May 24, 2023 • 13 mins
How strong does the 2023 Texans offensive line appear to be? Texans TV's Drew Dougherty and Team Analyst/Radio Sideline Reporter John Harris pondered this question and much more.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
In the Lab, a Texans podcast that takes a different
look at things to Doherty and John Harris have their
lab coats and goggles on and the Bunsen burners burning.
Here's Drew in the Lab time right to now on
a Wednesday. Normally we do these on Tuesdays. But John Harris,
(00:25):
I'm Drew Doherty, as you know, and we normally do
these on Tuesdays. Like I said, but we had OTA's
yesterday right smack dab in the middle of our normal
in the Lab talking time.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
So let's do it today on a Wednesday. Quest.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
I like that. Let's do it.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
And for the first time in a long time, it
looks like on paper, knocking on wood, the Texans have
a really good offensive line and the offensive line will
be the strength of this team. There's been question marks
about it for the last decade. Chunks of the offensive line. Now,
you've had a great left tackle for the most part
in Laramie Tunsel, and before him you had Dayne Brown.
(01:00):
But there was a stretch in there where you were
kind of had having to juggle some things. There was
a stretch in there where the interior of the offensive
line had some question marks and had some flaws as
a fist. You know, five fingers and a fist. As
a fist, sometimes that fist lacked a bit of punch,
but it looks like you've got some thump behind that
fist this year?
Speaker 5 (01:20):
Would you agree when you heard Tamika Ryans say that
yesterday about the offensive line being one of the strongest
units on a team.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
I do with Mark a lot. What's your gut reaction
to hearing that.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
I like that It's in line with what we've seen
and what we think, and I'm cool with it. I mean,
and kind of going off of what you just asked
and what I was saying the preamble. I remember Lovey
Smith unprompted to me last year when we were walking
onto the practice field at training camp and he was
about to talk to fans. He saw Titus and he
saw Laramie walking together and he said, Drew, that's probably
(01:57):
the best tackle combo in football.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
I don't.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
He's like, I don't think the other team has a
combo at tackle that good.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
And that's saying a lot.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
I mean, between them, there were some question marks, there
were some good play, but you know, I think this
year going in it's gonna be really really fun to see.
And it's like he said, it should be a strength
of this ball club, and that's what you need. That's
what this think about the best Texans team ever, I
think it's twenty eleven. Yeah, and that had easily the
best offensive line in franchise history.
Speaker 5 (02:27):
I think there are a couple of things that aren't
maybe discussed about the offensive line a lot. I mean
you mentioned one of them, and that's Titus Howard. I
think one not often mentioned thing i'l channel Landry and
john nobody's talking about guy is in fact that Titus
is playing right tackle for the second year in a row,
(02:48):
not moving to a different position.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
He's not being bounced around, Thank goodness.
Speaker 5 (02:52):
He's got his footwork, he's got his hand placement, all
that kind of stuff. He knows how to do it
at right tackle, and he's back at right tackle. I
think that is huge to his continued progress. Uh and
Johnny's in year five. Yeah, these guys, he's still improve
in your five. So I think that's massive. The fact
that he stays at right tackle, don't move him around
(03:14):
even during OTA's when you know Larimie was not there,
Charlie stepped in a left tackle.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
They didn't move Titus over there.
Speaker 5 (03:21):
Now they might, they might in a game if they
have to, but for his continued to improvement and growth,
leaving him at right tackle huge.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Secondly, I don't know that enough has been made.
Speaker 5 (03:33):
About Shaq Mason's impact on this offensive line at guard.
I am not one of those that thought aj Cann
was terrible, horrible. I think they're different kinds of players. Sure,
aj kNN and Shack Mason, but I think adding Mason
obviously signed a contracts is gonna be here for a
little bit. When you put Mason next to Titus, well
you got something there. I mean, you really do have
(03:56):
something there. So I think there's that those those two things.
