
you're a system of the private We you through for
four thousand yards, You had twenty nine touchdowns, You only
had two interceptions to close out the season in a
pass rating of ninety one. But that was the regular season.

(01:09:28):
Now it's postseason. What happens if you get Buffalo to
go up by seven and there's one minute remaining, can
you drive it down the field, find a Parker Washington,
find a Jacobe Myers, get the ball into the hands
of Brian Thomas Jr. I don't think so. So I
think that was going to be right on that on you, Philadelphia,
San Francisco. Brock Purty, how quickly can you go back
to being the version of Rock Purty that we saw

(01:09:49):
at the beginning of the year. Late last season, Philadelphia,
Jalen Hurts. You were one of the best quarterbacks when
it came and a running football this year? Can you
get better when it comes to consistence, consistently passing? Justin Herbert? Drake,
Many Drake your first playoff game, What are you gonna
look like facing the instmountable amount of pressure to become
the first name since Tom Brady to win in the postseason?

(01:10:11):
How you gonna love up to that accolade? Because this
is still a damn good defensive front. They can get
after you, they can hurt you. They want to hurt you,
they want to inflict pain. And for Justin Herbert, your
offensive line is trash. They're all banged up and bruised.
You have multiple bad games this season. People are starting
to figure out you're good. You're a very, very very

(01:10:33):
good player. But to consider you one of the elites
in the game. When you get the right coach, and
you get a solid run game, and you have a
top five scoring defense, and you get the right offensive
coordinator in the building, and you're adding some wide receiver
help you get to a level of Okay, we're running
out of excuses. Maybe you are who you are. You
can do that by shutting up a top ten defense
on the road in fridgid conditions, and then c J Stroud.

(01:10:57):
CJ is not gonna have to win this game single handedly.
You have the number one defense in the NFL for
a reason that bails you out of trouble. And he
got a kicker that should have gotten all pro votes.
That is basically money from anywhere inside of the fifty.
But you are still going to have to win this
game in some capacity. Same thing for Pittsburgh with Aaron Rodgers.
Rogers has been inconsistent when it comes to throwing it

(01:11:21):
for three hundred yards the guys. He hasn't had an
interception since November eleventh. I mean, he's at least keeping
the ball turnover pro He's doing the little things right now.
You got to be able to do that when you're
able to go stop, make a stop here and there,
and your defense is gonna have to step up in
a lot of ways. But they've made the stops. They've
done their part. So it's hard for me to sit
here and say if Aaron doesn't play up to par

(01:11:44):
I mean, if Aaron does play up the part, this
is gonna be a close game. It's hard to say that,
but this is the moment where we're really gonna have
more of a conversation about quarterbacks and every single type,
whether it be Matthew Stafford. Is he one of the
most undappreciated quarterbacks in the NFL in league history? Caleb Williams?
Was he worth the number one overall pick? Trevor Lawrence? Hey,

(01:12:06):
you had a good season for the postseason the only
thing that matters and you're one and done. Brock Perty
you liveing up to the contract? Justin Herbert, You actually
supposed to be one of the top five guys in
the game. Drake May Has the pressure gotten too big
for you? In the highlight moments?

Speaker 2 (01:12:22):
C J?

Speaker 1 (01:12:22):
Stroud? What are you worth when it comes to a contract?
And I think that we're gonna find out more when
it comes to Sam Darnold and when it comes to Bonicks.
If I'm being completely transparent, guys, there are two quarterbacks
that right now I trust in the playoffs entirely to
win you a football game two. And it's Matthew Stafford,
It's Josh Allen, I will say, Brock Purty, CJ. Stroud,
Jalen Hurts. They fall into that second category, I think

(01:12:44):
that you would see Jordan Love be able to make
this thing interesting. But still I have my question marks
when it comes to them. Out on my question marks
with those two, if I'm getting Drake Man, if I'm
getting Matthew Stafford with a minute forty left to dry
down the football field, I feel pretty good. You give
me fit twenty five seconds. With Josh Allen, I feel
pretty damn good because they don't make the mental mistakes

(01:13:05):
at the high end level. They do a lot of
the little things right and they've been in these situations before.
And honestly, for Josh Allen, it's a big time deal
because you don't have Lamar Jackson in the playoffs. You
don't have a Joe Burrow in the playoffs. You have
one elite defense that you could be facing off against,
but it's not Patrick Mahomes and company. This should be
pretty much the easiest pathway for you to go ahead
and make a run to the Super Bowl and go

