With Houston Texans Training Camp just one week away, Marc Vandermeer and John Harris dive into the "between the lines storylines" that will define 2025. Key discussions include the center position and Brevin Jordan's return from an ACL injury as a potential game-changer for the offense. The hosts analyze Denico Autry's versatile defensive role and Calen Bullock's potential year-two leap at safety. Then the Houston Chronicle's Jonathan Alexander joins from vacation to discuss C.J. Stroud, offensive line expectations, and the Trevor Lawrence situation in Jacksonville. Running back Jawhar Jordan shares his comeback story after missing most of 2024 with injury, discussing his confidence boost, special teams role, and comparing the heat in Arizona vs Houston. Essential listening for Texans fans as the team prepares for training camp with players reporting for training camp.
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 (00:00):
Hello Texans, and welcome to the hun Day Texans Radio
studio in the broadcast booth.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
We're all over the place this week. We keep saying
it because it's true.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
And next week two prior to the start of training camp,
which is one week from tomorrow, Mark Vandermer and John
Harris with you.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Welcome into the show.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
A lot to go over here tonight we have Jonathan
Alexander from the Houston Chronicle coming up in the next segment.
He's on vacation, but he's joining us anyway because he's
that dedicated to talking about your Houston Texans. Also, Jawar Jordan,
remember him, not a ton to remember other than draft
class of twenty twenty four, got banged up. What's he
(00:38):
gonna do in twenty twenty five? He looked pretty good
in the offseason practices, So let's see what happens in
training camp. And Johnny good evening. How's it going good evening? Yeah,
Jaar Jordan? I remember it was that last preseason game.
Is that the Rams.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
He was doing some good things in that preseason game
and ended up getting banged up at some point in
that game. When you go through the flow of the game,
you know sometimes if you know, time is not taken
when a guy is down.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
You yeah, like, hey, what happened to him?
Speaker 3 (01:07):
And well you end up getting banged up and missed,
but came back for the last part of this season
was practice squad. I'm really excited to see what he
does in these preseason games because he seemed a lot
more confident when we spoke with him.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
And I think that comes across in the interview. Uh
and I again, for guys that are undrafted or drafted late,
you know that.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Desire to prove yourself.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
I gotta you know, I got to prove myself, you know,
especially in what was you know, it was a decently
crowded backfield and remains crowded. If you can stand out
in any way, shape or form, and maybe there's an injury,
who knows, and then you get an opportunity, and before
you know it, you got a guy that's contributing in
a number of different ways on the team. So looking
forward to hearing from Juwar. But yeah, it's all good.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
We're let's do the daily count.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
We are a week away on this day next week,
we will see dudes that look like Texans football players
down in the service level.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Well, look, we've been seeing them anyway. I mean, let's
stand up.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Front with this, but in official capacity, Yeah, I have
to be back.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
They have to be on the twenty second.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
And the fact that we've seen so many prior to
when they have to be back speaks volumes. And we've
been talking about this all offseason long. I think it's
a big theme of the off season, or maybe it's
between the line storyline, and that's where I want to
go between the lines storylines of training camp.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
And I'll give you one and I'll do one.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
You do.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Go on, let's go.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Here's the first one. Because everybody talks about the offensive line.
We all want to see how the offensive line has
configured day to day. There's going to be a lot
of reaction to it, a lot of prognostication, projection, whatever.
But the between the lines storyline with the old line,
I think is the center starting position. Is it going
to be Patterson? Is it going to be Jake Andrews?
Does Juice Scrugs rise up again and somehow grab the spot.
(02:58):
I see him in the building all the time, by
the way, So I'm wondering about this, Who's going to
start at Ceta and we caught up in our mini
camp interviews. And by the way, our Mini camp interviews
were great, and I'm not feeling bad about releasing those
over time now because Ross Tucker just released as Will
Anderson interview from Radio Row at the Super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
He just released the Will Anderson video from Radio Row.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I think reached.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Somebody's got to help because Sean and Seth were playing
cuts from it and they said, yeah, he just released it,
and just I took to mean in the last few
days or week or so, but it's Radio Row.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
At the super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
He kept it evergreen enough, I guess yeah, And our
mini camp interviews are plenty of evergreen for this anyway,
Joar Jordan later, but we talked to Jake Andrews, we
talked to Jared Patterson.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Your thoughts on the starting center position.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
I think it's the I don't want to say it's
the one true competition on the line, because I do
think there's going to be a lot more competition at spots,
you know, left tackle. I think Cam Robinson, you would
look and go, oh, he's the veteran, been there. He's
a guy that's gonna step right down the left tackle spot. Then, hey,
you drafted Arianta Urseri, he plays left tackle. Is there
(04:07):
going to be a competition there? You got Big Trent
on the other side with Blake, that's gonna be a
competition too. But I think we kind of know, I
don't not know how that's gonna go, but I think
center is kind of a toss up, you know, all
throughout OTAs we saw Jake Andrews do a lot of
one work. Yeah, and I'm telling you, I've seen him
(04:28):
play a number of times for Troy, the Senior Bowl,
even with the Patriots, I would be I'd be pleased
with Jake Andrews as long as he continues on the
ascent that I that I've seen him. He's healthy, see
him here every day every day. Saw him in the
cafeteria this morning, and he's easier every day. And so
so is Jared Patterson. Jared Patterson's been around. I saw
(04:49):
him leaving the building the other day as I was
leaving the building. So these guys have been around, they've
been working. There's gonna be a distinct competition. And look,
we've seen that center position. What was it twenty three
in two days of camp. Scotti goes down then we go, okay, well, Juice,
go ahead, right, Juice goes over there and just does
a good job. But then Juice goes down. In the
(05:12):
Saints preseason game, the last preseason game, it's like, okay,
I guess we're gonna start a rookie and Jared Patterson JP,
you got it.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Rookie, rookie cou center, quarterback. Let's go. And he plays
well and then he goes down.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
In the Carolina game, we're all the way to Michael
Dieter is the fourth center, and you're like, man, holy cow.
So injuries have played a role at that position. Hopefully
you're not going to hope that these guys can stay
healthy and give it, give it a true competition. And
even at that point, there might be somebody we're not
considering that could step in at that center.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
There might be, but I got a feeling it's one
of those.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
I think it's one of those three or Scrugs, Yeah,
chicks one less one and well Mark Scrugs was drafted
to be a center, I know, but things change and
maybe he's a better guard.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Maybe, Look, we don't know how it's gonna be. And
you just spelled that out really well. Twenty twenty, he
was ripped through four centers.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
You still have a good season, right, a great season
under the circumstance.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Through four centers. Yeah, four Okay, my turn.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
So we're talking kind of outside the line stories that
were just underrated, stories.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Between the line storylines. Okay, I'm I want to brand that.
It's not bad. Yeah, he's got alliteration there.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
I'm gonna give you a name, and I think I
said it to you at the end of last year.
I think we missed him more than people let on.
I think because he did so much. I think he
is a really good athlete at the h back, full back,
tight end position. I think he adds some juice to
this offense. And that's Brevin Jordan. I don't think people
(06:45):
have been talking about Brevin Jordan. I think he unfortunately
has been on a side of a mind because he
gets hurt in the game against the Bears. Acl comes back,
but he hasn't been back. He's been rehabbing the whole time.
He looks cool, but he didn't work out at OTAs
you would see him out there who's watching everything. I
think just getting him the football. I mean we saw
(07:08):
it in that Browns playoff game. Laramie went out for
a play. We go one play, one drive without Laramie,
like can we do it? CJ takes a little boot,
flips it out to Brevin to go seventy six yards
and it's like all right.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Larimy was able to come back in the next.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Offensive series didn't even miss a beat. But it was
Brevin who made that play because he catches it and
he outruns everybody seventy six yards of the end zone.
So I think it's a level of big play explosiveness.
Just a guy you can you can count on it.
I think of games last year where we didn't protect well,
where just having a little outlet, just getting the ball
(07:43):
to somebody that could go do something that could create
a play. The Vikings game, the Packers game. You know,
what does Brevin bring to the offense. What about that
Jets game in twenty three that's a nightmare, the one
CJ gets knocked out of. I went back and watched
that at some point last year and building got doing anything.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Was Brevin.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
We just just run a little you know, a little
flat route, throw it to him and the way he
goes right. So when things were going badly offensively. We
didn't have Brevin to be able to do that, to
make an athletic play. I mean that play against the
Browns that was just meant to get a few yards
and get the drive started, and he makes the most
of that. I feel like that's something this offense lacked.
(08:24):
And I feel like bringing in uh, bringing back Brevin
Jordan to go, Kate Stover and Dalton Schultz, Arv Smith
Junior UH to this, and then you add Luke Liche. Now,
obviously Luke's going through the rookie he'll go through the
rookie ups and downs and all that kind of stuff.
But he's got sure soft hands. But Brevan's different from
all of them. And I think that gives this offense,
(08:47):
gives it some multiplicity with a guy like Brevin. But
I don't think anybody's really been talking about prevn. I
think when we talk about tight ends, it's just well,
you know, we've got Dalton Schultz, and we've got Kate Starver,
Hope's gonna step up, and IRV resign and away we
go and Luke Lache and we forget hey number nine
is coming back.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Well, tie a good thing. It ties into another between
the lines thing. Who's the full back? If there is one?
Is Yaka gonna make the team?
Speaker 1 (09:11):
By the way, I saw Yaka biking around the stadium,
not in the stadium, on the outside of the perimeter.
I saw this guy biking. I thought, I think that's
Yakam Johnson, and then I asked him when I saw
him a few days later, said, yeah, that was me.
I'm biking around nice.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Good for him. He's such a unique careful biking in Houston.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
I don't trust these cars and these people reading their
phones while they're driving. I'd almost go for the AI
driving at this point because everyone's not paying attention.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
You know, they're on their phones. It's a disaster waiting
to happen.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
That's an off season show that we've got to hit
in February. What's that you Are you going to take
the new AI directed cars because.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
They're paying attention.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Those cars are paying attention without paying attention.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Oh yeah, they are paying attention.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Well, let me tell you what my dad said quick
tangent here about my dad's a pilot, right, yeah, you know,
retired to WA seven forty seven pilot, and I thought
he was gonna go old school on me. I said,
what about this AI piloting right, AI flying your jet?
And he said, listen, they're almost all automatic right now, anyway,
I mean they're almost all automatic. They didn't do and
he said, we used to have to take five six
(10:17):
guys in the cockpit. You needed a navigator, you needed this,
you needed that, the co pilot. You had all these
people doing different things. You have to draw the course over.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
The Atlantic, you know, like you have the ruler, you know.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
He said, literally, they're doing that stuff. Here's Nova Scotia
over there anyway. But he said, Ai'll be a better
pilot than anybody. AI will know everything. Oh turbulence, I
know exactly what it is because the wind's coming in here.
It has to be programmed properly, and know all the
info about whether everything that's happening at every moment with
all the other planes, there will never be another accident
(10:49):
because oh no, you're over there, I'm over here. We're
all interconnected, and then we'll all be in the matrix
as human batteries. That's right anyway. So who's the full back?