I don't know that I think part.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Of it from me. I'll be honest.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
Sometimes I forget we traded for Shack Mason, so let's
forget it because we just haven't seen the team.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
It was one of the quiet significant rives, not just
by this team, but by any team in the sport.
Speaker 5 (04:12):
Here's the third one. I don't know a lot has
been made of this move. It kind of happened in
concurrence with a number of other things that are going on.
Was Michael Dieter coming over from Miami, who has got
center experience, He's got guard experience. I think more guys
that you have on a roster that have got significant
playing experience at whatever position. But if you have that
(04:36):
versatility to be able to play center or guard, I
think the addition of Michael Dieter is going to help
this line, whether Peter starts, whether he's the sixth offensive lineman, whatever.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
The case might be.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
But I feel like those those three things in particular,
tightest staying at right tackle. That has been a topic before.
Was Tys gonna play right tackle? Well, no, he's a
left That's been a topic before. Hey just leave my
right tackle, leave me right tackle. But then once the
Texans did it, it's like everybody quit talking about it because
he's now in trance. But I think that's going to
make him that much better a player. Oh, by the way,
(05:05):
you have arguably the best left tackle in the league
over on the other side in Laramie Tunzel.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Well, I think will fit this offense. Handy glove.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Well, you just said something there that's really important. Take
all the personnel out of it. This offense, this scheme
that you just kind of mentioned, Yeah, how much does
it help offensive lineman, especially ones who have been playing
in the offense that we've seen around here for the
last eight nine years.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
I think it helps a lot.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
I think the addition of Chris Strausser is the offensive
line coach, is going to help a lot. So you
add in all of that, then you throw in the
three things in particular that I talked about amongst others.
You look at it and Demiko is probably he's probably
saying that, and you know, if he were talking to
you and now, he probably said the same thing. Hey,
look this is where it was. Hey, we add Chris
(05:51):
Strauser's offensive line coach. Now we've added we've now have
a scheme that is a little bit more offensive friendly potentially.
It's been very successful with offensive linemen that you know,
like Daniel Brunskill. You know, they took Spencer Buford last
year who's from Utsa, played tackle his whole career at UTSA.
(06:11):
They draft him in the fourth round, stuck him in
a guard, played guard, started at guard the whole year,
So that was part Burford was. He should have been
drafted a little bit higher, but they took a guy
that was a tackle had never played guard, stuck him
in a guard, and the machine kept running. And that's
what you hope you can get to. Because you're gonna
(06:33):
have changes on the offensive line going forward. But if
you're preaching a consistent message and the scheme stays relatively consistent,
the coaching remains consistent, then everything gets better. If all
that stays the same, then everything gets gets better. And
at that point, once everything gets better than all that
raises this game up too. So I when I heard
Demiko say that, I was in the back kind of
(06:54):
nodding like, yeah, I think he's right. I think he's
right about that. I do think the offense will line
could be one of the better units on the team.
So I ask you, this, is it the best unit
right now on paper on the team.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
What is it?
Speaker 4 (07:10):
If it's not the offensive line, I think it's the secondary.
I think it's the defensive backfield. I think I agree
it's either one two or two to one one of
those two because you've got the third overall pick and
Derek Stingley out at one cornerback spot. And I think
we saw really good things from him as a rookie.
I think he gets better in year two, no matter
the defensive scheme he's in. And I think because he's
(07:31):
in this defensive scheme, he's going to be even better
then maybe he.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Was in the other one.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Then you've got a really solid above average veteran and
Steven Nelson out at the other corner. You still have
Desmond King, you still have Tavia Thomas, who did really
really nice things both inside and outside last year. And
then you add a guy like Shaquille Griffin who's got
bona fides, he's.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Got pelts on the wall.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Yes, absolutely, I mean that's a really really good addition,
really underrated edition. And then you've got to developing Jalen Petrie,
who was lights out your leader on defense in twenty
twenty two, and he's getting better and he's going to
be put in a new position to flourish. And then
you add a guy like Jimmy Ward, yeah, pumped scording,
(08:16):
you know, and he's a leader and he's doing all that.