(01:13:25):
to Santa Clara. And I haven't said that they will
or won't. It's all based off of matchups. I think
they're gonna beat the crapout Jackson for tomorrow. I think
it's gonna be a game. I think I'm gonna be really,
really unbearable to listen to on Monday because of I'm
just gonna be making fun non stop of Trevor Lawrence.
But still, you gotta lot to prove. And the same

(01:13:45):
thing goes for CJ. Strown the Company. You can only
ask so much from your defense. I use the damn
theory because of it always happens this way. The damn
is put on top of a hill and it protects
the village from down below a being flooded. But after
a while there's cracks and you gotta fix them, and
if you aren't able to fix it immediately, it expands,

(01:14:06):
just like it does with water, and eventually you can't
fix it and you just have to evacuate the village
and start over. And that could be it for the Texans,
that could be it for a lot of teams. The
dam is the defense. You give them a touchdown. It's
not the end of the world, but you better solve
the problem on the other side by getting a touchdown.
You better be able to calm on out and start
swinging big. Because if you do those things, then guess

(01:14:28):
what you put yourself in a position to where you
can fix the dam. But if you go down fourteen
to nothing, now the dam is expanded and it's going
to lead to a lot of problems. The quarterback, give
me the reason why you fix it. You can go
ahead and take the patchwork. Oh look at that. Now
we're all cleaned up and your defense gets apoued out
of trouble for giving up one touchdown pass. You're gonna
find out a lot about quarterbacks this weekend, and I'm

(01:14:49):
gonna be pretty unbearable come Monday morning when we talk
about several of them. Seven one three, two, one two
five seven to ninety is the number to get it
on the guest line. Let's close things out with some
college football takes. I have one is necessary and in
involves your Houston Cougars because they have the factor, the
one thing that you need to win a national title.
What is that Ox play next? Right here on a
space say Saturday, Sports Talks seven ninety, Grab it up

(01:15:10):
another space city Saturday. Right here on Sports Talk seven ninety,
is Cole Thompson with you for a few more minutes
seven one three, two two five sevent nine. If you
want to chime on in, if you haven't heard the
news or my frustrations over the last two hours. Another
sub five hundred team beats the Houston Rockets shocker. Meanwhile,
at the College Football Playoff National Championship will feature not

(01:15:31):
an SEC team but also two teams that nobody picked
to win it in Indiana and Miami, and your Houston Texans
will eventually find a way to move on to the
Divisional round after beating the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Nights seven, one,
seven ninety. Okay, let's talk to some college football. So
there were two main takeaways I had from Indiana's win
last night, and one has something to do with the

(01:15:53):
Houston Texans with the Houston Cougars, and the other one
has anything to do with the rest of college football.
So Kirk Signetti in two years has turned the losing
his program in the sport into a juggernaut, and he
did so with a lot of players that were either
a veteran as all hell, meaning that they were on
their fifth or sixth season of eligibility and so their

(01:16:13):
last year to be able to go out and go pro,
or they won because of physicality and they were from
the G five level. But either way, even if I
don't think that Indiana is the elite team of all
elite teams in the world of college football. They play
with such a high end level that you know that
they are not going to make the fundamental mistakes, and

(01:16:33):
ultimately little things like that got them to an undefeated
regular season. It helped them beat the crap out of
Alabama and make the Crimson Tide quit on the field.
And then last night seeing the dismantling of the Oregon
Ducks was also very much a fun experience to see.
So I bring all this up because of Kirk Signetti

(01:16:54):
in year one, had no resources. When it came to nil,
he had nothing working for him, when it came to
the transfer portal, he had nothing going his way when
it came to proven talent. They were coming off a
three to nine season, nobody believed in Indiana football, and
he went to love in one and he did so
without a lot of things that are necessary to win
in the sport. What Alabama does, what Ohio State does,

(01:17:16):
what Michigan with Georgia, what Florida, what USC does. That's
why there's so much pressure on those programs to deliver.
But a guy like Lane Kiffin, right now has got
to be shaking in his boots just a little bit
because of Indiana in two years went from being the
losing his program with no resources into a four quarter

(01:17:37):
win away from guaranteeing their first national championship. And Indiana
still to this point does not have the resources they're
getting there. Mark Cuban was on the sideline last night.
He's going to offer billions to his former university. John
Cougar Mellencamp's going to offer millions to his university. This
is gonna happen. But he didn't get that until he
proved that he was the right guy for the job.

