We're trying to anticipate potential roster cuts this year of players who could also play important roles for the Texans.
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00:00along with Seth Payne and we're thinking about some surprise cuts. Who could be a surprise
00:09cut by the Texans at training camp this year? There are a few candidates that we should
00:17consider. What say you, Seth?
00:19Yeah, and I guess surprise is maybe not the right word. I was the one that first used
00:25the word surprise. I'm not criticizing Brandon for this. But there are guys that I think
00:31maybe last year and especially in 2020 or 2021 that there's no way in hell they'd be
00:37cut because the Texans just didn't have that many good football players.
00:42It's less surprise, Seth, and it's more just maybe out of sight, out of mind. I think with
00:47them having not played or practiced in a month and maybe we just haven't thought as much
00:51about the roster, maybe it's just on the back burner. So surprise might not be the
00:55right word, but just roster cuts in general.
00:58It would have been like Robert Woods. I think there's a very good chance Robert Woods doesn't
01:03make the 53. And I think last year, there's no way in hell they would have cut Robert
01:08Woods because there were a lot of unknowns at the wide receiver position. Whereas this
01:13year you've got three A-plus studs at the top of your depth chart for wide receiver.
01:21And then you've got guys like John Mechie who are getting glowing reviews. You've got
01:27other guys that are going to be special teams contributors. And I think that's a big part
01:31of it, especially with kickoff return, probably returning to the kickoff return might end
01:36up being more important than it's ever been.
01:38It's not just that they made it an important play again. With the new rules, nobody knows
01:42exactly how it's going to play out, but it might end up being that much more valuable
01:48because the prospect of a kickoff return for a touchdown is so big that you could win or
01:52lose games. It's much more likely you could win or lose a game or two this year based
01:56on kickoff coverage and kickoff return.
01:59I think there's a really good chance that Robert Woods doesn't make the squad because
02:01he's not a guy you look at as like, okay, well, we're going to use the guy of advancing
02:05age for a roster spot so he can play special teams. So I think Robert Woods is one that
02:10wouldn't be a surprise. But it's a surprise compared to where we were in September of
02:152023.
02:16So I would, I would say, to your point, let's so let's follow up on that. It would be a
02:22surprise in September of 2023. Let's look at what all has changed, though, because you
02:28made some really important points about why, you know, making the case for why he would
02:32be a cut. Well, two of the guys talk about having three studs at that position. Two of
02:37them were already on the team when he played for him last year, Nico Collins and Tank
02:41Dale. I think the difference between then and now is that it's just what we know of
02:47those guys and the way that we think of those guys. Tank Dale was obviously a rookie that
02:51we were excited about, but we didn't realize necessarily that he that it was going to translate
02:56the way it did and that he and CJ Stroud were going to have the connection that they did.
03:00And then, of course, Nico Collins has the breakout year that he had, which allowed him
03:05to get paid. Those two guys are thought of a lot differently now than they were a year
03:12ago. So there so so so there is that part. But then also Robert Woods himself started
03:20out for the Texans as like CJ Stroud's most at least one of his most reliable third down
03:28targets. And over the course of the year, that changed somewhat with the emergence of
03:33other guys. And Robert Woods himself was banged up at times or like I say banged up.