I mean, he can play so many different positions, but
he's gonna play free safety here or safety here. Yeah,
And I just I'm really I'm really excited about that secondary.
I really think that that's going to be a strength
of the team and that's a good thing. That's a
good thing. Now I'll ask you this, I'll flip the
tables back on you.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Oh, hit that ball back over the net.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
If another position group winds up at the end of
the season being better than those two, which position group
do you think that would be?
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Running back?
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Okay, Yeah, that's a fair one.
Speaker 5 (08:49):
Running back, because I think the top I think the
I mean, you don't like the starters in the offseason,
all that kind of stuff, but especially running back because
you do have changes, you know, personnel changes and third
down backs and all that kind of stuff. But between
Damian Pierce and Devin Singletary not obviously health permitting for
(09:09):
all of this, but Damian Pierce and Devin Singletary are
different from one another. And if they're both healthy and
one's getting rest while the other ones going out in
their tote and rock or out on the field, you're
gonna keep them fresh throughout games and that'll help you
keep them fresh throughout the season. Now, with running backs,
(09:32):
we know guys are gonna get banged up. I mean,
you're carrying, you know, you're getting you know how many
of our touches in a year. But you know, let's
say between them, I don't know. Let's say Damien gets,
I don't know. Let's say, uh three hundred, Devin Gets. Oh,
this is say three hundred two hundred, I don't know.
Let's let's go with that. That's a lot of touches
amongst backs. But I think that's what you're gonna get
(09:53):
out of these two. But I think beyond that, somebody's
coming out of that group of Argon Jared Doakes, xavieron Valleet,
somebody's coming out of that group to either be Hey,
one of these guys got hurt, you got to step
in that role, or hey, we just really love running
(10:14):
the football and we want to give six to eight
carries to a third back, kind of like San Francisco
would do. San Francisco would roll out Elijah Mitchell and
then they'd put Jeff Wilson in, and then they would
put uh Roheem Moster in the game. They'd all get carries,
and then all of a sudden in the fourth quarter
they go with the hot hand. Sometimes it was Moster
it sometimes, but they would they would play three backs.
So I got a feeling that all of those backs,
(10:35):
Mike Boone being another one, in that group, I think
one of those other backs emerges as a pretty someone
you feel confident about behind singletarym Peers.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
So you're saying kind of along the lines of twenty
eleven where you had Arion Foster Ben Tate, right, and.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Is it Derek ward In eleven?
Speaker 3 (10:57):
I think it was Derek Warden eleven. Yes, And in the.
Speaker 4 (10:59):
Next year you had that same do at the top,
but swap out war with Justin First said who would
wind up winning a rushing title a couple years later.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
I mean, I don't want to say that's the San
Francisco Shanahan, you know, Mike Shanahan before him, sort of thing.
But I think if you want to run the football
it the math works. The math tells you, yeah, you're
gonna run it. You want to, you want to run it,
So you want to run twenty times in a game.
Seventeen games has three hundred and forty carries. Now backs
(11:29):
when they get three hundred carries and three hundred I
mean just say three hundred carries because you're gonna get
touches in other ways too. I mean a back getting
three hundred carries that just can't happen. But if you
got to back. Let's say d Let's just take that
twenty carries a game, seventeen games, three hundred and forty carries.
Let's say Damian catches forty passes. If you cut that
number to say he carries it two hundred and fifty times,
(11:52):
then you give Hi another fifty catches. That's three hundred touches. Well,
that's a that's a ton. So where are the other
carry is gonna go? Well, one of those guys it's
banged up. I'd like to see it go to Singletary
because I think he's shown that he can handle that load.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
But I think he can be a one two combination.
Speaker 5 (12:05):
But there's gonna come a point in the year where
you're like, man, somebody's banged up from that that duo,
Pierce Singletary is banged up. Which guy steps into that void?
