Seth gives us his takeaways from the First Practice

Summary

Payne & Pendergast – Episode Summary

Date: July 30, 2026
Episode Theme: Seth’s Takeaways from Texans’ First Training Camp Practice

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Seth Payne and Sean Pendergast dive deep into their firsthand observations and analysis from the Houston Texans' first training camp practice. The focus is on the revamped offensive and defensive lines, the evolving physicality under coach DeMeco Ryans, and spirited competition at key positions. They also discuss the precision and organization of the offense, new additions to the roster, and developing storylines around player leadership, with notable input from voices like Texans GM Nick Caserio and Will Anderson Jr. As always, the duo brings humor and candid banter to their insight-rich recap.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Locker Room Banter and Training Camp Vibes

• Light-Hearted Pension Talk (01:15–02:34): The episode opens with musings about NFL pensions and life after football, with Seth admitting he's gunning for longevity:

  "All I got to do is make it to 65... Drink all the whiskey I want... I'm cleaning up."
  — Seth Payne (01:18–02:34)

  • The joking sets a relaxed but relatable tone, as coaches and staff pass by bemused.

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Eye Test: O-Line, Physicality & First Impressions

• Big Bodies & Movie Casting (03:18–04:41):
  Seth observes a clear uptick in physicality, especially with the Texans' offensive and defensive lines and new additions like Kaden McDonald:

  "They look like they're going to fight for House McNair. Like they're just about to mount their heavy horses... It's like an HBO series."
  — Seth Payne (03:48)

  • New arrivals Keelan Rutledge and Braden Smith stand out physically; Naquan Jones is highlighted for his presence.

• Offensive Line “Casting”

  "They're built like guys that... you watch a movie about football and you're like, oh, they actually did a good job casting the O-line."
  — Seth Payne (04:21)

Right Tackle Competition (05:29–07:00)

• Smith vs. Brown:
  • Seth gives a slight edge to Braden Smith over Trent Brown but expects a genuine, close competition decided in padded practices.

  "...it's going to be a really tough decision...I would still give a slight edge to Braden Smith."
  — Seth Payne (05:53–06:13)

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Offensive Organization and Precision

• Buzzword: Precision (07:00–08:43):
  • The offense looks "cohesive and...precise," which is notable this early in camp.
  • New "precision period" practice segments echo the emphasis from DeMeco Ryans' motivational speech, using the Artemis 2 mission as a metaphor:

  "Everybody has to be dialed in 100% before you can go...that was the theme of his speech."
  — Seth Payne (07:34–07:46)

  • Pre-snap motion was handled smoothly, with no practice stoppages or blown alignments.

Caserio's Perspective (08:43–09:58)

• Texans GM Nick Caserio reflects on last season’s growth and tweaks for 2026:

  "Kind of got off to a slow start as a team...from about midpoint of the season to the end, we were one of the better offenses in the league."
  — Nick Caserio (08:53–09:05)

  • Caserio stresses flexibility:

    "The core foundation of what we're going to do offensively will probably be installed within the first two weeks...it's about what the players do well."
    (09:46–09:58)

• Seth’s Skepticism on “Top Offense” (10:06–10:18):

  "That's the first time I've heard anybody say that the Texans had one of the better offenses in the league in the second half of the season last year."
  — Seth Payne (10:06)

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The Run Game & Roster Moves

• Physical Identity and Short Yardage

  • The biggest area of offseason focus: running game reliability, especially in the red zone and short yardage.
  • Texans have transparently added brawny blockers and backfield talent, including David Montgomery and blocking tight ends.

• New RBs in Action (13:26–15:45):

  • Seth flags rookie RB Jawar Jordan as “most intriguing”—cites his Arian Foster-like vision and cutback ability:

    "I'm still very intrigued by him."
    — Seth Payne (14:31)

  • Jawar Jordan is also standing out on special teams.

• Coach Ryans on RB Room (15:14–15:45):

  "Woody looks faster...Jawar's looking good. Of course, Montgomery has done a really good job."
  — DeMeco Ryans (15:14–15:29)

  • Ryans emphasizes improvement in “reads, pass protection, screen game.”
  • Seth defends the importance of coaching running backs—especially for pass protection and vision.

