Which Texans Players Must Make Good First Impression Against Colts?
With the Texans opening the season on the road against the Indianapolis Colts, In The Loop goes over which players must make a good first impression.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00Right now, though, let's talk about which individual players
00:02for your Houston Texans must make a good first impression,
00:05particularly if they want to get a W in Indy at Lucas Oil
00:08Stadium. This Sunday noon is when it kicks off. And john, I
00:14have a strong feeling that you have a name that immediately
00:16jumps up a name that has already come in on the YouTube from Nick
00:19goes vest mode. Joe Mixon.
00:22Joe Mixon is one for sure. He's not my number one.
00:25Okay, so well, let's go with yours. And I know that we'll get
00:28back to Joe Mason because Joe Mixon is an interesting answer
00:30for me. No, he absolutely is. I want to know what you and Figgy
00:33think as well. Because you know what they say, you can only make
00:36a first impression once. And for some players more than others,
00:40that first impression this year, it's kind of going to just sort
00:43of start the narrative. And a lot of people once a narrative
00:48starts rolling, okay, a lot of times, you know, people are like
00:51hard to break. You got to go out of your way. There's got to be
00:53an abundance. Oh, he's a blah, blah, blah, based on one game or
00:57based on two games or whatever. That's what the hell we've been
00:59talking about with Stefan Diggs. Exactly. Right. Exactly. So
01:02there's a strong narrative there. I think I think for like,
01:05not PR, but narrative purposes. Damien Pierce, if you get on the
01:10old body and you carry the ball, the way that we talked about
01:13Damien Pierce, I don't know why my brain just did not even think
01:16about that. Yeah, that's my number. That's my number one. I
01:20mean, it's so obvious. It's so important. And the boys asked us
01:24this during toss this morning, when we were walking into
01:28studio, the and I had, you know, my answer because I said it here
01:32on the show. Who's going to be carrying the ball second? Yeah,
01:37tonight. I mean, Sunday, I think it's gonna be cam acres. I think
01:41that depth chart has just was just a another solid, so to
01:45speak for Damien Pierce, maybe maybe a little bit to throw
01:48throw the Colts off the scent a little bit, which I never buy
01:51into they know the story. They follow this stuff more than we
01:54do. But if Damien Pierce does carry the ball second, let's say
02:00he gets what six carries, you know, because Joe Mixon is going
02:05to carry the load. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, let's say he
02:07gets six carries. And he goes for 12 yards. That narrative. It
02:13ain't going nowhere anytime soon. I don't I don't unless he
02:16runs for a buck 80. You know, in week two against the Bears or
02:19something. He's got to have a good first impression. You're
02:23right. I do wonder, and maybe this is just me being so
02:27process driven versus results. How much of that do you think
02:30is actually the numbers themselves? Or if it looks like
02:33he's actually seeing the scene gaps better, even if the numbers
02:36aren't there in a big way? Do you think that there's a
02:38possibility for that narrative to not be as big? Maybe but what
02:42if Joe Mixon has 18 carries for 101 yards, right? And then he
02:46has six for 12? Yeah, that that's, that's a bad look. And
02:50I understand I'm being in some ways devil devil's advocate here
02:54and the devil don't need no advocate. But like, I'm, for me,
02:58it's all the thing that's gotten me about Damian Pierce. I know
03:01that the eight eight carries for nine yards in the preseason was
03:04the easy stat. For me, it was just he looked like he did not
03:07have a feel for the way makers did the way to run behind this
03:11yes line right or in this in this blocking scheme. And that
03:14was the thing that got it for me. And so if for some reason
03:17that looks different, I feel like I'll be quicker to get back
03:20into the place from like, okay, cool. Even if the numbers aren't
03:22there as much. I'm although to be 100% fair, I don't I'm trying
03:26to envision what it looks like if you were seeing if you're
03:28seeing the gaps well, but also still not putting up yards. I'm
03:31trying to envision what that looks like. And I don't have a
03:32great answer. And let me go through the other three very
03:34obvious ones here. Because I've got some not so obvious ones.
03:38And I want to know what you guys think should who has to have a
03:41good first impression. The other obvious ones are Kenyon Green,
03:44of course. Sure. john Metschy, of course. Okay. And Titus
03:48Howard. Yes, of course. Yes. So those the obvious ones are
03:52Damien Pierce by a mile. And then those three guys. Here's
03:56some not so obvious ones that I think it would. I'm not saying
03:59it would be like make or break. But man, it would be cool if
04:02they make a good first impression. Number one on this
04:05list for me is Will Anderson. Yeah, we love him. We know what
04:10he's gonna be. We talked about how great he's gonna be. And and
04:14we saw some hints of some real pass rush prowess at the end of
04:18last year. Hey, give me a sack man. Give me a sack and two
04:22tackles for losses. And then all of a sudden people are gonna be
04:25going all right. It's happening. You know what I mean? Yeah.
04:28Okay, that's interesting. We got some folks getting involved.
