June 15, 2023 • 20 mins
Why are the Texans better? After observing OTAs and Veteran Minicamp, Drew Dougherty of Texans TV and Team Analyst/Radio Sideline Reporter John Harris explained why.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
In the Lab, a Texans podcast that takes a different
look at things. Drew Doherty and John Harris have their
lab coats and goggles on and the Bunsen burners burning.
Here's Drew.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
The Houston Texans are better. John, Good to see you
in the Lab.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
How you doing.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I'm fantastic, man. I've had a fun morning, went all
over Houston. Dropped my son off at the Jesuit baseball camp.
So I was backing my alma mater for just a
tenC tiny bit and nice. It's nicer than when I
was there, and it was kind of nice. But I
was there and then shot the they're called stand ups
here in the biz, but they're basically the introductions where
you see a reporter on camera he's setting up or
(00:44):
throwing or she is setting up throwing to a video.
And we shot those stand ups, those introductions on the
east side of Houston. There's a mural at two ten
Jensen Drive. Didn't know where that was, San Jensen, Okay,
but j N there's a pretty cool mural and I
think it's it's changed a few times, but then it's
also got a really perfect view of downtown Houston. I'm
(01:04):
sure there will be buildings where I was standing that
will block all that view someday.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Yeah, but we took.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Advantage of it and got some good stuff on the
way into work and you can see that Saturday nights
at eleven on ABC thirteen KHAK. But back to what
I said, John, the Texans are better. I'm not gonna
say they're gonna win thirteen games. I'm not gonna say
they're win six games either. Those would be a big
improvement over what we saw in twenty twenty two. But
the Texans are better than they were last year, the
(01:30):
year before, and there's an excitement. And I'm saying this
purely off of what I saw on the field against
Air without pads, without tackling or anything like that over
the last three weeks. Basically, Texans are better. You've got
a good O line. I think you've got a secondary
that's going to do some things, and I'm excited. Dude,
(01:52):
I know you feel the same way. But what are
the two or three reasons that make you most excited?
And have you in agreement with what I led this
whole podcast off with.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
I don't think there's any question, honestly, Drew, I'll take
it right straight from the horse's mouth. We had media
Days on Monday, which whenever you see here in the
stadium and you see the graphics up on the board
and you're like, let's go.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Raise the room.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
You know, you see the guys getting all excited, and
you see all the pregame intros and stuff.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
That stuff is all shot in a couple of days.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
But we, I guess one day now, we used to
do it in a couple of days. We call media days,
and so the broadcast teams CBS, Fox, send off on network,
all of them. They get a chance to take a
shot of the guys and all that kind of stuff,
so that all takes place on one day. Well, we
made it a one stop shop, made it a big
old car wash. So they go from one section to
one section, one section. And so if you make this point,
(02:46):
let me tell the Jimmy Ward story. But yeah, so
we Mark and I in studio, we had about thirty guys.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Yeah, I can't get all ninety.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
It was one after one interview after the next, bang
bang bang bang. And I was, I don't want to
say the word surprised, but the excitement that each guy
brought into this room was really interesting. When you ask
them about the prospects of twenty twenty three, and sometimes
(03:15):
they would just whatever question you asked them, you know, hey,
what'd you have for dinner? They would somehow bring it
back to how excited they were for the twenty twenty
three season. There were, in fact, a couple of guys
that used the word stacked to talk about this roster,
which I went, wow, like, there's you know a lot
of times it's the most optimistic, the most hopeful fans
(03:38):
that will look at it and say, well, yeah, man,
if this guy does this and this guy does this,
then we can be okay or we could be good.
The players themselves were saying that, and I thought that
was that was really interesting. So that might be reason
one for me is just to see the optimistm optimism
of the players. I think we'd be remiss if we
didn't mention Number two, the brain trust between Dimiko Casario.
(04:01):
I mean, Nick has done a lot of the work
personnel wise, with the contributions of the coaching staff and
it's scouting department to put this roster together to go
out and find one year, you know, one of your
contract guys like Dalton Schultz, like Jimmy Ward, like Sheldon Rankins,
and bring them in into the fold and you watch
them participate and you go, Okay, I see why those
(04:21):
guys are here, and I see how they're having an impact.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Guys like Malik Collins. Collins, it was originally a one
year guy. It was originally one year guy. And now
he's another one year guy, and now he's.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
He's this third contract that he has signed with the
Texas with this extension that he has signed.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
And I think Malik is I mean invaluable.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
I mean, you got to have a guy like Malik,
but you put him next to a sound Ridgeway and
Sheldon Rankins, two guys that are brought in for this defense.
So the leaders at the top, and I mean obviously
it goes all the way to the top. I think
the McNair family has learned a lot about the last
couple of years.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
I think they have.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
They've grown comfortable in their own skin, and I think
that's something that but you know, it's when you follow
you know, Bob and Janis McNair.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
I mean that's it's hard no matter who you are.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
But I think that that Cal McNair and Han McNair
have really and the McNair family just in general, they've
really kind of grown comfortable in their own skin. I
think that filters down to having Amico into having Nick
and I think they're calm and cool, filters down to
the players and I think they're feeling it. And last
is certainly not least. I don't want to discredit anything
(05:28):
in the growth of Davis Mills, because I think Davis
has done a really fine job.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
I think he's gotten better and better.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
I think case Keenum being here is going to be
huge for all the quarterbacks, but CJ. Stroud is at
a different level. And having CJ Stroud in this building
and having CJ. Stroud as the leader of this team
and knowing what CJ is all about, getting to know
him and see him in practice and see him make
a mistake and then not make it again. As Damiko
(05:53):
Ryan's pointed out, I think those three like the palpable
excitement from the players themselves seeing what they've got. I
think the leadership that starts at the tone at the
top and filters down to everybody. And then I think
having a guy like c J. Shroud at quarterback that's got,
you know, a competitive yet calm demeanor, and I think
(06:17):
he shows leadership. I thought one of the great moments
in OTAs was the other day. I think it was Wednesday.