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Tight End Room: Depth, Attitude, and Physical Edge

• Coach Ryans on Deep TE Group (17:56–18:44):

  "We have, you know, six, seven guys there who can go play for us...a plethora of guys who should allow us to do some cool things when it comes to 12, 13 personnel."
  — DeMeco Ryans (18:01–18:34)

• Player Details (18:54–21:53):

  • Foster Moreau's “nasty” streak lauded after he tackles Kamari Lassiter on an interception return.
  • Marlin Klein impresses as a run-game and blocking prospect; nearly reels in a big catch.

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Defensive Notes: Watchlist for LB Competition

• Depth and Competition (22:14–23:11):
  • Jamal Hill (big year to take a step), Marte Mapu, Wade Woodas, Aiden Fisher, and Casey Osai are all battling for the third linebacker job. No clear leader yet.
  • Defensive communication is smooth—especially with new safety Reed Blankenship.

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Leadership, Culture, and Standards

• Will Anderson Jr. on Culture and Expectations (24:22–25:52):

  “Coach talk[s] about putting a bull on the ring...something that's never been done in the city...Be a part of it...The expectation is like nobody outside of this building is going to have a higher expectation."
  — Will Anderson Jr. (25:13)

  • The Texans are fostering open, confident discussions about championships, but keeping ambition grounded.

• Leadership Growth (30:18–31:03):

  • Will Anderson values helping rookies (especially high draft pick Kaden McDonald) and aims to "become a better leader...being more vocal and hands-on."
  • Seth praises Will’s process-oriented mindset over accolades:

    "The real lesson is...your goals should be about the things you can control."
    — Seth Payne (31:45)

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League Notes: Brandon Aiyuk, Social Media, and Player Conduct

• Brandon Aiyuk Saga (33:41–39:08):

  • The hosts discuss Aiyuk’s off-field drama, Instagram antics, and potential impact on locker rooms.

  • Adam Peters (Commanders GM) on evaluating a player’s social media:

    "We do look at everything...to make sure it's the right player to be in our locker room, in our bloodstream, in our culture."
    — Adam Peters (35:10–35:24)

  • Seth:

    "If I'm a team and I'm thinking, okay, maybe I can get this guy at a discount...this is not the guy who's going to be cool with that contract."
    (37:57–38:07)

  • Ultimately, the pair doubt Aiyuk—despite his talents—will fit most cultures, though someone will eventually take a chance.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Team Identity:

  "They're built like guys that...you watch a movie about football and you're like, oh, they actually did a good job casting the O-line."
  — Seth Payne (04:21)

• On Run Game Priorities:

  "Can they run the ball in short yardage in red zone situations? ...That's exactly what they've addressed."
  — Seth Payne (10:33–11:13)

• On Practice Organization:

  "They looked more organized. They looked cohesive and…precise."
  — Seth Payne (07:05–07:12)

• On Offensive Culture:

  "It's kind of like when a kid who's been bullied actually fights back. That's how I feel about the offense."
  — Seth Payne re: Foster Moreau (19:28–19:37)

• On Leadership Example:

  "My biggest thing I want to step up on...is just becoming a better leader…being hands on with the guys."
  — Will Anderson Jr. (30:18)

• On Evaluating Character via Social Media:

  "We want to make sure it's the right player to be in our locker room, in our bloodstream, in our culture."
  — Adam Peters (35:20–35:24)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Texans Big Bodies, O-Line Physicality: 03:18–04:41
• Right Tackle Competition: 05:29–07:00
• Buzzword: Precision & Practice Detail: 07:00–08:43
• Nick Caserio on Offense: 08:43–09:58
• Running Game Moves & Rookie Watch: 13:26–15:45
• Coach Ryans on TE Depth: 17:56–18:44
• Foster Moreau/Nastiness on Offense: 18:54–21:53
• Defensive Linebacker Competition: 22:14–23:11
• Will Anderson Jr. on Expectations and Leadership: 24:22–25:52, 30:18–31:03
• Brandon Aiyuk & Social Media in Player Evaluation: 33:41–39:08

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Tone & Takeaways

The hosts deliver a mix of humor, direct NFL insight, and H-Town relatability. Their camp coverage paints a hopeful yet realistic picture for the 2026 Texans, highlighting improved physicality, organization, and leadership culture. There’s optimism about the direction of the offense, and the team’s attitude seems more mature and unified than in previous seasons. Meanwhile, the hosts are candid about off-field distractions and locker room fit, keeping their trademark no-nonsense wit front and center.

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For Houston fans, this episode offers a detailed, on-the-ground look at the team’s camp progress, new faces to watch, and a sense of why the 2026 Texans are positioned for a potential leap.

Transcript

[Seth Payne]

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[Seth Payne]

No.