That's gonna be interesting watch to me. That third running
back job.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Tuesday at practice. It was steamy.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
It was in the eighties, felt like in the nineties.
And I look up and Damian Pierce has on was it?
Is it called a backlova or balaclava, but basically as
like a ninja mask, where all, yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Is that cut out around his eyes.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Right. That was fascinating to see, and I hadn't seen
it on a Houston Texans since our good Palla, Antonio
Smith used to sport that. So I wonder how much
more we're gonna see of Damian Pierce wearing the ninja hat.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
I like it.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
Keep wearing a ninja hat?
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Why in the heat though?
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Why not? Why not?
Speaker 2 (12:51):
That's a real cavalier. Why not?
Speaker 3 (12:53):
I don't know, man, I don't know. I don't know.
I don't have any issue with what guys, why should
I don't have an issue with it.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
I'm just wondering how much longer do it? And isn't
it too hot?
Speaker 3 (13:01):
I'll put it this way.
Speaker 5 (13:02):
If you're gonna wear something with flair like that, yeah,
then you better be pretty good. You can't be out
there sticking up the joint wearing a bunch of towels
and wrapping up, you know, spatting up and doing all
that kind of stuff. You're gonna go out there and
have bits of flair on you, you better be a player.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
And he's a player.
Speaker 5 (13:18):
There are some that I can remember that we're not
players that like to wear their flair.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Interesting. Interesting, that's in the lab for another time.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
Yes, that's an off the air in the lab, but
we appreciate all of you listening to this.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
We thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
Have a fantastic Memorial Day weekend for John Andrew.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
We'll see you next time.
In the Lab, a Texans podcast that takes a different
look at things to Doherty and John Harris have their
lab coats and goggles on and the Bunsen burners burning.
Here's Drew in the Lab time right to now on
a Wednesday. Normally we do these on Tuesdays. But John Harris,
(00:25):
I'm Drew Doherty, as you know, and we normally do
these on Tuesdays. Like I said, but we had OTA's
yesterday right smack dab in the middle of our normal
in the Lab talking time.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
So let's do it today on a Wednesday. Quest.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
I like that. Let's do it.
Speaker 4 (00:39):
And for the first time in a long time, it
looks like on paper, knocking on wood, the Texans have
a really good offensive line and the offensive line will
be the strength of this team. There's been question marks
about it for the last decade. Chunks of the offensive line. Now,
you've had a great left tackle for the most part
in Laramie Tunsel, and before him you had Dayne Brown.
(01:00):
But there was a stretch in there where you were
kind of had having to juggle some things. There was
a stretch in there where the interior of the offensive
line had some question marks and had some flaws as
a fist. You know, five fingers and a fist. As
a fist, sometimes that fist lacked a bit of punch,
but it looks like you've got some thump behind that
fist this year?
Speaker 5 (01:20):
Would you agree when you heard Tamika Ryans say that
yesterday about the offensive line being one of the strongest
units on a team.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
I do with Mark a lot. What's your gut reaction
to hearing that.
Speaker 4 (01:35):
I like that It's in line with what we've seen
and what we think, and I'm cool with it. I mean,
and kind of going off of what you just asked
and what I was saying the preamble. I remember Lovey
Smith unprompted to me last year when we were walking
onto the practice field at training camp and he was
about to talk to fans. He saw Titus and he
saw Laramie walking together and he said, Drew, that's probably
(01:57):
the best tackle combo in football.
Speaker 2 (01:59):
I don't.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
He's like, I don't think the other team has a
combo at tackle that good.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
And that's saying a lot.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
I mean, between them, there were some question marks, there
were some good play, but you know, I think this
year going in it's gonna be really really fun to see.
And it's like he said, it should be a strength
of this ball club, and that's what you need. That's
what this think about the best Texans team ever, I
think it's twenty eleven. Yeah, and that had easily the
best offensive line in franchise history.
