June 10, 2024 • 13 mins
KPRC reporter Aaron Wilson joins Next Up to recap the Houston Texans following mandatory minicamp. Kamari Lassiter, the Texans' second-round draft pick out of Georgia, turned heads and practiced with the first-team defense. "He had his moments" and "reacted well against a Pro Bowl guy" in Stefon Diggs, Wilson said. The Buffalo Bills traded Diggs to the Texans on April 3, and Diggs has been improving his timing and "is starting to build some chemistry" with quarterback C.J. Stroud. Along with Lassiter, linebacker Azeez-Al Shaair and defensive end Denico Autry have improved the depth of the Texans defense. Autry "can play inside or outside" on the defensive line, and as good as Blake Cashman was, [Al Shaair] is an upgrade." Steven Nelson, former Texans cornerback and a team captain last season, announced his retirement from the NFL after nine seasons. According to Wilson, Nelson "had offers," including from the Texans prior to the signings of C.J. Henderson and Jeff Okudah, but is deciding to retire for personal reasons.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
You are familiar with his work.He was our text or is our Texans
inside of NFL Efficionado one. AaronWilson was at Mini Camp Mandatory Mini Camp
over at the Houston Methodist Training Center. That was last Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday. A Doubs, good morningto you, ma'am. Good morning guys.
(00:20):
How you doing all right? Lookinggood? Uh? We will get
to some news that you have there. I saw that you broke a story
on a what is now former Texan, But let's talk about the current Texans.
What stood out to you at camplast week? Kamari Last for Kamari
Last or Kamari Last? Oh,he was breaking really well on the football
(00:42):
on Stefan Diggs Diggs Kamary Last thatit was not locking up Stefan Diggs.
My word is not yours. Heundercut a pass that was, you know,
intended for an open Stefan. Heknocks the way. Uh. There's
you know, a few videos outthere, but I saw him do it.
(01:07):
I watched him. I've watched himdo it in real Steed, And
what I would say is he reactedwell against a Pro Bowl guy. Normally
rookie corners struggle, but he isvery comfortable and I don't even care if
a player does get beat. That'sexpected because the offense, especially in these
situations, they know where they're going. You don't know where they're going.
(01:30):
You're just trying to keep up withthem, and there's no pass rush.
So you know, he shadowed himwell, he had his moments. We
haven't seen Jeff Okuda assert himself inthat manner, and we're seeing last year
making a bid for playing time whenwe're hearing from the coach to Nika Ryans
that he's trending up, that heyou know, basically he's making his move.
(01:52):
So for him to be the starter, you know, he's going to
have to stack more days like that. And of course, you know he's
known as a hitter. He's agood tackler. That's one of the reasons
they grafted him. But this wasencouraging. So yeah, that was one
of my bigger takeaways was Okay,Kamari last year, not that we were
like, oh, he's bad,it's just you know, or a bad
(02:12):
pick. I mean, you don'tknow until you start to see it.
I know he's faster than that fortytimes. I mean I think that he
was I've heard several times that hewas injured and that's why the time was
so slow. But he doesn't lookslow. He's running well with the receivers.
You know, I'm not putting himin the Hall of Fame yet,
e anything, don't put him forthe gold jacket. But no, he
looked pretty good. I also thoughtthat, you know, the timing with
(02:37):
Diggs keeps getting better with CJ.So they have started to build some chemistry
and then Tank, they'll looked evenbetter this week or sure last week,
any days during his first week back. So very impressed with how quickly Tank
has come back after the medical ordealand the trauma, you know, getting
(02:59):
shot through the leg. But he'she looked good out there. What's interesting
you're in on the the Steven Nelsonannouncement is yeah, I mean he still
looked like he had a lot offootball left to play. I mean he
had. This is a guy hadfive or seven a year ago. Is
this one of those like, yeah, I'm retiring, but if somebody calls
and really needs me, I'll wantto retire. Yeah, exactly. And
(03:21):
that's why he made it a pointto say that because if someone was to
you know, if it was agood football situation and a good money situation.
Money situation be very important. Thenyes, they're gonna have his wife.
