Texans Trade Season Begins, Another Astros Debut, Rockets-Heat

Monday on The A-Team, Adam Clanton and Adam Wexler react to the latest Texans trades, discuss Yordan Alvarez's spring debut, and share their thoughts on the Rockets' loss to Miami.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm at the top of the hour.

Speaker 2 (00:01):
Welcome in to a Monday edition of the A Team
Sports Talk seven ninety WEX and AC with you along
with Josh Jordan.

Speaker 1 (00:09):
Uh.

Speaker 2 (00:09):
The weekend already in the rear view mirror, but all
of the fun stuff started earlier this morning. What time
did that actually come about? The first deal that the
Texans made was a seven o'clock?

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Was a six thirty? Was it five? It seemed like
it happened overnight. It was several hours before we hit
the air.

Speaker 2 (00:29):
Yes, just let's just jump right into it. We You
and I had a bit of a back and forth
about the offensive line just last week, and Titus Howard
was at the center of that conversation. You, I think,
thought a lot more highly of him than I did,

(00:50):
but neither one of us thought he was bad.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
But he's no longer a Texan anymore.

Speaker 3 (00:54):
Yeah, just thinking more highly of Titus Howard. It might
not be how I categorized it. Trying to make a
good offensive line unit is why it might sound like
I think more highly of him. Making a good group
of five offensive linemen has become more difficult. It's more
of a challenge. There are more holes to fill. I
hope they shoot for the moon. I hope they try

(01:15):
to add players that are a lot better than Titus Howard.
Hope they try to add players better than Tay Nursery.
Never seen any evidence of it before, but the two
deals that went down today reportedly, and this is a
league wide thing. The league year hasn't started, so these
deals will not be made official, and even when the
league year opens, they won't necessarily be announcements Numbers one
and one A other teams will also be involved to

(01:36):
other teams were clearly involved here. The Texans are moving
on from Titus Howard getting a fifth round pick in
return from the Cleveland Browns seven years here in Houston
after he was surprisingly drafted in the first round, and
all things considered, the value for that player, the fact
that he sign an extension here and will get an
extension with the Cleveland Browns instead of playing under the

(01:56):
final year of that extension, pretty good pick for the Texans.
I don't think there's much to doubt about that not
a Pro Bowl caliber player didn't play at that level,
had some really really good years a couple of years ago.
I do think he had a very good year last
year probably his best year while Nick Cassario was here
and trying to win, but he gets sent to the
Cleveland Browns. Not long after, the Texans trade four running

(02:19):
back David Montgomery of the Detroit Lions and now the
Houston Texans. Again, that will be made official for some time,
even though all parties have acknowledged it. David Montgomery has
commented on it via his Instagram. Titus Howard on the
other deals commented on it an article you can read
right there on our site from Aaron Wilson about not
being surprised by it. The Texans will send the Lions

(02:42):
a fourth round pick, a seventh round pick in twenty
twenty seven. Fourth round pick is in the twenty sixth draft,
and they will also send offensive lineman Jews Scruggs. The
fifth coming in for Titus Howard is the very first
pick in the fifth round. The fourth going out for
David Montgomery is only a couple of picks in front
of that. So it's not a clean trade in trade out,

(03:04):
but awfully close to it, and much closer to it
than the ability to sit there on the Twitter sphere
and the ex platform and any other social media or
even calling it to us, it'saying, oh my god, a
fourth and a fifth man. They're almost the same pick.
But now to what they're trying to do, what they
need to do. Your analysis are analysis everybody else's analysis

(03:25):
on what the Texans are trying to do to I
don't know, be better on offense. Both of these moves
were made with an eye on money and obviously the offense,
which is everything we should be talking about for every
single day until they kick off against the insert team
in September.

Speaker 1 (03:45):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
No, I absolutely agree with you because you can't. You
can't have a season like they did where you had
a near historical defense and for your team it was
basically and feel like you wasted it for whatever reason
because the other side of the football didn't have its
act together.

Speaker 3 (04:04):
And I feel like you're giving them a pass for
the other years when you say that. Every time you
say it, what who the defense last year? Because you
didn't put enough into the offense. You should feel like
you wasted the defense.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
Oh no, you're right.

Speaker 3 (04:16):
You should feel bad about what you've done with the
offense every single year. You've been trying to win since
Nick Cassario has been here, and for him as the
GM even though you clearly weren't trying to win in
year one and clearly weren't trying to win in year two.

Speaker 1 (04:28):
You can't act like those drafts don't matter. They do matter.

Speaker 3 (04:31):
You should have players from those drafts. Granted, I know
the first of those did not net you anything in
the first two rounds that was not on him, and
they did actually net something that was probably you could
argue that was his best draft considering what.

Speaker 1 (04:43):
He had to work with. Three of the players are
still here.

Speaker 3 (04:46):
Two of them contributed mightily to the nine game winning
streak this year, and Nico Collins and Davis Mills. But
in twenty twenty two, when you were handing a team
to Lovey Smith and Pep Hamilton, you clearly weren't trying
to win. But you should be building a foundation. And
that's what a Derek Stingley junior pick is all about.
And that's what the other picks they should be making
that year, including a pick just a couple of slots

(05:08):
later at number fifteen, which they used in the first
round last year on an offensive lineman. So building an
offensive line and talking about what this team needs to
do and focusing there.

Speaker 1 (05:18):
This is what the conversation.

Speaker 3 (05:20):
That's why we had a long drawn out, kind of
an odd time for it conversation about Titus Howard last week,
because this is the area of the team. I cannot
believe we're asking the exact same question about after twenty
twenty three and twenty twenty four, and again in twenty
twenty five, and honestly, for every year that this same
regime has been in place. He's built a fantastic best
in the league's secondary. They have the best edge rushing

(05:42):
duo in the NFL. They're going to have another great
group of defensive tackles. They always do that, giving them
say I believe they can find them again, they will.
They'll reach on a few, they'll bring in a few.
Their linebackers are outstanding, Their defense is incredible. All those
parts of this team, and plenty of others that they've
done a nice job of putting pieces together a little
bit free agency, most of it through the draft, obviously

(06:04):
a ton of trades revolving around the draft. The player
acquisition scale for Nick Cassario, as I posted on Twitter earlier,
is tilted heavily in the favor of excellent moves and
outstanding usage of the money, the cap at your disposal,
and I know there's a cash aspect to it, but
I really don't think that's much of an impact. Certainly

(06:27):
shouldn't be of the fans. It's tilted heavily in Nick
Cassario's favor and in the good heavy, heavy, heavy, fifty
to three, seventy five to ten, these moves that have
been so good to build this roster. But there's five
spots on the offensive line. You only have twenty two starters,
and five of them are given to offensive linemen. And
we're asking the exact same question all over again. I

(06:47):
will I'll probably go look up and try to catch
the audio of what I asked Nick at least two
drafts ago. Do you need to reevaluate your evaluation of
how you guys evaluate offensive linemen? Maybe they'll be looked
at differently because this is the Cole Popovich era and
they found two linemen last year, only one of which
is still under contract. Five years of building this team,

(07:09):
four years of building this team while you're trying to win,
and we sit here today and wonder who's starting it guard, guard, center,
and tackle.

Speaker 1 (07:17):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (07:18):
Look, I mean we've said this a million times. How
can a guy who's so good in so many different
areas be so bad at this one area or his
staff or a combination of the demiko.

Speaker 3 (07:28):
Just because he's a defensive coach doesn't mean he isn't
involved in both sides.

Speaker 2 (07:32):
With the selections, No, I agree with that, But the
bucks stop stops with Nick Cassario. And when you make
as many deals as he does on top of it,
then I think, you know again you can you can
criticize some of the actual transactions he's made from a
from a trade standpoint or you know, dealing away draft picks.

(07:54):
That's I think completely separate from the draft evaluation issues
you may have with the guy. But like you said,
and I agree, I think you know he's had too
many greatest hits to have so many flops, not even
one hit wonders on the offensive line.

Speaker 3 (08:12):
Yeah, they're gonna be in a very similar position if
these questions don't get answered in a very very different way.
And that's when what you said about wasting the defense
means a lot more now, because instead of looking at
what he hasn't done, let's look at what needs to
be done. They can't have another season where they put
the type of effort into building their offensive line.

Speaker 1 (08:30):
Last year.

Speaker 3 (08:31):
We brought it up countless times. It's not the easiest
way to do it. It's not usually financially sound to
do it. But other teams have looked at their roster
and said, it's time to win. We're wasting our time otherwise,
we need to put our time and effort into attempting
to put plus level offensive linemen all across the offensive line.
We're gonna trade for this older player who's still playing

(08:53):
at a high level and the fat contract that comes
with it, and we're gonna go and draft this player,
and this player hit free agency on the offense line,
we're gonna overpay for him, and we're gonna put him
on our offensive line. He spent four years for this
team playing at a pretty good level. They just don't
feel like he's worthy of the tag, or they wanted
to extend him for whatever reason. We think he's a
good scheme fit. It's okay to find some other players
that don't make a ton of money, and I'm not

(09:14):
telling you to just go crazy with your spending, but
it's something they have literally never done, and they've landed
the same results every time. They're just trying to figure
it out. They're figuring it out in week ten. In
twenty twenty five, we don't even know who the best five.
We haven't on our roster, and it would be nice
if that's something they did not have to deal with.
It's it is a shame if that's where we are.

