0:02

In the Lab, a Texans podcast

0:05

that takes a different look at things.

0:07

True, Doherty and John Harris have their

0:10

lab coats and goggles on and

0:12

the Bunsen burners burning. Here's

0:15

Drew, what's going on in

0:17

the lab right now? And we're so very

0:19

happy that you're with us, Me, Drew Doherty

0:22

and John Harris swinging those fists.

0:24

And some of you out there have

0:26

seen this before and seen the setup

0:28

before and are thinking, why

0:30

are those two knuckleheads four feet

0:33

apart in doing a zoom? Well, because

0:35

we want to put this on video

0:37

and this is the easiest way to do so. But John, how are

0:39

you doing? Man? What's going on? Dude?

0:42

All right? Middle of March, just

0:44

trying to get through this monk at the April because we know april's

0:46

draft month, so yeah, just plugging

0:49

away one day at a time. It's the start

0:51

of the new league year, so things

0:53

have been happening around here, and I

0:56

know fans are, well, okay, when's the big

0:58

splash coming? Yeah? I don't know the big splashes

1:00

common. I think consistent ripples.

1:03

If you think about the dynamics of water

1:06

and you think about ripples that just keep

1:08

happening. What happens, it eventually turns into

1:10

a tsunami. That's hopefully what happens. It

1:12

turns into a tsunami. Yeah, we're gonna get into that in

1:14

just a second. But in addition to it being the

1:16

start of the new league gear that always

1:19

always falls when

1:21

our kids are on spring drink. Now

1:23

your kids have kind of moved on and they're they're not

1:26

in school anymore. Mine are

1:28

not there. We're like in the thick of it.

1:30

So I've spent you

1:32

know, I was here Monday working for

1:35

a little bit Tuesday, I was at the Rodeo

1:37

Carnival yesterday and I'm still

1:39

sore from walking around lugging

1:42

kids jostled on the congo

1:44

ride Congo with a k. Interestingly

1:46

enough, it's on top of a I think a raw

1:49

sewage part of the

1:51

astro Dome property.

1:54

So imagine getting like your stomachs,

1:56

your stomach and insides jostled about.

1:58

You smell that pungently. Yeah,

2:01

So yeah, I'm all right though, I made it, but

2:04

it's gonna be in the office and then I've kind of been

2:06

mainly working at night, you know, this week.

2:08

But it's been a fun little little change

2:10

of pace. I suppose, Well, it's been that

2:12

way. I did my show on well, for

2:15

last Friday, I did two to six

2:17

with Ron, Yeah, because it looked like

2:19

nineteen hours straight one of those days, speaking

2:21

of speaking of having a stomach issue,

2:23

Clint Stirner had a stomach issue that day. Now,

2:25

the guys are convinced that he was ducking because

2:27

he hadn't watched a rom com that he was supposed to because

2:30

they have rob comp Fridays, which I love. Yeah,

2:32

I love that they do that. But they were thinking he

2:34

was duck in the duck in the homework. But

2:36

I was there for two to six and then it was about

2:38

four for thirty

2:41

or so, maybe a little bit earlier than that that

2:43

the Panthers Bears trade happened. And

2:46

when the Panthers Bears trade happened, I'm like, I

2:48

had a recorded show ready to go, just

2:50

because it's Friday, it's March. There's

2:54

not a whole lot going on because the weekend it

2:56

ends up being the start of New League year. So

2:58

I'm like, all right, I'm probably safe,

3:01

and I wouldn't really have time to record anyways, because I'm

3:03

on the air live. So Carolina and Chicago nixed

3:05

all that, and then Carolina Chicago just all

3:08

over my plans. So I

3:10

then say goodbye tor On, and

3:13

I just sat the chair and for an hour just talked

3:15

about the trade mark popped out for a couple

3:17

of minutes he was having trouble getting in because he was

3:19

in Manhattan or something that was funny, So

3:22

I was like, call it six ten, nappy.

3:25

It may not have been that night, but one thing over

3:27

the last four or five days that I've

3:30

noticed that it has been it's kind of been eye

3:32

opening and sort of refreshing. It's funny

3:35

to hear callers because normally

3:37

we don't take callers on All Access.

3:39

Yeah here the callers, but

3:42

hear them be so thankful that their

3:44

calls are being taken. Yeah, yeah,

3:46

Well, I think that's been kind of a cool thing because

3:49

you know, you were in radio for a long time.

3:51

I worked in Dallas for a little bit for

3:53

a guy who worked at the Ticket and one

3:55

of their mantras was, are you gonna

3:57

take a bunch of calls and let them do your show

4:00

or do? I think there's a

4:02

balance there, And I think it's been nice to hear calls

4:05

taken well on Texans all could you guys.