That's what you have to wonder. Brev could be a
full back. Kate still overplay some full back, Yaka plays
some full back. You could substitute another guy in there,
but that's kind of gonna be interesting. Who does that role? Well,
(11:10):
how much does Nick Kelly feature that in this offense?
Thirty percent of the time less more.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Yeah, that's a good one. I've got one, and it's one.
It's funny because in this this offseason, there was a
lot of talk about his contract and moving away from him,
and I was like, are y'all crazy? Y'all saw when
Denico Autry was on this field. Y'all saw when he
was on the field, he created mayhem, a monster. He
(11:39):
was impossible to block, whether it was inside, whether it
was outside. And look, Deniko would tell you he'd love
to have those six games back. He'd love to be
able part of it. He'd like to stay healthy and
all that kind of stuff. But I think a big
eventual storyline, and it's one we're not talking about, but
I think it's one that's gonna have to pop up,
especially if he does stay healthy, is we need him
(12:02):
to Daniko Autry and how you deploy him and how
the Texans want to deploy him, which takes you to
another level of well, you got Darryl Taylor, you got
Derek Burnett, You've got Dylan Horton. Then obviously you've got
the two guys that we already know about, Daniel Hunter
and Will Anderson Junior. How do you put all that together?
(12:24):
But to me, Denico Autry' is not a guy that
we've talked a lot about. Because he banged up a
little bit, people wanted, people wanted to get rid of him.
I'm like, man, are you kidding me? I'll take that
guy all day, every day. He doesn't have to play
fifty snaps a game. But does he play inside? Does
he play outside? Where does it fit the best? When
they're rushing in their rush packages? I saw on OTA's
(12:48):
a rush package that I like. I started like dancing
a jig, like, oh my, oh my god, that looks incredible.
And it's because you have a guy like Deny Go
that can rush from the inside and be effective rushing
from the inside.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
This defense can go to a different level because you
have a guy like that.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
So it's but it's not a line, it's not a
storyline to anybody's really talking about, because you know, you
focus on Daneil and Will, then the well the interior guys,
and you really don't think a lot of times that
Deniko is an interior guy. So when we talk about him,
we talk about the edge guys. We talk about the
interior guys, and then lo and behold, here's this, you know,
chess piece that you can move anywhere up and down
(13:29):
the line of scrimmage and you don't need them to play,
but twenty five to twenty five to twenty seven snaps game.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Maybe this kind of plays into this between the lines thing,
the interior of the defensive line when the position groups
were being rated on all these lists recently, because it's
list season between any camp and the start of training camp, obviously,
the Texans interior defensive line does not rate as highly
as some others because there's no Aaron Donald there. There's
(13:56):
no well, Aaron Donald's out of the league again, there's
no Dexter Lowrence, there's no Jeffrey Simmons, there's no player
quite like that. But there's a group of guys, and
I think that's why you don't worry, you don't panic,
you don't feel any kind of diminishment with what you've
got with defensive tackle here because you know it's a
revolving door anyway, and they're gonna shuffle guys in and
(14:17):
out and they're gonna make plays, and you feel like
you're gonna be strong enough against the run. You got
the edges set with the two studs that are gonna start,
and you feel great about your depth at defensive end
and in the interior. You know those guys can get
after it as long as everybody does their job the
way Demico tells them to.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
And I know a lot of these guys were on
the team in twenty twenty four, but even bringing in
Sheldon Rankins and bringing rank back, those guys have all
played together. Even Rankins have played with I think Mario
Edwards when they were with the Saints together, So there's
familiarity with those guys, and I think that's gonna help
that group overall. That is definitely holds greater than some
of its parts, because when you hear the individual names
(14:56):
and then everybody's kind of like, but then you see
him play and you see them play together, and I'm
still pissed off at PFF for the whole fully thought
at Cossi has a thirty six run stop grade, Like,
are you how stupid?
Speaker 2 (15:11):
That's ridiculous. It will motivate him. Oh, I'd love that, dude.
I'm gonna give you one. This is one.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
You know, everybody talks about how great the secondary is,
and I think it's it's valid. You've got a supreme
superstar and the number one corner in the league in
my opinion, a lot of people's opinion, Derek Stingley Junior
on the outside. On the other side, you got to
do that's emerging as a top ten corner in the league,
and that's Kamara Lassiter, Jalen Peachries.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Re sign Uh.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
You bring in CJ. Gardner, Johnson. We have no idea
what the what the deal is with Jimmy Ward. We
don't know, but I know that we've talked about Kaylen
Bullock making that jump from year one to year two.
I think it can be an astronomical lead for him
because I think one thing that you noticed in watching
(15:57):
him that I noticed and watching him last year, there
were times where I felt like maybe he was like
I think about the Jets game in particular, and a
lot of people gave Jalen Petrie a lot of crap
because he's against Devontae Adams, one of the best route runners,
one of the best releases. He's one on one and
they're playing cover one, which means Kaylan has got essentially
the field kind of the cover. Now he's got the
(16:17):
range to do it. But there's got to be times
where he understands. Okay, there's Sting, there's Kamari. Kamari is
against such and such. Maybe I lean that way. Okay,
there's Petrie against DeVante. Hey, maybe I want to show
Rogers like I'm going to the middle field, but really
I'm gonna go help Jalen and maybe I end up
making a play. I think his and I think he's
(16:39):
a smart football player already, but I just think his
understanding of what he's looking at. Game's slowing down. He's
not thinking about the call. He's thinking about football, and
the football part of this is I'm looking at the rams.
There's Pooking a Coup, there's Devonte Adams. Those are good matchups,
so we can match up with them. Well, okay, but
there's a tight end matchup. You know, Higbee against you
(17:00):
know Petrie, he'd bee against the safety. Hey we're in
cover one, we're bringing some heat. Hey, you know, maybe
I need to keep an eye on that matchup as
opposed to the other two, like, hey, you two are
on an island. You guys are good, but I'm gonna
go help over here, because that's just football sense to
be able to do that. I think Klin takes an
astronomical leap by incorporating that into his game. I think
his physical dimensions, his range, I think his hands will improve.
(17:23):
I think he's got the opportunity to be an unbelievable
force back there. But I think going into year two,
it's not something that you talk about a lot, and
we haven't talked about it much. It's like, well, he's
gonna take the year one to year two leap. I
think one of the biggest things why he'll take that
leap is he's going to be more in tune to
what offenses are doing. And I think you're great if
(17:45):
you watch quarterback and you'll see this. In the Lions game,
the Lions talked about taking advantage of safeties and how
they would jump certain routes, and so it ended up
that they were talking about Eric Murray. But it wasn't
just Eric Murray. They were also and they didn't say this,
but I know the teams you know, Kaylin gets very
aggressive on first moves, and so the Lions took advantage
(18:08):
of that and they hit that big Sam Laporta one
down the field here, and that kind of got the
comeback going for them. So there's got to be a
little bit more. Okay, I understand what the rock concepts are.
I know how to play these a little bit better.
I know how to play from top down. I need
to play with range, but I'm gonna play with the
football intelligence I gather and take that into games and
(18:29):
see if that doesn't make you a better safety. So
it's not something we talk about with Kaylan, but I
think it is something that he can make that leap.
But the reason why is he'll be able to incorporate
the experience he's gaining into these games against these quarterbacks
and against these receivers.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
We've got sixty seconds in this segment. Okay, another between
the line storyline that's really under the radar. It's an
under the radar between the line storyline. Davis Mills development,
Oh year five good one signs.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
The one year deal. He needs to come out here
in training camp, he's balled out like a starter. Yep,
he's like all out.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
An NFL starting quarterback. He started twenty five games. It's
year five. He's got to look the part for his
own career and for the sake of this team as
insurance and backup quarterback, like backup tackle, is just one
of those positions you never want to see the guy
have to play because that's it.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Yep, absolutely, I got a small one go, but I
think a big one. John Weeks is no longer this
team's lot.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Is going to bring up the you know what, that's
a good topic for tomorrow because the operation with Austin
Brinkman and Tommy and Kami, Yep, you know they had
some moment they had great moments last year. They also
had some moments they want back, so that operation, Yes,
those guys are working hard to improve in twenty twenty five.
All right, coming up Jonathan Alexander, he's improving his relaxation
(19:48):
on vacation, but he's gonna.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Check in with us next to talk training camp stuff.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
As the team reports. One week from today, it's Texans Radio.
Back to it here in the Hundai Texans Radio studio,
which is a little bit all over the place right
now because we are fixing it up. It's Mark vandermir
and John Harris with you, and Jonathan Alexander, our friend
from the Houston Chronicle, joins us. We've all been out
on various stages of leave, Jonathan included, I believe, but
(20:16):
we're all back in a week away from players reporting
for training camp. So here we go, Jonathan. How's your summer?
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Ben Howard? Thing's going for you? Overall?
Speaker 4 (20:26):
It's been great. I'm actually on vacation now, just enjoying.
I've deleted Twitter like four days ago, so I haven't
been paying attention ever since I've dropped my last story,
So it's been good and not having to worry about
the NotI vacations that are usually get on a regular basis.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
So you just would ahead and deleted it and you're
gonna reload it for camp.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
Yeah. I reloaded a day before camp as I'm writing
my stories and that's when I'll turn it back on EVAM. Now,
you know, I feel calm. I feel good and not
having to worry about anything.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
So how do you keep up with news and anything
that's happening, Jonathan, Because if you don't get it on Twitter,
where do you get it?
Speaker 4 (21:07):
Yeah, I've just been I've actually been reading a lot
of news. But I've been going on different websites and
just reading what people have. But yeah, I'm not I'm
probably not as sub today or quickly as up to
date as I would be if I got a Twitter notification.
But that's all right. I'm not handling anything right now.
Don't expect anything big to happen unless I get a text.
(21:30):
So I'm just chilling right now.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
That's awesome. I have mad respect for that. That's pre
two thousand and nine stuff right there, going on websites
to get the news. I remember preparing for the show
going on Pro Football Talk dot com, the Big Lead
dot com. I had all these websites I had to
check out before I went on the air, and they
aggregated all the stories, and obviously ESPN and the Chronicle
(21:55):
and everything else. I was actually reading the paper Chronicle,
the physical newspaper were still at that point. Mad respect
for you, Jonathan. That's amazing. All right, We've got a
few things to go over here. Number one ESPN Top
ten quarterback list. Stroud not in the top ten. He's
what eleventh. Johnny and Jordan Love was twelve. They were
honorable mentioned. They only wanted to go ten, but they
(22:16):
had two honorable mentions and Stroud got one of them.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Is that a fair rating for CJ. Stroud in your opinion?
Speaker 4 (22:24):
I don't think it is. I think, you know, when
you look at the overall play, even though the statistics
weren't as great as they were his rookie season, you know,
I didn't think he played bad. I think he had
a few bad games, particularly the Packers game, and there
were a couple of others, But I didn't think he
(22:44):
had an overall bad season worthy of moving him down
out of the top ten. I think he's still a
top ten quarterback and I think he has a chance
to prove that this year, and I think he will.
