Speaker 1: In the Lab, a Texans podcast that takes a different
Speaker 1: look at things. Drew Doherty and John Harris have their
Speaker 1: lab coats and goggles on and the Bunsen burners burning.
Speaker 1: Here's Drew in the Lab time right now.
Speaker 2: Drew, John, good to be with you. We appreciate you listening,
Speaker 2: watching whatever you're doing. And John, how are you?
Speaker 3: First of all, okay hanging in there?
Speaker 4: It's uh, I don't know. It's late in March. I
Speaker 4: know that, and I'm knee deep.
Speaker 3: I think last night I was watching a safety.
Speaker 4: From Ohio State, like midnight, trying to get because I
Speaker 4: had I had made a point. I was doing a
Speaker 4: certain number of players. He was the last player that
Speaker 4: day and it just took me.
Speaker 3: On into midnight.
Speaker 2: So I don't know if he wrote players or what
Speaker 2: were you doing.
Speaker 3: It just happened to be that player. I don't know
Speaker 3: why I was. Josh Proctor from out Ohio State.
Speaker 4: Really, you know, good athlete, you know, excellent build and
Speaker 4: all that kind of stuff, But you know it might
Speaker 4: be a guy that Texas could look at.
Speaker 5: On date.
Speaker 4: You'll add to the special teams and bolster the safety
Speaker 4: the safety depth chart, if you will, But your free
Speaker 4: agency has done plenty of that bolstering depth chart, so
Speaker 4: we'll see kind of how all that, how all that goes.
Speaker 4: But Man, a lot of news happening with the Texans.
Speaker 4: It's crazy, dude.
Speaker 2: Yeah, let's start there. You brought up special teams. Special
Speaker 2: teams is getting impacted externally in a huge way because
Speaker 2: of the new kickoff rule. And basically it's the new
Speaker 2: XFL or it's the XFL kickoff rule, which have you
Speaker 2: if you haven't seen it. There's basically two lines facing
Speaker 2: each other, and they're really really close on the kickoff,
Speaker 2: the receiving teams into the field, and you can you
Speaker 2: don't have to boom it as far and as hard
Speaker 2: you can if you want, but if you kick it
Speaker 2: out of bounds, you give them a touch back at
Speaker 2: the thirty. But what this does is it probably eliminates
Speaker 2: any more Andrew Beck kickoff returns for a score, which
Speaker 2: I just tweeted, So we're not gonna see Andrew Beck
Speaker 2: getting loose like you did. But I think it's probably
Speaker 2: gonna make things a little bit more exciting on kickoff
Speaker 2: returns because it's almost more like an offensive play really,
Speaker 2: because you can kind of scheme some blocking schemes up
Speaker 2: that are a little different and so on and so forth,
Speaker 2: and you can speak even better to this, but I'm
Speaker 2: cool with this. It's I'm a little sad I won't
Speaker 2: see the old kickoff. But this will be kind of interesting,
Speaker 2: don't you think?
Speaker 4: Oh yeah, interesting is definitely the word. And I'm not
Speaker 4: totally sure.
Speaker 5: Way too much in this this forum, but it's not
Speaker 5: work for this.
Speaker 4: This one's kind of like a you know, doghead turn
Speaker 4: when when he or she sees something like it's kind
Speaker 4: of like that, like, okay, let's see. And the reason
Speaker 4: that's interesting to me is how teams are going to
Speaker 4: attack this. Are they gonna treat I mean, because the
Speaker 4: players are so close the you know, the defenders and
Speaker 4: the blockers are so close. I've seen some XFL teams
Speaker 4: that run like some sort of offense, almost like an
Speaker 4: offensive scheme, you know, the way that they're trying to
Speaker 4: block that.
Speaker 3: And I would imagine that when Frank.
Speaker 4: Ross first heard of this possibly happening, he sat down
Speaker 4: and started doodling and watching XFL film. You know what
Speaker 4: what did good teams with excuse me, what teams with returners?