[Byron]

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[Seth Payne]

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[Byron]

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[David Pendergast]

And pender gas business out there.

[Seth Payne]

We're just talking about. Oh yeah, I'll put it out there. I said they're banking on a lot of us to die. We're talking about your pension. My pension. When you start. We're talking about the government when you start collecting at 55 versus when you collected 65. There's a huge. That's normal in pension plans and everything, but it is always. I do like thinking about, you know, my, my fellow former NFL players. It's a small group of us and I kind of look around the room. We're like, yeah, they're banking on some of these guys to be dead. And that's why, that's why when I, when I wait until 65, I'm cleaning up.

[David Pendergast]

Stick it to them. Stick it to the.

[Seth Payne]

Thanks, fellas. Thanks in advance for your contributions to my pension.

[David Pendergast]

Thanks for eating all that fried food

[Seth Payne]

as I, as I finish my third kolache in the morning.

[Will Anderson Jr.]

Suckers.

[David Pendergast]

Seth's got a half empty Shipley's box in front of him.

[Seth Payne]

I'll be, I'll be eating 12 kolaches a day when I turn 65.

[David Pendergast]

The irony of Seth having pink frosting in his beard is he says, I waited till 65 to get my pension.

[Seth Payne]

Can't be believe the NFL is so dumb. They're going to pay all this money. All I got to do is make it to 65.

[David Pendergast]

Stupid idiots. You can tell by the fin.

[Seth Payne]

Drink all the whiskey I want.

[David Pendergast]

You can tell by the financial model they don't know what they're doing.

[Seth Payne]

Hold on. I'm gonna finish this bottle of whiskey and drive to the liquor store. Give me another one. I got my pension money coming.

[David Pendergast]

It's my favorite part of training camp when we get Texans employees like coaches like James Lifford just walked by. They're walking by here, and they're like these idiots over. They just looking over like people are paying them to do this. What the hell?

[Seth Payne]

All right.

[David Pendergast]

Painting pender gas with you.

[Seth Payne]

All right.

[David Pendergast]

So first practice at training camp yesterday, you had the notebook out. That's how you know it's a big deal. If Seth's got the notebook out, it's a big deal.

[Seth Payne]

College ruled.

[David Pendergast]

That's right.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, no, this is scholastic. I'm still working on my cursive Z.

[David Pendergast]

Shut up. Sounds about right. So. So, biggest takeaways for you from training camp. Let's do these here. Let's get the. Let's plug the people in as to what Seth C. Pain, former NFL player, saw you.

[Seth Payne]

This was. This was something that we already noted during OTAs and minicamp. But, man, when it comes to the offensive line and the defensive line, like, there is, as they've talked about, you're really focusing on the physicality on the offensive side of the ball. And you drafted Kaden McDonald defensively. The first guys I saw walking out were Keelan Rutledge and Braden Smith walking side by side. And, man, those dudes are put together,

[David Pendergast]

man, they look like a WWE tag team because they both have these red beards.

[Seth Payne]

They look like they're going to fight for House McNair. Like they're just about to mount their heavy horses. It was good. It was like, off of something about, like an HBO series or something. And then you look over, and I saw, like, Kaden McDonald and Naquan Jones were working out before practice out in the corner, and those are two massive dudes. Naquan, remember, he was brought in late in the year, last year, after all of those injuries, and I thought he did some good stuff, but I think there's just definitely more of a focus on physicality. But They've made moves. And the guys they've brought in are. They're built like. They're built like guys that. You know what they are. When you watch a movie about football and you're like, oh, they actually did a good job with casting the O line.

[David Pendergast]

That's what this looks like.

[Seth Payne]

Instead of just these big, fat, sloppy. Some of these football movies, it's like, oh, they just. They took the first few 400 pounders,

[David Pendergast]

the replacements, when we were on vacation. That's the worst cast football movie of all time. So that this was good casting by Nick Kasario and d', Amico.

[Seth Payne]

Ryan, the other one, and Cody stutes agreed with me on this. So I feel. I feel like it's an accurate assessment. I thought Trent Brown looked pretty good. I thought he looked. I wanted to say he looked leaner, but he was also kind of all monochromatic. He was wearing, like, long sleeves, and I think he might have the socks pulled up. But I thought that for a guy that last year. Look, he's a big dude and it's not like he's ever going to win any physique competitions or anything, but he was coming off that torn patellar tendon last year, and I think for some of the good things he did last year, he's getting up there in years. He's a massive human being. And he does look. He looks like his body composition was a little bit big. I know. He's so big to begin with.