(01:17:58):
And why you need to spend money. So lank Kiffin
is gonna get money, He's gonna get the resources, he's
gonna get every single little thing to go his way
because of it's LSU. And I've made this clear, I
think LSU would run properly. Is the best job in
college football. But when that happens, the expectations are a
little bit different. You're not getting a two year window

(01:18:21):
to make a college football playoff and just say that's good.
I Guindiana could have lost in the college football Playoff
this year in the first round and most people still
would say Kirk Sinati is the greatest coaching program history.
At LSU. You go eight in four year on the
hot seat. The next year you go nine and three.
It's not good enough. You go seven to five, Y're fired.
They don't care what the buyot is. They'll hit reset

(01:18:41):
every single time. And Kirk Signetti in two years turned
around LSU, I mean turned around in nianim Lin Kiffen
and any coach at the major university is gonna get
told he did this with a box of scraps, heat
blow to g five players and the sheer mentality of

(01:19:03):
winning football. That's how he got himself a championship. That's
how he got himself a CHAMPIONSHP caliber team. We're giving
you money, figure it out, and that's gonna put more
pressure on these major programs. And what's really interesting is
that today, say and age in college football, we talk
about Alabama, we talk about Michigan, we talked about Ohio State,
we talked about a Georgia up, and we talk about
LSU and these teams that were like, it's the best

(01:19:24):
job in college football. If you get that phone call,
you gotta come running. And at this point I ask myself.
Why why do I have to go run to Baton
Rouge or Tusca Looser or ath and Zoran Arbor or Columbus.
I get the reasoning, But why would I have to
if I'm not sold that I'm going to get better?

(01:19:44):
Because in today's day and age, when you have so
much money going to programs like Texas Tech, I'm what
could be company to Houston and South Carolina and Purdue
and you get throw in Georgia Tech and you get
throwing Baylor for that instance. All you're doing is you're
going to a place to where the expectation is to
in a national championship. And if you don't do it,
you're gonna be feeling the pressure from the outside. Indiana

(01:20:06):
can lose and go three and nine next year. Guess what,
Kurt Hurts and ninety his bombs have enough equity to
where nobody's gonna care. You go to a place like
Georgia Tech, you go ten and three, you win the ACC,
you go to the College Football Playoff, you win a game,
You buy yourself an eight and four year. The next season,
Oll miss with Pete Golding. They just went on a
fantastic run and and credit trade. Dot Champ was for

(01:20:26):
banking on himself, believing in it, believing in what his
gut told him to do, because we got an incredible
season out of what was supposed to be. I think
a kid that deserves another season of advance. I do.
But you can go eight and four next year and
nobody in Oxford's gonna bat and I They're gonna be
frustrated because if you just want to love them one
but they're gonna give you a mulligan. You can't do
that in Tuscaloosa. You can't do that in ann Arbor.

(01:20:48):
You certainly can't do that in Baton Rouge. It just
won't happen that way. And so that's a big deal.
The other thing that I wanted to be up when
it comes to Houston, you gotta get the people who
are gonna be the coach. You got to get the
people who is going to believe in the program. What
did I notice about the four coaches that were remaining
in the college football playoff semifinals? And I'll take out
Pete Golding just slightly because if he got promoted right

(01:21:10):
before the playoffs started, but every single one of those
guys wanted to be at their university. You don't think
for one second that Dan Lanning hasn't gotten more offers
to leave Oregon. Guys, he was the first phone call
made for Alabama. He could have gone there, he said no, Miami,

(01:21:31):
Mario Christabaal left Oregon loved Phil Knight money on the
table because he wanted to fix the program that he
was proud of. Kirk Signetti took fifty years to become
a head coach and finally the losing his program in
college football history, saying you know what, Yeah, we'll hire you.
We'll give you a deal. You can become our guy.
We don't expect much. You go like six and six.
It's a cool story, dude. He wants to be there.

(01:21:53):
Penn State made him an offer and said you're our guy,
and he said thanks, but no thanks. I wasn't at first.
Reason that's important is because when you get that guy
bought in, everybody else is going to follow behind. And
you have that at TDECU Stadium with Willie Fritz. Willy
just went ten and three. Hell of a season. Great
job by the Cougars. But he's not gone anywhere. Guys.