I think he's motivated, It's not by that, but motivated
by having a better season than he had last year's.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Yeah, no question that There's gonna be a lot of
eyes on CJ's drive to start training camp, Jonathan, where
will your eyes go the first few days of training
camp out here at Houston Others Training Center? What will
you be looking at? First and foremost? Will it be
CJ's drive? Will be the rookie receivers, Will it be
the offensive line, will be defense? What will your eyes
(23:20):
go to the very first couple of days in training camp.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Yeah, I think it's really the offensive line, because I
feel like they are key to this offense having success. Obviously,
the Texans brought in a lot of offensive line players
who had to really prove themselves this year. You know
a few of them struggled last year, and you know,
(23:45):
Demiko and Nicko Siri are banking on the fact that
competition will allow these guys to raise their level. So
I'll be looking at how this offensive line looks, whether
they look like the Calles unit, whether other guys look
at somebody little I thought looked better than a lot
of people. A lot of fans from the opposing team
were getting down on. I thought Lake and Thomason was
(24:06):
really steady at left guard, and I think, really that's
going to be crucial that interior where they struggled a
lot last season.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Yeah, we'll see how that shapes up as camp gets
underway a week from tomorrow with the first practice. It's
amazing to say that, but here we are Jonathan the
running back situation.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
We're all eager to see what Joe Mixing situation is.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
Going into camp and through camp, and then you got Chubb,
how much will he be doing? What are you thinking
you're going to see it running back? What's your prediction
in the early going the running back shuffle that they
have right now a lot of people to work with,
but health is the big concern among at least a
couple of them.
Speaker 4 (24:45):
Yeah, I mean it was kind of similar to last year,
you know, Joe Mixing, You know, I recall at the
beginning of camp wasn't much of a participant, starting to
participating later on you see the offense shift, I could
see something similar. I don't know if Nick Shouts gonna
get the first team reps. I think that would probably
be more of Dare just because of the familiarity, and
(25:06):
then of course Damian Pierce has to come back. You know,
It'll be interesting to see that rotation play out. How
it plays out as Nick gets more familiar with the offense.
Is he move up? I think they've got a serious
running back battle going in. One player who we might
not expect might end up being film depending on how
many running bouts they keep on the.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Roster, speaking in different positions, that are going to be
maybe a more difficult cut than it seems. It feels
like tight end Jonathan can go a lot of different
directions this year. I've been on record saying I think
Kate Stover breaks out this year. You can define breakout
however you want to, but I think Kate's going to
be a very involved factor in this offense.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Still got a.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Dalton Schultz, then you've got Brevin Jordan coming back.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
Then you bring in Luke Lache.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
You know he's a seventh rounder, but a lot of
people were very high on him before injuries kind of
impacted him from twenty three and then twenty four those
two seasons. When you look at tight end, you look
at it as a position of strength or do you think, man,
this unit is one injury away from really needing to
sign somebody in training camp.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
How do you look at the tight end position, Jonathan,
what they have and how projects go forward. I do
think it's a strong tight end group that they remain healthy.
I agree with you. I think Ca Stover is going
to have a great year. I think he's going to
take a huge step. De Nico Ryans remarks how improved
he was, and you really saw how he was kind
(26:34):
of a safety blanket for c J. Straw when a
lot of receivers weren't open at times. I think him
and Don shows, especially given the fact that Nick Cayley
has an emphasis on tight ends. I think they can
be a huge factor in this offense. I think they
will be a huge factor in this offense, especially if
Jaden Higgins kind of moves along. Now, who makes the team,
(26:55):
whether it's whether it's the rookie Luke or whether it's
revng and I think that is going to be an
interesting competition. Revien didn't participate in OTAs in many campus
he continues to work his way back to that injury.
Will he be better? Will?
Speaker 2 (27:10):
You know?
Speaker 4 (27:10):
I think that'll be the interesting thing and what it'll
come down to in camp.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
What's your Tank Dell prediction as far as when he's
going to play again or if he plays again. I
would assume he's going to play again, But is it
late this season? Is it twenty twenty six altogether?
Speaker 4 (27:27):
So I think that's a good question, you know, just
giving the severity of his injury. What I do know
is that the Texans won't rush him back now if
he happens to be healthy, fully healthy and clear, and
they need another wide receiver to produce. If he's fully healthy.
(27:48):
I think they'll bring him back. But I think we
don't know the answer to that unless somebody were to
tell us behind the scenes. Now, Tank has, you know,
been also media saying how confident he is about that.
But I think we fully won't know. The coaching staff
doesn't really know, and I think maybe there'll be a
(28:09):
more clear picture around late November early December.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
Johnson I saw a graphic earlier today from the NFL
Prime Video account. It said, veteran wide receivers in new
places now find this fascinating because all these guys at
one point.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
Were wide receiver.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Won for some stretch of time with a particular.
Speaker 4 (28:33):
Team or former team.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
Which of these eight wide receivers do you think makes
the biggest impact in his new place? So here we
go Cooper Cup Seattle, DeAndre Hopkins Baltimore, Tevon Diggs, New England,
DK Metcalf Steelers, Deebo, Samuel Washington, George Pickens with Dallas,
Davonte Adams with the Rams, and Tyler Lockett goes to
(28:56):
the Tennessee Titans. Which receiver of those do you think
makes the biggest impact. Texas will play a number of
those guys, but which one you think has the biggest
impact for his team in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 4 (29:09):
Yeah, I think that group is really around the same
talent level. But I think if I had to, if
I was betting, i'd say DK mckeah, he's gonna be
the top receiver over there. They're probably gonna leave Aaron
Rodgers is probably gonna leave heavily on DK. I think
he'll probably have the best year of all those guys.
I think Christian Kirk is gonna have a good year
(29:31):
for the Houston Texans though, you know he is. He
might be their their secret weapon. You know, obviously they
got Nico there, but he's had a history history of injuries.
Dandy Higgins is going to be trying to thumb into
his own I really believe that CV is gonna rely
not only on Nico, which I think Nico may get
some double teams. I think they're gonna be opportunities for
(29:53):
Christian Kirk there.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Do you feel like Higgins and Nico everybody's Healthygins and
Nico will be on the field a lot together. And
I got to think the answer kind of has to
be yes, considering second round pick, guaranteed money, all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
But maybe Nol rises up. Kirk's gonna get a ton
of reps. As we all know.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
The third guy, though, whoever that might be, should be Higgins.
Is it Noel, is it somebody else, one of the veterans?
Is it Justin Watson? How do you see that working out?
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (30:26):
I see Janda Higgins very similar, very in the same senses.
I see Kamari Lassiter, a guy who really came one
strong and OTAs who could really prove himself as the
number two receiver. He's gonna be hard to guard number
one because he has great size and he's not so
(30:46):
a lot of the big guys, they have good size,
they don't move very well, but like Nico Collins, Danda
Higgins moves very well. So if he could gets involved,
which that was what he was known for at Iowas State,
said oho, Ohio State, that was what he was known
for at Iowa State, then he can be a really
big option for CD Stroud. So I definitely see him
(31:10):
getting a lot of playings on them, using a lot
of three wide receiver sins and he's going to be
in contributary I believe.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
You almost said Ohio State, which maybe me think of
two other wide receivers that are I've had different stages
in kind of going through two different things with their teams.
You got Garrett Wilson, who signs the four year, one
hundred and thirty million dollar.
Speaker 4 (31:31):
Deal with the Jets.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Then you've got Terry McLaurin, who seems to be locked
in a staring contest with Washington's front office.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
Hey, Jonathan, comment if you will on the.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
Garret Wilson extension and what he got, and b what
do you think happens with Terry McLaren in Washington. He's
been a focal point of their success. I can't see
him getting moved, but they don't seem to be moving
on making the contract extension his way. What do you
think about those two situations.
Speaker 4 (32:02):
Yeah, I think Teray McLaurin, I think they got to
get him a contract extension, and I think they know that,
and I think they're going to end up having to
pay him because he is a great ad, a really
good number one robe receiver who improved a lot this year,
especially given the fact that he got a better quarterback.
He's obviously Jaden Daniel's number one option, and I think
(32:23):
he'll continue to be that. I can't see the commander
is moving on for him or trying to trade him.
I think this is really the period where a lot
of these negotiations get tense, and he may try to
hold out in camp until the commanders are forced to
give him a deal. As far as Garrett wasn't, I
think he was well deserved. I think Garrett Wilson is
(32:44):
a good wide receiver, still young, and he'll continue to
get better. And you these days, we have to pay
these wide receivers because they are so key to offenses.
So I think it was a well deserved deal for him.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Jonathan. The Texans open it up against the Rams, then
they have the Bucks. Before you know it, they'll be
facing the Jacksonville Jaguars. And I want to ask you
about Trevor Lawrence because this week's take is, Hey, it's
his third head coach already it's year five, and maybe
we were all wrong, or we were initially right then wrong,
(33:18):
whatever the case may be, because third head coach Urban
Meyer was one of those head coaches total disaster of
a regime that was we all expected the Peterson thing
to work better.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Now he's got Liam Cohne quarterback. Friendly I'll put that
in air quotes.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
You tell me, have we misunderstood Lawrence or miss interpreted
what's going on with his career?
Speaker 2 (33:38):
Is that the coach's fault?
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Is it his fault? What do you think is going
on here? Is there's clearly a higher level to achieve
for him? Is he going to get there?
Speaker 2 (33:47):
How do you feel about the situation?
Speaker 4 (33:50):
Yeah, A couple of things.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
I think.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
Number one, I don't believe that the Jaguars have drafted
very well in recent years. I think they have been
a man as coaching wise of Irvin Meyer was a
disaster in the file that's done it. Trevor Lawrence's growth,
I still think he has a ton of potential. Will
he reach the potential I thought he once had? I
(34:12):
don't believe.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
So.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
I think he could still be a quality quarterback somewhere
along the lines of you know, I think a little
bit better than what Kirk Cousins was at his heights.
So I think he'll be better prepared under Liam Kohn,
and I think that he'll have a better season. Now
will he be this great quarterback? I don't know if
he'll reach that, but I think he'll be improved. And
(34:35):
you saw he has the potential to be really good there.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
So, Jonathan, the Chargers dropped the new all gold uniform,
not white helmet, but an all gold uniform. Tampa Bay
Buccaneers put out their icy white creepsicles as throwback as
a throwback plus the Buco Bruce helmet. What is your
favorite alternate jersey don't use the Texans? What's your my
(35:00):
favorite alternate jersey in the league? Is it a throwback
sort of one? Is it one of these well new
gold from the LA Charters. Which is your favorite alternate
jersey non Texans throughout the league?