4:07

And it hasn't just been Oh,

4:09

I think the Texans are the best and I think we're gonna

4:11

win the next forty five. So it's been some people that are angry

4:14

with the direction of free agency yea,

4:16

and they they know that I'm on, so

4:18

they figure this is their opportunity kind

4:20

of blast back at the organization. I'm like,

4:22

bro, don't shoot the messenger on this, you know.

4:25

But it's been interesting. But anyways,

4:27

which which is where it takes us? That

4:30

that leads perfectly well, what I was gonna say

4:32

was that story I'll led to thirty

4:35

minutes after I finished All Access the Robert

4:37

Woods signing Wanna Fit when they didn't go official, but

4:39

it was announced. And then when I did Monday's

4:41

show, not thirty minutes after

4:43

that, Jimmy Wards, Yeah, agreeing

4:46

to terms was announced.

4:49

It was like, man, you could have done that, like forty five minutes

4:51

earlier. Had been great to talk about. But to

4:53

your point about working at night, because things have been

4:55

happening at night. That's why. So That's where I

4:57

was going with all that. Sorry, So I think it was Monday,

4:59

Maybe it Sunday night, maybe it's two. I don't know,

5:01

but I shot you

5:04

him a message. It

5:06

must have been Monday, and it was basically,

5:10

man, it seems like the Texans

5:12

are really really more active

5:14

today than they normally are.

5:17

On the first day, which

5:20

I was sort of in my cocoon,

5:22

I wasn't really paying as much attention to sentiment

5:25

on Twitter, and I did turn

5:28

that on on Tuesday, and it was there's a lot of

5:30

blasting like the Texans aren't doing anything right,

5:33

which I in my mind, I just

5:35

thought to myself, hold on a second, Like, they

5:37

added a starter in Robert

5:40

Woods at receiver. I think that guy's gonna start.

5:42

It seemed like he was in a rough QB situation

5:44

last year, but they got a starter there. They

5:47

traded for a starter. And these are all I

5:50

gotta put allegedly on but these these are because

5:52

of reports. But they

5:54

traded for a starting guard, yes,

5:56

and Shack Mason, So it's two

5:58

starters. He's sign of safety

6:00

and Jimmy Ward who probably

6:02

gonna start. So I mean, through two

6:05

days you went

6:08

out, you picked up three starters. That seems

6:11

kind of like an active couple

6:16

of hours there, You know that a couple of but twenty

6:18

four hours plus you have a bona

6:20

fide backup quarterback. I think

6:22

this is the best backup quarterback you've had

6:25

in at least four or five years. I

6:28

think he's better than a J. McCarron as a backup

6:31

was when he was here. Who who do we

6:33

who do we have that would come

6:35

close to being that good a backup?

6:37

Mean maybe Weedon, you

6:40

know, but Aj never

6:42

never had to play. Yeah, he has to play once

6:45

and that was just because in Texas a clinch to the vision. He

6:47

says, if you take away all the stuff

6:49

that he's from here, we know him. He

6:52

was a stud at you of h he's actually

6:54

won games as a starter in this league and he's been

6:56

a good back. Like just that alone

6:59

boom upgrade. But then you factor in

7:01

the hometown stuff and the

7:03

time with the team, the two times with the team.

7:05

I love that move. I think that's it's

7:08

a very very big deal. He could

7:10

be a starter depending on what goes

7:12

on. But you've made your QB room

7:14

a little bit better with his addition. This is

7:16

way I look at the Case Keenam signing. I

7:19

feel like Case Keenam

7:22

is going to impact winning in

7:24

some way, shape or form in twenty twenty three.

7:26

Whether he takes a snap, whether

7:29

he takes none, whether he takes a thousand

7:31

snaps or he takes a zerow.

7:34

He's going to impact winning because

7:36

of his leadership, is understanding the game, understanding

7:39

of the city, just everything that goes into it.

7:41

I think he is going to be perfect for that quarterback room

7:44

and he's going to impact

7:46

winning. And I say

7:49

that because a lot of people are like, well, what if you don't play.

