Texans All AccessNick Caserio in-studio to recap the Draft | Texans All Access
Hello Texans, Welcome to the program. Such a pleasure to have you along for the ride tonight, the ride home, the ride wherever you're going. If you're stationary, that too, well, let's get right to it here. Executive vice president and general manager Nick Cassario.
He's been busy, but.
Not too busy to give us some time in the Hundai Texans Radio studio.
Let's visit with Nick.
First off, good to be here, Thanks for having me.
Overall, I think we made some progress, you know, felt like we added some players that are going to help our team in some capacity. So a lot of people are involved in the process. Scouting department did a phenomenal job of keeping things organized, had a lot of information that we were able to process through.
Let's say, our draft room is pretty open.
We kind of talked through kind of each situation in each scenario kind of in real time. So just try to keep it moving and try to make good decisions and hopefully we've we've been able to accomplish that, you know, over the last three days or however many it was.
Yeah, it's about time you got back at studio. What you've been doing. Seriously, come on, wasting my time.
Nick, if you don't, Mike, can you take us through the kind of your thought process on trading down from twenty five to thirty four and kind of what you guys. I know you mentioned your press conference that you were doing a lot of work, maybe maybe more work than in other drafts. Kind of what was going on, kind of what was the thought process of moving twenty five to thirty four.
Yeah, it's funny, I didn't realize until after the fact even go down and grab like the sushi that they had out of right now, because that was in the bat Thursday night, because that was in the draft room the whole time. But no, we were we kind of looked at some different scenarios. We were positioned down there at twenty five. There was a couple of situations opportunities where if we could maybe move up, you know, to the top of the draft, not the top of the draft, but move up a little bit, either pick a twenty five or move back and just base. It's always based on kind of a pool or a pot of players. So once we kind of got down there in eighteen nineteen twenty range, we were kind of looking at you know, I had a few players that potentially could have factored in. But even before that, there was a couple of trade scenarios that were presented to us that we started them all a little bit, and then when we got to the actual pick twenty five, you know, there was a few players that we're on the board that we would have felt comfortable taken. We had three different actually three different trade scenarios that were on the board at that time. They were kind of waying, and then when we factored everything in, we ultimately decided just moving back to thirty four and picking up the couple extra thurs was the right thing to do with the time. So once we made the move, I mean, there was an opportunity or two where if we can get back in maybe in the bottom a little bit and get and grab a player, great, if it works, if it didn't, no worries, then we've been prepared to pick. Really, we felt we were probably gonna pick that second pick on Friday at thirty four, which is a second pick. Cleveland was gonna pick first more than likely, and then we were more than likely gonna pick and then after that then it was an amalgam of like a lot of different things that could happen.
You have to think quickly on your feet, no doubt. And I know you probably played out every possible scenario, right, How important is it to not fall in love with one possible move or possible play.
No, Mark, It's a really big part of it.
So I think that goes back to understanding the players and being comfortable with certain level of players. And if you lose on on this one, all right, if we go to this nice group, are we comfortable?
All right, here's our options.
And that's where it goes as applying to man, how far you move back could affect whether or not you actually consummate a trade or not. So you try not to get emotionally tied to one particular player. You understand the player, you've grated the player, he has a certain role or value for your team, or you think if you have the opportunity to draft him, great, If you don't, then you just kind of move on to the next thing. And we were doing that really Thursday, Friday and even into Saturday as well. I know there's a little bit of a gap for us once we trade it back in with the Marks pick, but then we didn't have a fifth round pick.
We had the sixes and the sevens. So even at that stage.
We were kind of maneuvering around a little bit, and there were some players Okay, here are the next three or four that are up. Okay, you lose one right then you go to the next group. So you just have to just continually keep the ball moving.
Nick, how much I'm trying to make sure I say this right? How much?
Is the draft sort of like a game in a sense that you got to be super prepared, but you got to be willing and able to move when something happens that maybe you didn't see happening, like, for example, when you moved back in a buck up in the second round to get up to get to ursiery. That was something in Mark and I talked about that it felt like between twenty eight and fifty, where you were twenty five and fifty whatever, you maybe would have felt more comfortable maybe getting into the forties. Is it kind of like a game in a sense, like you gotta be prepared, but you'd be willing to strike when the iron is hot.
Very much so, Dimiko and I have talked about this.
There you go into the game, the game gets started, and then what's going on around you?
What happens. Okay, this change, you got to make a modification. You have to make an adjustment.
I would say, specifically, in that situation, we were thirty four and then we had a little bit of a gap until the next pick. We had a couple extra thirds. So depending how far back you are, there's a shot you're gonna lose a certain pool of players. So we felt if we could probably get into the middle there somewhere in that second round, there was an opportunity for us to grab a player that we had great at a certain level that we felt good about, which I would say that was probably the impetus for the move to get Tay and to draft Aay.
So that's kind of how that one came to fruition.
It's got to be tough to decide now now is the time to do it right, because you mentioned a pool of players, Because if you missed out on Woody Marks or whoever the player might be, there has to be another one for you to take.
Yeah, and you have to there has to be a willing traded component on the other side. So start with that team they're not interested, go to the next team. I think we ended up trading with Vegas at forty eight whatever that was, So.
For some reason they didn't do it.