I think it was Wednesday. So they're working on I
think it was seven on seven, and so Dalton Schultz
ran a particular route and Dalton read it one way
and CJ read it a different way. And when CJ
read it, he threw a pick to I think it
(06:38):
was Desmond King.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Desmond made a really nice pick. It's a great play
for the defense.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
And as the play was over, you saw CJ and
Dalton come together and they kind of chatted a little
bit and you could see them kind of gesturing one another,
and then CJ tapped himself on the chest the universal
signal love. Yeah, that was on me. That was on me,
and Dalton patted him on the back and they went back.
No big deal, got it all worked out. They went
(07:02):
to a two minute drill later on fourth down or
third down or fourth down, got to have a ten
seconds left in the game, and CJ through an absolute
seed right adult Schultz for a touchdown. Yeah, and they
went celebrated, And I just those two plays kind of
to me showed not only the leadership of adult Schultz,
you know, a guy we talked about, but showing how
CJ bounced back from you know, an interception in practice
(07:25):
where he made the mistake, at least according to him
in that moment, he made the mistake. But I just
thought it was really interesting he and Schultz talking about
that on the field and then CJ going, yeah, that
was me, that was me, and then later on throwing
that touchdown to Schultz in a really tough drill, a
two minute drill you know, at the end of practice
can be really really tough for the offense, and they
(07:45):
worked it perfectly.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
And then for CJ to make that throw to Dalton,
I thought was.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Really really cool to kind of book in that first
moment with that second moment and all that kind of
gave me, gave me a charge, Drew a lot to
talk about there, for sure.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Yeah, I love those three that you rielled off, those
three reasons, and then I'll add in this you also
sprinkle in some playmakers at all three levels of the
defense that you've added. It's like Taijeen like via the draft,
Williamson Junior, He's he's Demiko Ryans is having to hold
him back, you know, because he's having a Yeah, you
(08:19):
can't hit right now, hats are off. Yeah, he can't
wait to see what this guy does. He's got him
in the wide nine. Yeah, he's gonna be in a
different scheme, and Demiko is excited about what he can
do in that you had. You have playmakers like Christian
Harris emerging, Denzel Perriman should do some things at linebacker.
You know, those guys are really exciting. Jalen Petrie entering
(08:40):
year two, Derek Stingley entering year two. They're in a
better system. Jerry Hughes talked about it. You and I
were sitting next to each other when Jerry Hughes was
at the podium earlier this week and he said some
pretty eye opening stuff. We're gonna write about it next week.
But yeah, there's a lot to go go on and
be excited about. Jimmy Ward, who is uh somebody I
(09:00):
was mentioning earlier. He's gonna do some nice things. And
speaking of Jimmy, you talk about media days like, for example,
I hung out with Jimmy Ward on media days and
walked him to the set where you know he'll be
like this, yea.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
At the camera yea, and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Then there's still photos of that, and then there's a
still photo section that was you know, off to the
other side, and then he did the Jimmy Ward Northern Illinois,
you know, like that thing for they kind of go
and do all those things and they just bang it
all out at once, and uh, yeah, it's pretty fun,
(09:38):
and I'm excited about all the playmakers on defense on
top of the stuff you were mentioning. So with six
weeks until the Texans get back at it with training
camp practices beginning the end of July, health aside, what
is your biggest question?
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Mark?
Speaker 3 (09:57):
That's a good one.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
Mark and I have thought about this and we've talked
about this, and I I've grown to really like the
wide receiver crew.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
I really like it.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
I like when Nico and Robert are together, like and
when Tank and Nico are together. I like different groupings
that they've put together. And I do think that they
have got a variety of pass catchers. I think the
biggest thing going in and maybe along with health, Drew,
it's the fact that you do and probably will have
a rookie quarterback starting week one, So you know, the
(10:28):
ups and downs to go with the rookie quarterback, I
think are pretty obvious. But I think one of the
things that can help him is a does a true
number one receiver emerge or is a number one truly needed?
Like last year Jacksonville, I didn't think Jacksonville had a
true number one. I felt like they had a bunch
of really good number twos. You know, Zay Jones, Christian Kirk,
you know Jamal agnew was you know he was. He
(10:50):
was the cream on top of the Sunday. I mean
he was. He made everything you know good for the
Jaguars great for the Jaguars, and teams were very cognizant
when he came into game. He was a weapon X.
But they I felt like they were all really good
number twos. Now they got Calvin Ridley this year, and
I think Calvin's a I think he's a definite number one.
So that could change the look for the Jaguars and
make them that much more dangerous. I think the Texans
(11:12):
have guys that would fall into that category of not
quite number one, but could emerge.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Into a number one.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
And I don't know if it's all together needed that
you have, Okay, that guy's are number one.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
That guys are number two.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
I don't really mean it like that, but I mean
that bona fide go to weapon when it's third down
and it's third and seven and everybody in the building
knows you're throwing a ball to that guy and he
makes the catch, the Andre Johnson, the DeAndre Hopkins of
the world, Brandon Cooks, even Will Fuller. You knew the
(11:45):
ball would go to one of those guys on third
down and you were gonna move the sticks.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Who is that guy? Now?