Speaker 4 (35:14):
I don't know what it is, but there's something about
I can't remember if it was a Packers jersey or
the Steelers jersey, but there was. Those are like a
brown jersey from one of those teams, and they packs,
I believe. Yeah, I don't know. It's something about that
as simple and as full, that's different. I think that's
my favorite Austenate jersey in my opinion. I also like
(35:35):
it when the Panthers go all blacks with the black
helmets and black pants and black socks. I think that's
pretty cool as well. So I think those two are
some of my favorites.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Wow, you went Packer throwback, if you went Pittsburgh. The
Pittsburgh Bumblebee uniforms the worst they're off. They look like
bumblebees running around. They have horizontal lines. It's very It's
not a slimming look. I gotta tell you. It's not
a fast look. It just doesn't work for me and Johnny.
(36:06):
I don't even know the answer to that question. For me,
I was thinking about it. What all Jersey do I
like with two divisions starting this rivalry look this year?
Speaker 2 (36:13):
And I think that's what you're playing into. It's gonna
be cool.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
The Texans don't go yet, so they're going to even
add more of an alternate look in the near future,
not in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
So I can't wait for that. Jonathan, you tell me
you're on vacation.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
What's better to do on vacation as far as non
you know, water activities or whatever else you're doing. Maybe
you're hiking, I don't know what you're doing. But read
a book or binge watch a show that you've missed.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
What do you like to do? Oh?
Speaker 4 (36:44):
Wow, okay, that is a good question. I haven't really
thought about, but I have been reading a lot more
I've been enjoying reading. I think one of one of
my favorite things to do though, is just chill on
the beach, a quiet beach with not a lot of
people and read a good book. But I also will
watching a bid show on Netflix when I'm when I'm
away from the beach. But I do enjoy reading on
(37:04):
the beach. Give us a show. Yeah, as far as going,
what show? Okay, So the show that I'm currently watching
and I'll never be able to finish because it has
so many seasons, It's Gray's Anatomy. It does have a
lot of seasons.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
They're still going? Are they still going?
Speaker 4 (37:25):
This is the season twenty one, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
Yeah, I think it's the longest running other than the Simpsons.
Speaker 4 (37:32):
I believe how many years.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
Did gun Smoke run? That's that's really a throwback. I mean.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
I went way back, but gun Smoke went on forever
because when I was a kid, it was on and
it started like in black and white era and stuff
like that, or way way before a lot of great
shows did so. Anyway, speaking of shows, speaking of shows
that you bitch, have you watched Quarterback?
Speaker 4 (37:56):
I have watched some of Quarterback. I haven't watched the
whole series and haven't picked it up this year. I
need to finish like the second half of Well, actually,
I started watching Receivers last year, so I did. I
did watch the first season the Quarterback, but I haven't
started this season yet.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
All right, well, I need to watch it too, Johnny.
So Jonathan said nothing.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
I watched Cobra Kai and then I finished Your Friends
and Neighbors, so I was doing the drama thing.
Speaker 2 (38:23):
But believe me, I'll hit on those this week before
camp next week.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
Jonathan, you can't promote anything in the chronicle, I guess,
but I'll read the other stuff of the chronicle.
Speaker 4 (38:31):
But what else do you have for us?
Speaker 3 (38:32):
Well?
Speaker 4 (38:33):
Accept my Astrodome story which I posted last week. Oh yeah,
a couple of a couple of stories on like what
what happened with it? As the Rodeo and the Texans
negotiate a new lease agreement, we should come probably within
a couple of years, and as well as my tour
of the Astronaut, So please check those.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
Very nice, Jonathan Alexander, thank you for being with us
as always and coming up on the show. Jaward Jordan
running back. Is he gonna make an impression in camp.
We'll talk about that and other stuff coming up here
on Texans All Access. As we embark on the final
segment here tonight on Texans Radio, we'll have an interview.
(39:14):
We caught up with many players around Mini camp and
this is one of those interviews with Jaward Jordan, this
time running back part of that twenty twenty four draft
class out of Louisville and got banged up last year.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
He's back and with a vengeance. I'm doing the movie
trailer Jirard Jordan back with a Vengeance.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Well, he wants to make a big impression here in
training camp and beyond, so let's catch up with him.
He's one of those guys I have these categories and
you know them, impossible not to notice. That's Jawar Jordan,
and he's pleased with the progress so far throughout the offseason.
Speaker 5 (39:49):
As sir is going well, I mean is I'm definitely
taking a next step from last season, you know, going
out with an injury. Definitely didn't want that to happen.
I feel like I was in the right spot to
make the team until the injury happen. So now I'm
just trying to, you know, do my best to stay
healthy and show the coaches that I can't play, and
(40:10):
I'm doing my.
Speaker 2 (40:11):
Best mentally physically.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
Jure, what's the biggest difference for you from rookie year
to second year. I mean, obviously we haven't got the
training camp in all that. You know, you get to
run against the eleven guys trying to tackle you. But
in your in your mind and your body, what's kind
of the biggest difference from your one to year two.
Speaker 5 (40:29):
I think I was just so starstruck that the fact
I was here, you know, living in my dreams my
first year this year. You know, I know I deserve
to be here. I know I got here for a reason.
I know God put me here for a reason. So
I feel more confident physically and mentally. I feel like
I could make a difference for this team. I feel
(40:49):
like I'm one of the best players out there, and
you know, I just gotta put it all together.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
Before we get to training camp and the pads come on.
What's it like in offseason practices for you? You know
you're not gonna get tackled. You know they really can't
come after you. So what is that like running the
ball in those situations?
Speaker 5 (41:07):
Honestly, for me, I just practice how you know, as
if we were to play in pass you know, run
through arm tackles, carry the ball the right way, protect
the ball. I just approach it as if you know,
we're in camp season.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
Or how long does it take for a running backs
body to become callous in a sense to kind of
the physical nature of the game.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
I mean, people talk about running backs, they take a
lot of hits.
Speaker 3 (41:36):
You carry it two hundred times in a year, more
than likely you're gonna have two hundred hits on your body.
Plus how long does it kind of take for your
body to get accustomed to that? Or do you never
get accustomed to it? You just try and get your
body ready from week to week.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (41:49):
For me, you know, I've always been a physical guy,
never been scared of contact. But like you say, it
does come down to.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Week to week.
Speaker 5 (41:59):
You gotta straight, you gotta just have the heart to
you know, keep going and yeahs week the week.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
How is the pass protection part of the game? How
difficult is that to learn at the NFL level? Because
I know it's important to them. You are, so what
about that phase?
Speaker 5 (42:15):
Oh yeah, it's definitely one of the priority for me
the other running backs to protect quarterback, and I think,
I mean, I've always been a guy the love pass protecting.
You know, they they mistakenly think I don't want pass
protected just because of my size, But you know I've
always been sticking my face in there and you know,
(42:35):
do what I gotta do to have good technique and
protect the quarterback.
Speaker 2 (42:39):
You are from a return game perspective.
Speaker 3 (42:41):
Something you did at Louisville and do it all the time,
but you did it and when you did do it,
you exploded on it. Kickoff rules are now changed kickoffs
or touchbacks go to the thirty five, so it's probably
gonna be more returns. Where do you kind of fit
in that? Do you want to be back there and
kickoff returns? Is that something you feel like you could
be successful with as well?
Speaker 5 (42:58):
Oh yeah, for sure, one hundred percent. I feel like
I can make a difference there. Any special team unit
they need me to play in, I feel I can
make a difference. But as far as returning, I definitely
have that ability to take one home.
Speaker 3 (43:11):
Along those lines, you are a lot of when guys
come here and their stars in college, especially running backs
don't play a lot of special teams, maybe return, which
you did. How much did you do special teams at
Louisville And how long did it take for you to
kind of go, hey, wait a second.
Speaker 2 (43:25):
That's another piece I can add.
Speaker 3 (43:26):
If I want to be on special teams, I want
to be in this team, I can go be on
special teams and make some players on special teams. How
do you kind of look at teams that in that way?
Did you play the much at Louisville other than returning?
Speaker 2 (43:36):
Other than return?
Speaker 5 (43:37):
And know, my first year at Louisville I actually did kickoff,
but that was just for one season. But my first
season here was kind of a rude awaken them, just
knowing that, you know, you got to get on the
teams to stick around. And so after my first year
I kind of embraced special teams a little bit more,
talking to coach Frank, just working my technique, doing what
(43:59):
I gotta do the practice, and just embracing that aspect
of the game.
Speaker 2 (44:03):
I got World War for it. You are all right.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
We always talk about training camp heat and humidity. You
played high school ball in Arizona, So how bad is
that compared to this. It's a dry heat, they say,
But Man, I've been out there and one hundred ten
degrees is one hundred ten degrees.
Speaker 2 (44:19):
How do you handle that? What is that like versus this?
Speaker 5 (44:22):
Honestly, what I say was playing in Arizona when it's
one hundred and ten plus is different. But here the
humidity is too much.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
It's a lot. It's really hot. When it's humid, it
adds to it. It makes it worse.
Speaker 5 (44:39):
But I'll say playing in one hundred and ten plus
is also crazy.
Speaker 2 (44:44):
Yeah, crazy.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
So Christian Kirk comes here from Arizona. We're seeing a
lot more guys come out of the state of Arizona.
I feel like it's maybe one of the more underrated
states for high school football. You played it, what's it
like playing high school football Arizona? Because it feels like
they're a lot more dudes coming out of that state
playing college football and NFL ball. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (45:03):
So when I move, I'm originally from New York. Yeah,
so when I moved to high school to Arizona, I
didn't know too much about it. I just knew it
was a better opportunity for me and my family to
get looked at. Yeah, and it's crazy that you mentioned
Christian Kirk when we first moved Christian Kirk, or when
we first moved to Arizona, Christian Kirk was like that
guy that was getting recruited, and so that was the
(45:26):
first guy that I noticed that was getting looked at
high school. And so I watched his highlights all the time.
And it's cool to you know, just being on the
team with him. You know, you got Johnny Johnson. He
played at the my rival school. So it's cool seeing
more guys coming out of Arizona.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
Yeah, very cool. All right, Jaare, thanks a lot for
joining us. We appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (45:50):
Appreciate you guys.
Speaker 1 (45:51):
There's j Are Jordan running back part of a very thick,
deep running back room. We'll see how it all goes
when Treny Camp begins one week from tomorrow. Back tomorrow
with the full show. Thanks so much for listening. Area
forty five is on the way next. Have a great night,
Go Texans.
Hello Texans, and welcome to the hun Day Texans Radio
studio in the broadcast booth.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
We're all over the place this week. We keep saying
it because it's true.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
And next week two prior to the start of training camp,
which is one week from tomorrow, Mark Vandermer and John
Harris with you.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
Welcome into the show.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
A lot to go over here tonight we have Jonathan
Alexander from the Houston Chronicle coming up in the next segment.
He's on vacation, but he's joining us anyway because he's
that dedicated to talking about your Houston Texans. Also, Jawar Jordan,
remember him, not a ton to remember other than draft
class of twenty twenty four, got banged up. What's he
(00:38):
gonna do in twenty twenty five? He looked pretty good
in the offseason practices, So let's see what happens in
training camp. And Johnny good evening. How's it going good evening? Yeah,
Jaar Jordan? I remember it was that last preseason game.