Then you go to the next team and try to figure out Then if you lose that player, all right, do you want to continue to trade and go back in Maybe there's a different entry point. So those are all things that you weigh. But to your point, John, it's very much like a game. You're prepared, you under think it's going to happen a certain way. While something changes, then you have to adjust and turn as well.
Yeah.
Absolutely, I'm glad you're not a bitter guy and that you still deal with Matt Campbell even though he went to Mount Union, you know, you being John Carroll you all those years. I'm glad that you still deal with him. But this is one of the questions that Josh and have Me ask you in the in the video we did for Iron Schopman's Iron about relationships and especially those at the head coach level.
You draft two guys from Iowa State.
I imagine that the relationship with Matt Campbell is really important, but also the fact that you could trust what he was telling you that you do draft both of his Iowa State receivers.
No, it's a huge part of it.
And we're in the information gathering business and they're trying to present a player in a certain fashion, and a lot of times the information is accurate. Doesn't mean it's not accurate, but sometimes a coach or someone else might say one thing and then it's purported to be maybe a little bit something different. So you kind of have to sift through it because they want their players to succeed. They want what's best for their players. But the relationship that coach Campbell and I have goes back a long way, not necessarily to Mount Union, but Matt and I have a good working relationship with a lot of respect for how he runs his program and the success that he's had at Iowa State. And even going back to a Hutch over many years ago, that was we talked about Hutch and everything that he said about Hutch has come to fruition. So when that happens, you can put a lot of stock in what that individual has to say about particular players.
What about the USC connection here two more players from USC after Klen last year, and I know there's some familiarity there overall for sure.
Yeah, I mean, you know, coach Riley has done a good job with that program. Now, it's interesting some of these players were like what he was a transfer, is only a one year player. But even going back to jay Lynn in Kalyn Kaylyn, Yeah, so Kaitlyn was there last year. They have a little bit of a relationship. They played kind of two different positions. Jalen was a player like where you saw the skill, good athlete, runs well, has some quickness, has some toughness. He was a player that we brought into NRG as part of our thirty man visit process and just to kind of continue to gather information there. And then Woody he kind of fit, you know, Riley's offense there fairly well, was very productive with the opportunities that he had this past season. So that was a situation where going going what you said, little bit early, we didn't have a fourth, We didn't have a fifth. By the time we picked in the sixth round, there was probably a good chance that wood he was not going to be there. So it's trying to figure out where do we have to go. Are we willing to give up the compensation associated with that? So I would say that was part of the rationale behind the Woody decision.
Man Sean Penry Gash and I were so happy when you made the one trade you got a fourth round pick, Like yes, then you.
Traded up to get Jalen.
We're like, no, traded up to get Woody and We're like yes.
You were just trying to feel airspace on Saturdays.
So that I mean, we were just doing radio shit that we were doing until you ended up trading to get up to get Woody and you moved up, you know, a decent amount to go get him.
What was it about him that you that you liked that you wanted to move up and go get him?
Right there?
Yeah, good football player.
I'd say his versatility kind of has some three down elements in some respects. I think his over his course of his career, he got over two hundred and fifty sixty receptions, so which I would say not all running backs have that same kind of profile. So, and that was even going back to Mississippi State and coach Leach's offense, which is a pass happy offense. But you saw him this season. They carried a ball quite a bit, ran for over a thousand yards. Elusive has some makemissibility, fairly instinctive as good vision. He's go with the ball in his hands. You know, top end speed is good, not great, but he was kind of a versatile player that as a staff we collectively like coaching staff liked him, scouting staff liked them. So it was trying to figure out how do we get the player on the team, and we had to give up you know, a certain level of compensation associated with it, but we were comfortable in the end.
It looks like at so many different positions, you have a veteran and then you have a rookie who could possibly compete or at least develop behind that veteran. What about the overall depth of the team as you draft some of these players.
Now, yeah, Demiko and I were talking about that the other day, like, we feel like we've put together a pretty competitive team that has depth across all positions, and in the end, now the players are going to sort it out, like their performance is going to determine who are the players that we have on the roster and then who else we have in the building on the practice squad. So our job is trying to create as much competition as possible, and we feel like we've done that at this point. Under standing that nothing is really set in Stone probably have some other opportunities here along the way April May June to add to the team and even in a training camp once we get to the cutdown. So but overall we feel we have a pretty competitive team and the players are going to sort itself out, you know, when they get here and ultimately in training camp.
Nik, you've been doing this a while.
There was a time back in the day where it's only two days where you just had that night after the first night to kind of get ready for the second night. What is that the night in between both days? How much does that help you? I mean, you're picking second of on Friday. How much did that Maybe not so much the night, but just the fact that you've got the rest of the morning to kind of make sure you got the board where you want it, how you're looking at it, any questions come up, You've got some time to kind of do that before six o'clock hits.
How important are those nights before?
Yeah, No, it's great. Honestly, After Thursday night, everybody packs up. You're done eleven thirty, twelve o'clock, So you pack up and you just go home and then you just come in the next morning. And kind of get started, and we've done some different exercises here. Let's look at this group of players, Let's make some calls, how to do some information gathering, Let's do some research, Let's kind of figure out maybe what do we think is going on? And when you're picking that early, you start to get a sense of what you think is going to happen at the top of the round. So we've tried to take advantage of that time. The morning afternoon meet get together. What are some of the things that we have to address or talk about. What are some of our opportunity is going to be? All right, we have these four picks or whatever many we had going into that second day, we're gonna use them all, all right. We feel like we're gonna get four good players. All right, if we give up a pick, we're probably gonna lose a player, but we're going to gain the player. So honestly, however you utilize that time, it's up to you. And we feel like we've done a good job of taking advantage of the day.