Speaker 5 (02:27):
I think there are a couple of things that aren't
maybe discussed about the offensive line a lot. I mean
you mentioned one of them, and that's Titus Howard. I
think one not often mentioned thing i'l channel Landry and
john nobody's talking about guy is in fact that Titus
is playing right tackle for the second year in a row,
(02:48):
not moving to a different position.
Speaker 3 (02:50):
He's not being bounced around, Thank goodness.
Speaker 5 (02:52):
He's got his footwork, he's got his hand placement, all
that kind of stuff. He knows how to do it
at right tackle, and he's back at right tackle. I
think that is huge to his continued progress. Uh and
Johnny's in year five. Yeah, these guys, he's still improve
in your five. So I think that's massive. The fact
that he stays at right tackle, don't move him around
(03:14):
even during OTA's when you know Larimie was not there,
Charlie stepped in a left tackle.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
They didn't move Titus over there.
Speaker 5 (03:21):
Now they might, they might in a game if they
have to, but for his continued to improvement and growth,
leaving him at right tackle huge.
Speaker 3 (03:31):
Secondly, I don't know that enough has been made.
Speaker 5 (03:33):
About Shaq Mason's impact on this offensive line at guard.
I am not one of those that thought aj Cann
was terrible, horrible. I think they're different kinds of players. Sure,
aj kNN and Shack Mason, but I think adding Mason
obviously signed a contracts is gonna be here for a
little bit. When you put Mason next to Titus, well
you got something there. I mean, you really do have
(03:56):
something there. So I think there's that those those two things.
I don't know that I think part.
Speaker 3 (04:01):
Of it from me. I'll be honest.
Speaker 5 (04:02):
Sometimes I forget we traded for Shack Mason, so let's
forget it because we just haven't seen the team.
Speaker 4 (04:07):
It was one of the quiet significant rives, not just
by this team, but by any team in the sport.
Speaker 5 (04:12):
Here's the third one. I don't know a lot has
been made of this move. It kind of happened in
concurrence with a number of other things that are going on.
Was Michael Dieter coming over from Miami, who has got
center experience, He's got guard experience. I think more guys
that you have on a roster that have got significant
playing experience at whatever position. But if you have that
(04:36):
versatility to be able to play center or guard, I
think the addition of Michael Dieter is going to help
this line, whether Peter starts, whether he's the sixth offensive lineman, whatever.
Speaker 3 (04:43):
The case might be.
Speaker 5 (04:44):
But I feel like those those three things in particular,
tightest staying at right tackle. That has been a topic before.
Was Tys gonna play right tackle? Well, no, he's a
left That's been a topic before. Hey just leave my
right tackle, leave me right tackle. But then once the
Texans did it, it's like everybody quit talking about it because
he's now in trance. But I think that's going to
make him that much better a player. Oh, by the way,
(05:05):
you have arguably the best left tackle in the league
over on the other side in Laramie Tunzel.
Speaker 3 (05:09):
Well, I think will fit this offense. Handy glove.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Well, you just said something there that's really important. Take
all the personnel out of it. This offense, this scheme
that you just kind of mentioned, Yeah, how much does
it help offensive lineman, especially ones who have been playing
in the offense that we've seen around here for the
last eight nine years.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
I think it helps a lot.
Speaker 5 (05:29):
I think the addition of Chris Strausser is the offensive
line coach, is going to help a lot. So you
add in all of that, then you throw in the
three things in particular that I talked about amongst others.
You look at it and Demiko is probably he's probably
saying that, and you know, if he were talking to
you and now, he probably said the same thing. Hey,
look this is where it was. Hey, we add Chris
(05:51):
Strauser's offensive line coach. Now we've added we've now have
a scheme that is a little bit more offensive friendly potentially.
It's been very successful with offensive linemen that you know,
like Daniel Brunskill. You know, they took Spencer Buford last
year who's from Utsa, played tackle his whole career at UTSA.