Speaker 3: What did they do?
Speaker 4: And you're right, it does eliminate Andrew Becks sort of return,
Speaker 4: so we'll always have Andrew Beck and Jacksonville to play.
Speaker 3: That I think turned the season around in twenty twenty three.
Speaker 4: But what it also does is it brings back the
Speaker 4: return into the game because in all honesty and college football,
Speaker 4: there are very few returns now because of the fair
Speaker 4: catch rule, and coaches are just like, no.
Speaker 5: We want to I don't like that. I don't like
Speaker 5: that fair catch.
Speaker 4: I mean, you know, we had that last year in
Speaker 4: the NFL, and I'll never forget, like second game of
Speaker 4: the year, the Colts have a you know, they waved
Speaker 4: a fair catch and I just remember my heart dropping,
Speaker 4: like what, oh yeah, okay, And I thought it was
Speaker 4: a great kick by Kymie and just fair catch.
Speaker 3: So I hated that rule too.
Speaker 4: But you're not you don't have as many returns in
Speaker 4: college and so I think teams in some sense have
Speaker 4: gotten away from putting a really good returner back there.
Speaker 3: Well, I'm curious to see now how NFL teams will
Speaker 3: do it. What will they who will they put back there?
Speaker 4: What does this bring back in that particular position, because
Speaker 4: that used to be of value, Like I would put
Speaker 4: in a draft report.
Speaker 3: Hey, this guy's got kicking punt returnability. Dry.
Speaker 4: I don't know that I put that in many scotting
Speaker 4: reports that I've done thus far, and I've done almost
Speaker 4: probably two and two hundred and fifteen reports. I don't
Speaker 4: know that I've put in there. Oh yeah, punt and
Speaker 4: kick return skills like that. I mean, and I don't
Speaker 4: even know if a guy has to have kicking punt
Speaker 4: return skills. You know, it might just be a number
Speaker 4: three running back you want back there, a guy that
Speaker 4: can at least just catch the ball and then run
Speaker 4: like a running back. And that's, you know, kind of
Speaker 4: the Damian Pierce theory. Like last year, Damie catch the ball. Now,
Speaker 4: he obviously had gets a build up speed, but you know,
Speaker 4: he's very difficult to tackle. So maybe that becomes the
Speaker 4: role of the third running back. Maybe that becomes the
Speaker 4: role of the fourth or fifth wide receivers. You know,
Speaker 4: a guy that's got good return skills. You know, does
Speaker 4: this increase the value of a guy like Devin Dubernator
Speaker 4: just went down to Jackson's I don't know.
Speaker 3: I'm really curious.
Speaker 4: Keishaw Nixon is one of the better return guys with
Speaker 4: the Packers and so what does what does that bring
Speaker 4: for him? And what does that open up for him?
Speaker 4: Maybe maybe it doesn't open things up. Maybe he needs
Speaker 4: a little bit more runway to be able to make
Speaker 4: a move.
Speaker 3: I don't know.
Speaker 4: So I'm curious how teams are going to how they're
Speaker 4: going to defend it. I'm curious as to what they
Speaker 4: come up from a creative standpoint. So I guess the
Speaker 4: next one now is what happens with the outside kick?
Speaker 4: Are they gonna give teams? I know one of the teams,
Speaker 4: I can't remember which one. It was proposed the fourth
Speaker 4: and twenty from the twenty your own twenty.
Speaker 3: I think that's what it is.
Speaker 4: And I was like, I love that rule. I love
Speaker 4: it because I've I've been there on outside kicks.
Speaker 5: Man.
Speaker 4: That's one of the scariest things I've ever been a
Speaker 4: part of into sports ever. And I've faced ninety five
Speaker 4: mile on hour fastball.
Speaker 2: Man that oh you're saying, okay, so yeah, you're saying
Speaker 2: when you're a you wise player, yeah, oh.
Speaker 3: I hated outside kick. I hated it as a coach,
Speaker 3: I hated it as a player, hated it.