They're gonna have a baby next month. That's was a really important consideration
for him, as well as whatthe market was saying. But I mean
(03:45):
he had I confirmed this with Iwas even contacted by general managers about Steve
asking questions like wanted to know moreabout his price, what was Steve looking
for? Things like that, andjust that you know, how was he
you know, playing all that stuff? And yeah, I mean he had
offers, including the Texans before theysigned on Kuda, but you know,
(04:08):
you have to like the offer,and you know, I think for some
people they don't understand it. Butit's you know, it's a real personal
decision. Whatever you think you're worthas a player or if you're a broadcaster,
a writer or whatever you do,real walk of life. And so
that's his decision. I mean,he's played nine seasons, he's coming off
of a really good year with theFive Picks, and you know, he
(04:31):
was a team captain. You know, I don't think the social media stuff
that doesn't have anything to do withit. That's something that fans make an
assumption about there's plenty of teams andthat doesn't come up like they were calling.
They're calling David Mullagetta and his otheragent, Tray Smith. So I
mean there's there was activity, itjust didn't really you know, intentionally make
(04:53):
it out there. I mean,but yeah, I put out some teams
and you know, the Raiders andGiants they just recently we're talking about,
you know, would you accept anoffer if we offered this that type of
thing, and you know the answerwas no, not of this time.
So yeah, I mean it's hisdecision, and you know, I think
ultimately, you know, he's gotto be accountable for himself and his family,
(05:15):
not you know, what fans are, media, whatever thing he should
do. So you know, that'sas a decision. He's really comfortable with
it when we talked yesterday and hada good conversation about and wrote the piece.
But yeah, it's been going thisway for a while that you know,
the number wasn't what he wanted andI'm totally cool with it. Right
(05:38):
Listen, the Texans aren't winning moregames because Steven Nelson is out there.
He's an average and this is meMy word is not yours answer. Stephen
Nelson is an average starting coin inthis league. He can help a team,
no question, But at his ageand the money that they're talking about,
I'm totally fine with this team movingon from Steven Nelson. I don't
think that's a big deal. Again, my words I may come to be
(06:00):
later on, later on we believe, don't know. I mean, he
was proven number two corner. Ithink the other argument, the other side,
just look at it from all angles, is that number two corners generally,
you know, are paid pretty wellnow, like you know, so
let's feel like a Darius William Imean he got a ten million dollars a
year, not that much younger thanhim, so it there are comparisons to
(06:25):
where their corners, you know,kind of with similar credentials. But yeah,
thirty one to me, he justturned thirty one in January. He
definitely had something left. I meanit was he was capable of intercepting more
passes and making more plays. ButI mean, yeah, we're not talking
about it all pro We're talking abouta good corner. What a reliable is.
(06:46):
We'll see what teams are looking for, like can you go out there
and you know, hold it downand not get torched. So you know,
the truth is, and like youprobably get these calls all the time,
like why don't they have this safety, Why don't they have this sea
tackle? There's not an All Starteam, Like, you can't have every
player via All Pro. You area Pro Bowl, you have to have
(07:06):
some guys are just there are goodplayers that you feel good enough to have
when you're starting eleven on either sideof the ball. So, I mean
that's kind of why teams make economicdecisions. I mean, some guys get
paid a lot. Some guys getpaid like the middle class. He was
a middle class you know kind ofsalary. You know, they even gave
him rade last year. But it'sfine, Like I tell all the time,
(07:29):
it is good. Your football teamis not necessarily the starting twenty two.
Your football team is really like playerstwenty to forty. Those are the
dudes that make up the bulk ofwhat your season is going to look like.
Aaron Wilson, you see his work. You read his work on Sports
seven ninety dot com as well ason his social media at Aaron Wilson underscore
(07:51):
NFL. Let's flip again, andI want to come back to guys that
still play for the Texans. Iam fascinated. We talked on Friday.
I believe we kicked around this defensereally just front seven some new faces actually
a lot of new faces. Whatdid you the sense that you get from
a leadership standpoint from guys like Azizal Shaire, guys like Deniko Entree,
(08:16):
guys like Danil Hunter, from amini camp standpoint, what can you add?