03:37I'm talking to a former NFL player. Banged up to me probably is not the same thing as
03:42banged up to you. Well, yeah, you know, he missed time. Yeah. Yeah. And he had some lingering
03:46stuff. It's like he was always on the injured reporter over there working out to the side
03:50like an old guy. So so there was that. And then these other guys emerged. And so he is
03:55no longer the third down, reliable third down target that it seemed like he was going to
04:01be early on in the season. And then those other guys emerged in that way. And then you
04:08add Stefan Diggs. Then you add the John Metchie is in, you know, another year of, you know,
04:15expecting to take a leap. And so I think just the the things around Robert Woods have have
04:21changed greatly for him. Yeah, I think the other one, too, which I'm really I'm really
04:28intrigued by. And it's not going to be headline grabbing or anything in a lot of ways for
04:34now. But just what happens with Jimmy Ward, because I would if you go back to early 2023,
04:41I would have never thought that I might be talking about Jimmy Ward as a potential casualty
04:45at the end of training camp this year because he's a guy that D'Amico brought in specifically
04:50because of his familiarity with the defense and everything else. It's just that he's he's
04:55on the wrong side of 30 and he's been banged up and injured a lot. I think the only way,
05:00though, that they would end up cutting him or trading him or trying to trade him perhaps at
05:04the end of the training camp is if Kalen Bullock ends up being very, very promising. And I don't
05:11know if that's something you can you can really anticipate in a modern training camp. You just
05:15don't get to see as much of these guys as you used to. But the other big wild card would be
05:21if at some point they decide to go after Justin Simmons or one of the safeties that it's out there
05:26as a free agent right now. And, you know, Justin Simmons is he's older, too, but he's been more
05:32durable in some respects than Jimmy Ward. So I'm keeping an eye on him. I like Jimmy Ward a lot. I
05:39think he's I think he's kind of underappreciated by us because there are so many other things going
05:44on with the defense last year and because of his injuries last year. But I I do think it's a
05:50possibility. And it wouldn't be one that I think people feel emotionally as much because we really
05:55haven't had that much time to get to know Jimmy Ward. But it's it's on my watch list. I'll be the
06:00judge on what's a headline around here. I'm the headline right around here. And I reject the
06:05notion, Seth. I've been thinking about that ever since you started talking about Jimmy Ward about
06:09how it wouldn't be a headline. Is there is it'll be a headline. I just do it. Jimmy Ward, I think
06:18is he's provided more leadership for that defense than I think people would realize because he
06:24wasn't a headline item or a you know, a guy that was it wasn't like the Texans were a top five
06:30defense last year. So I think it's it's still looked as part of like one of that transition from
06:37being a veteran led team to relying on some of the younger guys. And obviously Jalen Petrie is
06:42another huge part of that. There's just there's so many unknowns at the safety position in terms of
06:46how it's all going to shake out right now that I think anything's possible. But it would still be a
06:51it would still be a surprise to me if Jimmy Ward got cut. Yeah, so I I think so I would be surprised
06:59as well. But to me, what would make it an even bigger headline would be if the next thing
07:08happened that you mentioned, which is the Justin Simmons thing. Like if it if the Jimmy Ward either
07:13release or trade or however, if Jimmy Ward's departure is coupled with a Justin Simmons
07:21arrival, that'll be that will be a huge headline and certainly a lot more understandable as well.
07:27Right. Yeah. I mean, you look at Jimmy Ward, he's played he played 12 games in 2022 and he played
07:3310 games last year for the Texans. And he's he's going to be 33 this year. So that's like all those
07:39things add up to, OK, we got to make some tough decisions. And yes, we like him as a veteran
07:43leader and he's valuable to us when he's healthy. But are we going to are we going to take that
07:48chance with a defensive backfield that's that already has a lot of question marks? I mean,
07:54if Jimmy were to get hurt during training camp or have some kind of issue, that's when it really
07:59the rubber really meets the road in terms of man, Jalen Petrie's really got to bounce back this year
08:04and Justin Simmons is just sitting out there. Justin Simmons is sitting out there waiting for
08:09just a situation like that. Like I'm sure he's had respectable offers, but he wants to be sure
08:14he's going into a situation where he's the bona fide starter and it's a good team. I would imagine
08:19that Justin Simmons is like looks at the Texans as a very appetizing team to go to, but the
08:25situation in their backfield just isn't quite what he would what he would want right now. He wants to
08:30go somewhere and still be the number one guy. So so Justin Simmons is an obvious name to watch out
08:36for during camp or as like just where does he end up and could he end up with the Texans? But I would