(06:11):
They draft him in the fourth round, stuck him in
a guard, played guard, started at guard the whole year,
So that was part Burford was. He should have been
drafted a little bit higher, but they took a guy
that was a tackle had never played guard, stuck him
in a guard, and the machine kept running. And that's
what you hope you can get to. Because you're gonna
(06:33):
have changes on the offensive line going forward. But if
you're preaching a consistent message and the scheme stays relatively consistent,
the coaching remains consistent, then everything gets better. If all
that stays the same, then everything gets gets better. And
at that point, once everything gets better than all that
raises this game up too. So I when I heard
Demiko say that, I was in the back kind of
(06:54):
nodding like, yeah, I think he's right. I think he's
right about that. I do think the offense will line
could be one of the better units on the team.
So I ask you, this, is it the best unit
right now on paper on the team.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
What is it?
Speaker 4 (07:10):
If it's not the offensive line, I think it's the secondary.
I think it's the defensive backfield. I think I agree
it's either one two or two to one one of
those two because you've got the third overall pick and
Derek Stingley out at one cornerback spot. And I think
we saw really good things from him as a rookie.
I think he gets better in year two, no matter
the defensive scheme he's in. And I think because he's
(07:31):
in this defensive scheme, he's going to be even better
then maybe he.
Speaker 2 (07:36):
Was in the other one.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
Then you've got a really solid above average veteran and
Steven Nelson out at the other corner. You still have
Desmond King, you still have Tavia Thomas, who did really
really nice things both inside and outside last year. And
then you add a guy like Shaquille Griffin who's got
bona fides, he's.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
Got pelts on the wall.
Speaker 4 (07:55):
Yes, absolutely, I mean that's a really really good addition,
really underrated edition. And then you've got to developing Jalen Petrie,
who was lights out your leader on defense in twenty
twenty two, and he's getting better and he's going to
be put in a new position to flourish. And then
you add a guy like Jimmy Ward, yeah, pumped scording,
(08:16):
you know, and he's a leader and he's doing all that.
I mean, he can play so many different positions, but
he's gonna play free safety here or safety here. Yeah,
And I just I'm really I'm really excited about that secondary.
I really think that that's going to be a strength
of the team and that's a good thing. That's a
good thing. Now I'll ask you this, I'll flip the
tables back on you.
Speaker 3 (08:34):
Oh, hit that ball back over the net.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
If another position group winds up at the end of
the season being better than those two, which position group
do you think that would be?
Speaker 3 (08:46):
Running back?
Speaker 2 (08:47):
Okay, Yeah, that's a fair one.
Speaker 5 (08:49):
Running back, because I think the top I think the
I mean, you don't like the starters in the offseason,
all that kind of stuff, but especially running back because
you do have changes, you know, personnel changes and third
down backs and all that kind of stuff. But between
Damian Pierce and Devin Singletary not obviously health permitting for
(09:09):
all of this, but Damian Pierce and Devin Singletary are
different from one another. And if they're both healthy and
one's getting rest while the other ones going out in
their tote and rock or out on the field, you're
gonna keep them fresh throughout games and that'll help you
keep them fresh throughout the season. Now, with running backs,
(09:32):
we know guys are gonna get banged up. I mean,
you're carrying, you know, you're getting you know how many
of our touches in a year. But you know, let's
say between them, I don't know. Let's say Damien gets,
I don't know. Let's say, uh three hundred, Devin Gets. Oh,
this is say three hundred two hundred, I don't know.
Let's let's go with that. That's a lot of touches
amongst backs. But I think that's what you're gonna get
(09:53):
out of these two. But I think beyond that, somebody's
coming out of that group of Argon Jared Doakes, xavieron Valleet,
somebody's coming out of that group to either be Hey,
one of these guys got hurt, you got to step
in that role, or hey, we just really love running
(10:14):
the football and we want to give six to eight
carries to a third back, kind of like San Francisco
would do. San Francisco would roll out Elijah Mitchell and
then they'd put Jeff Wilson in, and then they would
put uh Roheem Moster in the game. They'd all get carries,
and then all of a sudden in the fourth quarter
they go with the hot hand. Sometimes it was Moster
it sometimes, but they would they would play three backs.