(09:36):
The trade of Titus Howard only changes things in a
small way. We could have said the exact same things,
and we felt like going gung ho football talk right
out of the gate here. With the new league year
now just one week away, well literally less, because it's
eleven minutes into three o'clock now and three o'clock at
this time next week, the tampering portion of the league
year will be underway. And based on what was already

(09:57):
now happening, when Nick Casari and the Texans the idea
that they're going to be one of the first teams
to have a reported agreement with a player who's over
two hundred and eighty five pounds and plays offense, the
odds of that happening are very good.

Speaker 2 (10:11):
Yeah, I think all of the questions that we have
had about and really we didn't talk about it that much,
but we would say, all right, I wonder if they're
going to spend you know, free agency money on a
running back or an offensive lineman. And I feel like
every time that conversation would come up, we would be
it'd be one or the other. And it feels like

(10:32):
today that basically that's still holding true and that it's
going to be an offensive lineman because of what you
did at the running back position today. And I'm I'm
not one of those people like David Montgomery is fine.
I'm not upset about it. I don't feel like they
gave up too much or all that kind like you
needed to address it, and I just at the end

(10:53):
of the day, you can quibble about how it was done,
but the landscape is what the landscape is on any
given year. Unless you were going to take a running
back that you were absolutely positive was going to be
a guy who could start on day one and be
an absolute animal, and I don't know if that guy
existed or not where you want to do at least
invest that draft capital in him. But from the standpoint

(11:15):
of here are the guys that could actually be difference
makers that are maybe going to be available if they're
not franchise tag or signed by their own teams, and
then the drop off was very steep after you got
like three names in.

Speaker 1 (11:26):
This is where you wind up.

Speaker 3 (11:28):
Yeah, this is a very simple process for Nick, and
we'll get into that next.

Speaker 1 (11:31):
We will grave the trades.

Speaker 3 (11:33):
We will talk about why David Montgomery is going to
be a Houston Texan. I think there's a very very
clear reason why. If we've been watching out Nick Cassario operates.
What they still have in their draft capital. Remember early
this morning they added a pick to it, and then
later in the morning they sent a pick right back out,
So they actually have the same number of picks they
began this morning with in the twenty twenty six draft,

(11:57):
which is just a couple of months away, and they
how have a little bit less than what they would
have had otherwise in the twenty twenty seven draft and
the off season. For all intents and purposes, now for
your team, the Houston Texans, it's off and running. Literally
what it also does, what it very very very very
clearly states not being evasive and not beating around the

(12:19):
bush and not trying to be mysterious from Nick Cassario.

Speaker 1 (12:22):
What it absolutely does. I'll tell you about that next.
The A team on sports Talk seven ninety.

Speaker 4 (12:33):
Before tipall Talk Cougar's Basketball on Sports Talk seven ninety four,
tip off the three from the logo con here You're
Coogle's play on KPRC nine to fifty. Houston's Complete Cougar's
coverage is on seven ninety and nine to fifty.

Speaker 5 (12:49):
Am into the A team here back from the weekend
edition of it briefly because we will get you into
Rockets basketball at five o'clock tonight.

Speaker 3 (13:00):
They've got their second game against the Wizards. They managed
to beat them the first time months and months ago.
Six o'clock Tip five point thirty four, Rockets Countdown've got
Rockets launch pad for you at five o'clock. So not
a whole lot of time with us today. Following Astros
baseball their second go round, third go round, I think
now with not outscoring the opposition while also not being

(13:20):
outscored themselves. Scores don't matter, but they've played ten times,
and nine of those times they didn't have more runs
than the other team.

Speaker 1 (13:27):
At some point we'll probably.

Speaker 3 (13:29):
Act like we're more alarmed at the inability of aimly
of the regulars or any of the minor leaguers who
have played the vast majority of their spring training innings
to get anything done offensively. They aren't just the worst
offensive team in the majors in spring training, they're the
worst offensive team in the majors in spring training by
a lot, and yesterday or today obviously is going to

(13:50):
change it. But everybody now after Jordon Alvarez was in
today's lineup as the designated hitter, has participated. Everybody that
is healthy and expected to be playing Opening Day for
somebody in twenty twenty six for the Astros or elsewhere,
they've gotten into at least one game. He'sak, Peretis has played,
He's Homered Jordan played today. All two Bays played a
couple of times. A couple of players have been shipped

(14:11):
off to their WBC teams. Hunter Brown's been on the
mound twice, including today, and Mike Burrow has been on
the mound a couple of times. Christian Avier makes his
debut on the mound in spring training tomorrow for fifty
We will leave you so you can hear that right
here on Sports Talk seven ninety as he pitches against
the team Venezuela, or a couple of days away from
the first games here in Houston at Dykin Park with

(14:33):
the WBC. All right, so what is the actual vibe,
your vibe, your feeling one trade and then the other.
We started with Titus trade the first segment of our show.
We'll start there again. What's your actual thought about that?

Speaker 1 (14:50):
Is it good?

Speaker 3 (14:51):
Is it bad? Is it insignificant? Is it significant? What's
your feeling? Oh, it's definitely significant. I mean it has
to be. It's your offensive line.

Speaker 2 (14:58):
It makes me feel like what I was saying when
we were talking about this is at least how they
somewhat feel. Maybe it's not the way they're going about it,
maybe it's not the right way to go about it.

Speaker 1 (15:10):
That's everybody's you know, that's all subjective. It's a for
everybody's opinion.

Speaker 2 (15:14):
But not thinking where they're going with what they have
is good enough. I think at least had to factor
into this decision somewhat. I know there's money to be
had and made, and maybe you didn't want that. I
know all the intangible stuff you're going to talk about.
But at the end of the day, is this offensive

(15:34):
line on par with the rest of your team? At
least is how you view yourself as a contender? And
I don't think they could say that going into twenty
twenty six without making some sort of adjustment or ten.

Speaker 3 (15:47):
Right, But they started with the guy that is already
under contract for next year and said, and it's definitely
better than anybody else on the line besides Ersrie because
he's not a factor.

Speaker 1 (15:57):
He wasn't being moved. He's a rookie deal.

Speaker 3 (15:59):
So the other four spots next to Ursrie, we are
all in flux to a certain degree. According to the Texans,
they just traded one of the guys out. So they
took the guy who had the best season at least
among those four spots and said, we could do better
in rebuilding this offensive line. They took him out of
the picture. And I will acknowledge clearly money as a factor.
There's some cap savings here, some significant cash savings. But

(16:22):
if that's a factor and a deal like this, then
they're doing it wrong. There are some cap savings which
will you'll turn right around and use in free agency.
Unquestionably they need to and probably at this very same spot.
And it also has to do with they felt like
this player was not in agreement on what his value was.
They thought his value was this, and he thought his
value as that they knew that they could get something

(16:45):
in return that they at least would be happy with.

Speaker 1 (16:47):
I don't know why, but they did.

Speaker 3 (16:49):
In Cleveland obviously thought differently about him, at least until
the point that they were willing to give him that money.
Gets about a forty five million dollars sension three year,
sixty three million, not one hundred percent guaranteed money, but
a three year, sixty three million dollar deal to go
from a perennial playoff team to one of the worst
outfits in the NFL. Totally normal for an NFL player
to be okay with that and sign his extension for that.

(17:10):
It's the same thing I've said forever. Oh they're going
to pay me. Who are they? It doesn't matter how
good are they, doesn't matter, can wit, doesn't matter. I
want my money and they should absolutely think that way.
I'm not saying this in a negative way at all.
That is absolutely especially alignment in my opinion. They should
actually absolutely, they and their agents should operate that way.

(17:32):
He's gonna get paid. He should get paid. He got
paid by this team more than once. But they did
open up a hole. They have five spots to fill
every year and they went. They left the field in
New England with three spots to fill because they Ingram
was becoming a free agent, Jake Andrews was a below
average starter, but a starter, and the other position was

(17:53):
so much in flux throughout the year it's hard to
even say what it was other than they don't have
anybody to play there. And then you had Titus Howard
t Erserie, clear starting level players and both under contract
for twenty twenty six. Now they have a fourth hole
to fill. Yeah, and if you I mean that is
not ideal. Yeah, but if you.

Speaker 2 (18:13):
If you were saying to yourself, like last year, oh,
the Texans just traded away their best offensive lineman. I
feel like a lot of people are saying that this year.
I don't feel like your offensive line was good. If
that's what you're If that's what you come away from
this trade, what do you mean?

Speaker 3 (18:28):
He just said it a week ago when he was
at GM, meaning oh, when he was at them all
the time. I'm not sure what tape you're were watching. Yeah,
GM say stuff all the time and lie it was
much improved, which is actually true. Now, calling them their
best offensive lineman should be a pretty telling comment because
it's probably true. One of them is among the five

(18:49):
best pass blocking left tackles currently playing in the NFL,
and he was again in year one with Washington this
past year, Laramie Tunsel calling him your best offensive lineman
is true, but recognizing he's an elite level pass blocker
should be part of the story. The fact that he's
not a very good run blocker should also be part
of the story. He's not been a part of a
very good line for this particular team for many years.