We want to hear about the conversations that didn't result in trades, like what's discussed how close were you must be a lot of phone calls and what happens. I want to know this, and I think the viewers and listeners do too. You're on the phone with somebody, somebody else calls call waiting. Is somebody else taking that call for you? Do you have like ten seconds?
You have a draft room phone, so everybody kind as a number which is only used during a drafty. But he's probably using everybody's cell phone. But we have other people in the draft room that are contacting kind of their equivalent on the other team, So they're talking to somebody. We're I'm talking to somebody. Then we put all the information together and then you have to talk to the team. If once you are going to do a trade, you talk to the team. Okay, we're good with the terms. Then you call the league, the league make sure it matches up. Okay, you're good. Then you're on the clock. Then you have to get the player on the phone to tell them you're gonna pick him. So it moves pretty quickly. But as long as you're prepared, long as you have the accurate information, you know, hopefully you can make a good decision.
Katta Hamilton from O to Rutgers guy that I can say, I know, I didn't see coming and we were gonna figured we were gonna draft Interiory from the lineman. Would you like about him? I know I like the wrestling background. Does that matter?
You know, good size, runs well, has some straight line speed, has a little bit of quickness, has some playing strength.
So I think we look.
View that as a player that has an opportunity to compete from a depth standpoint. We're gonna have four or five defensive tackles that are on the team. They're probably all gonna pay at some point. Everybody that's seen us play understands we're going to play a lot of different people.
You them good program.
Again, Coach Ciano does a great job of sort of developing those players so well coached, well schooled, has some physical traits and attributes that we like.
So which is why we drafted them. You know when we did.
Nick, this has been a big topic in the off season offensive line, as you've made many changes here. You draft urse three and you said moments ago, sometimes you let the players sort it out themselves. Is that the case here in a way, because I know you have a lot of possibilities with that front five.
Yeah, for sure, have a lot of confidence in the players in our building. Some players that have been in our system. Other players haven't been in our system. So that's what the spring is for, kind of put the foundation in place, and once we get into training camp, we'll kind of see.
How the competition goes.
Some players inside can play all three position spot all three spots. Other players are kind of one position players, tackles or tackles, some have guard flex So we have a number of players in the building that have played a lot of football, some haven't played. I mean Tay gets out of the mix. He's a lot of experience, but not at the NFL level. So the competition is going to sort itself out. And you go back and look at what happened in twenty three. There were three or four players that weren't on the team in training camp in August then play in the first four weeks of the season. So we'll kind of see how it goes. But we have a lot of confidence in the players that in the building and hopefully we can put the best the best five out there when we have to play our first game.
Nick, as soon as the first five guys went off the board, it just registered because I was going Higgins's Senior Bowl, Ersery Senior Bowl, Joe Smith's Senior Bowl, Noel Senior Like the first five all went to the Senior Bowl.
How important was that as an evaluation point for you guys?
The Senior Bowl is always a great evaluation tool because you get to see him against like players, against good players, kind of in a different environment. It's really you're focused on sort of the individual drills, the one on ones, those are the big thing, seven on seven, the team bits and pieces of it. But Jim Nagge's done a great job. You know he's going to be missed. I mean, Jim took the job as a general manager at the University of Oklahoma. I think Drew Fabianis has you know, been put in charge of Drew as a background in the NFL at the Cowboys for a number of years. So, but the Senior Bowl EXPERI at Seamobowl opportunity. We've gotten a lot out of it the last few years and don't see that really changing.
How many times to the course of a draft, especially later when we get to rounds five, six, seven, do you see players on the board or off the board or whatever where I wasn't I didn't see this one coming. And do conversations like that happen in the draft room? Take us inside.
Here's a little bit of everything.
So at that point, everybody's kind of maybe views a player a little bit differently. So you have a certain cool court of players everybody kind of probably sees similarly. You have some others that maybe you're not as familiar with, or that player didn't necessarily fit what you're doing. So I want to say, sometimes they come from everywhere, but sometimes they come from everywhere, so and everybody's just got to do what they feel is best for their team.
We've always hammled this point home. The message that you send in that is we are drafting best available. We draft best available. If you don't mind, can you go into the selection of Graham Merch it's a quarterback. I know a lot of fans are out there going, we got CJ, We've got Davis.
Why would we draft a quarterback right here?
But I know you guys in New England were always drafting a quarterback, always looking for maybe a developmental guy.
But why Graham? And why quarterback?
At that point, Nick, Yeah, No, Graham probably falls into that category.
And each team is probably little bit different, but every year or two, just getting a young quarterback in the program. I'd say Graham was a player, so it was at Wisconsin. Then when coach Fickle came in, he kind of transferred to Florida, played a little bit and it was injured this year, but smart kid, good arm kind of has subtle athleticism. Obviously, he was injured kind of midway through the year. At some point that he'll be ready to go, but we visit him here at NRG. It's part of the thirty men process, and just has a good way about him. So I mean, I think this was a player that we felt it would be good to work with in some capacity. CJ is not going anywhere for a long time and Davis has done a great job, so just kind of solidifying that room a little bit. I would say, even going back to Keaton Slovas, who we brought in last year in the practice squad, he made a lot of progress.