Speaker 4: So I like the opportunity to go get the ball
Speaker 4: again and outside kick, but you put in that fourth
Speaker 4: to twenty rule because I don't know how you want
Speaker 4: side kick with this thing now, I don't know how
Speaker 4: that goes. So there'll be some things I have to
Speaker 4: get kind of worked out. But you know, the first
Speaker 4: game of the year, we'll end up featuring the Texans,
Speaker 4: so we'll find out right away.
Speaker 2: Wait what Yeah, if you didn't hear the Pro Football
Speaker 2: Hall of Fame game, the Texans are going to be
Speaker 2: in it against the Bears. It makes so much sense
Speaker 2: because Andre Johnson going to the Hall of Fame, he
Speaker 2: was a Texan. You got Devin Hester, former Bear, going
Speaker 2: in as well as Mango. Steve McMichael, that guy. If
Speaker 2: you're watching or listening to this and you don't know
Speaker 2: really much about him, just go go to YouTube and
Speaker 2: look up Steve McMichael character with a capital C. He
Speaker 2: was a part of that phenomenal eighty five Bears defense,
Speaker 2: but really yep, almost all of the eighties into the
Speaker 2: early nineties. He was a force there on the inside.
Speaker 2: Then he went into the WWE. He was a wrestler,
Speaker 2: got a great he's always got like the good personality
Speaker 2: and good perspective on things.
Speaker 5: When you see the interviews.
Speaker 2: Sadly he's fighting Luke Griggs's disease, but he goes in
Speaker 2: as well as Julius Pepper's played played with the Bears
Speaker 2: for a few years, so with three former Bears, a Texan,
Speaker 2: and the Texans haven't been in it since two thousand
Speaker 2: and two, first year of the franchise, so that we
Speaker 2: kind of do and that's gonna be fun. That means
Speaker 2: they have four preseason games as opposed to just three.
Speaker 2: Don't know how much we'll see if the starter's probably
Speaker 2: not much because it's so very early in August, but nonetheless,
Speaker 2: first bit of football we'll include the Texans and that's
Speaker 2: not a bad thing. It's on Thursday night football. I
Speaker 2: can't wait, You can't wait. It's gonna be a lot
Speaker 2: of fun. John, It's gonna be a great weekend because
Speaker 2: you get the game on Thursday and then dre going
Speaker 2: into the Hall on Saturday night or Saturday afternoon.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's gonna be a pretty pretty awesome situation.
Speaker 4: And you know, looking forward, I've never been to the
Speaker 4: Hall of Fame and either you know, it got to
Speaker 4: a point where I was like, you know what, I'm
Speaker 4: just gonna come up here with you know what a
Speaker 4: Texan gets in the Hall of Fame. And so when
Speaker 4: Andre got in the Hall of Fame, I was like,
Speaker 4: please put us in the game so we can get
Speaker 4: a trip up there to cam and I would you know,
Speaker 4: looking forward to that so so much se Andre going in.
Speaker 4: You know, the game itself will you know, are always
Speaker 4: fun and you know, you know, for us doing the game,
Speaker 4: it gives us a chance, it kind of work the
Speaker 4: kinks out, It does move everything up. You know, it's
Speaker 4: going to probably start training camp a week earlier, so
Speaker 4: that will change things a little bit, kind of changes things,
Speaker 4: you know for us having to do you know, Monday
Speaker 4: radio or not Monday radio, but morning radio for training camp.
Speaker 4: But look, I think a lot of people are really
Speaker 4: excited about this twenty twenty four team. And I think
Speaker 4: last year, it was last year the Ravens. I think
Speaker 4: the Ravens were in it. I want to say the
Speaker 4: Ravens were in it, and you know they played all
Speaker 4: the way to THEFC Championship game. So this this is
Speaker 4: just gonna be I think a situation which a lot
Speaker 4: of you know, twos and threes are going to get
Speaker 4: a look a lot of rookies are going to get
Speaker 4: some looks, and you know you're gonna face the Bears
Speaker 4: during season, so you're not going to give them anything.