7:51

Look, there have been a lot of people that walk through this building

7:54

that haven't played one down during a season,

7:57

or they've played fifty

8:00

naps, or they played half of one

8:02

game, but I seriously impacted

8:04

winning, or they were used

8:07

to playing a lot of snaps. Like I go, I go back to Jonathan

8:09

Joseph in twenty nineteen. Jjo wasn't

8:11

getting a lot of snaps in twenty

8:13

nineteen, but his impact

8:16

on the defensive back room was enormous. It

8:18

was enormous. Now he went on and played

8:20

I think another couple of years, but his best ball

8:22

was behind him at that point, and his best

8:24

ball was probably behind him at twenty nineteen, but he still found

8:27

a way against the Buccaneers have a big interception

8:29

in AFC South clincher. He still found

8:31

a way to impact this team and impact

8:33

it winning, and I think

8:36

Case Keenum does that as

8:38

well. And the last time that we saw Case get

8:40

some consistent starting time

8:42

was with Cleveland at twenty one, and he was he

8:44

was pretty darn good. I mean, I remember the

8:47

night that he started. They had the Deernest Johnson went

8:49

for a big game, but Case threw for over like over

8:51

two hundred yards. They went a big game on Thursday night,

8:53

and then you know, the announcers

8:55

were, God, wait, minut Brown's offense looks pretty

8:58

good at Case keenam in it. So yeah,

9:00

you went to the the Buffalo and then Superman doesn't get hurt at

9:02

all, and you're not going to replace Josh Allen

9:04

in any way, shape or form. So he didn't have to

9:06

go on the field and play. But I guarantee you if you talked

9:08

to Josh Allen and you asked him, Hey,

9:10

what a case? What a case can you mean to you?

9:13

I would imagine he'd go on forever about

9:15

how valuable he was to him, what he saw. He

9:18

could be a sounding board, he can be kind of the quarterback

9:20

psychologist in the room. That's a

9:22

player you want. I mean, it's great to have a quarterback

9:25

coach that you connect with, but to have a player

9:27

that you can just text anytime.

9:29

And sometimes there's some things you don't want coaches to know,

9:32

so you just want to go to a player and say, hey, man, I

9:34

didn't quite understand what he was talking about with this. Can you help

9:36

me with this? Or dang it, I wish

9:39

you wouldn't have said that about this because this is

9:41

the way I feel, and you could talk it out. And I think Case he's

9:43

going to end up impacting every quarterback.

9:45

He's going to impact every offensive player. He's

9:48

going to impact winning in twenty twenty three.

9:50

And that's to me why I'm most excited about

9:52

Case coming in. Yeah, and I guess ultimately

9:55

my main point is it's all about perceptions.

9:57

I think the Texans did quite

9:59

a bit or one. You know. They

10:01

they didn't sign Aaron Rodgers to play

10:03

quarterback. They didn't sign Derrick Henry to be a compliment

10:06

to

10:07

h to Damian

10:10

Pierce, Derrick Henry still in their car anyways.

10:12

They didn't go out and get these splashy, splashy

10:15

Hires. I know, but I

10:17

think they've done a lot to help their team and to upgrade

10:19

their team and to make the team better. And I

10:21

always kind of have a side eye with

10:24

all these teams that make the huge

10:26

moves. Right now, what's the biggest

10:29

think about it, what's the biggest free

10:31

agency deal the Texans

10:33

have done the last let's say six seven

10:36

years. I gotta go back to Tyron Matthew. Yeah,

10:38

that was a splat and you know when that happened

10:40

a week after the start of free agency,

10:43

So the Texans waited on that one, and that proved

10:45

to be a pretty good signing. He was a He was a good

10:47

player for the Texans that season. So

10:50

just kind of keep that in mind. Those teams that are

10:53

winning in February winning in March

10:55

not always gonna happen in the fall.

10:57

It could you get better, but you

11:00

know, you gotta be careful about what you see they give you. Jerry

11:02

Hughes, Yeah, I remember the panic

11:05

over draft weekend in twenty twenty two

11:08

when the Texans

11:10

didn't draft an edge player and he hadn't

11:12

signed one at that point. I think I think maybe

11:15

Obo was in the fold. I think it was it, but

11:17

people were panicking, like, what are you gonna do at the edge. And then the next

11:20

next day after the draft. I remember asking Nick,

11:22

I said, I'm gonna ask you this, knowing

11:24

full well that you can sign

11:26

a player at any time at this point, but

11:29

I'm gonna ask you this. And he said, well, we got some things and

11:31

it works. He actually admitted that on the radio,

11:33

and he did. He had Mario Addison, he had Machine

11:35

Green, and he had Jerry Hughes. And who's the Texas

11:38

best pass rusher last year for the full season,

11:40

Jerry Hughes. So to

11:42

your point, Drew, you can end up

11:45

finding those players

11:47

later, trades later.

11:50

I mean, there are a lot of things that can happen. I

11:52

just know that people get so excited for the

11:54

start of the league year, which essentially is

11:56

not today and started on Monday, when

11:59

you could start announcing, well, the

12:01

media can start and then agents can start letting people

12:04

know where they're going, etc. That's

12:07

what Star, you gotta do it. No, there's no timetable

12:09

on this twenty four seven, three sixty five. You're thinking

12:11

about team building and roster building and what you're gonna

12:13

do and acquiring players, trading players,

12:16

releasing, waving, claiming whatever you

12:18

can do. This all time. I feel like we have to have this conversation

12:21

because people want, well what and

12:23

here's the other here's the other thing, especially as it pertains

12:25

the free agents and Drew. You know this, Well,

12:30

the parties have to choose Houston

12:32

two. Yeah, yeah, you have to

12:34

have these plays. And there's a lot of talk doesn't

12:36

want to go win a ring or think they're gonna be in a position

12:38

to win. Right are the Texans gonna do that? Maybe?