So we have four players here in the building.
Some teams carry three, some teams carry four, So we'll kind of let's sort it out here once we get going.
You're always quick to give credit to your staff, and I couldn't help. But notice that other people were also making phone calls to the draft choice of saying, Hey, you've gotten drafted by the Texans James Lipfort in company, why do that?
Why delegate that?
Yeah, we kind of spread around like everybody's invested.
Everybody's put a lot of time and energy and effort into this, and it's an opportunity for them to, you know, really change life of a player. So it's a collaborative effort. Everybody involved, and we talked about this. I talked about this before the draft started, and it's not a one man show. That's not how we operate. To Miko and I don't believe in that. So everybody's involved, so we can give other people opportunity to be a part of what we're doing on draft day. They've earned that opportunity with the work and the effort that they've put in, so it's nice to be able to give them that chance.
If you have a disagreement, do you settle it with arm wrestling? How do you settle a disagreement? If you have one in the.
Room, We've had very few, so we usually come to this and if we do, he'll beat my ass. So we'll probably go with this selection that he covets.
That's beautiful, all right, So what happens now?
We've got OTA's Mini camp coming up, all of that, but it never stops for you because we can count to or point to multiple players that you've gotten during training camp or after that have contributed to the team.
How do you handle thing?
Yeah, you said it, Mark, So even the last few days here feel like I've been just as busy as we were leading up to. So there's gonna be some players going on and off rosters or a certain pool of players that's still available. There's some players are on the street. So we're just trying to evaluate what our opportunities are there, players that we can bring in the work out just to kind of get an evaluation so we can kind of update their progress so that if we do need somebody, we're prepared for that. So we're moving forward with that, I would say a whole process, and then I would say at some point here we're going to transition to the twenty six draft prospects and start to do some of our spring scouting to kind of get ready for that. And then once the schedule comes out, which you know, everybody's excited about that, not except for me.
But once the schedule comes.
Out, then we'll have a better idea of who we're going to be playing here and you can start some of the offseason scott and reports and some of those types of things.
I so totally want to be in the room. When they asked Nick to be on the schedule video, yeah, it's never happened yet.
I don't think it will schedule video.
Yeah. All right.
So I'm not saying you're old, but you've been in the league for two and a half decades. Said, so, how has the draft room changed over those two and a half decades in the NFL?
Wow?
The technology, Uh is a big part of it. Kind of how the draft rooms are set up. I would say, who the people that are in there, it's probably changed for the years. Some are smaller, some are bigger. So we're kind of including everybody Here's a little bit different than maybe you know, some other teams have done it. But uh so, I'd say the technology is a big thing. We kind of went off, we went away from the tags this year on the board begrudgingly. So I was like the last of the Mohicans on that but we survived, adapt and adjust. So everything's becoming very digitized and very technologically based.
So I'd say that's probably the biggest.
So no taking a magnet off, guys. Yea more magnets throw, I can see where that would be.
I've got one more for you because the video is out. Frank Ross John Carrol Hall of Famer. What about that, your special teams coordinator gets into the hall.
Yeah, it means we had a pretty bad program that Frank. Frank was a really good player.
He was like that.
I don't know if he still is, but he was all time leading receiver. So it's a great honor for Frank. I mean, nobody puts more, nobody put more into the program at John Carroll than Frank. That nobody's put more into our program here in Houston since he's been here, and he does a lot of great things, not only for our team but in the community as well. So for him to be recognized it's a great it's a great honor and he deserves it. So we're happy to be a small part of that. So he earned it and I'm sure he'll be excited in October when he's when it's official.
He had more catches than McDaniels.
Way more, Yeah, way more.
You didn't throw the ball as all right, Nick, thanks a lot for joining us. Congrats on the draft.
Thanks fellas.
All right, there's Nick Cassario, Johnny.
I think the offensive line question is the big one here among everybody who follows this football team.
Are they better enough?
Obviously they're different, and are they better period on the offensive line?
We won't know it till we see it.
That's why I said, Hey, he says he lets the players kind of solve it. I think Demika would say the same thing, because the competition will ultimately take care of itself. You get your best five on the field and the best possible slots.
Is that how you see it.
I don't know that you can put together an offensive line after what you had last year, in particular Laromy Tunsil, and say your line is more talented. But that's not what this is about. It's not about being the most talented. It's about being the best group of five you can have. And so I think there is a better opportunity for that how they're constructed now, I think there's a better opportunity for that to happen than is it better.
Is it worth?
It's not as talented as last year, but I think it's got an opportunity to be a much better offensive line because I do think the pieces are gonna fit together better, and I do think that they will get uh, they will.
Get coaching Kole Popovich. I think they need.
I think they will have the adaptability in past pro schemes and things like that to make them better from off its coordinator Nick Keyley, and you put all that together with a scheme that's going to be a little bit more fluid and adaptable, with a group of linemen that is going to be more adaptable and hopefully can be more cohesive in there in line, you'll have a better overall offensive line than having a talented one that was underachieving, which it felt like it was last year.