04:31Someone three they said mixing is gonna be washed up. Okay,
04:33you're you're coming in hot with that one. Okay. We got you on
04:37wax though. So if you want to come back around and be like,
04:39Nah, you see, I told you, you will have that down. But that is
04:43you were out there early on that one. Okay. 832 I agree with
04:47Lassiter and Toto must make good first photos. The next one I was
04:51going to mention the Colts will test them early and often and
04:53that is 100% true. Lassiter I guess I just have more
04:56confidence in but he's not wrong. Mine is Toto especially
04:59with Lassiter like he has a possibility of being matched up
05:01with some speedsters. Now one of them is not going to be in this
05:04game. wide receiver Josh downs is officially out for this one
05:07now kicker Matt Gay is a TBD still because and he's dealing
05:10with a hernia. Man, I hope he does play he did kick this week
05:13but he's dealing with a hernia. I don't know how much but yeah,
05:17Josh down speedster he won't be there but there's some speedsters
05:19in there and I know we've given we felt comfortable. We've been
05:22kind of assuaged with Kamari Lassiter and his the way that
05:25his technique is kind of made up for that four six speed. Yeah,
05:28but when you actually get there on that football field and games
05:31and you got some speedy guys that get punched in the face is
05:34Mike Tyson, right? So it will be interesting to see how he holds
05:38up in that. And then I have one more not so obvious one. And
05:41then I want to hear what you guys think is the most important
05:43first impressions and text in 7135724610. You know how I feel
05:49about Stefan Diggs this year? Yeah, I think he's gonna he's
05:52probably my favorite player. He's he's so integral. I think
05:57he's you're holding you're holding the ticket on first
05:59first pass to Stefan Diggs. I'm holding that ticket too. But it
06:03would be cool man. It would be cool if he makes that big time
06:06first impression and and not not only is my opinion justified,
06:10but a lot of fans will feel really really good about
06:13I do I do wonder though, right? Like I don't know that the
06:15Stefan Diggs narrative is about the first game at all. I feel
06:18like the Stefan Diggs narrative is does it go south? Yeah, week
06:2210 week 13. That's fair. wildcard round, right? Like I
06:26think those are the questions that I think that people are
06:28really more looking at. Yeah. And so I don't know that you can
06:31do anything for that narrative in week one, honestly. Yeah, no,
06:34that's fair. What about you, though? Um, a name that came up
06:38that was a good one was Neil Hunter. But I think I was looking
06:41more interior. I'm looking at someone like, I don't know which
06:46one to pick between Mario Edwards and Fatou Kassi. And
06:48maybe we just go ahead and put them both together. Like I think
06:51that this is this is going to be an interesting space. And how do
06:54they how do they help the likes of Hansen and To'o To'o by
06:58making sure that those guys are clean with strong play in that
07:02defensive line spot. And of course, I think there's a lot
07:04more comfort and belief in those guys, particularly Fatou Kassi
07:08who, you know, free agent acquisition and that stuff. But
07:11um, yeah, there I think that first impression is going to be
07:14do a go a big long way rather, in helping, helping people
07:19believe that the run stopping of this defense can be better.
07:23Figure you got anybody? Yeah, I think I got to I think the
07:26texter who brought this up last year, Kamari last year, I'm
07:29gonna be looking at him as a first impression because I'm not
07:34too confident the other people they got behind him. Well, that
07:37too. So if he can't handle the pressure and all that stuff,
07:40man, yeah, it's gonna be a long season, but or at least the
07:44first impression will be we'll say that. Yeah, yeah. But my
07:48second person I'm gonna be I got to look at Jalen Petrie, man,
07:51because yeah, that's a good Yeah, this is a new role, man.
07:55He struggled. We know he struggled last season. So I want
07:58to see how he was his first impression for this new role,
08:02not only first impression, but if it lingers, I mean, this
08:04could be his last year here. We thought that was on the table
08:08that last year might have been his last year. And then
08:10honestly, we're gonna be having questions about Hey, we should
08:13have had somebody I mean, we should have looked in more in
08:16the safety market. Yeah. And there's a name one name in
08:19particular that you start looking at when you talk about
08:21Jeffrey Simmons, right? Now, another thing on you mentioned
08:24that DB death if it is if it's a little bit of a struggle
08:28situation for Jalen Petrie. What is your next answer there?
08:31Yeah, right. Because again, miles Bryant. Yeah, cool. Well,
08:37at the nickel. Oh, you talk about last? Oh, no. But I was
08:41talking about Petrie. Yeah. Yeah. Right. So that's also
08:45another thing that that is interesting. Why you what while
08:47we're at it? Kalen Bullock. I mean, I think he's another one
08:51of those depth chart guys that is not real. You know, the most
08:54of the depth chart is accurate. I think Damian Pierce is
08:56inaccurate. And he's actually the third running back. We'll
08:58find out. I think Kalen Bullock is the starting safety. Like
09:01he's going to be trot out on the field. And and and he you
09:05know, his first impression is going to go a long way as well.
09:09Like if he's going to just get picked on or, you know,
09:11whatever, maybe beat somehow or whatever. I think Kalen Bullock
09:15would be a big one. Someone brought up Aziz. Do you think
09:18that it's like because we did the question is individual
09:20players that must make a good impression. You think that's
09:23going to shift anything if Aziz maybe doesn't look like he is
09:27all the way the beast in the middle of the defense that we
09:30anticipate? Well, I think yes, if he if he makes a bad first
09:34impression, okay, yeah, that's gonna go a long way. But I just
09:36for me, it's not even a factor, right? I'm just so you know, so
09:40in on on what he can bring and what he will bring for the
09:43squad. But yeah, if it all of a sudden, you're like, Oh, wow,
09:46where'd that come from? He didn't look good at all. Then
09:47yeah, that's could be something that could linger a little bit.
09:50No question about it. Alright, so if you want to keep sending
09:53those in, please