(19:11):
Whether it's his fault or not, part of the story.
Calling Titus Howard your best offensive lineman is an indictment
of your offensive line. I think that's how I feel.
He probably was. I just had said the very same thing.
But he's not playing at that level that Laramie was.
He's not a plus level pass protector. He's an awful
run blocker, and that's been almost his whole career, but

(19:31):
certainly three years with Nick Cassario. So you're trading this
offensive line's best offensive lineman. Don't look at it that
way at all, but you still should look at it
as this is a starting caliber player. You should strive
you can't have it It's hard to look at it
in a way that I'm going to present it, but
this is where they, in my opinion, would have been
the best way to play it. You want him to

(19:52):
be your worst starting offensive lineman, not your best. Titus
Howard starting for the Texans could have played on a
top five offensive line any time during his time here,
but they never figured out everything else. He was too
high on their list of good linemen almost every year.
He shouldn't have been their best lineman. He should have
been their second best lineman. And the more years that
go by, all these drafts, all these off seasons, all

(20:15):
these times to trade or sign a player, you should
have found players that start alongside him but could actually
play at a Pro Bowl or an All Pro caliber level.
This is a seven year starter, basically at multiple different positions,
and we never finished a season and said, I can't
believe he didn't get more love. I can't believe more

(20:36):
people don't believe this is a Pro Bowl performer because
nobody thought it and we all were in agreement.

Speaker 1 (20:40):
He's a starter. That's it.

Speaker 2 (20:42):
Like, whether you agree with what WEX just said, here's
what you should agree with. They If you're one of
those people, and I've been one of these people a
lot of times with the Texans, and it's been a
different position group, it's been a different player. So I'm
not just talking about the offensive line. But if you
think that at something or some unit is not getting

(21:03):
the job done, well, I think it's a better idea
to try and improve it rather than just like do
band aid fixes with what the problem is. And I
don't know that there's ever been a time in the
history of this franchise where you could look at one
position group. If you want to talk about player quarterback,
that's a different conversation. I don't know if there's ever

(21:24):
been as glaring an obvious need to address a position group. Again,
if you want to say that, then there ever has
been with the offensive line these last few seasons. Because
you're right, it's not just this season. It's not this
is past offseason. It's been year after year basically since
Nick Cassario has been here.

Speaker 1 (21:40):
It's been a problem.

Speaker 3 (21:41):
Yeah, it's I just I'll try to present it the
best I can because it's hard to wrap my head
around it because I want to say the same thing
I did last year, and I feel worse about it
this year. How does this help you? How does this
make your offensive line? A challenge of making it good easier?
Said it last year when they traded away Laramie Tunsel,
and I wasn't against it.

Speaker 1 (22:01):
I totally understood it.

Speaker 3 (22:02):
The money that was involved, the commitment that would have
been needed, which the commanders then made.

Speaker 1 (22:06):
I was like, I get it. This does make sense.

Speaker 3 (22:09):
And there were other factors at play, and the stakes
that were made, and any kind of you know, issues
you might have from a leadership standpoint.

Speaker 1 (22:14):
I got it.

Speaker 3 (22:15):
I've made great Well now you're left with the same thing,
four holes. You got Titus Howard and four holes to fill.
I feel worse about it now this year. And Titus
Howard's not the player that Laramie is, and he was
making good money, not quite that amount of money, but
without an extension in place, they obviously felt like it
was an issue they weren't willing to give it. This

(22:36):
is how Nick operates. This is the value I think
you have, and I cannot. I don't want you here
for two more years at that money. I want to
pay you this. And that's where we're at. If we're
not going to be in agreement, then this is the
move we're likely going to make. But the simplest math
I can I can say is there's five players that
are going to start on opening day and the rest
of the year, and they know who one of them is.

(22:56):
And that's not ideal. That's not the best way to
do it. In my when they're if there were one
hole going into the weekend and they opened up a
second hole, do I think through the draft and free
agency and other trades they could fill them? Yeah, of
course that's two holes. Well now there's four holes. There
were three, Now there's four. I don't know what the
story will be of at Ingram. I do think he
will resign here, and I think it'll be extremely expensive.

(23:19):
But I would back that deal and some player from
some other team on the interior offensive line, and we'll
give you some of those names if you haven't heard
them already. There are quite a few, and more are
coming by the day that will be available. That they
need to be overpaid and they need to come. It's
the situation here here. I hate it that way. It's
the worst way to operate. But when you consistently try
to draft those players and fail, this is what you're

(23:42):
left with. I hope because again, same boat. Last year,
they had all these holes to fill on the offensive line,
and with a new offensive line coach, they found one
in Ed Ingram. Bargain basement acquisitions, you traded for a
second round pick that played himself out of the lineup,
and then he played himself into a big contract by
playing here. If you're gonna tell me, having Cole Popovich

(24:02):
in charge and running Nick Cayley's offense will give you
a better handle on evaluating offensive line talent because this
passed offseason was the first time you've ever found players. Literally,
this is the first time ever the Nick Cassario led
regime has found offensive lineman outside the organization, first time
ever found Ersery, found Ingram. No other player that's ever

(24:23):
been acquired by this general manager and his crew has
been a starting caliber offensive lineman for this franchise. Not
a single one, not a single one in the draft,
not a single one in free agency, not a single
one via trade. And last year's group after Ersery and Ingram,
holy cow, was it bad. Unbelievably bad. They just traded

(24:44):
a second tackle to the same team because Cam Robinson
was so unplayable, and yet the Browns played him all year.
Texans figured it out in three weeks after the Jaguars
and Vikings figured it out right before they signed him
to a eight figure deal. Yeah, I look, I think
they I want to not hate this deal, so I'm

(25:06):
not gonna say hate, but the tightest Howard deal. Yes,
I can totally live with not having Titus Howard on
the team. It's like, I'm trying to balance out how
it comes out. How I say it because I think everybody.
I think you guys understand the offensive line just has
to be better. So they've got a lot to show
me this offseason of how that's going to happen.

Speaker 1 (25:24):
I think they're very confident that they can make it better,
and that's why they did this. They've always been confident,
and they've never accomplished it.

Speaker 2 (25:30):
If if Laramie Tunsell was eighty percent money, like, what
would you what percentage would you put on them dealing
him away? Eighty percent of of it was money and
twenty percent of it was anything else.

Speaker 3 (25:42):
Well, he's not a star, he's not an elite level player,
so moving on from him is not as difficult a
decision you.

Speaker 1 (25:48):
No, I'm talking about Laromie Tunzel.

Speaker 2 (25:49):
How much of that was his money getting him moved
out of town versus anything else?

Speaker 1 (25:54):
What percentage is what I'm asking you? Eighty percent? Heavy?

Speaker 3 (25:58):
Yeah, because he also on a line with Shaq Mason
making entirely too much money. Right, We're paying all this
money and our line plate is awful, right, like the
worst offensive line in the league. And we've got Titus
making this and Laramie's making that and Shack We're I
think we're doing it wrong.

Speaker 1 (26:14):
So how much of this do you think is Titus's
money situation?

Speaker 3 (26:18):
That's why I can't figure it out the amount of
savings that. I think it's more about they don't want
a player here who doesn't like being here because they won't.

Speaker 1 (26:26):
Commit to him.

Speaker 2 (26:27):
Speaking of that, when we come back, we'll talk about
the other deal that was made. That guy absolutely likes
being here already and he hasn't played a single down
for the Texans.

Speaker 1 (26:35):
That's next.

Speaker 4 (26:38):
The eight.

Speaker 2 (26:39):
It is the eight team Sports Talk seven to ninety as.
The Texans make a couple of deals today and the
other one, besides trading Titus Howard out of town, was
acquiring David Montgomery. As we mentioned, at the running back position,
is it Garoffolo or Garrifellow. I never know, Mike, Uh yeah,

(27:02):
exactly Scarifalo. He says the Texans were David Montgomery's preferred
destination if he was to be traded, sources say, and
the Lions maintained communication with him throughout the process. He
lands in Houston, which pulled off two trades today.

Speaker 1 (27:17):
Not did.

Speaker 2 (27:18):
I didn't think he would not want to come here.
I mean, any running back. It's just like Sakuon Barkley
a couple of seasons ago. He wanted to come here too.
It's not a bad place to play, and they're very
much set up for success. And it's not like David
Montgomery said, I don't know man an offensive line.

Speaker 1 (27:33):
I don't think I can do anything behind it.

Speaker 3 (27:36):
Likelihood is like Joe Mixon, even though Joe had only
one year remaining on his deal and David has two.
The second year is not guaranteed, a big chump jump
up from five and change this year, bigger cap hit,
and then he's nine and changed next year, but it's
non guaranteed. The likelihood is like when Joe Mixon was
acquired via trade in the off season. He will probably

(27:57):
have a new deal in front of him when the
Texans announce it and make it official. I don't know
that the Texans will announce the deal, but everyone will
report exactly what it is, not guaranteeing it again because
he is.

Speaker 1 (28:07):
Under contract for two years.

Speaker 3 (28:08):
I don't know that the Texans have to do that,
especially since after year one it could be a very
important decision to move on from him. If things don't
work out, he is stepping into a much worse situation.
Texans running game has been bad pretty consistently, even with
Joe Mixon. Calling it good would be false. Maybe saying
it was bad is a little harsh, but it definitely
wasn't good. They had some moments with him. He obviously

(28:30):
had some very huge yards for them in a bunch
of different games, churning out fourth quarter yards to help
them win games. But their problem is upfront, and the
problems that David Montgomery has been facing has nothing to
do with his offensive line. In fact, it's one of
the best offensive lines he's played in, the best probably
over the last three years. I think you would agree. Combined,

(28:50):
the Detroit Lions offense has been the best in the NFL.
Two years with Ben Johnson and then last year after
he moved on, they weren't quite what they were, but
still among the best, and the five guys in front
of him, plus their scheme, et cetera great place to
be if you're not in a two back system, which
he was. This is what most people will pump out
with David Montgomery and what he's been so good at

(29:11):
and make you feel good if you're a Texans fan
and why you acquiring him is great. Thirty three rushing
touchdowns over the last three seasons his time there in Detroit.
That's eighth best in the NFL. It's behind his teammate
in the backfield, who he's in a time share with,
and he's getting the raw end of the deal. In
the time share. Jamiir Gibbs had thirty nine rushing touchdowns

(29:33):
and the two of them, as they were properly nicknamed
together Sonic and Knuckles. The Texans got Knuckles. What might
he have done if he was.