(01:22:17):
He wants to be a Cougar. He wants to be
around long term. This is his final stop. And so
now that you have the ten win season, you have
retaining of talent, you have all the rostery constructions, and
you're killing it in the transfer portal. You have a
shot to be the best team in the Big twelve
next year. And a kid you not based up what
I've seen so far, with some of the names returning,
with some of the names added on in Houston, in

(01:22:39):
my opinion, will be playing in Arlington come the first
week of December, and they will have a chance that
it is a playoff game. They will And so that's
something that I think is the most important facet in
college football these days. Yeah, it's great to have a quarterback. Yeah,
it's cool to have a solid offensive line. Yeah, having
a Heisman Trophy winner is awesome. But I want to
have the right coach has that with will leave Fritz,

(01:23:01):
just like we've seen for other programs like Indiana, like
Ohio State, like Miami, and like Oregon seven one ninety.
We'll get on out of here on this. Alex and Conro,
good morning, what's up, dude?

Speaker 2 (01:23:15):
What's up?

Speaker 3 (01:23:16):
So just real quick, you know, we were talking about
the Astros earlier, there's there's obviously a log jam. And
you were talking about how Penya is a shortstop for life.
What do you think about moving Carlos to first base
if we can get if we can get off of Christian,
I would rather keep than Christian if we can get
off Christian. What do you think about putting Carlos at first?

Speaker 1 (01:23:39):
Carlos is saying, this is honestly what Carlos is going
to stay at third, But Carlos is going to stay
at third. Parades would go to first, They would teach
me about to play.

Speaker 3 (01:23:46):
Okay, well, I'm okay with that. All right, cool, Thank
you so much, Carlier. I didn't even think about that.

Speaker 1 (01:23:50):
Hey time, alex man is bobbay, what was your thought? Okay,
I guess you did leave. No, okay, I got like
forty five seconds. I don't think each pretis is going
to be here. I don't. Yeah, the contract negotiation that's
going on, it's very frustrating. I get it from the
Astros standpoint. I get it from me seck Parentda standpoint.
He was with the best number two hole hitter in
baseball in the American League until he got hurt. Like

(01:24:12):
he deserves to get paid and he wants over ten
million dollars and I get that, I completely do, but
you have the logjam with that situation. You brought back
carlis Korea. He's not leaving anytime soon. He's locked into
his spot, and Christian Worker's contract is almost unmovable. You
would be giving up more to just get rid of
the salary dump. And that's the frustrating part. And it

(01:24:33):
could happen. I don't know if it will, but I
think it could. You could find somebody who's a sucker
that would get the job done. I just don't believe
that we're going to see it. So parredees at this point,
as much as it's gonna pay me watching him probably
suit up for another team, that feels like the most
logical move to add in either depth or bring in
some farm talent and put yourself in a better position.

(01:24:53):
Because I'll tell you, guys, I was very excited when
they got cam Smith, but the player that I was
the most excited about getting essac parades, and surprisingly, I'm
very shock I haven't done this yet. I didn't buy
his jersey and I really wanted to. And now I'm
sitting here and I'm like maybe the baseball gods would
tell me up in my head, hey, just this is
like hold off for a season before you go ahead

(01:25:13):
and spend your money, because I hate when you go
ahead and buy a jersey for a dude that's on
one and done, like like, uh, em, I I really
want a forty five. I think forty five is a
legit awesome pitching number. But until I see that he's
gonna be back in twenty twenty seven, and I want
to go spend that money. Like the last Jursday I
bought was Jerry Panga because they knew he was gonna
be here long term. And I have no buyers morse
when it comes to that, I also have no buyers.

(01:25:35):
Remorse spending two extra hours every single week on Saturday
talking to you, my city, Houston. I love you. I
will see you on Monday for the morning Drive with
Dana Cole. We'll prepare for the Texans, who are going
to win twenty three two ten over the Pittsburgh Steelers,
and we'll talk more about the NBA, we'll talk more
about Major League Baseball, we'll talk more college football. But

(01:25:57):
we're a producer. Frankie west Moreland, I'm cold, top. So
enjoy the rest of your Saturday, folks enjury weekend, Got
Texans Peace,