It's been special, especially with Azizal Shair as that field general kind
of extension of Demiko Ryans. Theircommunication is really on point and he understands
exactly how Demico wants it to look. And he's the leader to the point,
(08:37):
like when you probably hurt Will AndersonJunior that bite about how he was
complaining about something and he cussed outby a viz. He told him,
he said, you know, youknow, stop effing complaining and he's checking
Pro Bowl de Perturk of the Yearthe first he said it hit him the
wrong way and he said, man, he's right. So a guy like
(09:00):
to have the whole step of acannibal. But it's also more importantly sideline.
The sideline one hundred and sixty threetackles last season A talented guy.
We've got to know him a littlebit at some of these commedia events.
His story is impressive. Him andhis family, they were homeless, grow
up in the tamp area. Hewas, you know, an undrafted guy.
He's a self made success story.Yeah, I think it really jumps
(09:24):
out. But guys like Danil Hunter, the mentoring with a Will Anderson d
Neil is a special athlete and passthresher that stands out too. And then
Autrey is all football player. He'sa tough guy. He just Dimiko called
him unbreakable. I haven't seen alot of people that are able to block
him. You saw the Texans hada lot of problems blocking him in the
(09:46):
South Division with the Titans. AndI know he's a little bit older,
but I mean he can still hunt. That guy is a tough, tough,
tough type of guy and he getsoff blocks. He plays it the
right way. He can play insideor outside. And it's a nice piece
for them, and it didn't costthem a ton. I believe it was
two years, twenty million, andso they made a good investment in him,
(10:09):
and I would be surprised if hedoesn't, especially with the blocking attention
on Will Anderson and Hunter. Ifhe doesn't make a lot of plays,
we'll see what the stats line uplike. But I think he all those
guys were good ads to the defenseand they shouldn't be stouter against the run.
I believe with Al Shaier as goodas Blake cashm was, this guy
(10:33):
is an upgrade Aaron. We're acouple of weeks away here, I guess
a month and a half from trainingcamp and everything getting underway. Any you
foresee everybody being ready to go?And I asked that what the simple thought
of Larmie Tunsall and Titus Howard notbeing out there? I mean, do
you expect everybody's gonna be a fullgo when this thing really ramps up.
(10:54):
I don't know if the first day. I think they'll have to get them
acclimated from a football standpoint and conditioning. So when they come back, I
believe July eighteenth will be the firstday that we're out there. I think
there might be something of a rampup period for both of those guys.
There's also other injury rehabs. Soyou're talking about Noah Brown from a torn
(11:18):
laborer. He wasn't practicing or inthe mini camps so that's in question.
And then there are some players withminor injuries like Andrew Beck had a calf
strain. I think he'll be fullgo by camp. Hildarius Payin, the
Good drafted riggedy tackle, had astrained hamstring. He expected to be ready
for the start of camp. Butthe big ones to watch are Noah Brown,
(11:39):
Titus Howard, and Laramie Tonslaw.Laramie I was at his football camp
yesterday in the bubble and I thought, you know, he's playing catch with
the kids. He's having a goodtime and seems fine. I think he'll
Prairie to have heard he's completely ontrack, and dem Good said that as
well. Titus is injury is alot more serious. We had a knee
(12:01):
scope, a real simple one.He had his knee rained a few times.
He played hurt last ye and hedidn't really like seek attention of that,
but he did play through some pain, and I don't think that it
was his best season because of hishealth. I think that might see like,
you know, kind of lering mefrom two years ago that kind of
level this year, now that he'shad time to rehab and get his knee
(12:22):
right. But yeah, they're inpretty good shape health wise, and they
don't have anybody coming off of reallya terrible, terrible injury. I even
think they'll get Dylan Horden back outthere. I mean, he has missed
a lot of time because of hiscancer. Treatment is the stage four that
he's now in remission for really inspirational, and it was cool to see him
(12:43):
out there just watching with his teammates, and he looked like he'd been able
to put back on some of hisside. Obviously you get you know,
treatment for stage four hotchin lymphoma.You know it's going to take a toll
on you physically, but you knowthat guy I was banged back and I
don't know, just like I metyou the third no following a similar path
(13:07):
there it is. Please continue tofollow his work and support the station at
the same time he is at AaronWilson Underscore NFL. You can see his
work at Sports seven ninety dot com. Appreciate what back. By the way,
I guess we're up against D fourteendevelopment is now the commanders. Okay,
cool, we'll talk some more aboutthat. Gord has got to get
(13:28):
a read in. We'll appreciate youadup. Catch on the side but I
appreciate it. Man,
You are familiar with his work.He was our text or is our Texans
inside of NFL Efficionado one. AaronWilson was at Mini Camp Mandatory Mini Camp
over at the Houston Methodist Training Center. That was last Tuesday, Wednesday and
Thursday. A Doubs, good morningto you, ma'am. Good morning guys.