This is for another show, probably, but you could almost see you thought Ursery could bump inside to start his career.
Maybe. Yeah, I could see that it'd.
Be interesting if he bumped to the left guard spot. Tell me this just from a sheer Layman question standpoint, Why can't Titus play right guard?
He plays right tax me?
Could he could?
I mean, Titus is the Titus is the type of guy to be able to do something like that for sure. And the thing is is, if you do move move Tay into guard, He's never played guard, so it's gonna be all foreign to him for the most part, whether it's right or left. So at that point, maybe you want to eliminate the moving parts, you know what I mean. Titus has played left guard. Hey, let's leave Titus there for the first time. Let's leave Titus in a spot. Let's let Tay adapt and adjust as he's learning the right guard spot, you know what I mean. Whereas if you move Tay to guard and he and Titus moves to right guard, now there's not a whole lot that changes for Titus, but it is on the right side. Okay, Well, you're putting this hand down versus that hand, this foot back versus this foot. You're just kind of changing. And then Nursery would be learning guard. So now you've got two guys that are kind of learning on the fly in a sense, right, And I don't know if you want that. So I think if you are gonna move, you are gonna move Tay into into guard. It probably makes sense that if Titus is healthy and playing left guard.
Leave him there left guard.
Let Tay be the one that adapts because he's basically playing in the NFL and playing guard.
He's not.
I mean, it's all one and the same at that point. So I do think there's obviously differences in playing tackle and guard. And you know, set this has brought up a great point and it's something that pointed out a long time ago about Ersa in a first sung. You know, he's a taller, kind of stiffer. He doesn't have a ton of knee bend, and that can can kind of hurt you a little bit at guard. But he's so strong and powerful that it makes me think that they can move guys off the line of scrimmage, and that because of the way he can anchor and with his strength he can go against you know, the heavies on the inside. He can go against Simmons and hold his own physically because he can't anchor and he is that strong. So that's why I think going into guard, and if he's one of the top five, and that's I think what they're trying to get to. They've got to put the best five linemen on the field. All right, figure it out.
We'll talk to Jonathan Alexander more about the NFL Draft the Houston Texans haul over the weekend. Let's do that next year on Texans Radio. Back in the groove here on Texans Radio, Let's get right to our visit with Jonathan Alexander from the Houston Chronicle. Jonathan, your take your assessment the weekend that was the twenty twenty five Texans Draft.
I mean it was eventful.
I mean, you know, looking back at it, you know, the Texans obviously they tried to trade up to get high am I reporting any case, as high as number twelve, to try to get one of the top offensive linemen. Kelvin Banks was their favorite. Tyler Booker was another guy they were wanting to trade up for, but they couldn't reach a trade agreement with the teams that they negotiated with. And ultimately I thought they made the best decision in trading back and getting good value, and that second round they got their favorite ride receiver in his draft class, and so I thought they made the best of an unfortunate situation.
It was always difficult to be picking at number twenty five.
It was in Johnathan, I remember one of your mock drafts. She had I'm moving up I think the nineteen to go get Kelvin Banks Junior. Do you think there was any desire to move up to get Banks Junior and then when they couldn't get Banks that they wanted to trade up to get Booker? What and kind of how do you know that that situation to be. Was it Banks then Booker kind of how they were going about it or do you think it was kind of Booker all along? What are your thoughts about how and what maybe the order of what they were trying to do to get up.
Yeah, based on my reporting, I know that the Texans initially going into the process, we're hoping they could get Kelvin Banks, so they were trying to trade up pretty high. They found out through Kelvin Maks's agent that Kelvin Banks was definitely going to come off the board early. He ended up coming off the board at nine, So they their next guy that they wanted to trade up for. Was they were trying to trade with the Cowboys was to get Tyler Booker. I do know that for sure, and then the Cowboys opted to stay with that twelfth pick because they didn't like the Texans. I also know that the Texans tried to trade with the Minnesota Vikings, and I suspect I don't know this as much as I know Booker and Banks, but I suspect they were trying to get a Mecca at Buka, and then when he came off the board at nineteen, they started looking to trade back. They like Donovan Jackson, but would have preferred him as a late first round early second round pick, and the Vikings obviously.
Valued him and took him at twenty four.
So a lot of their favorite players when the board ended up coming off, which is why they ended up doing what was smart and trading back.
Well, you talk about their favorite receiver in Higgins, and I got to think that they are excited about him, and I'm also excited about when you look at the body of work here that you can get out of Jailen Knowle and Jaden Higgins.
That's pretty exciting to me. What do you think of the two receivers?
Oh?
Absolutely, I think we talked about it before the draft that Jalen Nole was one of my favorite guys. I had mocked him in I think my first two or three mock drafts as a guy who I thought that they could take at number fifty eight, and somehow this guy who was productive, who played special teams as well, who kind of reminds you of Christian Kirk, somehow fell to seventy nine and they.
Were able to double up.
I don't blame Nick Casario at all for doing that, but Jada Higgins give you another option and another big receiver similar to Nico Collins. I don't know if they're playing stars are the same, but they definitely have similar size and a lot of people say great things. He was always going to go early in that second round, So just having those two guys together who have both went off four thousand yards in the same season, is a big get and I'm sure CD Stroud is happy about that that particular the way it played.