Speaker 4: It's just an opportunity to, you know, get some younger
Speaker 4: guys the opportunity to scrimmage against, you know, a Bears team.
Speaker 4: And I would hope that Matt Ebriflus and Demi Cool
Speaker 4: sit down and say, hey, we're not playing our ones.
Speaker 3: You know, here's what we're doing.
Speaker 4: And so you don't get a situation where you know,
Speaker 4: Texas are playing their twos and threes and.
Speaker 3: The Bears are like, no, we're all in ones. Here
Speaker 3: we go. So either way, hopefully they'll get that worked out.
Speaker 4: But either way, I I don't mind it.
Speaker 3: I'm very In fact, I called for it.
Speaker 4: I wanted it because I wanted to see Drac into
Speaker 4: the Hall of Fame and hopefully a few years after
Speaker 4: that we'll all find a way to get to J. J.
Speaker 3: Watts Hall of Fame and shrim it as well.
Speaker 4: So just really looking forward to that entire weekend and
Speaker 4: everything that goes to the Hall of Fame and just
Speaker 4: soaking all that in.
Speaker 5: Can't wait.
Speaker 2: It's gonna be cool, Like you said, I've never been
Speaker 2: to that one. I've been to the Baseball Hall of
Speaker 2: Fame in Cooperstown and that's I have too tremendous too. Now,
Speaker 2: granted it was in nineteen ninety and I was thirteen years.
Speaker 3: Old, so little that's a cool place.
Speaker 5: Awesome town, USA. All right, let's kick in to this.
Speaker 2: You and I text back and forth a lot, and
Speaker 2: last night we were going back and forth about this.
Speaker 5: I was running mock draft simulation.
Speaker 2: And now that the Texans have moved back, and even
Speaker 2: before they move back, the situation comes up quite a
Speaker 2: bit where at forty two, a guy like Tovandre Sweat
Speaker 2: is available, the massive defensive tackle, knows tackle from Texas
Speaker 2: is there. You're a big fan of him. I've seen
Speaker 2: his stuff. Boil boy, he's exciting you. Wonder you know
Speaker 2: what's he gonna look like in the pros. But wow,
Speaker 2: that's an intriguing fit on this defense. So there are
Speaker 2: times when he's there and then you do the next pick,
Speaker 2: and usually you go some other direction, like there's a
Speaker 2: good wide receiver or a good safety available, and that's
Speaker 2: something that I typically do. But then you get down
Speaker 2: to eighty six and there's still like Jenkins is available
Speaker 2: from Michigan or from Ohio State or somebody else.
Speaker 5: Are disky? I mean they're not.
Speaker 2: The fisky is gonna be there. But there's another really
Speaker 2: really really good defensive tackle who's rated very very highly
Speaker 2: that slipped, and it's like, well, what's to keep you
Speaker 2: from getting a guy who's got a different skill set,
Speaker 2: is not that massive dude like sweat and taking him
Speaker 2: or vice versa. Sweat's gone early, and so you go
Speaker 2: with one of those highly rated d tackles that I
Speaker 2: just mentioned, Ruga Roboo, he's another option. And then you
Speaker 2: do another pick, and then McKinley Jackson from Texas and
Speaker 2: a big, big dude is available late.
Speaker 5: Why not go that rut?
Speaker 2: Do you see that being a possibility going a big
Speaker 2: and a small at the defensive tackle spot in one
Speaker 2: of those first four picks?
Speaker 3: I sure do.
Speaker 4: And you know I know that, you know, bringing in
Speaker 4: fully Fatzicasi, you know he's three and twenty pounds, you
Speaker 4: know that's gonna helpen. You know, Fully's pretty quick for
Speaker 4: a guy that size. Just kind of watching me the
Speaker 4: games against US, you know he can move pretty well.