Speaker 1 (29:41):
The lead back?

Speaker 3 (29:43):
Why did the Lions draft Jamiir Gibbs in the first
round Because he's dynamic, He changes what they do offensively
versus we have a good player, and the Bears had
a good player for four years that's where Montgomery was first,
and then they moved on from him, and three years
later they're running game is much better than it was
when David Montgomery was there. David Montgomery is you're starting

(30:06):
caliber running back because you don't have anybody else, and that's.

Speaker 1 (30:10):
What he will be here. Wow, that doesn't sound very second.
He's starting caliber.

Speaker 3 (30:17):
And now he's running behind a line that as of
again as of today is a silly thing to say.
It's they don't play any games in March, but the
line that they've had. If you're asking him to produce
the way Joe Mixon did, who's a much more accomplished
player and also not among the top eight or nine
running backs in the league, then your I think you're
being foolish. I don't think there's a tremendous amount of

(30:38):
tread on the tires, which is nice. His last three years,
he's obviously gotten RB two work more than most in
the league, because obviously he's a big time talent in
that regard. But if you were a RB one measured
up against the other RB ones and you're trying to
give him eighteen to twenty touches a game in the
run game in the bass game. I don't know that
he's going to rate very high. He makes your backfield
concerns go away. It would be nice to be better,

(31:01):
but you can manage your way through the season like this,
no question would he. Marx could be better, Juar Jordan
could play a larger role. I hope they use all
three of them the passing game because they can. And
David Montgomery's an outstanding pass bloger. He's a good player.
He's just not an elite player. I don't know that
he can be an elite player or how could he
even have a better season here unless they fix the

(31:22):
problems we've been talking about for the first forty two
minutes of the show.

Speaker 2 (31:25):
You know it's crazy, is that I don't know that
this is even a thing if Joe Mixon is healthy.

Speaker 3 (31:30):
Yeah, that's what I was alluding to two teas as ago.
This is as loud as Nick can be without telling
you writing it down and posting it on the X
platform on his non existent fake Nick Cassario account. Joe
Mixon's not playing for the Texans next year or any
year in the future. I hope Joe Mixon's healthy, and
I hope he gets to play, and I'd love to
see him running the ball for somebody. You know, it's
just not going to be here, and that's what this

(31:51):
move indicates if you weren't sure of it already. I
think he's done as best as he could to not
go into details on what's going on as he hits
free agency, but rather let Joe and his agents and
their medical people and the new team's medical people figure
it out for themselves where things are, rather than putting
it all out there publicly. But you just added a
player for a fourth round pick in this upcoming draft,

(32:13):
a seventh round pick and the draft after that, and
a reserve offensive lineman that never saw the field for you,
basically if it mattered, and you have same the other
part you have with this deal. And this is how
Nick operates. I like to have concrete terms on what
I can he can control how much money David Montgomery makes.

(32:34):
He's not a free agent I can just sign. I
can just trade for him, and this is what he makes,
and then just us and him can figure out what
he's gonna make. I'm not negotiating against the rest of
the league and free agency. I'm not making calls to
Rico Dawdell's agent. I'm not making calls to Etend's agent.
I'm not waiting to see if Kenneth Walker Junior reaches
free the third excuse me, reaches free agency, and I'm

(32:57):
not negotiating against every other time team in the league.
David Montgomery is a Texan. I'm negotiating with only him,
and I know what he makes. If we don't get anywhere,
he makes the same amount of money he was already
under contract for, and odds are pretty good that figure,
if it stays where it is, is going to be
less than pretty much every reasonably talented running back on
the market, and.

Speaker 1 (33:17):
Probably by a lot.

Speaker 3 (33:18):
It's already significantly less than Javonte Williams got who didn't
reach free agency, just resigned with the Cowboys for the
three years, and it's going to be much much less
than Bryce Hall Gets Walker and any of the players
who have new contracts.

Speaker 2 (33:30):
I do wonder if Nick approaches this draft differently than
he says he has the others. I'll explain what I
mean by that. Plus a usual voice of reason when
it comes to the Texans from the national talking heads standpoint,
He weighed in on both these deals you'll hear from
him as well when we come back the as most

(33:53):
of the time here in Houston about your Houston Texans.
I think for the most part he's been fair. He
may have drawn some criticism of some of the things
he said about other teams and players, but I think
for the most part he's one of the guys that
we like to hear talk about, specifically quarterbacks, and CJ.

Speaker 1 (34:10):
Stroud obviously qualifies as.

Speaker 2 (34:12):
That what he's doing right, what he's been doing wrong,
And I feel like Dan's always been fair. So what
does a guy like Dan Orlovsky have to say about
not one, but two Texans trays to get the weak
started off?

Speaker 1 (34:27):
I really like this for Houston.

Speaker 6 (34:29):
Joe Mixon was so good there his first year and
then really hasn't been healthy enough, and so it certainly
puts a giant question mark on the future of Joe Mixon,
not only in Houston, but really NFL career wise. So
I like the addition of that style of running back
in Houston. I have some question marks once again, like
I did last offseason. This is the second offensive lineman
that they've traded today with an offensive line that was

(34:51):
okay last year, So there's two new holes in their
offensive line in Houston.

Speaker 1 (34:56):
Who's okay? Last year?

Speaker 3 (34:59):
Yes, he's very He also happens to share our opinion
very Fair was a starting level player. He's an average player.
I still believe what I said last week. He was
start for every single team in the NFL. He just
got traded for to start for one of them.

Speaker 1 (35:13):
Ranted. The Browns are returning zero starters off of their
very bad offensive line last year.

Speaker 2 (35:20):
Yeah, it's something to keep in mind when it comes
to this. But I just I know that you can't
say whether or not you think the Texans are better
today than they were. I don't think you can, at
least not until you see what happened.

Speaker 3 (35:33):
I mean, it's you're right, you can't say with any
kind of clarity. But I'm happy to do it well
because they're right now. They don't have Titus Howard and
you love him.

Speaker 1 (35:42):
I don't love him. I don't really. I mean, name me.

Speaker 3 (35:45):
Put Derrick Henry, put Christian McCaffrey, put Jamiir Gibbs, put
b Jeon Robinson back there wood be.

Speaker 2 (35:53):
I do wonder if if Joe Mixon had been healthy,
what could we have realistically expected from him behind that line.

Speaker 3 (36:01):
The same thing he did the year before, I hope,
which was the tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth best running back
in the NFL.

Speaker 1 (36:08):
Which would have been way better than what they got
this year.

Speaker 3 (36:11):
Individually he would have been there, their running game wouldn't
have been much better. He doesn't take all the carries,
doesn't play all the games, he doesn't take all the snaps.
Their running game in general was helped a bit by Hap. Again,
why what are we trying to say here?

Speaker 1 (36:25):
Well?

Speaker 3 (36:25):
What could he done in spite of this offensive line?
Cut that bleep out? Stop trying to say? Can this
player overcome what's in front of him?

Speaker 1 (36:33):
Can CJ.

Speaker 3 (36:34):
Stroud overcome the offensive line? Can Nick Keyley overcome the
offensive line? Can Bobby Sloank overcome the offensive line? Can
David Montgomery overcome the offensive line? Whatoy mars? On and
on and on and on and on? Do you see
a pattern? It doesn't matter who the other players are.
At some point and it's.

Speaker 1 (36:51):
Not year one or two or three.

Speaker 3 (36:54):
Yep, David Montgomery, I think around the league would be
considered as slightly less than Joe Mixon, although capable of
maybe having a season where he does more, and that's
about what he is. And if Joe Mixon had been
here last year, it still could have been his last
year here. They still could have been looking for a
new running back.

Speaker 2 (37:12):
That's my next question, provided that they don't go get
somebody in the draft, which would seem kind of redundant
at this point, although you never know, especially with Nick,
it felt redundant to take a wide receiver.

Speaker 1 (37:24):
Where they did last year.

Speaker 2 (37:25):
I thought, but whatever, do you look at it as
slightly less of a situation that he was in where
he's gonna get the majority of the carries, but he's
still sharing a large number of them with Marx Or
do you think he's a bell cow in twenty twenty
six for the Texans.

Speaker 1 (37:45):
I hope he's not a bell cow.

Speaker 3 (37:46):
Also I do too, By the way, I don't think
that's what you want from this player, and I think
it's part of what you saw there in Detroit. I mean, honestly,
it's almost hard to believe he wasn't even better in Detroit.
That's the best offense in the NFL for a running
back to play in offensive line, unbelievable weapons, great quarterback,
superstar play caller. Maybe you couldn't say that this year,

(38:06):
but it's it's just an unbelievable setup. The two of
them were incredible. It was the best backfield in the NFL,
like as a whole. So now he comes to this,
you know, and again it's I said, here's what I think,
and what can you do? You don't have a line.
That's totally unfair to say that today. I get it,
I completely get it. I don't know if Edit Ingram's
here or not. I don't know if Caleb Mays, I

(38:26):
don't know that could name you fifteen offensive linemen that
are available, and three of them could be starting in
front of David Montgomery, and all of a sudden he
gets to run behind a line that's better than what
Joe Mixon ran behind a year ago.

Speaker 1 (38:38):
I don't know that today. That's probably the plan.

Speaker 3 (38:40):
By the way, well, if we've said that every year,
how's that different than the last year's plan.