Out on Thursday night press conference, I know what we were getting close to packing up over at the draft party. Nick Cassario went to his press conference, and I believe it may have been the last question that he was asked about, and I can't remember who asked it, but it was is there a player when you traded down from twenty five? Was there a player that was essentially still on the board, that was still on the board.
Was that I thought that was you what.
Yeah, when Nick said, yeah, there's a guy that's still on the board, do you believe that to be Jayden Higgins.
I do.
I think he wasn't trying to exactly give it away, but I think he was one of the guys that they were considering that at twenty five. I think Josh Connery was another guy they were considering at twenty five, and they opted that to trade back, and ultimately they got their guy who they thought highly of.
Who you know, in the end, they're looking for great players, and I mean.
Great people who are also great players, and I think Higgins kind of fits that mold.
And I think when you look at number twenty five, it was Higgins and and I'm trying to remember, I think it may have been Higgins and Ursery. I think they were able to kind of Nick moves around so much it's kind of hard to remember exactly what. But it was like they got two players for the price of twenty five, and you think it's Higgins and anybody else they got, I mean, you got kind of a two third. I mean that that kind of solves two issues in some sense, instead of getting just one at number twenty five, so I kind of felt like the move down to thirty four, you didn't have to go down as far. You had the second pick of the second round. I don't think Carson Sweesssinger you were going to take a linebacker, so you ended up getting the guy that you thought all along later in the draft, Jonathan I got that I was really really excited about, and I know some fans were like, well, you could have got him later. I love the Joquavius Woody Marx your thoughts about grabbing him right there, in fact, trading up to go get him on Saturday, which gave Sean Pengass nine opportunity to talk about a pick which was fine, to go get a Woody Marks running back from out of USC formerly Assissippi State as well.
Yeah, he was obviously a guy that they really valued, given that they traded up into the fourth round to get him.
But Mars, you know, has it.
I think they were They've been looking for a guy who could really catch the ball out of their backfield, and Mark I do that. I think he had an eighty seven catch receiving eighty seven catch season while he was at was It Mississippi State before going to USC and then still had a good year catching the ball and ran for over a thousand yards last year for USC. So he's a really good back. And to me, it makes a lot of sense that they would target a running back given that this could be Damian Pierce's last season in the Texans jersey and they'll be looking for number two after next year for Joe Mixon. So why not start that process while getting somebody who was an additional weapon for CJ.
Stroude in the passing game.
All right, let's talk about the dvs here and taking rounds apart, but we'll group them together for sake of this conversation. Jalen Smith the corner from USC in round three and round six. Jalen Reed, the safety from Penn State. How do you think those guys fit into the mix in the defensive backfield.
Yeah, I see Jalen Smith being as a backup, you know, nickel cornerback.
That's how he projects.
And Nick Casario talked about it that Frank Ross sees him playing special teams and potentially being a contributor there.
He has that familiarity with Kaylyn Bullock having played three years.
They are super close and attended each other's draft parties. So and it was funny talking to Jalen Smith. He knew everybody in the secondary, just just named them all, but he seems to be a guy who they're pretty excited about.
And then of course you know Jalen Reid.
He's a guy who fell in the draft and who start to be probably drafted in the fourth round, ended up they getting him in the sixth, so that was good value. It'll be interesting to see what happens with that safety. But I did a depth chart fifty three man roster projection, and I was trying to figure out who are the four safeties are going to keep? And I had trouble ended up parting ways with m J. Stewart, who I think is key to the special teams. But how do you you know, you know, part ways with a pick you got a guy you got in the sixth round, who you got for really good value.
Yeah, it's true.
Uh, And I think part of this is gonna be determined by Jimmy Wart's health, which hopefully Jimmy is gonna be okay, but I think some of that will be definitely determined.
I just saw him today, By the way, nothing wrong with his handshake and conversational skills.
I can vouch for those, right.
Yeah, I'm not worried about that.
I mean, Jimmy's linguistically, he's good like I'm good with I'm just I'm worried about that.
Like that leg I'm worried about he's walking.
Okay, he's ambulat.
That's good that.
That's I can touch that too, Okay, Doctor Vandermerk, good job, Jonathan. I know that you and Sam do you never write the headlines for the tweets from the Houston Chronicle, but I took a little bit of umbrage with something that actually was said by them, because they're like, the Texans did everything in the draft except this one thing.
They didn't get a guard. And I was like, are we sure?
Are we absolutely one thousand percent sure that tay Erserie is going to be a tackle? Now I've even said he projects the tackle long term, but if they got to get the best five on the field, then maybe Ersery, with his strength and his power, ends up.
Moving into guard.
Your thoughts, because we haven't talked about it, tay Erserie being brought here. I know it's his tackle, but what about potentially playing him at guard. What if he is one of the better five, he could win the tackle job right out. I don't know, but I just thought, Okay, they didn't take a guard, but I think Ersery could be a guy that might be able to play guard if they want to get the best five in the field.
Your thoughts, Yeah, I think it's possible.
I mean, I asked Nick Cassario that question directly, do you anticipate tay Ersery potentially playing guard? And the first thing he said was he's never played guard before. He played only left tackle throughout his career. I asked him that on Day two. But you know, after the draft they seem to indicate the day we're open to moving guys around to get the best five on the field. So, you know, I think it's interesting. You know, I don't he definitely doesn't have experience there, but I think they'll do everything in their power to get this best offensive line combination.