[David Pendergast]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

But he looked good. So in terms of just, okay, these guys, you know, how do they look on the lot? I thought they looked pretty damn good.

[David Pendergast]

You had to handicap the right tackle because you just mentioned both these guys, which is why I'm asking Braden Smith and Trent Brown, same way I handicapped earlier, will CJ Stroud get a contract or not? If you were making odds on this thing.

[Byron]

Right.

[David Pendergast]

Or just percentage chance of which guy's going to be the week one starter, how would you do it? One practice in. We're watching right tackle. What's your assessment?

[Seth Payne]

Well, all right. I like. I'm not going to use anything from practice.

[David Pendergast]

No, no, no.

[Seth Payne]

The indication of what. But if I had to handicap it right now, it's that it's going to be a really tough decision. And it might just go down to that. They really like having Trent Brown as a swing tackle and a guy that has had a lot of injuries in his career. You know, it's like he's only had a few seasons where he stayed healthy the entire year. Braden Smith's got a bunch of injuries in the last few years though, too, that I would still give a slight edge to Braden Smith. And really we just got to watch when the pads come on exactly how these guys. The great thing about those guys is that they're going to be getting a lot of reps versus Will Anderson and Daniel Hunter. Yes. And I think. But I think it is more of a genuine competition than it felt like at the, at the beginning of free agency. Sometimes just because, because a guy is one of the first guys signed to a respectable contract, you kind of elevate a guy up in importance in your mind. And then you remember, like, okay, this is, you know, the Browns are playing paying Titus Howard a lot more money than the Texans are playing paying Braden Smith. And there's. And Trent Brown did. They didn't lose a game when Trent Brown was starting last year. Like, he did some good things for them. So I think it's going to be a real competition.

[David Pendergast]

All right, so how about the offense as a whole? See, we saw a lot bigger bodies out there. Seth is emptying his notebook.

[Seth Payne]

I thought, I thought they looked more organized. They looked cohesive and buzzword precise.

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[David Pendergast]

We got to ask about this. What did they call it? The precision.

[Seth Payne]

There's a precision period. Yeah. They didn't. If I, I don't recall seeing a pre. Period during training camp last year. Landry. Landry says that they were doing it during the season, so somewhere along the way. But we've heard Kasserio's used the word precision or precise.

[David Pendergast]

He was using it almost like they used to use smart, tough, dependable.

[d' Amico Ryan]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And then d' Amico in the video that they showed a video on the Texan social media of him giving a speech to the team and he's Talking about the Artemis 2 mission and talking about the precision of how everybody has to be dialed in 100% before you. Before you can go. And that was the theme of his speech. And I think on the offensive side of the ball especially, that's, that's the emphasis. And I thought they looked precise. The biggest thing that I was encouraged by was, all right. And I don't, you know, they, they prefer that we not describe a whole lot of stuff that's like going on strategically. But like any, like every team in the NFL, they're working on their pre snap motion right now. And I thought for the things that they were doing on day one of practice and how they were handling the motion, I thought it looked really good.

[David Pendergast]

Pretty crisp.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. Yeah, it looks really crisp. And when they're going against the defense where there's going to have to be checks and adjustments, there weren't any stoppages in practice or anything. So it's one day. But a lot of times on day one, that's when all of a sudden you got to start a period over because the offense is screwing stuff up, or you just. You can't get the ball snapped during a period because you've just got guys lined up improperly. That part of it. For what they were looking to do yesterday, the. They looked precise.

[David Pendergast]

Here was Nick Casario, Texans general manager, on he was asked about Nick Cayley and where the offense. Nick Haley, the OC and where the offense needs to improve.

[Nick Caserio]

Yeah, did a lot of good things offensively. Kind of got off to a slow start as a team. You know, I think kind of midway, probably from about midpoint of the season to the end, you know, we were one of the better offenses in the league. You know, we played more consistent. So, you know, we'll see. I mean, just go out there and, you know, get. Put a foundation in place here. You know, systems in place, kind of make a couple tweaks and adjustments here. But Nick's a really good coach. He's got a good attitude, it's got good energy, has a lot of respect to the players. So, I mean, go out there and training camp, it's about the players, but

[Seth Payne]

it's about the coaches as well.