Speaker 2 (38:46):
When's the last time they spent big money on a shaverage?
So I think that might be the plan. When's the why?
Why is this year different? I'm being dead serious because
it hasn't worked any other way. It's a reasonable answer.

Speaker 3 (38:59):
Thanks, I mean, it's but we're all just I don't know,
maybe maybe they will this year.

Speaker 2 (39:03):
The m of that and drafting, which again I get it.
What's what? Why should that be awesome to hear?

Speaker 3 (39:10):
Well, an hour of us talking about it, we'd love
to hear from you as well. We got another hour
of discussing it and other things going on in the
sporting landscape. Of course, as we're back here from the
weekend on the A Team. The simulcast begins at four o'clock.

Speaker 2 (39:24):
It is the A Team Sports Talk seven to ninety
Space City Home Network on a Monday edition of the
program Astro's Spring Training Action, ending in a tie and
a lot of Texans conversation after not one but two
deals prior to the show kicking off today about an
hour ago.

Speaker 1 (39:44):
But now you can watch us wex over there ac
right here.

Speaker 2 (39:46):
Josh Jordan is our producer, and we've been talking about
the fact that the Texans continue to wheel and deal
in the Nick Cassario era. I we can get to
the particulars again as we've done the line hour, but
just from the standpoint of whenever his tenure is done,
Nick Cassario will by far be the guy that you

(40:10):
think of the most when it comes to just trades, transactions,
being active, moving parts, shuffling the deck, any number of
phrases I could use. Rick Smith might be the next
in line just because he was here the longest, But
it's trader Nick.

Speaker 1 (40:27):
That's how you look at him.

Speaker 3 (40:29):
Also, keep this in mind, I know he had the
two years where he was trying to kind of wade
through the mess. You know, cleaning up the cap was easy.
Everybody could do that. But setting themselves up for having
the assets necessary to make a major trade on draft
in twenty twenty three and correctly select those two players,
and on and on and on. So many late round

(40:49):
draft hits, so many middle round draft hits, so many
players you draft and want to extend. These are the
things that Those are the signs of a good GM.
Those are the signs of somebody who's came. People will
have putting you in a good position every single year,
and for three consecutive years, and next year will be
a year four in succession where you have a chance
to win big, big, big, big super Bowl, big, win

(41:11):
this division, you know, host games in the playoffs, win
games in the playoffs, and hopefully more than what this
franchise has ever done three straight years in the playoffs.
This team is, they're doing things they haven't done before,
and he even mentions those same things. It's unfortunate that
there's a huge area of need, and it's been a
huge area of need and all of his years with
a winning program, as he likes to call it. They

(41:32):
won in twenty twenty three and they did not have
one of the better offensive lines in the league. They
won in twenty twenty four, and they did not have
that either. They won in twenty twenty five and they
still didn't have it, and they're just they're not getting
any closer to it, And that's the real issue to me.

Speaker 1 (41:45):
It's okay not to be the best.

Speaker 3 (41:47):
One year, and then you improve next year, and then
you improve the year after that, and you improve the
year after that because the rest of your team is
in a good place. The ability to focus on this
should be there because you've done so many they're good things. Yeah,
the money is a factor, but that's kind of what
you did. Why you did what you did last year,
And you could have fixed more last year because you

(42:08):
fixed so much of the money last year with one
side of your offensive line being paid a tremendous amount
of money, but being terrible at football and the bigger
scheme of things. Shack takes that comment more than Laramie does. Clearly,
he's not terrible at football. He's just a bad run blocker.
He's a good pass blocker. Maybe half the game. Maybe
that's maybe half of the game. So yeah, since the

(42:29):
issue isn't what he did today, the issues is about
what they have consistently done with him running the shows
as a good franchise. Titus Howard out David Montgomery in
shuffle out a fourth, bring in a fifth, very little
difference in where those picks will actually land in terms
of numerical coming up on Draft Day number three. Round
one is Thursday, Rounds two and three are Friday. Rounds

(42:51):
four through seven are Saturday, and those are where the
picks lie. A twenty seven pick also goes out to
Detroit in the seventh round, and Jew Scruggs, who probably
would not have made the roster last this upcoming year,
also goes to Detroit.

Speaker 2 (43:05):
So the question is now begged, is Nick Cassaria going
to look at this draft like he has basically every
other draft? Where what I'm saying is you know, he
was asked specifically about drafting for need versus the best
player available and all that, and he kind of gave
that we all remember that kind of How would you

(43:27):
describe his response to that question?

Speaker 1 (43:30):
Foolish, unwise, dismissive, and comical. That about covers it. I mean,
it's silly.

Speaker 3 (43:37):
He will approach this draft like he does every other draft,
and his words are anybody else's. What he hasn't done
is trade up inside the first round. But it doesn't
mean he won't. I think he hasn't done it in
the past three times he's traded in the first round.
And I said won't trade up in the first round. Obviously,
afford me. I'm not even correcting it. He obviously traded

(43:58):
up in the first round once he traded up to
get Will Anderson Junior, brilliantly trading back from thirteen to
fifteen the year prior with the Kenya Green Deal, trading
out of the first round from twenty three to forty
two when they then drafted Kamari Lassier, trading out from
twenty five to several different spots, ultimately drafting two players
in the second round last year, Higgins and Ursery. He

(44:20):
will trade. He has the full set of picks to
do whatever it is he likes. He has enough picks
in twenty six and twenty seven to take in twenty
twenty six and twenty twenty seven, to take pick number
twenty eight and to move up higher in the draft
a better first round talent if he so chooses this year.
If they were to do that, I would feel like,

(44:40):
one hundred times out of one hundred, that would be
for an olignement. It could be for a defensive tackle,
It could be for a number of positions. I don't
think they would move up unless they felt like, there's
only three good defensive tackles in the top sixty, and
now the first two are gone, and we're not going
to wait till seventy two to draft the player or
fifty seven to draft the fourth or fifth best d tackles.

(45:03):
We don't even like him that much. We need to
move up to get that particular one. There's quite a
few offensive linemen inside and out. They did open the
door for either one of them, but it was already
open in my mind. Tidys Tower could have played either
spot next year for you, which meant you could have
drafted a tackle, or you could have drafted an interior
lineman with hopes of them starting from day one.

Speaker 1 (45:21):
That still holds.

Speaker 2 (45:24):
I think you're right about you're not going to be
trading up necessarily to get an offensive lineman. But if
you do, Gosh, this is where questioning their ability to
evaluate these guys would really like. I feel like all
throughout training camp and into the regular season and even
then after that, this guy, whoever he would be, would

(45:46):
be so harshly judged under a microscope all that stuff
because it is just so out of character for Nick.
Other than that will Anderson trade.

Speaker 1 (45:56):
Yeah, just play well.

Speaker 3 (45:57):
None of that stuff matters if you play well, none
of I mean, you're It can weigh on you if
you don't, and it can definitely weigh on your thoughts
about what your GM is doing from that particular position.
It's a team wide thing, you know. James Lookford, for
all I know, will be back. He did not get
another job and so he is still back part of
the staff. I don't know of any changes in the
scouting department, so it's a lot of the same people now.

(46:18):
I guess it's okay to say if I'm going to
tell you they they did a better job last year,
at least in finding two players who were worthy of
playing at Ingram and Tay Nursery. And this very same offseason,
if I try to say it's not a coincidence that
they got rid of Chris Strausser and they promoted Cole Popovich,
and their line did a lot of things better, not

(46:40):
only in personnel, but just in how they operated. Far
fewer miscommunications. Clearly they were taking to what was being
told to them, the coaching a lot better, and it
was very clear again miscommunications can happen, they should not
have happened in twenty twenty four to the level that
they did. That clearly was a coaching issue, among many
other issues. But they'd found no often of lineman all

(47:00):
this time. They didn't find any in twenty two or
twenty three or twenty four, and all of a sudden
in twenty five, in that draft and that off season
they found two. And that's the only other real significant change,
presumably from a here's what we need on our offensive
line standpoint coming from Popovitch louder and clearer than ever before.
Then maybe they believe they've gotten better at it, or

(47:21):
there's ability to get there but you still got a
temper that but the same thing overall, there's still just
like ed Ingram isn't about to be one of the
five best guards in the NFL. Tay Erstree's not about
to be one of the five best tackles ten best
tackles either. The aim has to be so much higher
than they've ever aimed before. The best two linemen that

(47:42):
have played here while Nick's been here, we're already here
when he got here. He traded one of them last
off season. He traded the other one this offseason. And
even that high level is so low.

Speaker 2 (47:53):
I guess, I guess what I'm not understanding is why
he can be so good he and Demiko, I should say,
because I need to give credit where it's due. On
the defensive side of the ball. What the Texans always do.
They find guys, whether it's in free agency or the draft,
who play well in that system, which was much ballyhooed about.

(48:17):
It was not complex, it's not exotic. We're just gonna
line up because we think we can beat you and
you can't beat us. There's nothing fancy, in other words
about that that defense.

Speaker 3 (48:28):
Oh they probably I mean, if this is realistic look
inside their organization. It's maybe not much of a ringing
endorsement for Bobby Slok or Nick Keyley, and I don't
mean it that way, but if you're having three months
worth of draft evaluations from January to April with Demiko
Ryans and probably Matt Burke, let's say, with your scouting staff,
and he's saying, all right, that player can do what

(48:49):
we want.

Speaker 1 (48:49):
That player can do what we want. That player can
do what we want.