You just don't know until you actually see it put together on the field, all right.
Jonathan Alexander for The Chronicle with us Your reaction when they took the quarterback, Graham Mertz. Good teams take quarterbacks every couple of years, But what did. What did you think when you saw that happen.
I was a little bit surprised.
But as you dig into because you know, Nick Sterio indicated that that.
Was probably like the one position that they went and target.
But as you dig a little bit more into it, and you hear that he met with the Texans throughout the process and that he's coming off the injury.
Still he's not ready yet.
I could foresee, you know, Mertz being a guy that they put on the pup list of the i R and you essentially have him for a red shirt year and then you played with cj and and Davis Mills, and then davis contract ends after next year, and maybe if they like enough, if he's improved enough, then they keep them on the roster. When Davis Mills goes elsewhere, or if Davis Mills continues to want to be with the Texans, then you know they have to make a decision on Merts. I think it is more of an insurance kind of policy, just in case what happens with Davis Mills.
Yeah, And I mean we talked about it on the draft show that when he got drafted, like man the Patriots drafted Garoppolo Brissett.
I mean, they had Brady and they did all that.
So I just feel like I don't have a problem drafting a quarterback and developmental quarterback totally. You know, the Texans just haven't been in a position where they could do that. They needed so many players and so many bodies that they just haven't been in that position.
To do it.
And then this year kind of felt like this is the right time to be able to do that. And I think Mertz is the right guy to be able to do that too, with everything he's been through at Wisconsin, everything he went through at Florida, kind of fighting off the DJ Lagway thing and then playing well all that, so I think mert ends up being kind of guy. Speaking of quarterbacks, everybody has had a chance to opine about Shador Sanders, and now we want Jonathan Alexander to do it too. Your thoughts about Shador falling to the fifth round on Day three, Jonathan, your thoughts about Shador.
Yeah, I didn't.
I don't think that Shador is a fifth round talent. I think at worst he's a third round talent. But I really do think he's a high second round talent. But I think more so That probably speaks to the fact that Shaduur kind of turned some teams off, maybe during the pre draft process, maybe during their meetings with him, because there were a few teams that really needed a quarterback.
The Stealers passed.
Over him, what five times, the Browns passed over him four times before time finally he's taking him. The Giants went up and got Jackson Dark obviously, so I was a little bit surprised that he felt as far as he fell. But I think that just speaks to, you know, what teams thought of him as a potential leader of their team. The talent's there, but is he the guy you want running the show? I thought that just more so spoke to how teams felt about him during the pre draft process.
I've got one more for you here, Jonathan, and look, free agency it's not over. It's never over, but obviously the initial waves of it are over. The draft is over, they've got the undrafted free agents signed. We all know they can add somebody. They added Derek Barnett late once upon a time, they added George others in recent years and in not so recent years, they added real contributors past training.
Camp or during or whatever.
But you tell me, are they better in twenty twenty five than they were in twenty twenty four? What is your assessment of this team as we break draft here and get ready for OTA's in mini camp, and we'll ask you this question a lot, probably, But state of the Texans right now late April, your thoughts.
I think they're around the same as they were last year. I mean, I remember last year they brought in a ton of talent to add and they didn't really go super hard in free agency this year.
But the reason why I say that they're the same is because I think, you know, the young players that they have will develop and become even better players. You get CJ. Stroud entering year three. Your three is for most quarterbacks, it's better than your two. Will Anderson just seems like he's about to really turn it up and start.
To be in the defensive player of the Year conversation.
You know, you got Stingley, who got his contract and now he can breathe and continue to play freely.
I think their young.
Players are going to continue to get better, even if the free agency class wasn't as good as it was last year. So I think they're about the same and I think having a new coaching staff and a new offensive staff will help put This will give the Texans offense.
And in the team overall team another boost.
Jonathan Tyler Warren goes to the Colts, camp Ward goes to the Titans, and the Jaguars completed their deal to go get Travis Hunter. Which of those three, because I think all three of them are gonna have massive impact, Which one of those three do you think had the most impact in the ANFC South.
I think from day one, I think it'll be Travis Hunter. I think that was I think he's going to be a phenomenal weapon for both size of the ball. I thought it was a good pick for the Jaguars. I just thought they gave up a little bit too much, Like I wouldn't have given up a first round pick a future first round pick to move up just three spots. Having said that, I think he's going to be probably the most impactful player in year one for their respective teams. I think it will take a little time for camp Ward, but I think eventually he'll get it. And I think Tyler Warren will be huge, But I'm just not convinced that the quarterbacks situations it's set in stone right now.
All right, Jonathan, what do people have to look forward to with the Chronicle?
Please check up my fifty three man roster projection which we posted this morning on Houston Chronicle dot com and let me know if.
You disagree or you agree with it.
So we got that out and as well as our coverage from the draft in the week and what happened with the inside you know, them building this team and the trades and the trades that did not happen.
I love it.
Fifty three man roster projection sounds like a segment for me and Johnny. Thank you for the content. Jonathan, Hey, thanks for joining us. Have a great day.
Absolutely thanks for having me.
That's our buddy, Jonathan Alexander from the Houston Chronicle.
Coming up.