Speaker 4: So you know that's you've you've gotten a little bit bigger,
Speaker 4: but I don't know that you've gotten big enough.
Speaker 3: And I think follies on a one year contract.
Speaker 4: So you just don't have big youth so or young bigs,
Speaker 4: depending on how you want to put it. So to me,
Speaker 4: I don't have any issue with going big big what
Speaker 4: I what I don't want or I don't foresee And
Speaker 4: and this is one of the issues that you've gotta
Speaker 4: and you will encounter with this particular draft class. There
Speaker 4: are really only a couple of just true bigs, and
Speaker 4: that's McKinley, Jackson to and Andre Sweat.
Speaker 3: And there might be a few, you know, down the road.
Speaker 3: But as far as.
Speaker 5: Just who the name, the big bigs done.
Speaker 4: Well, And you know, I say that, and and I
Speaker 4: don't know, let me take a look at I say that,
Speaker 4: but as I as I think about it, you know,
Speaker 4: just come in.
Speaker 3: There really aren't that many.
Speaker 4: You know, Zion Loge from out of Georgia it's three
Speaker 4: hundred and fifteen pounds, but you know, Justin Rodgers from
Speaker 4: out of Auburn it's three thirty. I want to say,
Speaker 4: I saw him at the Senior Bowl and I thought
Speaker 4: there were some good things from him, but you just
Speaker 4: don't have a ton beyond that as well.
Speaker 3: Uh, Fabian love it.
Speaker 4: Justin jeff Jordan Jefferson, Justin Jefferson. Jordan Jefferson's been a
Speaker 4: lot of Jefferson's at LSU. I thought Jordan Jefferson mel
Speaker 4: she was really really good in the Senior Bowl, topping
Speaker 4: out at three hundred fifteen pounds. So, you know, the
Speaker 4: thing is when you start looking at kind of the
Speaker 4: other you know players, you know two ninety seven, three
Speaker 4: oh two, two eighty four, two ninety six, three oh six,
Speaker 4: two ninety one, ninety three.
Speaker 5: Nine Jackson and Sweat, well it's you.
Speaker 3: Know, like we talked about a few times, things have changed.
Speaker 3: You know, it's just not.
Speaker 4: It's just not a position that colleges are putting big
Speaker 4: guys at anymore because they're taking those guys and like, look,
Speaker 4: we can't play defense against this you know, blazing fast
Speaker 4: offensive unit. We've got to be able to fly up front. Now,
Speaker 4: we've got to be able to hold our own. So
Speaker 4: you can't just go too fifty across the board. You know,
Speaker 4: you do have to have some size, but if you're
Speaker 4: putting a guy with some size on the field, you know,
Speaker 4: it's got to be you know, two eighty to ninety
Speaker 4: and a guy that can move a little bit. You know,
Speaker 4: a rarity now is becoming a McKinley Jackson, the Tovandre Sweat.
Speaker 4: Those guys are moving over to the offensive side of
Speaker 4: the ball. So hopefully that'll that'll change in the future.
Speaker 4: You know, I think about you know, next year's group.
Speaker 4: Now's your stackhouse from Georgia's. You know, three twenty. You
Speaker 4: know he's a guy inside, but there's no Devandre Sweat.
Speaker 4: I can think, oh, off the top of my head.
Speaker 4: But you're just getting sleeker now. You still have guys.
Speaker 4: They're strong and explosive and twitchy, and those kind of guys.
Speaker 4: You know, guy like Braydon Fiskey. I mean his numbers
Speaker 4: athletically are off the charts. And here's two ninety two.
Speaker 4: But there comes a point where because the offenses now
Speaker 4: have three twenty three twenty five, you think about our
Speaker 4: offensive line. Your our offensive line. You know it can
Speaker 4: average three fifteen up to three seventeen. You're depending on
Speaker 4: who's on the field at any one time, but you
Speaker 4: know our guards can be pretty big. Well, if you're
Speaker 4: giving up twenty five thirty pounds to then consistently.