(00:20):
How you doing all right? Lookinggood? Uh? We will get
to some news that you have there. I saw that you broke a story
on a what is now former Texan, But let's talk about the current Texans.
What stood out to you at camplast week? Kamari Last for Kamari
Last or Kamari Last? Oh,he was breaking really well on the football
(00:42):
on Stefan Diggs Diggs Kamary Last thatit was not locking up Stefan Diggs.
My word is not yours. Heundercut a pass that was, you know,
intended for an open Stefan. Heknocks the way. Uh. There's
you know, a few videos outthere, but I saw him do it.
(01:07):
I watched him. I've watched himdo it in real Steed, And
what I would say is he reactedwell against a Pro Bowl guy. Normally
rookie corners struggle, but he isvery comfortable and I don't even care if
a player does get beat. That'sexpected because the offense, especially in these
situations, they know where they're going. You don't know where they're going.
(01:30):
You're just trying to keep up withthem, and there's no pass rush.
So you know, he shadowed himwell, he had his moments. We
haven't seen Jeff Okuda assert himself inthat manner, and we're seeing last year
making a bid for playing time whenwe're hearing from the coach to Nika Ryans
that he's trending up, that heyou know, basically he's making his move.
(01:52):
So for him to be the starter, you know, he's going to
have to stack more days like that. And of course, you know he's
known as a hitter. He's agood tackler. That's one of the reasons
they grafted him. But this wasencouraging. So yeah, that was one
of my bigger takeaways was Okay,Kamari last year, not that we were
like, oh, he's bad,it's just you know, or a bad
(02:12):
pick. I mean, you don'tknow until you start to see it.
I know he's faster than that fortytimes. I mean I think that he
was I've heard several times that hewas injured and that's why the time was
so slow. But he doesn't lookslow. He's running well with the receivers.
You know, I'm not putting himin the Hall of Fame yet,
e anything, don't put him forthe gold jacket. But no, he
looked pretty good. I also thoughtthat, you know, the timing with
(02:37):
Diggs keeps getting better with CJ.So they have started to build some chemistry
and then Tank, they'll looked evenbetter this week or sure last week,
any days during his first week back. So very impressed with how quickly Tank
has come back after the medical ordealand the trauma, you know, getting
(02:59):
shot through the leg. But he'she looked good out there. What's interesting
you're in on the the Steven Nelsonannouncement is yeah, I mean he still
looked like he had a lot offootball left to play. I mean he
had. This is a guy hadfive or seven a year ago. Is
this one of those like, yeah, I'm retiring, but if somebody calls
and really needs me, I'll wantto retire. Yeah, exactly. And
(03:21):
that's why he made it a pointto say that because if someone was to
you know, if it was agood football situation and a good money situation.
Money situation be very important. Thenyes, they're gonna have his wife.
They're gonna have a baby next month. That's was a really important consideration
for him, as well as whatthe market was saying. But I mean
(03:45):
he had I confirmed this with Iwas even contacted by general managers about Steve
asking questions like wanted to know moreabout his price, what was Steve looking
for? Things like that, andjust that you know, how was he
you know, playing all that stuff? And yeah, I mean he had
offers, including the Texans before theysigned on Kuda, but you know,
(04:08):
you have to like the offer,and you know, I think for some
people they don't understand it. Butit's you know, it's a real personal
decision. Whatever you think you're worthas a player or if you're a broadcaster,
a writer or whatever you do,real walk of life. And so
that's his decision. I mean,he's played nine seasons, he's coming off
of a really good year with theFive Picks, and you know, he
(04:31):
was a team captain. You know, I don't think the social media stuff
that doesn't have anything to do withit. That's something that fans make an
assumption about there's plenty of teams andthat doesn't come up like they were calling.