Speaker 4 (11:54):
Like Jacksonville did last year, they had a pretty potent
offense for the last nine ten weeks of the year
and they didn't really have that guy. It could be
it could be a number of guys, and maybe that's
how this thing goes. But I do feel like in
most situations, you want to have that receiver that you
go to at all times.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Now, it might end up be Dold Schultz.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
Dold Schultz might catch ninety passes, he might be the
third down go to weapon. But who remains that guy
on third down that you know, Hey, they know it,
we know it, everybody knows it, and they still can't
stop him, or they still can't stop that connection between
quarterback and pass catcher. Who is that guy? I think
that to me is kind of the the one piece
(12:37):
outside of health, outside of obviously rookie quarterback that I
look at and think, Okay, what happens here and how
does the emergence of you know, as they say him,
you know, I'm him, with the evergence of him for
this for this offense, turns this offense into you know,
hopefully one of the top top half of the league
for sure.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
You know what I talked about sprinkling earlier when I
was talking about the defense, But you know what other
thing that's been sprinkled in. I imagine Damian Pierce's receptions will
go up a little bit from what he had last year. Yes,
but you've also added around about a forty receiver forty
reception guy in the running game in Devin Singletary, right,
that's at the running back spot. He's basically caught thirty
(13:19):
eight forty two thirty eight. He can catch the ball,
make some moves, get you seven yards on a reception
pretty consistently.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
I mean, I think there's a lot of things you
can do with motor, There's no doubt, and that's motor Yeah,
his nicknames motor and I just think there's this guy's
a limit for him, Drew in this offense. I mean,
there's so many different things. I mean, we talked to him,
I know you had a chance to catch up with
one on one. We talked to him here in studio
and kind of asked him about why Houston was right
for him, and you know, he talked about this offense.
(13:49):
He talked about catching the football and how he's really
grown as a receiver because at that FAU in college,
he didn't really catch the ball much. I mean, he
ran it a lot. There's one year I think he
had thirty two rushing touchdowns. Yeah, but he didn't catch
it a lot. And so he's kind of had to
learn that as he's gone through the NFL with his
time with the Bills, and hopefully that pays off here.
And what I like about that Drew And you know
(14:10):
I've said this a lot. When you have two backs
and they both can catch the ball. You know, Damien's
got really good hands. You can use them together. You
can do you can do some twenty personnel two running
backs and no tight ends and really do some stuff
with two running backs like that.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
And we've seen the forty nine ers do that.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
Yeah, so I'm I'm I'm really excited about what I'm
excited about past catchers can do. But I still think
when you when you look at the great teams in
the league and you go down each one, Philadelphia on
third and five is going a J Brown. The Chiefs
are going to Travis kelceys a tight end, but they're
going to Travis Kelce.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
The Rams go to Cooper Cup.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
You know, the Vikings are going to find Justin Jefferson
no matter how many guys are covering him. Kirk Cousins
is locked into him. The Bills are probably gonna go
to Stefan Diggs if Stefan Diggs is around this interesting. So, yeah,
I had an interesting note. I texted Sal after we
talked to Devin Singletary. My buddy Saca Pacio is the
solid report for the Bills, and I was sending him
(15:08):
a note because Devin talked about how much he liked him,
and so Sal wrote back and said, Man, twenty four hours,
you've had all this drama. And I was like, Sal,
no fence, bro. But the last three years, yeah, we
were the epitome of that.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
So beat there.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
We didn't want to send that to you. That was
not our trade of We get Singletary, you get drama.
But you know it looks like they're gonna get past that.
But either way, the point being, the Bills went to
a different level on Stefan Diggs came into town. When
Jamar Chase got into town. With the Bengals, you know,
they got two of them. Now, I wish they'd share
the wealth with te Higgins, but with Higgins and Chase,
they they could do what they want to in the
passing game. So I think you've got to have that
(15:43):
guy or you got to have that guy emerge, and
hopefully that happens this year.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Nice.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Okay, we're gonna close with this, but before we close,
go to Devin Singletary's Instagram. Scroll all the way to
the bottom to his first post. He's got high school highlights. Oh,
Devin Singletary looks like USC Reggie Bush in this high
school highland.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
It's not rich. So anyways, all.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Right, closing with this, of all the JJ Watt touchdowns,
which is your favorite? And I should say take out
the Bengals pick six the others? Which is your favorite?
JJ Watt touchdown.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
I feel like every touchdown of his came with a
story in some sense of course, just.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Like Brock said, every interception has a story, right, thanks Brock.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
I feel like the Raiders one in fourteen was the
one that really is my favorite because not only is
it the first offensive touchdowns, it's the excitement that comes with,
oh my god, JJ just won in the game and
they're on offense, and then seeing FITZI where's he throwing?
Oh my god, he's throwing this battle Watt And I'm
(16:49):
standing right there and I'm like, oh my gosh, this
is going to ruin the internet.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
JJ Watt just caught a touchdown on offense.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
So I think it's the Raiders one because it was
it was the first time that we had seen him
in that capacity, and then it's you know, beating the
Raiders out. I love I love that stadium. I know
it's you know, rundown, but I just love the history
of that me too. What used to be Oakland, Almdia Coliseum,
which I don't know what it is anymore. I love
the fact that we were able to go out there,
you know, before they went to Las Vegas. That was
(17:19):
cool to have done on the Oakland now in Las Vegas.