Is that the Rams.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
He was doing some good things in that preseason game
and ended up getting banged up at some point in
that game. When you go through the flow of the game,
you know sometimes if you know, time is not taken
when a guy is down.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
You yeah, like, hey, what happened to him?
Speaker 3 (01:07):
And well you end up getting banged up and missed,
but came back for the last part of this season
was practice squad. I'm really excited to see what he
does in these preseason games because he seemed a lot
more confident when we spoke with him.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (01:20):
And I think that comes across in the interview. Uh
and I again, for guys that are undrafted or drafted late,
you know that.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Desire to prove yourself.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
I gotta you know, I got to prove myself, you know,
especially in what was you know, it was a decently
crowded backfield and remains crowded. If you can stand out
in any way, shape or form, and maybe there's an injury,
who knows, and then you get an opportunity, and before
you know it, you got a guy that's contributing in
a number of different ways on the team. So looking
forward to hearing from Juwar. But yeah, it's all good.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
We're let's do the daily count.
Speaker 3 (01:54):
We are a week away on this day next week,
we will see dudes that look like Texans football players
down in the service level.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
Well, look, we've been seeing them anyway. I mean, let's
stand up.
Speaker 3 (02:06):
Front with this, but in official capacity, Yeah, I have
to be back.
Speaker 2 (02:11):
They have to be on the twenty second.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
And the fact that we've seen so many prior to
when they have to be back speaks volumes. And we've
been talking about this all offseason long. I think it's
a big theme of the off season, or maybe it's
between the line storyline, and that's where I want to
go between the lines storylines of training camp.
Speaker 2 (02:30):
And I'll give you one and I'll do one.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
You do.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Go on, let's go.
Speaker 1 (02:34):
Here's the first one. Because everybody talks about the offensive line.
We all want to see how the offensive line has
configured day to day. There's going to be a lot
of reaction to it, a lot of prognostication, projection, whatever.
But the between the lines storyline with the old line,
I think is the center starting position. Is it going
to be Patterson? Is it going to be Jake Andrews?
Does Juice Scrugs rise up again and somehow grab the spot.
(02:58):
I see him in the building all the time, by
the way, So I'm wondering about this, Who's going to
start at Ceta and we caught up in our mini
camp interviews. And by the way, our Mini camp interviews
were great, and I'm not feeling bad about releasing those
over time now because Ross Tucker just released as Will
Anderson interview from Radio Row at the Super Bowl.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
He just released the Will Anderson video from Radio Row.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
I think reached.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
Somebody's got to help because Sean and Seth were playing
cuts from it and they said, yeah, he just released it,
and just I took to mean in the last few
days or week or so, but it's Radio Row.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
At the super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (03:35):
He kept it evergreen enough, I guess yeah, And our
mini camp interviews are plenty of evergreen for this anyway,
Joar Jordan later, but we talked to Jake Andrews, we
talked to Jared Patterson.
Speaker 2 (03:44):
Your thoughts on the starting center position.
Speaker 3 (03:46):
I think it's the I don't want to say it's
the one true competition on the line, because I do
think there's going to be a lot more competition at spots,
you know, left tackle. I think Cam Robinson, you would
look and go, oh, he's the veteran, been there. He's
a guy that's gonna step right down the left tackle spot. Then, hey,
you drafted Arianta Urseri, he plays left tackle. Is there
(04:07):
going to be a competition there? You got Big Trent
on the other side with Blake, that's gonna be a
competition too. But I think we kind of know, I
don't not know how that's gonna go, but I think
center is kind of a toss up, you know, all
throughout OTAs we saw Jake Andrews do a lot of
one work. Yeah, and I'm telling you, I've seen him
(04:28):
play a number of times for Troy, the Senior Bowl,
even with the Patriots, I would be I'd be pleased
with Jake Andrews as long as he continues on the
ascent that I that I've seen him. He's healthy, see
him here every day every day. Saw him in the
cafeteria this morning, and he's easier every day. And so
so is Jared Patterson. Jared Patterson's been around. I saw
(04:49):
him leaving the building the other day as I was
leaving the building. So these guys have been around, they've
been working. There's gonna be a distinct competition. And look,
we've seen that center position. What was it twenty three
in two days of camp. Scotti goes down then we go, okay, well, Juice,
go ahead, right, Juice goes over there and just does
a good job. But then Juice goes down. In the
(05:12):
Saints preseason game, the last preseason game, it's like, okay,
I guess we're gonna start a rookie and Jared Patterson JP,
you got it.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Rookie, rookie cou center, quarterback. Let's go. And he plays
well and then he goes down.
Speaker 3 (05:24):
In the Carolina game, we're all the way to Michael
Dieter is the fourth center, and you're like, man, holy cow.
So injuries have played a role at that position. Hopefully
you're not going to hope that these guys can stay
healthy and give it, give it a true competition. And
even at that point, there might be somebody we're not
considering that could step in at that center.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
There might be, but I got a feeling it's one
of those.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
I think it's one of those three or Scrugs, Yeah,
chicks one less one and well Mark Scrugs was drafted
to be a center, I know, but things change and
maybe he's a better guard.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Maybe, Look, we don't know how it's gonna be. And
you just spelled that out really well. Twenty twenty, he
was ripped through four centers.
Speaker 2 (06:01):
Exactly.
Speaker 1 (06:02):
You still have a good season, right, a great season
under the circumstance.
Speaker 2 (06:05):
Through four centers. Yeah, four Okay, my turn.
Speaker 3 (06:09):
So we're talking kind of outside the line stories that
were just underrated, stories.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Between the line storylines. Okay, I'm I want to brand that.
It's not bad. Yeah, he's got alliteration there.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
I'm gonna give you a name, and I think I
said it to you at the end of last year.
I think we missed him more than people let on.
I think because he did so much. I think he
is a really good athlete at the h back, full back,
tight end position. I think he adds some juice to
this offense. And that's Brevin Jordan. I don't think people
(06:45):
have been talking about Brevin Jordan. I think he unfortunately
has been on a side of a mind because he
gets hurt in the game against the Bears. Acl comes back,
but he hasn't been back. He's been rehabbing the whole time.
He looks cool, but he didn't work out at OTAs
you would see him out there who's watching everything. I
think just getting him the football. I mean we saw
(07:08):
it in that Browns playoff game. Laramie went out for
a play. We go one play, one drive without Laramie,
like can we do it? CJ takes a little boot,
flips it out to Brevin to go seventy six yards
and it's like all right.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Larimy was able to come back in the next.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Offensive series didn't even miss a beat. But it was
Brevin who made that play because he catches it and
he outruns everybody seventy six yards of the end zone.
So I think it's a level of big play explosiveness.
Just a guy you can you can count on it.
I think of games last year where we didn't protect well,
where just having a little outlet, just getting the ball
(07:43):
to somebody that could go do something that could create
a play. The Vikings game, the Packers game. You know,
what does Brevin bring to the offense. What about that
Jets game in twenty three that's a nightmare, the one
CJ gets knocked out of. I went back and watched
that at some point last year and building got doing anything.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
Was Brevin.
Speaker 3 (08:01):
We just just run a little you know, a little
flat route, throw it to him and the way he
goes right. So when things were going badly offensively. We
didn't have Brevin to be able to do that, to
make an athletic play. I mean that play against the
Browns that was just meant to get a few yards
and get the drive started, and he makes the most
of that. I feel like that's something this offense lacked.
(08:24):
And I feel like bringing in uh, bringing back Brevin
Jordan to go, Kate Stover and Dalton Schultz, Arv Smith
Junior UH to this, and then you add Luke Liche. Now,
obviously Luke's going through the rookie he'll go through the
rookie ups and downs and all that kind of stuff.
But he's got sure soft hands. But Brevan's different from
all of them. And I think that gives this offense,
(08:47):
gives it some multiplicity with a guy like Brevin. But
I don't think anybody's really been talking about prevn. I
think when we talk about tight ends, it's just well,
you know, we've got Dalton Schultz, and we've got Kate Starver,
Hope's gonna step up, and IRV resign and away we
go and Luke Lache and we forget hey number nine
is coming back.
Speaker 2 (09:03):
Well, tie a good thing. It ties into another between
the lines thing. Who's the full back? If there is one?
Is Yaka gonna make the team?
Speaker 1 (09:11):
By the way, I saw Yaka biking around the stadium,
not in the stadium, on the outside of the perimeter.
I saw this guy biking. I thought, I think that's
Yakam Johnson, and then I asked him when I saw
him a few days later, said, yeah, that was me.
I'm biking around nice.
Speaker 2 (09:25):
Good for him. He's such a unique careful biking in Houston.
Speaker 1 (09:29):
I don't trust these cars and these people reading their
phones while they're driving. I'd almost go for the AI
driving at this point because everyone's not paying attention.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
You know, they're on their phones. It's a disaster waiting
to happen.
Speaker 3 (09:41):
That's an off season show that we've got to hit
in February. What's that you Are you going to take
the new AI directed cars because.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
They're paying attention.
Speaker 3 (09:53):
Those cars are paying attention without paying attention.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Oh yeah, they are paying attention.
Speaker 1 (09:57):
Well, let me tell you what my dad said quick
tangent here about my dad's a pilot, right, yeah, you know,
retired to WA seven forty seven pilot, and I thought
he was gonna go old school on me. I said,
what about this AI piloting right, AI flying your jet?
And he said, listen, they're almost all automatic right now, anyway,
I mean they're almost all automatic. They didn't do and
he said, we used to have to take five six
(10:17):
guys in the cockpit. You needed a navigator, you needed this,
you needed that, the co pilot. You had all these
people doing different things. You have to draw the course over.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
The Atlantic, you know, like you have the ruler, you know.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
He said, literally, they're doing that stuff. Here's Nova Scotia
over there anyway. But he said, Ai'll be a better
pilot than anybody. AI will know everything. Oh turbulence, I
know exactly what it is because the wind's coming in here.
It has to be programmed properly, and know all the
info about whether everything that's happening at every moment with
all the other planes, there will never be another accident
(10:49):
because oh no, you're over there, I'm over here. We're
all interconnected, and then we'll all be in the matrix
as human batteries. That's right anyway. So who's the full back?
That's what you have to wonder. Brev could be a
full back. Kate still overplay some full back, Yaka plays
some full back. You could substitute another guy in there,
but that's kind of gonna be interesting. Who does that role? Well,
(11:10):
how much does Nick Kelly feature that in this offense?
Thirty percent of the time less more.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Yeah, that's a good one. I've got one, and it's one.
It's funny because in this this offseason, there was a
lot of talk about his contract and moving away from him,
and I was like, are y'all crazy? Y'all saw when
Denico Autry was on this field. Y'all saw when he
was on the field, he created mayhem, a monster. He
(11:39):
was impossible to block, whether it was inside, whether it
was outside. And look, Deniko would tell you he'd love
to have those six games back. He'd love to be
able part of it. He'd like to stay healthy and
all that kind of stuff. But I think a big
eventual storyline, and it's one we're not talking about, but
I think it's one that's gonna have to pop up,
especially if he does stay healthy, is we need him
(12:02):
to Daniko Autry and how you deploy him and how
the Texans want to deploy him, which takes you to
another level of well, you got Darryl Taylor, you got
Derek Burnett, You've got Dylan Horton. Then obviously you've got
the two guys that we already know about, Daniel Hunter
and Will Anderson Junior. How do you put all that together?