They're calling David Mullagetta and his otheragent, Tray Smith. So I
mean there's there was activity, itjust didn't really you know, intentionally make
(04:53):
it out there. I mean,but yeah, I put out some teams
and you know, the Raiders andGiants they just recently we're talking about,
you know, would you accept anoffer if we offered this that type of
thing, and you know the answerwas no, not of this time.
So yeah, I mean it's hisdecision, and you know, I think
ultimately, you know, he's gotto be accountable for himself and his family,
(05:15):
not you know, what fans are, media, whatever thing he should
do. So you know, that'sas a decision. He's really comfortable with
it when we talked yesterday and hada good conversation about and wrote the piece.
But yeah, it's been going thisway for a while that you know,
the number wasn't what he wanted andI'm totally cool with it. Right
(05:38):
Listen, the Texans aren't winning moregames because Steven Nelson is out there.
He's an average and this is meMy word is not yours answer. Stephen
Nelson is an average starting coin inthis league. He can help a team,
no question, But at his ageand the money that they're talking about,
I'm totally fine with this team movingon from Steven Nelson. I don't
think that's a big deal. Again, my words I may come to be
(06:00):
later on, later on we believe, don't know. I mean, he
was proven number two corner. Ithink the other argument, the other side,
just look at it from all angles, is that number two corners generally,
you know, are paid pretty wellnow, like you know, so
let's feel like a Darius William Imean he got a ten million dollars a
year, not that much younger thanhim, so it there are comparisons to
(06:25):
where their corners, you know,kind of with similar credentials. But yeah,
thirty one to me, he justturned thirty one in January. He
definitely had something left. I meanit was he was capable of intercepting more
passes and making more plays. ButI mean, yeah, we're not talking
about it all pro We're talking abouta good corner. What a reliable is.
(06:46):
We'll see what teams are looking for, like can you go out there
and you know, hold it downand not get torched. So you know,
the truth is, and like youprobably get these calls all the time,
like why don't they have this safety, Why don't they have this sea
tackle? There's not an All Starteam, Like, you can't have every
player via All Pro. You area Pro Bowl, you have to have
(07:06):
some guys are just there are goodplayers that you feel good enough to have
when you're starting eleven on either sideof the ball. So, I mean
that's kind of why teams make economicdecisions. I mean, some guys get
paid a lot. Some guys getpaid like the middle class. He was
a middle class you know kind ofsalary. You know, they even gave
him rade last year. But it'sfine, Like I tell all the time,
(07:29):
it is good. Your football teamis not necessarily the starting twenty two.
Your football team is really like playerstwenty to forty. Those are the
dudes that make up the bulk ofwhat your season is going to look like.
Aaron Wilson, you see his work. You read his work on Sports
seven ninety dot com as well ason his social media at Aaron Wilson underscore
(07:51):
NFL. Let's flip again, andI want to come back to guys that
still play for the Texans. Iam fascinated. We talked on Friday.
I believe we kicked around this defensereally just front seven some new faces actually
a lot of new faces. Whatdid you the sense that you get from
a leadership standpoint from guys like Azizal Shaire, guys like Deniko Entree,
(08:16):
guys like Danil Hunter, from amini camp standpoint, what can you add?
It's been special, especially with Azizal Shair as that field general kind
of extension of Demiko Ryans. Theircommunication is really on point and he understands
exactly how Demico wants it to look. And he's the leader to the point,
(08:37):
like when you probably hurt Will AndersonJunior that bite about how he was
complaining about something and he cussed outby a viz. He told him,
he said, you know, youknow, stop effing complaining and he's checking
Pro Bowl de Perturk of the Yearthe first he said it hit him the
wrong way and he said, man, he's right. So a guy like
(09:00):
to have the whole step of acannibal. But it's also more importantly sideline.