But I think that's my favorite Drew just because it
was the first one. I think the one that to
me blew everybody's mind. And I've always wanted to want
I've always wanted to ask, but I really don't because
you know, he got beat on the play.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
But I've always wanted to ask Christian Kirksey about that moment.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
Like you're out in press coverage against a two hundred
and ninety five pound as you call him, jungle cat,
and they throw him a fade route. Yeah, against the Browns.
That's the one to me that was like, what the
hell just happened? Because he starts as a tight end,
but then he flexed out and I thought, okay, well
he's just a decoy. No, they throw him a damn
fade route. Now that's the one to me that was like, Okay,
(17:59):
this is a different end. He's just a different gat
is all together, like a different animal altogether.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
But the Raiders one was the first time.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
Where he went I'm I'm like seeing it all, telling
Mark in his year what in the game tight end
watts at tight end and then he throws to watch
it is?
Speaker 3 (18:19):
That was just that's one.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Probably that's probably my favorite one just for that reason,
how about you?
Speaker 2 (18:23):
That was cool, that one, but also the touchdown here
against the Bills and the touchdown here against the Colts,
because that year in twenty fourteen, so he was already
a superstar in Twelvey one the Defensive Player of the
Year award YEP thirteen was awful for the team, but
he was still really really good. He was an All
Pro fourteen. He was a comet that season. I mean
(18:46):
he's five touchdowns. Yeah, did everything on defense all that,
but that year when he would make a huge, huge
play like that, and then you'd go to break, and
normally the Texans here at Energy Stadium, you go to
break and it's eighteen different sponsored segments and you've got
this and this and this that you've got to fulfill smartly.
(19:08):
They would say pause that and they just play turned
down for what by or turn out for what by
Little John, and they'd show the replay of JJ making
the play, and then they cut to JJ on the
sideline and you'd say, like the side of his face
and then just kind of look at the camera and
go in the place and they show a bunch of
people in ninety nine Jerseys dance in and they go
(19:30):
back to JJ and be like and they like, you know,
it just kept going on and on, and that would
be the whole break. They just play that and this
this place was special back then. So that was mine.
But I love that. I was up in the Oakland
Colisee in press box and I get nudged in the
ribs by one of the young interns in the media
relations department. He says, oh.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Yeah, JJ's in the game.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Check this out the top, and I type that he's
in the game, and then bam, catches a touchdown.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
It was wild.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
It was really really funny.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
He's wide open. I'm like, what were the Raiders thinking?
Speaker 2 (19:58):
It was a novelty at that point that it was
he knew or thought about it, But then they were
covering him the times after that, but he still caught
the touchdowns. Was really really pretty cute. All right, John,
good talking with you, and let's do this again. And
very very soon this is in the lab
In the Lab, a Texans podcast that takes a different
look at things. Drew Doherty and John Harris have their
lab coats and goggles on and the Bunsen burners burning.
Here's Drew.
Speaker 2 (00:16):
The Houston Texans are better. John, Good to see you
in the Lab.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
How you doing.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I'm fantastic, man. I've had a fun morning, went all
over Houston. Dropped my son off at the Jesuit baseball camp.
So I was backing my alma mater for just a
tenC tiny bit and nice. It's nicer than when I
was there, and it was kind of nice. But I
was there and then shot the they're called stand ups
here in the biz, but they're basically the introductions where
you see a reporter on camera he's setting up or
(00:44):
throwing or she is setting up throwing to a video.
And we shot those stand ups, those introductions on the
east side of Houston. There's a mural at two ten
Jensen Drive. Didn't know where that was, San Jensen, Okay,
but j N there's a pretty cool mural and I
think it's it's changed a few times, but then it's
also got a really perfect view of downtown Houston. I'm
(01:04):
sure there will be buildings where I was standing that
will block all that view someday.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Yeah, but we took.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Advantage of it and got some good stuff on the
way into work and you can see that Saturday nights
at eleven on ABC thirteen KHAK. But back to what
I said, John, the Texans are better. I'm not gonna
say they're gonna win thirteen games. I'm not gonna say
they're win six games either. Those would be a big
improvement over what we saw in twenty twenty two. But
the Texans are better than they were last year, the
(01:30):
year before, and there's an excitement. And I'm saying this
purely off of what I saw on the field against
Air without pads, without tackling or anything like that over
the last three weeks. Basically, Texans are better. You've got
a good O line. I think you've got a secondary
that's going to do some things, and I'm excited. Dude,
(01:52):
I know you feel the same way. But what are
the two or three reasons that make you most excited?
And have you in agreement with what I led this
whole podcast off with.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
I don't think there's any question, honestly, Drew, I'll take
it right straight from the horse's mouth. We had media
Days on Monday, which whenever you see here in the
stadium and you see the graphics up on the board
and you're like, let's go.
Speaker 3 (02:16):
Raise the room.
Speaker 4 (02:17):
You know, you see the guys getting all excited, and
you see all the pregame intros and stuff.
Speaker 3 (02:21):
That stuff is all shot in a couple of days.