(12:24):
But to me, Denico Autry' is not a guy that
we've talked a lot about. Because he banged up a
little bit, people wanted, people wanted to get rid of him.
I'm like, man, are you kidding me? I'll take that
guy all day, every day. He doesn't have to play
fifty snaps a game. But does he play inside? Does
he play outside? Where does it fit the best? When
they're rushing in their rush packages? I saw on OTA's
(12:48):
a rush package that I like. I started like dancing
a jig, like, oh my, oh my god, that looks incredible.
And it's because you have a guy like Deny Go
that can rush from the inside and be effective rushing
from the inside.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
This defense can go to a different level because you
have a guy like that.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
So it's but it's not a line, it's not a
storyline to anybody's really talking about, because you know, you
focus on Daneil and Will, then the well the interior guys,
and you really don't think a lot of times that
Deniko is an interior guy. So when we talk about him,
we talk about the edge guys. We talk about the
interior guys, and then lo and behold, here's this, you know,
chess piece that you can move anywhere up and down
(13:29):
the line of scrimmage and you don't need them to play,
but twenty five to twenty five to twenty seven snaps game.
Speaker 1 (13:36):
Maybe this kind of plays into this between the lines thing,
the interior of the defensive line when the position groups
were being rated on all these lists recently, because it's
list season between any camp and the start of training camp, obviously,
the Texans interior defensive line does not rate as highly
as some others because there's no Aaron Donald there. There's
(13:56):
no well, Aaron Donald's out of the league again, there's
no Dexter Lowrence, there's no Jeffrey Simmons, there's no player
quite like that. But there's a group of guys, and
I think that's why you don't worry, you don't panic,
you don't feel any kind of diminishment with what you've
got with defensive tackle here because you know it's a
revolving door anyway, and they're gonna shuffle guys in and
(14:17):
out and they're gonna make plays, and you feel like
you're gonna be strong enough against the run. You got
the edges set with the two studs that are gonna start,
and you feel great about your depth at defensive end
and in the interior. You know those guys can get
after it as long as everybody does their job the
way Demico tells them to.
Speaker 3 (14:33):
And I know a lot of these guys were on
the team in twenty twenty four, but even bringing in
Sheldon Rankins and bringing rank back, those guys have all
played together. Even Rankins have played with I think Mario
Edwards when they were with the Saints together, So there's
familiarity with those guys, and I think that's gonna help
that group overall. That is definitely holds greater than some
of its parts, because when you hear the individual names
(14:56):
and then everybody's kind of like, but then you see
him play and you see them play together, and I'm
still pissed off at PFF for the whole fully thought
at Cossi has a thirty six run stop grade, Like,
are you how stupid?
Speaker 2 (15:11):
That's ridiculous. It will motivate him. Oh, I'd love that, dude.
I'm gonna give you one. This is one.
Speaker 3 (15:18):
You know, everybody talks about how great the secondary is,
and I think it's it's valid. You've got a supreme
superstar and the number one corner in the league in
my opinion, a lot of people's opinion, Derek Stingley Junior
on the outside. On the other side, you got to
do that's emerging as a top ten corner in the league,
and that's Kamara Lassiter, Jalen Peachries.
Speaker 2 (15:35):
Re sign Uh.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
You bring in CJ. Gardner, Johnson. We have no idea
what the what the deal is with Jimmy Ward. We
don't know, but I know that we've talked about Kaylen
Bullock making that jump from year one to year two.
I think it can be an astronomical lead for him
because I think one thing that you noticed in watching
(15:57):
him that I noticed and watching him last year, there
were times where I felt like maybe he was like
I think about the Jets game in particular, and a
lot of people gave Jalen Petrie a lot of crap
because he's against Devontae Adams, one of the best route runners,
one of the best releases. He's one on one and
they're playing cover one, which means Kaylan has got essentially
the field kind of the cover. Now he's got the
(16:17):
range to do it. But there's got to be times
where he understands. Okay, there's Sting, there's Kamari. Kamari is
against such and such. Maybe I lean that way. Okay,
there's Petrie against DeVante. Hey, maybe I want to show
Rogers like I'm going to the middle field, but really
I'm gonna go help Jalen and maybe I end up
making a play. I think his and I think he's
(16:39):
a smart football player already, but I just think his
understanding of what he's looking at. Game's slowing down. He's
not thinking about the call. He's thinking about football, and
the football part of this is I'm looking at the rams.
There's Pooking a Coup, there's Devonte Adams. Those are good matchups,
so we can match up with them. Well, okay, but
there's a tight end matchup. You know, Higbee against you
(17:00):
know Petrie, he'd bee against the safety. Hey we're in
cover one, we're bringing some heat. Hey, you know, maybe
I need to keep an eye on that matchup as
opposed to the other two, like, hey, you two are
on an island. You guys are good, but I'm gonna
go help over here, because that's just football sense to
be able to do that. I think Klin takes an
astronomical leap by incorporating that into his game. I think
his physical dimensions, his range, I think his hands will improve.
(17:23):
I think he's got the opportunity to be an unbelievable
force back there. But I think going into year two,
it's not something that you talk about a lot, and
we haven't talked about it much. It's like, well, he's
gonna take the year one to year two leap. I
think one of the biggest things why he'll take that
leap is he's going to be more in tune to
what offenses are doing. And I think you're great if
(17:45):
you watch quarterback and you'll see this. In the Lions game,
the Lions talked about taking advantage of safeties and how
they would jump certain routes, and so it ended up
that they were talking about Eric Murray. But it wasn't
just Eric Murray. They were also and they didn't say this,
but I know the teams you know, Kaylin gets very
aggressive on first moves, and so the Lions took advantage
(18:08):
of that and they hit that big Sam Laporta one
down the field here, and that kind of got the
comeback going for them. So there's got to be a
little bit more. Okay, I understand what the rock concepts are.
I know how to play these a little bit better.
I know how to play from top down. I need
to play with range, but I'm gonna play with the
football intelligence I gather and take that into games and
(18:29):
see if that doesn't make you a better safety. So
it's not something we talk about with Kaylan, but I
think it is something that he can make that leap.
But the reason why is he'll be able to incorporate
the experience he's gaining into these games against these quarterbacks
and against these receivers.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
We've got sixty seconds in this segment. Okay, another between
the line storyline that's really under the radar. It's an
under the radar between the line storyline. Davis Mills development,
Oh year five good one signs.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
The one year deal. He needs to come out here
in training camp, he's balled out like a starter. Yep,
he's like all out.
Speaker 1 (19:04):
An NFL starting quarterback. He started twenty five games. It's
year five. He's got to look the part for his
own career and for the sake of this team as
insurance and backup quarterback, like backup tackle, is just one
of those positions you never want to see the guy
have to play because that's it.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
Yep, absolutely, I got a small one go, but I
think a big one. John Weeks is no longer this
team's lot.
Speaker 1 (19:26):
Is going to bring up the you know what, that's
a good topic for tomorrow because the operation with Austin
Brinkman and Tommy and Kami, Yep, you know they had
some moment they had great moments last year. They also
had some moments they want back, so that operation, Yes,
those guys are working hard to improve in twenty twenty five.
All right, coming up Jonathan Alexander, he's improving his relaxation
(19:48):
on vacation, but he's gonna.
Speaker 2 (19:49):
Check in with us next to talk training camp stuff.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
As the team reports. One week from today, it's Texans Radio.
Back to it here in the Hundai Texans Radio studio,
which is a little bit all over the place right
now because we are fixing it up. It's Mark vandermir
and John Harris with you, and Jonathan Alexander, our friend
from the Houston Chronicle, joins us. We've all been out
on various stages of leave, Jonathan included, I believe, but
(20:16):
we're all back in a week away from players reporting
for training camp. So here we go, Jonathan. How's your summer?
Speaker 2 (20:23):
Ben Howard? Thing's going for you? Overall?
Speaker 4 (20:26):
It's been great. I'm actually on vacation now, just enjoying.
I've deleted Twitter like four days ago, so I haven't
been paying attention ever since I've dropped my last story,
So it's been good and not having to worry about
the NotI vacations that are usually get on a regular basis.
Speaker 2 (20:44):
So you just would ahead and deleted it and you're
gonna reload it for camp.
Speaker 4 (20:49):
Yeah. I reloaded a day before camp as I'm writing
my stories and that's when I'll turn it back on EVAM. Now,
you know, I feel calm. I feel good and not
having to worry about anything.
Speaker 3 (21:01):
So how do you keep up with news and anything
that's happening, Jonathan, Because if you don't get it on Twitter,
where do you get it?
Speaker 4 (21:07):
Yeah, I've just been I've actually been reading a lot
of news. But I've been going on different websites and
just reading what people have. But yeah, I'm not I'm
probably not as sub today or quickly as up to
date as I would be if I got a Twitter notification.
But that's all right. I'm not handling anything right now.
Don't expect anything big to happen unless I get a text.
(21:30):
So I'm just chilling right now.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
That's awesome. I have mad respect for that. That's pre
two thousand and nine stuff right there, going on websites
to get the news. I remember preparing for the show
going on Pro Football Talk dot com, the Big Lead
dot com. I had all these websites I had to
check out before I went on the air, and they
aggregated all the stories, and obviously ESPN and the Chronicle
(21:55):
and everything else. I was actually reading the paper Chronicle,
the physical newspaper were still at that point. Mad respect
for you, Jonathan. That's amazing. All right, We've got a
few things to go over here. Number one ESPN Top
ten quarterback list. Stroud not in the top ten. He's
what eleventh. Johnny and Jordan Love was twelve. They were
honorable mentioned. They only wanted to go ten, but they
(22:16):
had two honorable mentions and Stroud got one of them.
Speaker 2 (22:19):
Is that a fair rating for CJ. Stroud in your opinion?
Speaker 4 (22:24):
I don't think it is. I think, you know, when
you look at the overall play, even though the statistics
weren't as great as they were his rookie season, you know,
I didn't think he played bad. I think he had
a few bad games, particularly the Packers game, and there
were a couple of others, But I didn't think he
(22:44):
had an overall bad season worthy of moving him down
out of the top ten. I think he's still a
top ten quarterback and I think he has a chance
to prove that this year, and I think he will.
I think he's motivated, It's not by that, but motivated
by having a better season than he had last year's.
Speaker 3 (23:00):
Yeah, no question that There's gonna be a lot of
eyes on CJ's drive to start training camp, Jonathan, where
will your eyes go the first few days of training
camp out here at Houston Others Training Center? What will
you be looking at? First and foremost? Will it be
CJ's drive? Will be the rookie receivers, Will it be
the offensive line, will be defense? What will your eyes
(23:20):
go to the very first couple of days in training camp.