Speaker 3 (48:51):
And then you're having the exact same meetings in the
afternoon with Bobby and Nick Kyley, and he's saying, well,
that player can do what we want, and this player
can what we want, and this player can do with
what I want. I know you believe in one of
those three people, and that one is Demiko. Do you
believe and do you know that they know that that
can happen, and you know Demiko's not uninvolved in their

(49:15):
offensive draft picks. It's silly to present that in that
way because it's not accurate. They have been remarkably good,
and not just at the top like last year. Jalen
Smith and Jalen Reid were both hurt a lot of
last season. I think they're both gonna turn out to
be outstanding players. And Jayden Reed's probably a first year
or a starter on Day one next year. And obviously
Lasser and Bullock, these are all guys in the secondary.

Speaker 1 (49:36):
They've hit on. Petrich two.

Speaker 3 (49:37):
That's five guys in the secondary they I think they've
hit on. None of them were drafted in the top forty.
Obviously Derek Singley Junior was, but I didn't mention him specifically.
Henry Toatoa, I think that's one of the most underrated
successful picks that Nick Cassara and his staff have ever made.
That's one hundred and sixty seventh pick. That's a fifth

(49:57):
round pick, and he was a huge part of this
defense being successful last year and probably plays an even
bigger role if they don't have other guys there like
as he's was out there all year last year. So
just I think there's so many rare areas where both
sides and you know, take Dell even in the third round.

Speaker 1 (50:14):
That's a fake. I thought it that day. We all
knew that.

Speaker 3 (50:16):
I thought here in Houston because we knew Tek so well.
That was a great pick that I think other teams
missed on that this team was correct on.

Speaker 2 (50:24):
Why is it only on one Well, he's he is
on that side of the football, but the majority on
the other side of the football is just what.

Speaker 1 (50:31):
That's such such a head scratcher.

Speaker 3 (50:33):
You can't Let's see if Higgins and Knowell actually can
become bigger players.

Speaker 1 (50:38):
Already feel like they're on their way.

Speaker 3 (50:40):
Definitely the case offense, that's good, I know, I just
I don't know how.

Speaker 1 (50:46):
It's just so one sided.

Speaker 2 (50:47):
I've never understood that in the admittedly brief tenure of
Nick Cassario as GM will continue to discuss this and
more as we continue on an abbreviated version of the
A team Sportstox seven nine.

Speaker 1 (51:01):
Rick tweets in I'm about done with the Houston Texans.
Supported them before they were named. That's impressive.

Speaker 2 (51:09):
There's no players and they didn't have a name, and
he was supporting them. If Cassario doesn't dramatically improve the offense,
in particular the offensive line, I'm out. I'll support the Broncos.
My brother lives in the Denver area. That's from Rick.

Speaker 1 (51:23):
Got his reasons.

Speaker 3 (51:25):
I've had probably more reason to interact with the questions
about these trades today and thin in a while and
I've tried to, you know, explain my position on it
and answer these questions and on the X platform, like
you're saying where Rick posted from, and it's just you're
asking the fans to believe in something that they have
no reason to believe in. That's all I presented it

(51:46):
last segment. Maybe there is a little bit of hope
because of what happened last offseason, even I mean, they
threw the dart at the board over and over and
over again, which if you have a problem, that's probably
the smart thing to do. But they've been doing that
for several years and they just were never hitting. The
last year they actually hit the board twice. I don't
think they got triple twenties at all, and I don't
know that they got a fifty or twenty five, but

(52:07):
they scored. They kept themselves in the game while they
were enjoying their nice beverage at the bar playing darts
because they did hit. They missed badly on Lake and Tomlinson.
They missed badly on Cam Robinson and that has been
a staple of their offensive line moves over the years.
They missed badly on Marcus Cannon. They missed badly on
Shaq Mason. Those are the ones that are heaviest in

(52:29):
the bin on you, and you're balancing out what they've
done on the offensive line. But it is unfair to
act like last offseason didn't net them two players that
started the majority of their games. Ersery missed a game
with injury and and Ingram missed a couple of games
with two different injuries. Other than that, they solidified their
respective position. The left tackle position was at the very

(52:50):
lowest end of applause. It was solidified last year by
Ursery and his play. And the same thing with the
guard position that Ingram held was he had moments and
days where he's really good. He had other moments where
he wasn't quite as good, but overall he was a starter,
starting caliber player, which even that low bar is something
this team has had a really hard time finding one

(53:11):
year to the next, which is why you're into year
four of your franchise caliber talent quarterback starting and you
don't have an you don't know what.

Speaker 1 (53:20):
Your offensive line is going to look like. CJ.

Speaker 3 (53:23):
Stroud is probably starting behind four players he's never played with.

Speaker 1 (53:28):
It doesn't mean they're gonna be worse. It almost assuredly.
Actually means they're going to be better.

Speaker 3 (53:33):
But that's where they are right now during the off
season preceding in his fourth season.

Speaker 1 (53:38):
I don't know that that's a bad thing though.

Speaker 3 (53:40):
That's a reasonable thing to say, except for the fact
that is a massive freaking challenge. It's like we act
like because Kansas City did it, and because if you
believe the Bears did it last year, it's so easy.

Speaker 1 (53:54):
You've got it.

Speaker 3 (53:55):
Your CAP's got to be in the right space. The
players have to be available, either in free agency or
via tre you have to have the assets to go
out there and do it, and you have to be
right on all of those players. You think Nick Cassario's
staff is drafting two different offensive linemen that are going
to rise to Pro Bowl caliber like Creed Humphrey and
Trey Smith did in one draft. That's what Kansas City

(54:16):
did immediately after their embarrassing offensive Super Bowl performance. They
drafted two linemen, neither in the first round, and both
have become Pro Bowl talents, elite level players. Both earned
rightfully so extensions last year. The Bears did it mostly
through free agency, and they spent a ton of money,
and then they were the team that traded with Kansas
City for Joe Thuney.

Speaker 1 (54:37):
It worked.

Speaker 3 (54:38):
They were way better and look at the running game
they had. Look at the time that Caleb Williams had
to freelance and make plays more exciting than they had
to be. Now that's what the Texans have positioned themselves
to do because we're gonna hear about all the extensions
and restructures, so they actually have the cap space to
go do this. But now do we believe that there
are players in free agency that they can get and

(55:00):
now they have to be They have to present those
players with the best offer, or else those players sign elsewhere.

Speaker 1 (55:05):
And that's what's out of your control.

Speaker 3 (55:07):
It's almost like, well, here's our best offer, and then
when it's not the best offer, you say, well, here's
our new offer, because we're desperate. We can't go into
another season without taking a gamble on this new player.

Speaker 1 (55:21):
That's what I'm terrified about is that we won't care.

Speaker 3 (55:25):
You won't like if the Texans hand out this deal
that you've never seen before from them eighty four million,
Oh my god, what one hundred and five million with
sixty four million guaranteed you You'll be like awesome.

Speaker 1 (55:37):
I don't even know this player. I don't even I
don't even care who this player is. I don't mean
you don't know. I mean it doesn't matter. You're like good.
It's different.

Speaker 2 (55:45):
But that's the thing, Like, I do not want to
be going in a training camp thinking, oh my gosh,
they didn't even barely address the offensive line.

Speaker 1 (55:54):
That's how I felt last year and this year. I
just can't imagine.

Speaker 3 (55:57):
Like, for all the reasons you've pointed out the last
hour and a half, I just they've put themselves in
this position now more than ever. They thought they had
a really good defense a year ago and there was
a chance they could do more than you know, reaching
the divisional round. Then they played through their season and said, yeah, absolutely,
this is we had half of a super Bowl team here,
we got thirty five players worth of a super Bowl team.
We have forty players forty five players worth of a

(56:19):
super Bowl team here. It's the closest they've ever been
in from a non obvious standpoint, They've been exactly as close.
Six other times they have lost in the divisional round.
Now seven times, that is as close as they've ever been.
But look at those rosters. Look at the landscape of
the NFL. Look at what it would have taken for
you to advance two more times. Yes, this is as
close as they've ever been. And you know, maybe they

(56:42):
realize that this is a challenge, a huge one. I
said it earlier on X when we were not yet
on the air. The players they are going to start
next to ersery next year. There might be one on
the roster if you're serious about trying to win upfront,
and that's Jake Andrews, which I would hoped they would replace.

(57:02):
But he's here and under contract. Your other spots aren't.
And people are saying, well, why won't Blake Fisher start
next year? And I said, if you're serious about winning,
that can't happen. He can be on the team. He
can be your swing tackle again. And I know he
had a couple of games here and there over his
two years where he didn't look awful with the bar people,
where do you want this bar? Well, he didn't look awful. Well,

(57:25):
he held his own today, aim higher, care more, put
more into it. Blake Fisher should not be one of
your five best linemen. He wasn't even one of your
five best linemen last year when your line wasn't even average.
It's not hard. What if you could poach Braden Smith

(57:45):
from the Colts at right tackle. These are the types
of players that will be talked about a lot and
are why you don't want to build through for somebody
else's team, whether you have to trade for him or
Braden Smith being a free agent. He's played a lot
of good foot me. He played a lot of good football.
That is definitely on his resume. I'm not one hundred
percent sure he's going to continue to play a lot

(58:06):
of good football for you and a new fat contract,
but like, these are the types of players they probably
have to consider, and at that level of pay too.
I'm little he like just you happen to say one
name that I wasn't like over the moon for and
he's he's a good player. There's a little it would
be concern there that you're the team that paid him
and you're the team that regrets it.

Speaker 2 (58:27):
Well, to be fair, this is a Colts fan that
doesn't like the scenario of him both leaving the Colts
and then staying in the division and strengthening a division rival.