12:41

But the odds right now this

12:43

stacked a little bit against that. Absolutely.

12:45

Now for all of Eustonians out there, we

12:47

all know how Houston's a great place. There's no stated

12:50

income tax either. That makes it that's a big

12:52

deal for a lot of these guys. Well why is it that enough?

12:54

I don't know. I chose to go to Brown

12:57

University because of cheeseburgers. I

12:59

mean that was my theory. I mean, I

13:01

was eighteen. It was dumb, but it was like, you

13:03

know, I didn't want to go to the Air Force Academy because,

13:06

in all honesty, I wanted to be independent.

13:08

I didn't want somebody breathe down my neck all the time

13:10

tell me what to do. I wanted to prove I could

13:12

do that on my own, plus pro I was a great university

13:14

and I could play football, but I

13:16

wanted to be able to go get a cheeseburger anytime

13:18

I wanted. That was the theory I used. So players

13:21

are picking places for god knows what

13:23

reason, but they have to pick your place

13:25

too. And this came up a lot with Jimmy Garoppolo

13:27

because look at look at the deal. The

13:30

Texas is gonna given that deal. Yeah they could have, and

13:33

maybe they did, but that

13:35

player has to pick Houston too, and

13:38

right now give it. Coming off the last three seasons, it's

13:40

almost like Houston's in a prove it situation, like,

13:43

hey, we'll prove to you free agents out

13:45

there that we are a great place

13:47

where you can come live, come play, and have a

13:49

great life. And a lot of players have

13:51

chosen Houston, some of that didn't even live and

13:53

didn't even play here. Houston could be

13:55

that for these players, but some of those players have got

13:57

to learn on their own, and some of the other players they have options.

14:00

If you got two or three other options, and

14:03

maybe it's a team you look at and think, okay, that

14:05

team is a little bit is built a

14:07

little bit better right now. Yeah, maybe

14:09

in two three years we're gonna be

14:11

that spot and those people will have missed out. That's

14:13

on them. Right now, we're

14:15

a spot where you can come in, you have opportunity.

14:18

It's gonna be a younger team. When you

14:20

come in as a veteran, you know that one of the things

14:22

you're gonna have to do is you're gonna have to be a leader of this team. You're

14:24

gonna have to step up and be a guy, and a lot of

14:26

these young guys look to and so it

14:28

can be a frustrating experience. But I've also heard

14:31

for some you know, like I remember talking to

14:33

Seth Pain about this, you know, coming to expansion team

14:35

and the Texans aren't. But when you're coming to a

14:37

young team that you know you're gonna have a lot of young talent

14:39

around it, it can be sort of exhilarating because

14:42

everybody's kind of got eyes wide open and

14:44

you can really make an impact as a veteran, not only

14:46

on the field, but also in the locker room with a

14:48

lot of young guys that are in that locker room too.

14:51

So I think there's a lot of opportunity,

14:53

but those players have to pick Houston

14:56

two for whatever reason,

14:58

playing time money, you know

15:00

they they want to live down town. What what happened? They

15:03

got to pick Houston too, and they're gonna be something that

15:05

just won't pick Houston for whatever reason. Got good

15:07

cheeseburgers in Houston too. They do absolutely good

15:09

line for trill burgers. Yesterday at the oh

15:12

Hornible Haven add one.

15:15

You got there at like it's eleven oh three. Right

15:17

now, we should probably finish this podcast.

15:20

You could walk over and get something before the mine gets too

15:22

long? Will that be a good idea? I think we should do that. Anyhow,

15:24

Well, this is fun. My

15:27

perception, it seems like the Texans have done

15:29

quite a bit early on in

15:31

adding three starters and maybe the best backup

15:34

quarterback they've had in a long, long, long time. Yeah,

15:37

good steps. Maybe Liner was that? Who

15:40

who was who was the backup in twelve?

15:42

Is Yates? Anyways,

15:45

There's so many that came at the end of twenty eleven

15:47

that ended up playing.

15:48

Yeah was

15:50

in the room. Who's in twelve? I guess?

15:53

And though he was a third where

15:55

he was on practice squad at twelve? Yeah,

15:57

Case had never been active. Case

16:00

never even been activated for game day

16:02

until he started at Kansas by Verse first

16:05

in that

16:07

season. Anyhow, this has

16:10

been a Texans in the Lab. We sure to

16:12

appreciate you listening and watching,

16:14

and we will see you again very very soon.