The sideline one hundred and sixty threetackles last season A talented guy.
We've got to know him a littlebit at some of these commedia events.
His story is impressive. Him andhis family, they were homeless, grow
up in the tamp area. Hewas, you know, an undrafted guy.
He's a self made success story.Yeah, I think it really jumps
(09:24):
out. But guys like Danil Hunter, the mentoring with a Will Anderson d
Neil is a special athlete and passthresher that stands out too. And then
Autrey is all football player. He'sa tough guy. He just Dimiko called
him unbreakable. I haven't seen alot of people that are able to block
him. You saw the Texans hada lot of problems blocking him in the
(09:46):
South Division with the Titans. AndI know he's a little bit older,
but I mean he can still hunt. That guy is a tough, tough,
tough type of guy and he getsoff blocks. He plays it the
right way. He can play insideor outside. And it's a nice piece
for them, and it didn't costthem a ton. I believe it was
two years, twenty million, andso they made a good investment in him,
(10:09):
and I would be surprised if hedoesn't, especially with the blocking attention
on Will Anderson and Hunter. Ifhe doesn't make a lot of plays,
we'll see what the stats line uplike. But I think he all those
guys were good ads to the defenseand they shouldn't be stouter against the run.
I believe with Al Shaier as goodas Blake cashm was, this guy
(10:33):
is an upgrade Aaron. We're acouple of weeks away here, I guess
a month and a half from trainingcamp and everything getting underway. Any you
foresee everybody being ready to go?And I asked that what the simple thought
of Larmie Tunsall and Titus Howard notbeing out there? I mean, do
you expect everybody's gonna be a fullgo when this thing really ramps up.
(10:54):
I don't know if the first day. I think they'll have to get them
acclimated from a football standpoint and conditioning. So when they come back, I
believe July eighteenth will be the firstday that we're out there. I think
there might be something of a rampup period for both of those guys.
There's also other injury rehabs. Soyou're talking about Noah Brown from a torn
(11:18):
laborer. He wasn't practicing or inthe mini camps so that's in question.
And then there are some players withminor injuries like Andrew Beck had a calf
strain. I think he'll be fullgo by camp. Hildarius Payin, the
Good drafted riggedy tackle, had astrained hamstring. He expected to be ready
for the start of camp. Butthe big ones to watch are Noah Brown,
(11:39):
Titus Howard, and Laramie Tonslaw.Laramie I was at his football camp
yesterday in the bubble and I thought, you know, he's playing catch with
the kids. He's having a goodtime and seems fine. I think he'll
Prairie to have heard he's completely ontrack, and dem Good said that as
well. Titus is injury is alot more serious. We had a knee
(12:01):
scope, a real simple one.He had his knee rained a few times.
He played hurt last ye and hedidn't really like seek attention of that,
but he did play through some pain, and I don't think that it
was his best season because of hishealth. I think that might see like,
you know, kind of lering mefrom two years ago that kind of
level this year, now that he'shad time to rehab and get his knee
(12:22):
right. But yeah, they're inpretty good shape health wise, and they
don't have anybody coming off of reallya terrible, terrible injury. I even
think they'll get Dylan Horden back outthere. I mean, he has missed
a lot of time because of hiscancer. Treatment is the stage four that
he's now in remission for really inspirational, and it was cool to see him
(12:43):
out there just watching with his teammates, and he looked like he'd been able
to put back on some of hisside. Obviously you get you know,
treatment for stage four hotchin lymphoma.You know it's going to take a toll
on you physically, but you knowthat guy I was banged back and I
don't know, just like I metyou the third no following a similar path
(13:07):
there it is. Please continue tofollow his work and support the station at
the same time he is at AaronWilson Underscore NFL. You can see his
work at Sports seven ninety dot com. Appreciate what back. By the way,
I guess we're up against D fourteendevelopment is now the commanders. Okay,
cool, we'll talk some more aboutthat. Gord has got to get
(13:28):
a read in. We'll appreciate youadup. Catch on the side but I
appreciate it. Man,
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