We gave you many of the interviews last night with the draft choices, but we did not give you Jalen Smith. This is a dB from USC that could make a big difference this year. Let's get to know him better next year on Texans All Access. Final segment on the show tonight. It's a good one. As the Texans have their drafting the books. Jalen Smith one of the selections that we did not get to last night when we played the interviews that took place over the weekend with Drew Doherty and Friday night, they make this pick Jalen Smith from USC, one of two USC players picked this year. Last year, you know, they got Caitlyn Bullock, so there's a lot of USC familiarity. It's fun they get to know these guys. Bullock was with Smith when he was picked. Awesome stuff. And Drew catches up with Jalen Smith the dB.
Jalen, First things first, congratulations looked like you were having a fun time there celebrating, and you were celebrating with the guy who's a former teammate and who's now a teammate again and Kaylen Bullock.
Weren't you, Yes, sir, Yes.
Sir man. It was a great time and great experience.
Man.
Sometimes you can always remember man for the rest of your life.
Yeah.
In addition to him being there, who else was there with you for the big moment?
So you know, I have friends and family.
You know, my DC came, coach Lynn, my defensive backs, coach Bell.
It's a lot of people.
Man.
Coach A c row Chris Rowland. He's now plays for the for the Kansas City chiefs. Uh So, a couple of a couple of guys show their face. Man, it was great man.
A couple of my teammates, man, it was just great to see their faces.
Man.
Sure well, A happy evening indeed, And it's come to fruition because you're a pretty darn good football player. For those who might not have seen you play much in college, who are you? What type of player are you?
Yes, sir, I'm a super versative player. Can play at any position at a very high level. Can can fit in the run, Uh, can play, can play excellent man coverage, uh? And can I can can also you know, do a lot of special teams and just be a lot of energy shifter, a great player, a selfless player, a team a team first player.
But ultimately, man, just getting a competitor all in one.
You know a lot of times when we do these interviews right after a draft, the pick says, well I can do anything, and and yeah he can sometimes, but you actually walk the walk. I mean you've played cornerback, You've played both safety spots, you played nickel corner. I mean I think you probably could sell hot dogs, build houses, do everything.
You're a very versatile guy.
So with all that in mind, how exciting is it to join a defense like the one that Texans have. I know Bullock has told you a lot about it. I'm sure you've seen a little bit of it over the years, so he's been here.
Yeah, yeah, No, they get after it.
No.
You just watching film, you know, being a FOOTBA addict like me, Man, I just like to watch film. And you know, they do a great job of playing together, you know, with with Derek and Camari, Jalen Petrie, CJG.
All those guys.
Man, they come together for real, and uh, I just think, man, it's gonna be great and a lot of energy in the back end for sure. Just can't wait to get out there and you know, build that broad in that brotherhood for sure.
Yeah.
You bring up that energy and it's driven in large part because of the head coach, Tamiko Ryans. He's a former defensive player, former star here starred Alabama. What are your interactions with him been like? And what do you think of Demiko Ryans?
Nothing with great vibes And you know, my first time meeting in the move is nothing with great vibes. You can tell how genuine he is as a person, and when you have a conversation with the former player, it's nothing but love. Just understand they have a different sense for the game. It's you like just how you have it, same view, same clear out view. So just talking to him was just great.
Man.
He's super energetic and you can.
Tell he loves the game of football, you know, being a dema guy coming from Bamua and stuff like that.
It was it was just great man. You can tell he has that great and that and that and that hunger you know, the win. So it's just great to be a part of it.
All right.
So what's next for you? Ah?
So right now, man, we're just gonna hang with the family.
Man.
Just enjoy it. Enjoyed his time, Enjoyed this experience. You know, I got my little brothers.
My twin sister just.
Had her baby, like a couple of days ago, and she made the trip. So I was gonna hang with her and just enjoy this family man.
Enjoyed my time.
Did you say your twin sister.
Oh yeah, so yes, I have a twin sister. I'm older by two minutes. I always have to put that.
Your baby a I like that.
Okay, So I got a nephew, a little nephew, and as well my nephew Jace, so I want to welcome him. You know, it's a special week and just excited and excited man, ultimately, just excited to be a Texan man.
It is tough to top that. You got a nephew, you got a new home for your job. That's exciting stuff. Jalen Smith, We're really happy that you're Houston Texan. We can't wait to see you here in town. Go celebrate and live it up and come see us soon.
Okay, yes, sir, most definitely man appreciate y'all. Man and man, Houston got a problem.
There's Drew Doherty and Jalen Smith out of USC and you know how it went last year with rookie DBS Kamari Lassiter plays. We thought he was just gonna compete, maybe plays starts, makes huge plays, Kelen Bullock huge place pick in Game one at Indy. Let's get Jalen Smith doing stuff like this and certainly playing on Frank Ross's Special Teams units, because you know, Frank likes to use those guys who can fly, make plays, gunners, whatever the heck he does in his special team's concoctions, the recipe for success with Frank Ross, Hall of Famer from John Carroll University. We talked about that with Nick Casserio, fellow John Carrol alum, who was on the show earlier. If you missed it, get it in podcast form soon enough. Odyssey app right way everywhere else. Takes a few hours, but you can enjoy that and our conversation with Jonathan Alexander Tomorrow night back with a full show Area forty five coming your way next.
Have a great night, Go Texans.