Speaker 3: You know, that's that's gonna be tough.
Speaker 4: Now they're quicker, you can't see, which you can't can't hear,
Speaker 4: which can't see sort of things. So if they move, well,
Speaker 4: that's gonna be tough. But you can only do so
Speaker 4: much of that. But that's what the colleges are providing now.
Speaker 4: So there are a few bigs a little bit later.
Speaker 4: But I think in looking at that, if that is,
Speaker 4: if that is I don't want to say concern, but
Speaker 4: if that is something that you want to look at,
Speaker 4: you want to add to your defense, you want to
Speaker 4: get some size. You may have to overdraft one of
Speaker 4: those guys because there might be a few other teams
Speaker 4: thinking the same thing.
Speaker 3: So we'll see how that ends up going.
Speaker 4: But I would think just my gut tells me that
Speaker 4: one of Devandre Sweat or McKinley Jackson will end up
Speaker 4: with the Texans.
Speaker 3: Just my gut.
Speaker 4: But I also feel like you're you're right in the
Speaker 4: fact that could they go big big, Yeah? I think
Speaker 4: they I think they could because I do think when you.
Speaker 2: Go, let me clarify, I'm saying massive and yeah, like
Speaker 2: only one of Sweat and Jackson, not both Sweat and
Speaker 2: Jackson like.
Speaker 4: Capitol big big yeah, big big catch that sort of thing. Yeah,
Speaker 4: because to me, there's a little bit more of those
Speaker 4: type players as I just ripped off. You know, Chris
Speaker 4: Jenkins two ninety nine, Fisky two ninety two, Leonard Taylor
Speaker 4: Miami three ZHO three, Mike Hall Ohio State two ninety
Speaker 4: gave All Baylor we like two ninety one, Keith Randolph
Speaker 4: two ninety six, m Kay Wing Go two eighty four.
Speaker 4: I don't know what position he plays, Dwayne Carter three
Speaker 4: ZO two, Justin boy Beat two ninety seven. I like
Speaker 4: Tyler Davis Clemson three oh one, Jade Crumbeny Mississippi State
Speaker 4: three oh one. I mean, you know, in today's game,
Speaker 4: three oh one is not massive mm hmm, But it's
Speaker 4: gonna get to a point where that's what we have
Speaker 4: in today's game, that the three twenties, three thirties end
Speaker 4: up going over to the offensive side of the ball,
Speaker 4: the three twenties and the three thirties that you end
Speaker 4: up having staying on the defensive side of the ball
Speaker 4: end up being freakyzoids, And you know it's gonna make
Speaker 4: them probably, you know, they'll be a higher depending, but
Speaker 4: I would imagine there's gonna be a higher demand for
Speaker 4: you know, some of those. And that's why I feel
Speaker 4: like Devadar sweat McKinley Jackson, because they're kind of the
Speaker 4: two of the bigs. They're probably gonna get. I don't overdrafted,
Speaker 4: but maybe draft a little bit higher than some of
Speaker 4: these mock draft simulators think.
Speaker 2: All right, it's always fun talking with you. We'll get
Speaker 2: into much more, but in between now and then, enjoy
Speaker 2: your Easter, John, Yes, see hippitty hops and brings you
Speaker 2: some nice jelly beans and Reese's peanut butter cup eggs.
Speaker 5: Son.
Speaker 4: Good, yep, Eastern is gonna be a big day, big day,
Speaker 4: big big day, all right?
Speaker 3: Remember Breaking Bad? One of the best scenes of Breaking
Speaker 3: Bad last season.
Speaker 5: I never saw Breaking Bad. I've seen a few seasons,
Speaker 5: but I haven't seen the one.
Speaker 4: If you know, Walter White likes his breakfast with a
Speaker 4: number on it, and so that last season is going
Speaker 4: to be a number I hit on Sunday.
Speaker 2: So we'll see, all right, John, always good to be
Speaker 2: with you, Thank you, Thank you for listening.
Speaker 5: In the lat