Speaker 4 (23:24):
Yeah, I think it's really the offensive line, because I
feel like they are key to this offense having success. Obviously,
the Texans brought in a lot of offensive line players
who had to really prove themselves this year. You know
a few of them struggled last year, and you know,
(23:45):
Demiko and Nicko Siri are banking on the fact that
competition will allow these guys to raise their level. So
I'll be looking at how this offensive line looks, whether
they look like the Calles unit, whether other guys look
at somebody little I thought looked better than a lot
of people. A lot of fans from the opposing team
were getting down on. I thought Lake and Thomason was
(24:06):
really steady at left guard, and I think, really that's
going to be crucial that interior where they struggled a
lot last season.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
Yeah, we'll see how that shapes up as camp gets
underway a week from tomorrow with the first practice. It's
amazing to say that, but here we are Jonathan the
running back situation.
Speaker 2 (24:24):
We're all eager to see what Joe Mixing situation is.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
Going into camp and through camp, and then you got Chubb,
how much will he be doing? What are you thinking
you're going to see it running back? What's your prediction
in the early going the running back shuffle that they
have right now a lot of people to work with,
but health is the big concern among at least a
couple of them.
Speaker 4 (24:45):
Yeah, I mean it was kind of similar to last year,
you know, Joe Mixing, You know, I recall at the
beginning of camp wasn't much of a participant, starting to
participating later on you see the offense shift, I could
see something similar. I don't know if Nick Shouts gonna
get the first team reps. I think that would probably
be more of Dare just because of the familiarity, and
(25:06):
then of course Damian Pierce has to come back. You know,
It'll be interesting to see that rotation play out. How
it plays out as Nick gets more familiar with the offense.
Is he move up? I think they've got a serious
running back battle going in. One player who we might
not expect might end up being film depending on how
many running bouts they keep on the.
Speaker 3 (25:27):
Roster, speaking in different positions, that are going to be
maybe a more difficult cut than it seems. It feels
like tight end Jonathan can go a lot of different
directions this year. I've been on record saying I think
Kate Stover breaks out this year. You can define breakout
however you want to, but I think Kate's going to
be a very involved factor in this offense.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Still got a.
Speaker 3 (25:47):
Dalton Schultz, then you've got Brevin Jordan coming back.
Speaker 4 (25:51):
Then you bring in Luke Lache.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
You know he's a seventh rounder, but a lot of
people were very high on him before injuries kind of
impacted him from twenty three and then twenty four those
two seasons. When you look at tight end, you look
at it as a position of strength or do you think, man,
this unit is one injury away from really needing to
sign somebody in training camp.
Speaker 4 (26:11):
How do you look at the tight end position, Jonathan,
what they have and how projects go forward. I do
think it's a strong tight end group that they remain healthy.
I agree with you. I think Ca Stover is going
to have a great year. I think he's going to
take a huge step. De Nico Ryans remarks how improved
he was, and you really saw how he was kind
(26:34):
of a safety blanket for c J. Straw when a
lot of receivers weren't open at times. I think him
and Don shows, especially given the fact that Nick Cayley
has an emphasis on tight ends. I think they can
be a huge factor in this offense. I think they
will be a huge factor in this offense, especially if
Jaden Higgins kind of moves along. Now, who makes the team,
(26:55):
whether it's whether it's the rookie Luke or whether it's
revng and I think that is going to be an
interesting competition. Revien didn't participate in OTAs in many campus
he continues to work his way back to that injury.
Will he be better? Will?
Speaker 2 (27:10):
You know?
Speaker 4 (27:10):
I think that'll be the interesting thing and what it'll
come down to in camp.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
What's your Tank Dell prediction as far as when he's
going to play again or if he plays again. I
would assume he's going to play again, But is it
late this season? Is it twenty twenty six altogether?
Speaker 4 (27:27):
So I think that's a good question, you know, just
giving the severity of his injury. What I do know
is that the Texans won't rush him back now if
he happens to be healthy, fully healthy and clear, and
they need another wide receiver to produce. If he's fully healthy.
(27:48):
I think they'll bring him back. But I think we
don't know the answer to that unless somebody were to
tell us behind the scenes. Now, Tank has, you know,
been also media saying how confident he is about that.
But I think we fully won't know. The coaching staff
doesn't really know, and I think maybe there'll be a
(28:09):
more clear picture around late November early December.
Speaker 3 (28:15):
Johnson I saw a graphic earlier today from the NFL
Prime Video account. It said, veteran wide receivers in new
places now find this fascinating because all these guys at
one point.
Speaker 4 (28:27):
Were wide receiver.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Won for some stretch of time with a particular.
Speaker 4 (28:33):
Team or former team.
Speaker 3 (28:35):
Which of these eight wide receivers do you think makes
the biggest impact in his new place? So here we
go Cooper Cup Seattle, DeAndre Hopkins Baltimore, Tevon Diggs, New England,
DK Metcalf Steelers, Deebo, Samuel Washington, George Pickens with Dallas,
Davonte Adams with the Rams, and Tyler Lockett goes to
(28:56):
the Tennessee Titans. Which receiver of those do you think
makes the biggest impact. Texas will play a number of
those guys, but which one you think has the biggest
impact for his team in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 4 (29:09):
Yeah, I think that group is really around the same
talent level. But I think if I had to, if
I was betting, i'd say DK mckeah, he's gonna be
the top receiver over there. They're probably gonna leave Aaron
Rodgers is probably gonna leave heavily on DK. I think
he'll probably have the best year of all those guys.
I think Christian Kirk is gonna have a good year
(29:31):
for the Houston Texans though, you know he is. He
might be their their secret weapon. You know, obviously they
got Nico there, but he's had a history history of injuries.
Dandy Higgins is going to be trying to thumb into
his own I really believe that CV is gonna rely
not only on Nico, which I think Nico may get
some double teams. I think they're gonna be opportunities for
(29:53):
Christian Kirk there.
Speaker 1 (29:55):
Do you feel like Higgins and Nico everybody's Healthygins and
Nico will be on the field a lot together. And
I got to think the answer kind of has to
be yes, considering second round pick, guaranteed money, all that stuff.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
But maybe Nol rises up. Kirk's gonna get a ton
of reps. As we all know.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
The third guy, though, whoever that might be, should be Higgins.
Is it Noel, is it somebody else, one of the veterans?
Is it Justin Watson? How do you see that working out?
Speaker 2 (30:25):
Yeah?
Speaker 4 (30:26):
I see Janda Higgins very similar, very in the same senses.
I see Kamari Lassiter, a guy who really came one
strong and OTAs who could really prove himself as the
number two receiver. He's gonna be hard to guard number
one because he has great size and he's not so
(30:46):
a lot of the big guys, they have good size,
they don't move very well, but like Nico Collins, Danda
Higgins moves very well. So if he could gets involved,
which that was what he was known for at Iowas State,
said oho, Ohio State, that was what he was known
for at Iowa State, then he can be a really
big option for CD Stroud. So I definitely see him
(31:10):
getting a lot of playings on them, using a lot
of three wide receiver sins and he's going to be
in contributary I believe.
Speaker 3 (31:19):
You almost said Ohio State, which maybe me think of
two other wide receivers that are I've had different stages
in kind of going through two different things with their teams.
You got Garrett Wilson, who signs the four year, one
hundred and thirty million dollar.
Speaker 4 (31:31):
Deal with the Jets.
Speaker 3 (31:33):
Then you've got Terry McLaurin, who seems to be locked
in a staring contest with Washington's front office.
Speaker 4 (31:41):
Hey, Jonathan, comment if you will on the.
Speaker 3 (31:44):
Garret Wilson extension and what he got, and b what
do you think happens with Terry McLaren in Washington. He's
been a focal point of their success. I can't see
him getting moved, but they don't seem to be moving
on making the contract extension his way. What do you
think about those two situations.
Speaker 4 (32:02):
Yeah, I think Teray McLaurin, I think they got to
get him a contract extension, and I think they know that,
and I think they're going to end up having to
pay him because he is a great ad, a really
good number one robe receiver who improved a lot this year,
especially given the fact that he got a better quarterback.
He's obviously Jaden Daniel's number one option, and I think
(32:23):
he'll continue to be that. I can't see the commander
is moving on for him or trying to trade him.
I think this is really the period where a lot
of these negotiations get tense, and he may try to
hold out in camp until the commanders are forced to
give him a deal. As far as Garrett wasn't, I
think he was well deserved. I think Garrett Wilson is
(32:44):
a good wide receiver, still young, and he'll continue to
get better. And you these days, we have to pay
these wide receivers because they are so key to offenses.
So I think it was a well deserved deal for him.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
Jonathan. The Texans open it up against the Rams, then
they have the Bucks. Before you know it, they'll be
facing the Jacksonville Jaguars. And I want to ask you
about Trevor Lawrence because this week's take is, Hey, it's
his third head coach already it's year five, and maybe
we were all wrong, or we were initially right then wrong,
(33:18):
whatever the case may be, because third head coach Urban
Meyer was one of those head coaches total disaster of
a regime that was we all expected the Peterson thing
to work better.
Speaker 2 (33:29):
Now he's got Liam Cohne quarterback. Friendly I'll put that
in air quotes.
Speaker 1 (33:32):
You tell me, have we misunderstood Lawrence or miss interpreted
what's going on with his career?
Speaker 2 (33:38):
Is that the coach's fault?
Speaker 1 (33:40):
Is it his fault? What do you think is going
on here? Is there's clearly a higher level to achieve
for him? Is he going to get there?
Speaker 2 (33:47):
How do you feel about the situation?
Speaker 4 (33:50):
Yeah, A couple of things.
Speaker 2 (33:51):
I think.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
Number one, I don't believe that the Jaguars have drafted
very well in recent years. I think they have been
a man as coaching wise of Irvin Meyer was a
disaster in the file that's done it. Trevor Lawrence's growth,
I still think he has a ton of potential. Will
he reach the potential I thought he once had? I
(34:12):
don't believe.
Speaker 3 (34:12):
So.
Speaker 4 (34:13):
I think he could still be a quality quarterback somewhere
along the lines of you know, I think a little
bit better than what Kirk Cousins was at his heights.
So I think he'll be better prepared under Liam Kohn,
and I think that he'll have a better season. Now
will he be this great quarterback? I don't know if
he'll reach that, but I think he'll be improved. And
(34:35):
you saw he has the potential to be really good there.
Speaker 3 (34:38):
So, Jonathan, the Chargers dropped the new all gold uniform,
not white helmet, but an all gold uniform. Tampa Bay
Buccaneers put out their icy white creepsicles as throwback as
a throwback plus the Buco Bruce helmet. What is your
favorite alternate jersey don't use the Texans? What's your my
(35:00):
favorite alternate jersey in the league? Is it a throwback
sort of one? Is it one of these well new
gold from the LA Charters. Which is your favorite alternate
jersey non Texans throughout the league?
Speaker 4 (35:14):
I don't know what it is, but there's something about
I can't remember if it was a Packers jersey or
the Steelers jersey, but there was. Those are like a
brown jersey from one of those teams, and they packs,
I believe. Yeah, I don't know. It's something about that
as simple and as full, that's different. I think that's
my favorite Austenate jersey in my opinion. I also like
(35:35):
it when the Panthers go all blacks with the black
helmets and black pants and black socks. I think that's
pretty cool as well. So I think those two are
some of my favorites.