Speaker 3 (58:38):
Yeah, which would indicate he believes he's a good player.
And I'm not trying to say he isn't. There have
been other free agents and other players available in trade,
and we brought up Trent Williams the other day as
this tackle thro nine year old, clearly open eight year old.
Are you averse to being the team that gives him
whatever per year for two more years because somebody going

(59:00):
to I still think it's the Niners. I don't actually
think he's gonna leave, but that door could be open
for you to do something like that.

Speaker 1 (59:07):
Now what I want.

Speaker 2 (59:08):
You know, I this might sound crazy, and this might
come back to bite me if I were in charge
and I did this. I think the Texans, if they're
going to address it like full on, I think the
money that should be spent should be spent on the
guard position, and the draft capital should be spent at
right tackle. And I know that's an overly simplistic way

(59:31):
of saying it, but what I mean is I think
you're gambling. Your gamble is going to have a better
chance of paying off if you do things that way
than if you reverse it.

Speaker 3 (59:42):
You know, Adam, we just want to get good players
in the building. We know Nick, he just wants to
get good players in the building. I tend to agree
with that. Now you're talking about the offensive line. You
spend a draft pick on a rookie safety, a rookie
wide out, aie rookie tight end, running back, et cetera.
There's so much less concern about that derailing your play
because he plays wide receiver, he's one of three, or

(01:00:03):
he's one of five. He plays running back. Okay, he's
not playing well, Just move on to the next guy,
let him develop. You got time that that's applicable across
the entire roster, except on the offensive line. It's just
so there's so happy to if they're on the field,
they have to be good. Yeah, but it's not a
grey area.

Speaker 1 (01:00:21):
It's not a kind of thing.

Speaker 3 (01:00:22):
And it's hard to move on from them in game.
It's hard even to move on for them in season
because you're not necessarily full of six or seven starting
caliber players. Your hopes were this guy got us to
five starting caliber players, not the guys behind him that
he beat out during camp, right, and then ultimately shouldn't
be in playing in front of now because now he's
on the field every week and we're watching things not
go so well. You know, Braden Smith is an option

(01:00:45):
a name to discuss. Isaac Samolo from the Steelers is
a name we're probably gonna talk about quite a bit, obviously,
if Linderbaum is in fact not going to be a
Raven next year, one of the players they.

Speaker 1 (01:00:56):
Chose not to suit a guy out there.

Speaker 3 (01:00:58):
But okay, their their offensive line right now costs them nothing, right, nothing.
They have dead money obviously with Titus. But was it
four point six that they saved with his Yes, if
he were here, it would be costing them more on
the cap, but there's a little bit of savings and
that he's not.

Speaker 1 (01:01:15):
I'll never understand.

Speaker 2 (01:01:17):
I just I don't get why a guy stays and
he's he's not as much on the cap, or he's
more on the cap. I should say than if he
than if he's uh discarded as they did with Titus today,
sort of trade.

Speaker 1 (01:01:30):
It is a much nicer way to say. I know.

Speaker 2 (01:01:32):
That's why I was going with the next He's not personal, no, no, no,
not all all right. It is personal when we come
back because we need to continue to discuss all things Texans,
getting them ready, but we also have to get to
the good, the bad, and the ugly from over the weekend,
and that's all straight.

Speaker 1 (01:01:47):
Ahead the ad on Sports Talk seven.

Speaker 2 (01:01:52):
Ninety signature segment time here on Monday edition of the program.
It is the team Sports Talks seven to ninety, Space
City Home Network and of course the good, the bad,
and the ugly from over the weekend.

Speaker 1 (01:02:08):
Josh, you have the bad.

Speaker 2 (01:02:11):
I have something very ugly, but we do need to
find something good to talk about. Since Wex is out
the door and on his way down to work on
the the Rockets studio presentation tonight is they'll be taking
on the Washington Wizards out on the East Coast. I
will say this, and this might seem lazy, but I'm

(01:02:35):
just glad the Texans aren't going to trot out the
same offensive line. I think that's a good thing. Is
it going to end up being better? I don't know.
Nobody can say right now. I'd like to think it
would be. And I understand that there is more that
went into the Titus Howard decision than just whether or
not you think he's a good right tackle or he's been,

(01:02:58):
you know, up and down that offensive line since his
or during his tenure here as a Houston Texan. But
I just think that you know, status quo or not
really throwing yourself into things, which, by the way, is
kind of how I felt like they treated it last season.
I was just waiting for an offensive lineman to be taken,

(01:03:20):
and then the first pick that was taken in last
year's draft was a wide receiver, and it just it
was a head scratcher. I understood the Tank Dell situation,
but I just thought, Okay, it's so obvious here, and
maybe he'll make me want to put my head through
a wall again. But I'd like to be optimistic going

(01:03:42):
into this twenty twenty six NFL draft and free agency
that the addressing of the offensive line will be done
in earnest.

Speaker 7 (01:03:50):
As they say, Josh, I'm with you one hundred percent.
What's got me is that's you guys have been hitting
on it. That's a lot to get done in a
short amount of time. So the good is, maybe it's better.
The good is you got a better running back. Right, So,
if I'm going to the bad, it's the current state
of the offensive line. And here's the other thing, right

(01:04:11):
is maybe it's time to start fishing in a different pond.
You guys brought these guys up. Marcus Cannon Shaq Mason,
Jake Andrews, Trent Brown. Where did all those guys come from?
AC they're former Patriots?

Speaker 2 (01:04:22):
Yeah, well familiarity, But how did that work out? No,
I'm right there with you, and I again, it goes
back to if this were a guy in Nick Cassio
who just was terrible all the time, it would be different.
First of all, he wouldn't still be here at this point,
I don't think. But secondly, like I just how can

(01:04:44):
this be? How can it be so one sided? How
can it be not even one sided? How can it
just be this position group? How can you be so
good at evaluating talent? It's so many different areas on
a roster and this just not be it. And even
if you're not, and I get it, egos they factor
into things. Have you not found somebody or someboddies at
this point to make it a better situation so that

(01:05:08):
your team, which by the way, could have done it
This past season absolutely was wide open. And I still
feel to an extent that the AFC can be wide open.
I mean, there's no guarantees. You've got a new coaching
situation in Baltimore, You've got Patrick Mahomes coming off injury
and maybe those two just go right back to the

(01:05:30):
way they were their traditional winning ways, but you just can't.

Speaker 1 (01:05:34):
There are no guarantees in the NFL, So I don't know.

Speaker 2 (01:05:38):
I just wish that I had a little bit more
clarity on the fact that they could finally get it
right in a position that I feel like so many
Texans fans have just been driving their head into a
brick wall over.

Speaker 1 (01:05:51):
For years and years and years.

Speaker 7 (01:05:52):
Can I add it just a little something onto that?
And it's also as bad as we've learned from drafts.
Sure it's better to have high draftdraft picks, but overall
that the study show it's just having a big amount
of draft picks as many bullets as you can fire
at something right. The Texans took one offensive lineman last
year in the draft and it hit ursery, but they

(01:06:13):
didn't take any other ones that just when it happened
last year, it made zero sense to me. They didn't
not one guy. Did the take a shot with a
late round pick, like, hey, maybe this can be a
dude that comes in here and is inexpensive and over
a cheese. But when you don't spend any picks on that,
it can't happen.

Speaker 2 (01:06:30):
Yeah, the draft capital and how they use it and
which way they go with their trades in the draft,
I think will be under a microscope even more so
this year than it ever has before. And again, like
I said, on a technicality, they did trade up. Gosh,
could you imagine if they had done that drafted CJ

(01:06:53):
made the deal for Will Anderson Junior and for whatever reason,
he was just not he was just a guy. Then
you'd have two draft picks right now at numbers two
and three with you know, seemingly big question marks headed
into year four. Luckily, one of them is an absolute
home run and will likely get a huge deal this offseason,

(01:07:13):
and the other one of CJ. Stroud, whom you're trying
to make things easier for as we speak, even if
a lot of people today are like, what are you
doing trading the best player on your offensive line. So
that's what got me all day long is the people
that I saw that from Ian he's like your best
offensive lineman. Well, if he's your best offensive lineman, I
don't know if your line's that great. And it sounds harsh,
but that's just true. But that's two years in a

(01:07:35):
row you traded away your best offer right line. And
I don't necessarily hate this, I'm just I'm very concerned,
Like what's the answer then, I mean, you're going into
a big year with CJ. It'd be nice if there
were some confidence that you could run the ball. And
I think that's the other side of this, Josh, is
if you weren't going into such a pivotal year for CJ,

(01:07:58):
maybe you wouldn't be so nervous about about this or
just kind of like holding your breath.

Speaker 1 (01:08:03):
I mean, you can't.

Speaker 2 (01:08:06):
This can't not be a home run off season for
the offensive line. So if you're doing drastic things like
what they're doing, you better have a good plan to
make it at the very minimum, has to be better
than last season. And again, doing this while you're, like
you said, shuffling out, I guess one of the better

(01:08:28):
members of your offensive line. But again, when this kind
of thing happens, a lot of times there are other
moves waiting, whether they be in free agency or in
the draft that can kind of assuage the emotions that
are boiling under the surface. And I think that's probably
where a lot of Texans fans are. Don't know if
maybe boiling is the right word to use, But they're

(01:08:49):
definitely at the surface. Whatever the emotions are, they are
definitely there. I wanted to get into something completely off
topic as far as the NFL goes as it pertains
to the UG And if you watched Friday Night's game
between the Thunder and the Nuggets, you know exactly where
I'm going with this. Josh, why would you ever and

(01:09:10):
I mean ever, challenge Nikola Jokic in any way, let
alone with a dirty play like lou Dort did where
he got upgraded for a flagrant two and ejected for
basically looking like he was trying to take out the
knee that kept kept Joker on the sidelines for sixteen games.