Speaker 4 (02:24):
But we, I guess one day now, we used to
do it in a couple of days. We call media days,
and so the broadcast teams CBS, Fox, send off on network,
all of them. They get a chance to take a
shot of the guys and all that kind of stuff,
so that all takes place on one day. Well, we
made it a one stop shop, made it a big
old car wash. So they go from one section to
one section, one section. And so if you make this point,
(02:46):
let me tell the Jimmy Ward story. But yeah, so
we Mark and I in studio, we had about thirty guys.
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Yeah, I can't get all ninety.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
It was one after one interview after the next, bang
bang bang bang. And I was, I don't want to
say the word surprised, but the excitement that each guy
brought into this room was really interesting. When you ask
them about the prospects of twenty twenty three, and sometimes
(03:15):
they would just whatever question you asked them, you know, hey,
what'd you have for dinner? They would somehow bring it
back to how excited they were for the twenty twenty
three season. There were, in fact, a couple of guys
that used the word stacked to talk about this roster,
which I went, wow, like, there's you know a lot
of times it's the most optimistic, the most hopeful fans
(03:38):
that will look at it and say, well, yeah, man,
if this guy does this and this guy does this,
then we can be okay or we could be good.
The players themselves were saying that, and I thought that
was that was really interesting. So that might be reason
one for me is just to see the optimistm optimism
of the players. I think we'd be remiss if we
didn't mention Number two, the brain trust between Dimiko Casario.
(04:01):
I mean, Nick has done a lot of the work
personnel wise, with the contributions of the coaching staff and
it's scouting department to put this roster together to go
out and find one year, you know, one of your
contract guys like Dalton Schultz, like Jimmy Ward, like Sheldon Rankins,
and bring them in into the fold and you watch
them participate and you go, Okay, I see why those
(04:21):
guys are here, and I see how they're having an impact.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Guys like Malik Collins. Collins, it was originally a one
year guy. It was originally one year guy. And now
he's another one year guy, and now he's.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
He's this third contract that he has signed with the
Texas with this extension that he has signed.
Speaker 3 (04:35):
And I think Malik is I mean invaluable.
Speaker 4 (04:38):
I mean, you got to have a guy like Malik,
but you put him next to a sound Ridgeway and
Sheldon Rankins, two guys that are brought in for this defense.
So the leaders at the top, and I mean obviously
it goes all the way to the top. I think
the McNair family has learned a lot about the last
couple of years.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
I think they have.
Speaker 4 (04:56):
They've grown comfortable in their own skin, and I think
that's something that but you know, it's when you follow
you know, Bob and Janis McNair.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
I mean that's it's hard no matter who you are.
Speaker 4 (05:06):
But I think that that Cal McNair and Han McNair
have really and the McNair family just in general, they've
really kind of grown comfortable in their own skin. I
think that filters down to having Amico into having Nick
and I think they're calm and cool, filters down to
the players and I think they're feeling it. And last
is certainly not least. I don't want to discredit anything
(05:28):
in the growth of Davis Mills, because I think Davis
has done a really fine job.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
I think he's gotten better and better.
Speaker 4 (05:33):
I think case Keenum being here is going to be
huge for all the quarterbacks, but CJ. Stroud is at
a different level. And having CJ Stroud in this building
and having CJ. Stroud as the leader of this team
and knowing what CJ is all about, getting to know
him and see him in practice and see him make
a mistake and then not make it again. As Damiko
(05:53):
Ryan's pointed out, I think those three like the palpable
excitement from the players themselves seeing what they've got. I
think the leadership that starts at the tone at the
top and filters down to everybody. And then I think
having a guy like c J. Shroud at quarterback that's got,
you know, a competitive yet calm demeanor, and I think
(06:17):
he shows leadership. I thought one of the great moments
in OTAs was the other day. I think it was Wednesday.
I think it was Wednesday. So they're working on I
think it was seven on seven, and so Dalton Schultz
ran a particular route and Dalton read it one way
and CJ read it a different way. And when CJ
read it, he threw a pick to I think it
(06:38):
was Desmond King.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Desmond made a really nice pick. It's a great play
for the defense.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
And as the play was over, you saw CJ and
Dalton come together and they kind of chatted a little
bit and you could see them kind of gesturing one another,
and then CJ tapped himself on the chest the universal
signal love. Yeah, that was on me. That was on me,
and Dalton patted him on the back and they went back.
No big deal, got it all worked out. They went
(07:02):
to a two minute drill later on fourth down or
third down or fourth down, got to have a ten
seconds left in the game, and CJ through an absolute
seed right adult Schultz for a touchdown. Yeah, and they
went celebrated, And I just those two plays kind of
to me showed not only the leadership of adult Schultz,
you know, a guy we talked about, but showing how
CJ bounced back from you know, an interception in practice
(07:25):
where he made the mistake, at least according to him
in that moment, he made the mistake. But I just
thought it was really interesting he and Schultz talking about
that on the field and then CJ going, yeah, that
was me, that was me, and then later on throwing
that touchdown to Schultz in a really tough drill, a
two minute drill you know, at the end of practice
can be really really tough for the offense, and they
(07:45):
worked it perfectly.
Speaker 3 (07:46):
And then for CJ to make that throw to Dalton,
I thought was.