Speaker 1 (35:46):
Wow, you went Packer throwback, if you went Pittsburgh. The
Pittsburgh Bumblebee uniforms the worst they're off. They look like
bumblebees running around. They have horizontal lines. It's very It's
not a slimming look. I gotta tell you. It's not
a fast look. It just doesn't work for me and Johnny.
(36:06):
I don't even know the answer to that question. For me,
I was thinking about it. What all Jersey do I
like with two divisions starting this rivalry look this year?
Speaker 2 (36:13):
And I think that's what you're playing into. It's gonna
be cool.
Speaker 1 (36:16):
The Texans don't go yet, so they're going to even
add more of an alternate look in the near future,
not in twenty twenty five.
Speaker 2 (36:23):
So I can't wait for that. Jonathan, you tell me
you're on vacation.
Speaker 1 (36:28):
What's better to do on vacation as far as non
you know, water activities or whatever else you're doing. Maybe
you're hiking, I don't know what you're doing. But read
a book or binge watch a show that you've missed.
Speaker 2 (36:41):
What do you like to do? Oh?
Speaker 4 (36:44):
Wow, okay, that is a good question. I haven't really
thought about, but I have been reading a lot more
I've been enjoying reading. I think one of one of
my favorite things to do though, is just chill on
the beach, a quiet beach with not a lot of
people and read a good book. But I also will
watching a bid show on Netflix when I'm when I'm
away from the beach. But I do enjoy reading on
(37:04):
the beach. Give us a show. Yeah, as far as going,
what show? Okay, So the show that I'm currently watching
and I'll never be able to finish because it has
so many seasons, It's Gray's Anatomy. It does have a
lot of seasons.
Speaker 2 (37:23):
They're still going? Are they still going?
Speaker 4 (37:25):
This is the season twenty one, if I'm not mistaken.
Speaker 3 (37:29):
Yeah, I think it's the longest running other than the Simpsons.
Speaker 4 (37:32):
I believe how many years.
Speaker 2 (37:34):
Did gun Smoke run? That's that's really a throwback. I mean.
Speaker 1 (37:39):
I went way back, but gun Smoke went on forever
because when I was a kid, it was on and
it started like in black and white era and stuff
like that, or way way before a lot of great
shows did so. Anyway, speaking of shows, speaking of shows
that you bitch, have you watched Quarterback?
Speaker 4 (37:56):
I have watched some of Quarterback. I haven't watched the
whole series and haven't picked it up this year. I
need to finish like the second half of Well, actually,
I started watching Receivers last year, so I did. I
did watch the first season the Quarterback, but I haven't
started this season yet.
Speaker 2 (38:12):
All right, well, I need to watch it too, Johnny.
So Jonathan said nothing.
Speaker 1 (38:18):
I watched Cobra Kai and then I finished Your Friends
and Neighbors, so I was doing the drama thing.
Speaker 2 (38:23):
But believe me, I'll hit on those this week before
camp next week.
Speaker 1 (38:26):
Jonathan, you can't promote anything in the chronicle, I guess,
but I'll read the other stuff of the chronicle.
Speaker 4 (38:31):
But what else do you have for us?
Speaker 3 (38:32):
Well?
Speaker 4 (38:33):
Accept my Astrodome story which I posted last week. Oh yeah,
a couple of a couple of stories on like what
what happened with it? As the Rodeo and the Texans
negotiate a new lease agreement, we should come probably within
a couple of years, and as well as my tour
of the Astronaut, So please check those.
Speaker 1 (38:54):
Very nice, Jonathan Alexander, thank you for being with us
as always and coming up on the show. Jaward Jordan
running back. Is he gonna make an impression in camp.
We'll talk about that and other stuff coming up here
on Texans All Access. As we embark on the final
segment here tonight on Texans Radio, we'll have an interview.
(39:14):
We caught up with many players around Mini camp and
this is one of those interviews with Jaward Jordan, this
time running back part of that twenty twenty four draft
class out of Louisville and got banged up last year.
Speaker 2 (39:27):
He's back and with a vengeance. I'm doing the movie
trailer Jirard Jordan back with a Vengeance.
Speaker 1 (39:34):
Well, he wants to make a big impression here in
training camp and beyond, so let's catch up with him.
He's one of those guys I have these categories and
you know them, impossible not to notice. That's Jawar Jordan,
and he's pleased with the progress so far throughout the offseason.
Speaker 5 (39:49):
As sir is going well, I mean is I'm definitely
taking a next step from last season, you know, going
out with an injury. Definitely didn't want that to happen.
I feel like I was in the right spot to
make the team until the injury happen. So now I'm
just trying to, you know, do my best to stay
healthy and show the coaches that I can't play, and
(40:10):
I'm doing my.
Speaker 2 (40:11):
Best mentally physically.
Speaker 3 (40:13):
Jure, what's the biggest difference for you from rookie year
to second year. I mean, obviously we haven't got the
training camp in all that. You know, you get to
run against the eleven guys trying to tackle you. But
in your in your mind and your body, what's kind
of the biggest difference from your one to year two.
Speaker 5 (40:29):
I think I was just so starstruck that the fact
I was here, you know, living in my dreams my
first year this year. You know, I know I deserve
to be here. I know I got here for a reason.
I know God put me here for a reason. So
I feel more confident physically and mentally. I feel like
I could make a difference for this team. I feel
(40:49):
like I'm one of the best players out there, and
you know, I just gotta put it all together.
Speaker 1 (40:55):
Before we get to training camp and the pads come on.
What's it like in offseason practices for you? You know
you're not gonna get tackled. You know they really can't
come after you. So what is that like running the
ball in those situations?
Speaker 5 (41:07):
Honestly, for me, I just practice how you know, as
if we were to play in pass you know, run
through arm tackles, carry the ball the right way, protect
the ball. I just approach it as if you know,
we're in camp season.
Speaker 3 (41:24):
Or how long does it take for a running backs
body to become callous in a sense to kind of
the physical nature of the game.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
I mean, people talk about running backs, they take a
lot of hits.
Speaker 3 (41:36):
You carry it two hundred times in a year, more
than likely you're gonna have two hundred hits on your body.
Plus how long does it kind of take for your
body to get accustomed to that? Or do you never
get accustomed to it? You just try and get your
body ready from week to week.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
Uh.
Speaker 5 (41:49):
For me, you know, I've always been a physical guy,
never been scared of contact. But like you say, it
does come down to.
Speaker 2 (41:58):
Week to week.
Speaker 5 (41:59):
You gotta straight, you gotta just have the heart to
you know, keep going and yeahs week the week.
Speaker 1 (42:06):
How is the pass protection part of the game? How
difficult is that to learn at the NFL level? Because
I know it's important to them. You are, so what
about that phase?
Speaker 5 (42:15):
Oh yeah, it's definitely one of the priority for me
the other running backs to protect quarterback, and I think,
I mean, I've always been a guy the love pass protecting.
You know, they they mistakenly think I don't want pass
protected just because of my size, But you know I've
always been sticking my face in there and you know,
(42:35):
do what I gotta do to have good technique and
protect the quarterback.
Speaker 2 (42:39):
You are from a return game perspective.
Speaker 3 (42:41):
Something you did at Louisville and do it all the time,
but you did it and when you did do it,
you exploded on it. Kickoff rules are now changed kickoffs
or touchbacks go to the thirty five, so it's probably
gonna be more returns. Where do you kind of fit
in that? Do you want to be back there and
kickoff returns? Is that something you feel like you could
be successful with as well?
Speaker 5 (42:58):
Oh yeah, for sure, one hundred percent. I feel like
I can make a difference there. Any special team unit
they need me to play in, I feel I can
make a difference. But as far as returning, I definitely
have that ability to take one home.
Speaker 3 (43:11):
Along those lines, you are a lot of when guys
come here and their stars in college, especially running backs
don't play a lot of special teams, maybe return, which
you did. How much did you do special teams at
Louisville And how long did it take for you to
kind of go, hey, wait a second.
Speaker 2 (43:25):
That's another piece I can add.
Speaker 3 (43:26):
If I want to be on special teams, I want
to be in this team, I can go be on
special teams and make some players on special teams. How
do you kind of look at teams that in that way?
Did you play the much at Louisville other than returning?
Speaker 2 (43:36):
Other than return?
Speaker 5 (43:37):
And know, my first year at Louisville I actually did kickoff,
but that was just for one season. But my first
season here was kind of a rude awaken them, just
knowing that, you know, you got to get on the
teams to stick around. And so after my first year
I kind of embraced special teams a little bit more,
talking to coach Frank, just working my technique, doing what
(43:59):
I gotta do the practice, and just embracing that aspect
of the game.
Speaker 2 (44:03):
I got World War for it. You are all right.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
We always talk about training camp heat and humidity. You
played high school ball in Arizona, So how bad is
that compared to this. It's a dry heat, they say,
But Man, I've been out there and one hundred ten
degrees is one hundred ten degrees.
Speaker 2 (44:19):
How do you handle that? What is that like versus this?
Speaker 5 (44:22):
Honestly, what I say was playing in Arizona when it's
one hundred and ten plus is different. But here the
humidity is too much.
Speaker 2 (44:34):
It's a lot. It's really hot. When it's humid, it
adds to it. It makes it worse.
Speaker 5 (44:39):
But I'll say playing in one hundred and ten plus
is also crazy.
Speaker 2 (44:44):
Yeah, crazy.
Speaker 3 (44:46):
So Christian Kirk comes here from Arizona. We're seeing a
lot more guys come out of the state of Arizona.
I feel like it's maybe one of the more underrated
states for high school football. You played it, what's it
like playing high school football Arizona? Because it feels like
they're a lot more dudes coming out of that state
playing college football and NFL ball. Yeah.
Speaker 5 (45:03):
So when I move, I'm originally from New York. Yeah,
so when I moved to high school to Arizona, I
didn't know too much about it. I just knew it
was a better opportunity for me and my family to
get looked at. Yeah, and it's crazy that you mentioned
Christian Kirk when we first moved Christian Kirk, or when
we first moved to Arizona, Christian Kirk was like that
guy that was getting recruited, and so that was the
(45:26):
first guy that I noticed that was getting looked at
high school. And so I watched his highlights all the time.
And it's cool to you know, just being on the
team with him. You know, you got Johnny Johnson. He
played at the my rival school. So it's cool seeing
more guys coming out of Arizona.
Speaker 2 (45:46):
Yeah, very cool. All right, Jaare, thanks a lot for
joining us. We appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (45:50):
Appreciate you guys.
Speaker 1 (45:51):
There's j Are Jordan running back part of a very thick,
deep running back room. We'll see how it all goes
when Treny Camp begins one week from tomorrow. Back tomorrow
with the full show. Thanks so much for listening. Area
forty five is on the way next. Have a great night,
Go Texans.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
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.