Speaker 1 (01:09:29):
I mean it was.

Speaker 2 (01:09:31):
And then Joker's face, which you've probably all seen by
now the freeze frame, if you will. And knowing a
little bit about Jokers brothers, I mean, I don't know,
that's just maybe a guy that I wouldn't have done
that with, kind of like Charles Oakley back in the day,
Like you always knew, like the guys that were they
would go whether they are on the floor, off the

(01:09:52):
floor in a casino, maybe they come up and slap
you because you owe them money, like Tommy fam It's
just certain guys that are guys that will go and
then there's other guys that talk a lot.

Speaker 1 (01:10:05):
Joker.

Speaker 2 (01:10:05):
I wouldn't mess around with that guy, really wouldn't for
his brothers and uh Lou Dort, Jalen Williams the other
Jalen Williams on the Thunder, not to mention Doris Burke
pointing out the SGA pushes off pretty much every other
possession down the floor.

Speaker 1 (01:10:22):
I like it.

Speaker 2 (01:10:22):
I like the fact that that was nationally televised and
got a lot of eyeballs on it. We will come
back wind things down here on the eighteen portion of
the program, give away some tickets and get you ready
for Rockets basketball next.

Speaker 1 (01:10:36):
The Sports Talk seven.

Speaker 2 (01:10:38):
We haven't talked a ton about the Rockets today, as
we will get you ready for Rockets Wizards coming up
over on the East Coast. The Rockets with a three
game roady finishing up out there, and then they've got
two games back to back Thursday and Friday here at
Toyota Center in Houston. You've got the Warriors coming to
town without Steph Curry, by the way, I mean, he'll

(01:11:00):
be with them. I'm pretty sure because I saw him
on the bench watching his idiot teammate Draymond Green just
I don't even know what Draymond was going off about,
but he just looked at like he was just tired
of the whole thing. I'm assuming Steph will be on
the bench much like Fred van Vliet has been all
season long. He's got another five games or so he's

(01:11:21):
gonna miss with injury, so he won't be a part
of things Thursday night. You got Portland coming to town
on Friday night, and we all know how that's gone
the last couple of times you played them. In fact,
you had that back to back in Portland where you
lost both games.

Speaker 1 (01:11:36):
That was awful.

Speaker 2 (01:11:38):
But tonight, first things first, a very bad Wizards team
you want to take care of business against, especially in
light of the fact that you could not hold on
to a lead against the Heat. They played that zone
defense and they had their way with you on Saturday afternoon.
Be honest with you, the way the Rockets started that
game was not what I had on my BINGO card,

(01:11:59):
considering they had spent that day before in Miami.

Speaker 1 (01:12:04):
Miami can get the.

Speaker 2 (01:12:05):
Best of the NBA teams out there, and yet the
Rockets were the ones with a double digit lead in
that first half and then unable to hang on to
it and the Heat got the victory. And so the
Rockets coming back to Houston after this game tonight and
again back to the schedule, it's going to hopefully and
will be dominated by way more home games down the

(01:12:26):
stretch as they are jockeying for position still in that
third seed.

Speaker 1 (01:12:31):
But you know, it could have been better. Let's put
it that way.

Speaker 2 (01:12:35):
Is the Rockets currently third out West Spurs got absolutely
manhandled by the Knicks the other night. Wim Big Yama
had seven turnovers, so as they continue to try and
creep up on the Thunder that helped the Thunders cause.
But it's gonna be very interesting as the month of

(01:12:55):
March gets underway, and I don't know that we're gonna
see a whole lot of move movement other than just
nightly jocking. I just it's gonna take maybe a big injury,
maybe some sort of the only the only team I'm
looking at in the West right now where I could

(01:13:17):
see them completely falling apart and out of contention.

Speaker 1 (01:13:21):
You know it, let's all say it together.

Speaker 2 (01:13:23):
The LA Lakers it has been an absolute joy to
see almost on a daily basis things going south for
that team, whether it be because of Lebron, whether it
be because the other night, I think Luca and JJ
Reddick got into it on the bench. Luca didn't look

(01:13:43):
particularly happy about the fact that, well, whatever whatever JJ
Reddick said to him, he was he didn't take too
kindly to it. The sooner Lebron is out of LA,
the better for the Lakers. Crazy as that sounds, but
I just feel like they're in purgatory right now, and
as it pertains to this conversation, be very very surprised

(01:14:07):
if they made any noise in the playoffs at all,
meaning right now, three to six, that's Rockets Lakers. I'm
not picking the Lakers to beat the Rockets in the
seven game series, and I don't know about anybody else out.

Speaker 1 (01:14:19):
There who would either.

Speaker 2 (01:14:20):
Luca could get hot, Lebron could maybe turn back the clock,
but they don't play any defense. They don't particularly play
well together on offense, meaning those two in Austin Reeves,
and I just I don't know.

Speaker 1 (01:14:34):
I would like the Rockets in a series like that.

Speaker 2 (01:14:36):
I'd be just fine if it stayed Rockets three to six,
just for the sake of that being the opening round matchup.
Interestingly enough, talking about the Nuggets and what happened in
the night with Thunder who did get that win. The
Timberwolves crept a game ahead of them, so again a
lot of jockeying.

Speaker 1 (01:14:54):
Don't know if it's exactly how the dust will settle.

Speaker 2 (01:14:56):
You've got now the Timberwolves breathing down the rocket next
as opposed to the Denver Nuggets, and I do know
that they will play Minnesota sooner rather than later here,
but gonna be very interesting. You look at Phoenix with
the injury to to Dylan Brooks and how that all
shapes up. And of course Jalen Green's already getting He's
getting the negativity towards him. There's a lot to keep

(01:15:18):
an eye on with the with the NBA as we
get into solidifying where these playoff positions are going to be.

Speaker 1 (01:15:26):
As it pertains to the Texans.

Speaker 2 (01:15:27):
Obviously a long long way to go in this offseason,
as March second means, we are way far away still
from training camp and even a little bit of distance
until you see what's gonna happen in the NFL draft.
My guess would be a personnel decision will be made
of very much. Note long before that happens, my guess

(01:15:51):
would be it would be on that offensive line, and
my guess would be it will start making people feel
a little bit better than they do right now if
they're just panicking and saying.

Speaker 1 (01:15:59):
Who's gonna for CJ. It's it's gonna take some time.
It always does.

Speaker 2 (01:16:06):
And last year when the Texans traded away Laramie Tunsel,
which by the way, ended up yielding a pretty good pick,
nobody liked it. Then, well I think some people liked it.

Speaker 1 (01:16:17):
I liked it.

Speaker 2 (01:16:18):
Uh, but you know it, It's no time to panic.
It's very early in the process, and what the Texans
are going to end up looking like, specifically in front
of CJ shroud, is probably going to be completely different
than they do here on March second.

Speaker 1 (01:16:36):
And that's a good thing.

Speaker 2 (01:16:37):
Like I said at the beginning, I I I am,
I'm going to if nothing else, applaud them for not
doing the status quo thing, trying to make it better
and you know, do what they can to make sure
that their quarterback has every opportunity in front of him

(01:16:58):
to make to improve what happened last year, A lot
of that's gonna be on CJ, and a lot of
pressure will be on CJ because of because of what
you know, moves like today. But I just I don't
think you could have stood with what you had and
felt all that great going into twenty twenty six. I

(01:17:19):
just the more I think about the end of last
season and the way it all went down, the more
better I get it can't help it. I mean, you
had it all right in front of you. You had
injuries actually helping the cause. And maybe they get to
the Super Bowl and they lose the Seattle because maybe
it was Seattle's year, But wouldn't you have liked the opportunity.
Wouldn't you have liked to have seen what that Texans
defense could have done with, by the way, a second

(01:17:41):
shot at that Seattle team. You know, that Seahawks team
was the only one that really I felt like beat
up the Texans, like beat them by more than one
score when they did. And I just I would have
liked to have seen a team that you had quote
unquote tape on from earlier in the year and see
what this Texans defense could have come up with. Then again,

(01:18:04):
you say that you careful what you wish for, because
I'm not sure that I would have liked to have
seen CJ.

Speaker 1 (01:18:08):
Stroud going up against their defense.

Speaker 2 (01:18:10):
It's part of the reason they were still good last
year is that defense was absolutely scary.

Speaker 1 (01:18:15):
But enough about that.

Speaker 2 (01:18:16):
We will have plenty more to talk about tomorrow when
we get back in here at two o'clock in anticipation
of more Astro spring training baseball. In the meantime, of course,
we've got you ready with Rockets countdown right around the corner,
Rockets and Wizards finale of that three game trip out
east for your Rockets, see if they can go two
and one on this trip. Won the first game in

(01:18:38):
Orlando in thrilling fashion, obviously took one on the chin
over the weekend at Miami, and this is an absolutely
terrible Wizards team that they should be able to take
care of business against tonight. So get you ready with
that as WEX has got you ready with rockets countdown,
and then I've got the launch pad as we take
you up until a six o'clock tip and Matt Thomas

(01:18:59):
and Elf on the call as Matt will be in
the Nation's capital with the play by play for tonight's game.

Speaker 1 (01:19:07):
The meantime, they'll do it for us.

Speaker 2 (01:19:09):
We will get you with that Rockets coverage right around
the corner, and WEX and I back at it again
tomorrow at two