Speaker 4 (07:49):
Really really cool to kind of book in that first
moment with that second moment and all that kind of
gave me, gave me a charge, Drew a lot to
talk about there, for sure.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
Yeah, I love those three that you rielled off, those
three reasons, and then I'll add in this you also
sprinkle in some playmakers at all three levels of the
defense that you've added. It's like Taijeen like via the draft,
Williamson Junior, He's he's Demiko Ryans is having to hold
him back, you know, because he's having a Yeah, you
(08:19):
can't hit right now, hats are off. Yeah, he can't
wait to see what this guy does. He's got him
in the wide nine. Yeah, he's gonna be in a
different scheme, and Demiko is excited about what he can
do in that you had. You have playmakers like Christian
Harris emerging, Denzel Perriman should do some things at linebacker.
You know, those guys are really exciting. Jalen Petrie entering
(08:40):
year two, Derek Stingley entering year two. They're in a
better system. Jerry Hughes talked about it. You and I
were sitting next to each other when Jerry Hughes was
at the podium earlier this week and he said some
pretty eye opening stuff. We're gonna write about it next week.
But yeah, there's a lot to go go on and
be excited about. Jimmy Ward, who is uh somebody I
(09:00):
was mentioning earlier. He's gonna do some nice things. And
speaking of Jimmy, you talk about media days like, for example,
I hung out with Jimmy Ward on media days and
walked him to the set where you know he'll be
like this, yea.
Speaker 3 (09:15):
At the camera yea, and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Then there's still photos of that, and then there's a
still photo section that was you know, off to the
other side, and then he did the Jimmy Ward Northern Illinois,
you know, like that thing for they kind of go
and do all those things and they just bang it
all out at once, and uh, yeah, it's pretty fun,
(09:38):
and I'm excited about all the playmakers on defense on
top of the stuff you were mentioning. So with six
weeks until the Texans get back at it with training
camp practices beginning the end of July, health aside, what
is your biggest question?
Speaker 4 (09:56):
Mark?
Speaker 3 (09:57):
That's a good one.
Speaker 4 (09:58):
Mark and I have thought about this and we've talked
about this, and I I've grown to really like the
wide receiver crew.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
I really like it.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
I like when Nico and Robert are together, like and
when Tank and Nico are together. I like different groupings
that they've put together. And I do think that they
have got a variety of pass catchers. I think the
biggest thing going in and maybe along with health, Drew,
it's the fact that you do and probably will have
a rookie quarterback starting week one, So you know, the
(10:28):
ups and downs to go with the rookie quarterback, I
think are pretty obvious. But I think one of the
things that can help him is a does a true
number one receiver emerge or is a number one truly needed?
Like last year Jacksonville, I didn't think Jacksonville had a
true number one. I felt like they had a bunch
of really good number twos. You know, Zay Jones, Christian Kirk,
you know Jamal agnew was you know he was. He
(10:50):
was the cream on top of the Sunday. I mean
he was. He made everything you know good for the
Jaguars great for the Jaguars, and teams were very cognizant
when he came into game. He was a weapon X.
But they I felt like they were all really good
number twos. Now they got Calvin Ridley this year, and
I think Calvin's a I think he's a definite number one.
So that could change the look for the Jaguars and
make them that much more dangerous. I think the Texans
(11:12):
have guys that would fall into that category of not
quite number one, but could emerge.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
Into a number one.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
And I don't know if it's all together needed that
you have, Okay, that guy's are number one.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
That guys are number two.
Speaker 4 (11:25):
I don't really mean it like that, but I mean
that bona fide go to weapon when it's third down
and it's third and seven and everybody in the building
knows you're throwing a ball to that guy and he
makes the catch, the Andre Johnson, the DeAndre Hopkins of
the world, Brandon Cooks, even Will Fuller. You knew the
(11:45):
ball would go to one of those guys on third
down and you were gonna move the sticks.
Speaker 3 (11:51):
Who is that guy? Now?
Speaker 4 (11:54):
Like Jacksonville did last year, they had a pretty potent
offense for the last nine ten weeks of the year
and they didn't really have that guy. It could be
it could be a number of guys, and maybe that's
how this thing goes. But I do feel like in
most situations, you want to have that receiver that you
go to at all times.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Now, it might end up be Dold Schultz.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
Dold Schultz might catch ninety passes, he might be the
third down go to weapon. But who remains that guy
on third down that you know, Hey, they know it,
we know it, everybody knows it, and they still can't
stop him, or they still can't stop that connection between
quarterback and pass catcher. Who is that guy? I think
that to me is kind of the the one piece
(12:37):
outside of health, outside of obviously rookie quarterback that I
look at and think, Okay, what happens here and how
does the emergence of you know, as they say him,
you know, I'm him, with the evergence of him for
this for this offense, turns this offense into you know,
hopefully one of the top top half of the league
for sure.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
You know what I talked about sprinkling earlier when I
was talking about the defense, But you know what other
thing that's been sprinkled in. I imagine Damian Pierce's receptions will
go up a little bit from what he had last year. Yes,
but you've also added around about a forty receiver forty
reception guy in the running game in Devin Singletary, right,
that's at the running back spot. He's basically caught thirty
(13:19):
eight forty two thirty eight. He can catch the ball,
make some moves, get you seven yards on a reception
pretty consistently.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
I mean, I think there's a lot of things you
can do with motor, There's no doubt, and that's motor Yeah,
his nicknames motor and I just think there's this guy's
a limit for him, Drew in this offense. I mean,
there's so many different things. I mean, we talked to him,
I know you had a chance to catch up with
one on one. We talked to him here in studio
and kind of asked him about why Houston was right
for him, and you know, he talked about this offense.