08:41point out that Kalen Bullock and I think I mentioned this to you last week when we were on together
08:45set on Friday. Kalen Bullock, bird legs aside, intrigues the hell out of me, dude. Yeah, he just
08:52intrigues the hell out of me. He's got like whatever that it factor is or there's like field
08:56vision or anticipation and just his simple ball skills and his ability to adjust to the ball
09:03while it's in the air. He's got all of those elements that what the Texans hope for is, hey,
09:08this can be an opportunistic guy. If we got we got all these pass rushes up front and the reason
09:14when one of the one of the great things about having a pass rush, a formidable pass rush, is
09:20that when you can play zone your guys that are ball hawks back there in the secondary can just
09:26keep their eye on that quarterback and the ball is going to come out quick and Bullock is exactly
09:31that kind of guy that can just cover a lot of ground and make a play on the ball. And I think
09:35if he starts to show a lot of evidence of that early in the season they might say like all right
09:39well look yeah he probably needs to physically mature a little bit and he's he's a raw product
09:45in some respects but we're just going to throw him out there and and see what he can do and
09:50again that depends on Jalen Petrie as well. The other guy the other guy that I think
09:56like doesn't fall into the category of surprise cut but it would be notable in so many ways
10:05emotionally as if Damian Pierce were to I think he would get traded but if he's not on the roster
10:12I think people right now can see exactly why that might happen given given the struggles that he
10:17had last year. I do think there are a lot of teams out there that maybe run more old school style
10:24man blocking scheme systems that look will look at Damian Pierce's rookie year and think okay yeah
10:31he fits into our system just fine and and we'll expect to get more of the rookie version of Damian
10:38Pierce so like Damian Damian might be the guy that's really going to be most closely watched
10:45by the team during training camp to really try to figure out okay does this guy get it now is it
10:50clicking for him and if not does does Nick really start working the phones including him as a part
10:56of a trade package so Seth I wonder if I have just a blind spot for Damian Pierce because
11:02everything that you mentioned is valid we understand what his struggles were we've
11:05watched it we know all about it but this one was a surprise to me a surprise for me to see on your
11:12list because I don't think I had given much consideration to him not figuring this thing
11:18out or at least putting all the effort and energy into figuring the thing out now maybe it's just
11:24not in it form maybe it's just not there we'll see but after hearing him talk on the post game
11:30show last or last year and just kind of having an understanding for Damian Pierce like I don't I'm
11:36not gonna pretend like I know him super well but I've been around him enough so I feel like I got
11:41a sense for what he's about what his sensibilities are it is just hard for me to envision him
11:48struggling in the same fashion that he did last year this upcoming year now again maybe it's just
11:55flat out straight up not a not a good fit but for it to to go from what he was his rookie year to
12:04man we just got to get this dude off the team would be a surprise for me even given what his
12:09struggles were last year and even given the turnover at that position we've seen guys
12:14have one one good year two good years and flame out at that position we've seen it
12:19countless of times but I think that would surprise me based off of maybe the blinders that I have on
12:26Damian yeah the belief that I have in him putting in the work and figuring it out well he's such a
12:31I mean he's everything you want out of a teammate you know he's all about just whenever he got
12:37praised as a rookie he would deflect it towards the offensive line even though the offensive line
12:41wasn't really helping him out that much you know he's just incredibly energetic he's everything you
12:47want as a player and I think that he's a guy as you know as good as Nick Casario is at removing
12:53emotion from the conversation I think Nick would look at Damian Pierce's man it's good to have guys
12:59like that on your football team yes the I think the comparison I might make when you think about
13:05like okay certain running backs not being fits for the scheme they're in Levy and Bell if Levy
13:11on Bell hadn't just kind of fallen apart after he after he sat out that one year and he just wasn't
13:16the same guy anymore if you look at Levy on Bell he was in the perfect system in Pittsburgh because
13:22Levy on had uh had a kind of an unorthodox rushing style where he was just extremely patient and but
13:30he was doing it behind an offensive line in a scheme where he had the time in the backfield
13:36to be able to just kind of pick and choose and then run behind run behind a pulling guard or run
13:43behind his fullback or whatever it might be and I think Levy on Bell would be a guy that wouldn't
13:47have been the same guy if he had gotten drafted to a team like the 49ers or somebody else like that