So I got a feeling that all of those backs,
(10:35):
Mike Boone being another one, in that group, I think
one of those other backs emerges as a pretty someone
you feel confident about behind singletarym Peers.
Speaker 4 (10:46):
So you're saying kind of along the lines of twenty
eleven where you had Arion Foster Ben Tate, right, and.
Speaker 2 (10:55):
Is it Derek ward In eleven?
Speaker 3 (10:57):
I think it was Derek Warden eleven. Yes, And in the.
Speaker 4 (10:59):
Next year you had that same do at the top,
but swap out war with Justin First said who would
wind up winning a rushing title a couple years later.
Speaker 5 (11:06):
I mean, I don't want to say that's the San
Francisco Shanahan, you know, Mike Shanahan before him, sort of thing.
But I think if you want to run the football
it the math works. The math tells you, yeah, you're
gonna run it. You want to, you want to run it,
So you want to run twenty times in a game.
Seventeen games has three hundred and forty carries. Now backs
(11:29):
when they get three hundred carries and three hundred I
mean just say three hundred carries because you're gonna get
touches in other ways too. I mean a back getting
three hundred carries that just can't happen. But if you
got to back. Let's say d Let's just take that
twenty carries a game, seventeen games, three hundred and forty carries.
Let's say Damian catches forty passes. If you cut that
number to say he carries it two hundred and fifty times,
(11:52):
then you give Hi another fifty catches. That's three hundred touches. Well,
that's a that's a ton. So where are the other
carry is gonna go? Well, one of those guys it's
banged up. I'd like to see it go to Singletary
because I think he's shown that he can handle that load.
Speaker 3 (12:04):
But I think he can be a one two combination.
Speaker 5 (12:05):
But there's gonna come a point in the year where
you're like, man, somebody's banged up from that that duo,
Pierce Singletary is banged up. Which guy steps into that void?
That's gonna be interesting watch to me. That third running
back job.
Speaker 2 (12:16):
Tuesday at practice. It was steamy.
Speaker 4 (12:18):
It was in the eighties, felt like in the nineties.
And I look up and Damian Pierce has on was it?
Is it called a backlova or balaclava, but basically as
like a ninja mask, where all, yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Is that cut out around his eyes.
Speaker 4 (12:30):
Right. That was fascinating to see, and I hadn't seen
it on a Houston Texans since our good Palla, Antonio
Smith used to sport that. So I wonder how much
more we're gonna see of Damian Pierce wearing the ninja hat.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
I like it.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
Keep wearing a ninja hat?
Speaker 2 (12:48):
Why in the heat though?
Speaker 3 (12:50):
Why not? Why not?
Speaker 2 (12:51):
That's a real cavalier. Why not?
Speaker 3 (12:53):
I don't know, man, I don't know. I don't know.
I don't have any issue with what guys, why should
I don't have an issue with it.
Speaker 2 (12:58):
I'm just wondering how much longer do it? And isn't
it too hot?
Speaker 3 (13:01):
I'll put it this way.
Speaker 5 (13:02):
If you're gonna wear something with flair like that, yeah,
then you better be pretty good. You can't be out
there sticking up the joint wearing a bunch of towels
and wrapping up, you know, spatting up and doing all
that kind of stuff. You're gonna go out there and
have bits of flair on you, you better be a player.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
And he's a player.
Speaker 5 (13:18):
There are some that I can remember that we're not
players that like to wear their flair.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
Interesting. Interesting, that's in the lab for another time.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
Yes, that's an off the air in the lab, but
we appreciate all of you listening to this.
Speaker 2 (13:30):
We thank you so much.
Speaker 4 (13:31):
Have a fantastic Memorial Day weekend for John Andrew.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
We'll see you next time.
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