(13:49):
He talked about catching the football and how he's really
grown as a receiver because at that FAU in college,
he didn't really catch the ball much. I mean, he
ran it a lot. There's one year I think he
had thirty two rushing touchdowns. Yeah, but he didn't catch
it a lot. And so he's kind of had to
learn that as he's gone through the NFL with his
time with the Bills, and hopefully that pays off here.
And what I like about that Drew And you know
(14:10):
I've said this a lot. When you have two backs
and they both can catch the ball. You know, Damien's
got really good hands. You can use them together. You
can do you can do some twenty personnel two running
backs and no tight ends and really do some stuff
with two running backs like that.
Speaker 3 (14:26):
And we've seen the forty nine ers do that.
Speaker 4 (14:28):
Yeah, so I'm I'm I'm really excited about what I'm
excited about past catchers can do. But I still think
when you when you look at the great teams in
the league and you go down each one, Philadelphia on
third and five is going a J Brown. The Chiefs
are going to Travis kelceys a tight end, but they're
going to Travis Kelce.
Speaker 3 (14:46):
The Rams go to Cooper Cup.
Speaker 4 (14:48):
You know, the Vikings are going to find Justin Jefferson
no matter how many guys are covering him. Kirk Cousins
is locked into him. The Bills are probably gonna go
to Stefan Diggs if Stefan Diggs is around this interesting. So, yeah,
I had an interesting note. I texted Sal after we
talked to Devin Singletary. My buddy Saca Pacio is the
solid report for the Bills, and I was sending him
(15:08):
a note because Devin talked about how much he liked him,
and so Sal wrote back and said, Man, twenty four hours,
you've had all this drama. And I was like, Sal,
no fence, bro. But the last three years, yeah, we
were the epitome of that.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
So beat there.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
We didn't want to send that to you. That was
not our trade of We get Singletary, you get drama.
But you know it looks like they're gonna get past that.
But either way, the point being, the Bills went to
a different level on Stefan Diggs came into town. When
Jamar Chase got into town. With the Bengals, you know,
they got two of them. Now, I wish they'd share
the wealth with te Higgins, but with Higgins and Chase,
they they could do what they want to in the
passing game. So I think you've got to have that
(15:43):
guy or you got to have that guy emerge, and
hopefully that happens this year.
Speaker 3 (15:46):
Nice.
Speaker 2 (15:46):
Okay, we're gonna close with this, but before we close,
go to Devin Singletary's Instagram. Scroll all the way to
the bottom to his first post. He's got high school highlights. Oh,
Devin Singletary looks like USC Reggie Bush in this high
school highland.
Speaker 3 (16:00):
It's not rich. So anyways, all.
Speaker 2 (16:02):
Right, closing with this, of all the JJ Watt touchdowns,
which is your favorite? And I should say take out
the Bengals pick six the others? Which is your favorite?
JJ Watt touchdown.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
I feel like every touchdown of his came with a
story in some sense of course, just.
Speaker 2 (16:25):
Like Brock said, every interception has a story, right, thanks Brock.
Speaker 4 (16:29):
I feel like the Raiders one in fourteen was the
one that really is my favorite because not only is
it the first offensive touchdowns, it's the excitement that comes with,
oh my god, JJ just won in the game and
they're on offense, and then seeing FITZI where's he throwing?
Oh my god, he's throwing this battle Watt And I'm
(16:49):
standing right there and I'm like, oh my gosh, this
is going to ruin the internet.
Speaker 3 (16:54):
JJ Watt just caught a touchdown on offense.
Speaker 4 (16:57):
So I think it's the Raiders one because it was
it was the first time that we had seen him
in that capacity, and then it's you know, beating the
Raiders out. I love I love that stadium. I know
it's you know, rundown, but I just love the history
of that me too. What used to be Oakland, Almdia Coliseum,
which I don't know what it is anymore. I love
the fact that we were able to go out there,
you know, before they went to Las Vegas. That was
(17:19):
cool to have done on the Oakland now in Las Vegas.
But I think that's my favorite Drew just because it
was the first one. I think the one that to
me blew everybody's mind. And I've always wanted to want
I've always wanted to ask, but I really don't because
you know, he got beat on the play.
Speaker 3 (17:34):
But I've always wanted to ask Christian Kirksey about that moment.
Speaker 4 (17:37):
Like you're out in press coverage against a two hundred
and ninety five pound as you call him, jungle cat,
and they throw him a fade route. Yeah, against the Browns.
That's the one to me that was like, what the
hell just happened? Because he starts as a tight end,
but then he flexed out and I thought, okay, well
he's just a decoy. No, they throw him a damn
fade route. Now that's the one to me that was like, Okay,
(17:59):
this is a different end. He's just a different gat
is all together, like a different animal altogether.
Speaker 3 (18:05):
But the Raiders one was the first time.
Speaker 4 (18:06):
Where he went I'm I'm like seeing it all, telling
Mark in his year what in the game tight end
watts at tight end and then he throws to watch
it is?
Speaker 3 (18:19):
That was just that's one.
Speaker 4 (18:20):
Probably that's probably my favorite one just for that reason,
how about you?
Speaker 2 (18:23):
That was cool, that one, but also the touchdown here
against the Bills and the touchdown here against the Colts,
because that year in twenty fourteen, so he was already
a superstar in Twelvey one the Defensive Player of the
Year award YEP thirteen was awful for the team, but
he was still really really good. He was an All
Pro fourteen. He was a comet that season. I mean
(18:46):
he's five touchdowns. Yeah, did everything on defense all that,
but that year when he would make a huge, huge
play like that, and then you'd go to break, and
normally the Texans here at Energy Stadium, you go to
break and it's eighteen different sponsored segments and you've got
this and this and this that you've got to fulfill smartly.