13:52um 49ers might not be the best example because they they can do things so many different ways
13:58so well um so I think that there's some guys in his own scheme that they are just not necessarily
14:05wired for the rhythm of those plays and they're sometimes just not a good fit which but they're
14:13still they're still very valuable in a different scheme and I I think that's just that's the big
14:19unknown is okay is he a guy that can adjust to this he talked about last year when he was on
14:23the postgame show about just how different it was from everything he had done because the picture
14:28is a lot murkier in his own blocking scheme um you know it's not it's not as concise and clear cut as
14:35like hey this is where the hole is going to be run to the hole and run really hard and then
14:40bust through and and get 10 yards it's just not as simple and some guys just don't adapt to it
14:46and yeah he's gonna like he's gonna work his butt off to do it and he has been you just don't know
14:50until you actually see see it right with your eyes in training camp two defensive players that you
14:55have on your list kurt heinisch and henry totoa both of those surprised me a little bit just
15:01because henry totoa's in his second year and kurt heinisch plays a position where they don't i'm not
15:07sure how good they are at that position so like right to me they haven't upgraded enough for his
15:13job to be in danger but i could just be completely wrong about that i think the the thing with the
15:18defensive tackle position is that they brought in a bunch of guys who even if they're bigger
15:26they're guys that still move really well that have a certain fluidity to them as pass rushers
15:32so they're not i mean they're never going to be like 10 plus sack per year guys or anything like
15:36that um and if you look at the guys that they actually drafted and brought it or brought in as
15:41a rookie free agent marcus harris and felderius pain those guys are more athletic guys they're
15:47undersized but more athletic where kurt heinisch is kind of like an older school just got a physique
15:54and athletic skill set that's more of like old school run stuffer and i just don't know how much
16:00of that type of guy d'amico wants on his on the team you know full of foley faticassi falls into
16:06that category too so he's he's like direct competition with kurt heinisch i mean they've
16:12got they've got so much competition at defensive tackle right now that amongst a lot of guys that
16:18are kind of fringe type dudes that you know wouldn't be starters on every single team that
16:23i think it's just it's a matter of numbers and that this is the last year where kurt will
16:28probably just get the benefit of being a homegrown guy and you know he's been on the team for a
16:33couple years but it's just it's fierce competition right now yeah yeah it's it's fierce competition
16:40kurt heinisch is a cool story i know sean pendergast regular host here is a fan of them for
16:46obvious reasons both notre dame guys um i want to say is kurt the connection with blake fisher
16:55i think the the the kurt gave a really glowing recommendation about blake fisher yeah i was
17:02about blake fisher and he really uh he really put in a good word for blake fisher yeah yeah
17:07just tough as a player by the way sometimes when they come and ask you about a guy you never want
17:10to be the guy that's you know screwing somebody's jobs job prospects or anything but uh like you
17:16there's that uh the gms and coaches when they ask a player about another player they know how
17:21to read between the lines there's like a glowing endorsement and then there's uh like yeah yeah
17:25he's a good guy uh met his family he was uh yeah hell of a guy hell of a guy that guy yeah yeah
17:29how do you handle that if you're you know you don't want to be a hater you don't want to mess
17:34up your former teammates chances but you also don't want to give a recommendation on somebody
17:39who's like you don't want that tied to your recommendation so like what's the what's the
17:44balance in that i remember when kubiak came in and troy evans was a guy who was a really good
17:50special teams player and a linebacker and he would go on to be the captain for the saints
17:55special teams the year they won the super bowl but i remember i remember kind of like giving
18:01i giving the kind of recommendation that would leave no doubt as to what kind of guy i thought
18:08troy evans was i was like listen this kid just leaves everything you want and a special teams
18:12guy he just busts his ass gets other guys together to work out in the offseason and everything
18:16whereas somebody else like if i hadn't felt that way about troy evans i would have highlighted
18:21his good his good qualities but it wouldn't have been as emphatic about it so i think it's
18:25i think it's they probably if a team gets a an emphatic endorse endorsement from a player about
18:32another player then they feel like they're getting the genuine opinion of him if he doesn't get like
18:37an emphatic endorsement then they might they might just discount discount it all together but
18:44it's like it's not helping that other guy out obviously you mentioned gary kubiak so speaking
18:48of the gary kubiak era and texans head coaches what does domico ronaldo