What is Texans’ plan on offensive line?
Chris Simms and Mike Florio discuss the reported deal that will send David Montgomery to Houston for Juice Scruggs and draft picks, questioning why the Texans continue to give up assets on the offensive line.
Video Transcript
Were you surprised it was the Texans?
Now, I think it completely seals the door shut, not that it was ever even all that open for Joe Mixon coming back.
Right.
Whatever went on last year was one of the weirdest, most under-reported stories in the entire National Football League.
Nobody was saying jack diddly squat about Joe Mixon.
He missed the whole year on the non-football injury list.
No one would ever say what it was.
They would knock down stray rumors about, like, really weird things it might have been, whether it was away from the field, whether it was while working out.
I think they paid him last year, but I think it's just a matter of time before he's gone, 'cause they have Woody Marks, and Woody Marks came on as the year went on.
He did.
And so I think Woody Marks and David Montgomery become the new duo in Houston, and, and that's fine, but man And, and I, I, you know, s- I, oh, w- they do value I, I d- g- you know, the whole drafts talk is just exhausting.
But they did give up a lot to get him.
Giving up a package that includes a four, right?
And a seven.
It- and, and Juice Scruggs.
Like, they, they, they're Th- the Texans for the second straight year are just, like, dumping their offensive line.
But a four I, I don't care about the seven.
By the time it's seven, it's like, "Who the All right, who?
I'll take that guy."
But round four is fairly significant.
It is.
That's a lot to give up for a running back, because you could find a good running back in round four who has no wear and tear, who is dirt cheap.
Y- you could.
You definitely could.
But, but, but they got They're going with a guy here that they feel like is, you know, tried and true, and g- is, like, ready to win and help their football team win right now.
They don't wanna risk the rookie thing.
They already got the r- the young running back and what you're talking about in Woody Marks, who's a good player, we know.
But we saw him have a big fumble in the divisional round against the New England Patriots.
So here is a guy that's been a little bit more battle tested, physical, right?
Knows how knows the game, gonna be able to pass protect.
That's one of the things he's really good at as well.
So I think all of that, there's the value.
Joe Mixon, yeah, that's, like, one of the first thoughts that came to my head yesterday.
When they signed or traded for David Montgomery, I went, "Oh, that's, that's the, that's it for Joe Mixon.
I, I guess we're not gonna see him ever again, or m- maybe not with the Houston Texans," but certainly put the, the warning signal out there that that might be over.
But you bring up the second part of the question.
The second part of the question that I find so intriguing about what Houston's doing is, yeah, getting the running back, we got that.
David Montgomery's a hell of a player, so I get it.
But what the, what the hell is Houston doing with their offensive line right now?
That, that's the other thing to look at.
So, you know, yeah, they get that, and I'm sure they will draft somebody in the draft as well at running back.
I would not be shocked by that.
But J- Juice Scruggs traded to the Lions.
Titus Howard, one of their better offensive linemen, traded to the Cleveland Browns yesterday.
And then this was also a unit where we were like, "Hey, this is not necessarily the greatest unit in, in football altogether anyways."
And last year they turned it over in a big time way.
So that also was the other story behind the story here is not only Montgomery, but what direction is this Houston Texans team going with this offensive line as we sit here right now?
That's right, 'cause they did it last year.
They started dumping a bunch of offensive linemen in an effort to better protect C.J.
Stroud, and now they're doing it again.
They didn't fire their offensive coordinator this year like they did last year, but I think it's a priority for them to get the most out of C.J.
Stroud.
They are clearly behind C.J.
Stroud.
We talked last week about Nick Caserio's remarks at the scouting combine when he was asked about this chatter about a potential trade of C.J.
Stroud.
He called it moronic in a very Belichickian delivery and tone.
They need to improve the team around him, and one way to improve it is to get a better stable of running backs who can take some of the heat off of Stroud, push or pull, rather pull, a safety close to the line of scrimmage and make it easier for Montgomery to get the ball Or Montgomery.
Stroud, excuse me, to get the ball down the field.
So that's part of what they're doing.
It just feels haphazard.
When you do it every year, it starts to feel like there's no plan.
You're just reacting, and this isn't the execution of some broader strategy.
It's like, "What the hell do we do next?
We lost that game to the Patriots.
What the hell do we do next?"
And it doesn't feel like the next wave of the implementation of a long-term plan.
I think that's the one thing about it that could be unsettling to Texans fans.
That, that's it, Mike.
Yes, they got David Montgomery.
Right.
But what the hell is going on with this offensive line?
Surely your plan wasn't let's make a lot of changes this year, and then let's make a lot of changes next year too.
Yeah, yeah.
That, that, that's exactly it.
I, I mean, it, it wasn't It didn't look great in the playoffs like we talked about.
There was issues there.
So the offensive line is the hardest thing, I think, for somebody in my position, in my job, just because you don't know what's coming up the ranks, right?
That's, that's always the hardest thing.
Who's the guys, who's the backups they might believe in that they get to see on a daily basis where they go, "I think he's ready this year to be a starting guard or starting whatever"?
So do they have that guy?
May- maybe they do, right?
They have Blake Fisher, who they drafted in the second round two years ago from Notre Dame, so maybe that's one of the guys.
But still, the cupboard's dry after that.
Trent Brown's a free agent.
Ed Ingram, they're totally unrestricted free agents.
So it makes you believe with the status of where Houston is And again, this is rare, because I'm one that will sit here, and I don't I think you would agree to go, I, I still think the Houston Texans are in the Super Bowl window here.
So Super Bowl window, but to totally re-orchestrate that offensive line, yeah, that's a little different from what you'd normally see with a team that has that phrase attached to its name that way.
Now, that's where you get into, okay, the draft, yeah, they can certainly address some situations there.
They drafted their starting left tackle last year in Irsay out of Minnesota in the draft.
But they're gonna have to I, this to me, the moves they're making tells me, oh, the Houston Texans are gonna be players in the free agent market when it comes to offensive linemen, I would think.
I would think that with some of these guys out there, wheth- whether it may be a, a Braden Smith or a Rasheed Walker or whoever, I'm just throwing names out there, that Houston might be involved in those conversations, at least the way it looks to me right now.
Garyante Ursery is the left tackle, Jarett Patterson left guard, Jake Andrews center, Ed Ingram right guard, and Trent Brown right tackle.
Yeah.
You mentioned Ingram's got the opportunity to bolt, and Brown I think also- He does an unrestricted free agent- Exactly as well.
And he's only ever really been good when he's with the Patriots.
I mean, he's okay elsewhere, but he only ever thrives in New England.
They got work to do.
They got work to do, and they have fewer draft picks now 'cause of four and a seven, along with Juice Scruggs go to Detroit for David Montgomery.