(19:08):
They would say pause that and they just play turned
down for what by or turn out for what by
Little John, and they'd show the replay of JJ making
the play, and then they cut to JJ on the
sideline and you'd say, like the side of his face
and then just kind of look at the camera and
go in the place and they show a bunch of
people in ninety nine Jerseys dance in and they go
(19:30):
back to JJ and be like and they like, you know,
it just kept going on and on, and that would
be the whole break. They just play that and this
this place was special back then. So that was mine.
But I love that. I was up in the Oakland
Colisee in press box and I get nudged in the
ribs by one of the young interns in the media
relations department. He says, oh.
Speaker 3 (19:48):
Yeah, JJ's in the game.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Check this out the top, and I type that he's
in the game, and then bam, catches a touchdown.
Speaker 3 (19:54):
It was wild.
Speaker 2 (19:55):
It was really really funny.
Speaker 3 (19:56):
He's wide open. I'm like, what were the Raiders thinking?
Speaker 2 (19:58):
It was a novelty at that point that it was
he knew or thought about it, But then they were
covering him the times after that, but he still caught
the touchdowns. Was really really pretty cute. All right, John,
good talking with you, and let's do this again. And
very very soon this is in the lab
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Burden
The Burden is a documentary series that takes listeners into the hidden places where justice is done (and undone). It dives deep into the lives of heroes and villains. And it focuses a spotlight on those who triumph even when the odds are against them. Season 5 - The Burden: Death & Deceit in Alliance On April Fools Day 1999, 26-year-old Yvonne Layne was found murdered in her Alliance, Ohio home. David Thorne, her ex-boyfriend and father of one of her children, was instantly a suspect. Another young man admitted to the murder, and David breathed a sigh of relief, until the confessed murderer fingered David; “He paid me to do it.” David was sentenced to life without parole. Two decades later, Pulitzer winner and podcast host, Maggie Freleng (Bone Valley Season 3: Graves County, Wrongful Conviction, Suave) launched a “live” investigation into David's conviction alongside Jason Baldwin (himself wrongfully convicted as a member of the West Memphis Three). Maggie had come to believe that the entire investigation of David was botched by the tiny local police department, or worse, covered up the real killer. Was Maggie correct? Was David’s claim of innocence credible? In Death and Deceit in Alliance, Maggie recounts the case that launched her career, and ultimately, “broke” her.” The results will shock the listener and reduce Maggie to tears and self-doubt. This is not your typical wrongful conviction story. In fact, it turns the genre on its head. It asks the question: What if our champions are foolish? Season 4 - The Burden: Get the Money and Run “Trying to murder my father, this was the thing that put me on the path.” That’s Joe Loya and that path was bank robbery. Bank, bank, bank, bank, bank. In season 4 of The Burden: Get the Money and Run, we hear from Joe who was once the most prolific bank robber in Southern California, and beyond. He used disguises, body doubles, proxies. He leaped over counters, grabbed the money and ran. Even as the FBI was closing in. It was a showdown between a daring bank robber, and a patient FBI agent. Joe was no ordinary bank robber. He was bright, articulate, charismatic, and driven by a dark rage that he summoned up at will. In seven episodes, Joe tells all: the what, the how… and the why. Including why he tried to murder his father. Season 3 - The Burden: Avenger Miriam Lewin is one of Argentina’s leading journalists today. At 19 years old, she was kidnapped off the streets of Buenos Aires for her political activism and thrown into a concentration camp. Thousands of her fellow inmates were executed, tossed alive from a cargo plane into the ocean. Miriam, along with a handful of others, will survive the camp. Then as a journalist, she will wage a decades long campaign to bring her tormentors to justice. Avenger is about one woman’s triumphant battle against unbelievable odds to survive torture, claim justice for the crimes done against her and others like her, and change the future of her country. Season 2 - The Burden: Empire on Blood Empire on Blood is set in the Bronx, NY, in the early 90s, when two young drug dealers ruled an intersection known as “The Corner on Blood.” The boss, Calvin Buari, lived large. He and a protege swore they would build an empire on blood. Then the relationship frayed and the protege accused Calvin of a double homicide which he claimed he didn’t do. But did he? Award-winning journalist Steve Fishman spent seven years to answer that question. This is the story of one man’s last chance to overturn his life sentence. He may prevail, but someone’s gotta pay. The Burden: Empire on Blood is the director’s cut of the true crime classic which reached #1 on the charts when it was first released half a dozen years ago. Season 1 - The Burden In the 1990s, Detective Louis N. Scarcella was legendary. In a city overrun by violent crime, he cracked the toughest cases and put away the worst criminals. “The Hulk” was his nickname. Then the story changed. Scarcella ran into a group of convicted murderers who all say they are innocent. They turned themselves into jailhouse-lawyers and in prison founded a lway firm. When they realized Scarcella helped put many of them away, they set their sights on taking him down. And with the help of a NY Times reporter they have a chance. For years, Scarcella insisted he did nothing wrong. But that’s all he’d say. Until we tracked Scarcella to a sauna in a Russian bathhouse, where he started to talk..and talk and talk. “The guilty have gone free,” he whispered. And then agreed to take us into the belly of the beast. Welcome to The Burden.