[Nick Caserio]

So getting back into your routine, calling plays, reacting to the situation. We have a lot of unscripted periods where d' Amico will have the coordinators just call plays. So you just try to prepare, then you go back, hey, you know what? This worked. All right, Maybe go back, make a tweak here. I'd say the core foundation of what we're going to do offensively will probably be installed within the first two weeks. And really, it's about what the players do well. So what do the players do well? And then we're going to build a game plan and the offense accordingly. So, you know, excited about the opportunity Nick has in front of him, excited about the opportunity, you know, for the whole coaching staff.

[Seth Payne]

I didn't. That's the first time I've heard anybody say that the Texans had one of the better offenses in the league in the second half of the season last year.

[David Pendergast]

Yeah, maybe there's some stats that back that up.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, maybe in terms of just like, maybe maintaining control and possession of the. I mean, in terms of just actual scoring production, they didn't get much above 20 other than against the Cardinals and then the last game of the season against the Colts. So I was. That caught me by surprise. And that'd be, you know what, we can ask him about that next week when we have him on.

[Will Anderson Jr.]

Yep.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[David Pendergast]

But yeah, I'm glad you mentioned that. Tuesday next week, Nick Casseria will join us.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, like realistically, the, the biggest thing that they need to improve that would make the biggest impact is just can they run the ball in short yardage in red zone situations? And then can they run the ball more consistently? You know, just getting positive yards, even in chunks of four yards, not huge. You don't have to have home run hits all the time in the run game, but they've just got to run it more consistently. That that's the one thing that if you really isolated and honed in on from last year, the things would have been a whole lot different. And that's what the Texans have focused on in the off season. That's exactly what they've addressed.

[David Pendergast]

It's so obvious, like the moves they've made. They're not trying to be at all secretive about what they're doing. They, they signed a big blocking tight end. They drafted it a big tight end in the second round. They traded for David Montgomery, who's one of the best short yardage guys and whose running style is bull in a china shop like they're. They are. And then all the things on the offensive line that they're doing, which are

[Seth Payne]

big mauler, brawler, physical dudes, the running backs, them.

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[Byron]

My boss asked for results so I opened my dashboard for the only positive sounding metric I had. Impressions.

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[Byron]

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[Seth Payne]

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[Seth Payne]

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[Seth Payne]

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[Byron]

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[Seth Payne]

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[Seth Payne]

Stitch Fix get started today@stitch fix.com. i want to hug you. I'm gonna hug you. I'm coming in for a hug selves, you know, you know my cautionary tale about running backs as always, man, they always look incredible in non padded practices because they're just little powerhouses. They're muscular, they're lean, they're fast, they're all those things. And that's exactly what it looked like yesterday. I thought that Jawar Jordan remains after day one one of my most intriguing players in camp. He had one nice run on his own run where he cut it back and looks like in no pads. It looked like it would have been a nice game but he made the decision really well. He saw the picture in front of him and he hit the cutback. You know, think in your mind's eye of Arian Foster back in the day when on his own run he just had a feel for when to cut it back. His big run he had last year was he cut it back against the grain. It was a little further downfield. It wasn't the classic, you know, zone run. But like I think his size is always going to be an issue. But in using him in spells and as a guy that can be your third running back, I'm still very intrigued by him.

[David Pendergast]

Yeah, I am too.

[Seth Payne]

He looked like he was working his butt off in special teams drills too.

[David Pendergast]

George or well, I mean look with Jalen Noel out right now, there's there, there are snaps to be had as A kick returner.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, yeah.

[David Pendergast]

You know what I mean? Yeah, yeah. You got to look on your face like he's a wide receiver, Sean.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. No, no, no. But, you know, in my mind, I was thinking like, I screwed up. Is he no wide receiver?

[David Pendergast]

No, no, not at all.

[Seth Payne]

But it's your Jordan.

[David Pendergast]

But you are Jordan returned kicks before.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, well, the. The drills that I was talking about was. It looked like. Like a punt team type stuff.

[Will Anderson Jr.]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. So, I mean, he was working in whatever they asked him to do.

[David Pendergast]

Here was d' Amico Ryan's yesterday on that running back room from the running back group.

[d' Amico Ryan]

I'm excited to see the guys, how fast they're playing. I see Woody. He looks faster. He's making more decisive decisions, like cuts. Jawar's looking good. Of course. Montgomery has done a really good job, so a really good room of running backs. And I'm just excited to see them continue to improve on those fine details, like, can we improve in our reads? Can we improve in our pass protection? Can we improve in the screen game as well? So I'm just excited to see the growth of that group throughout camp.

[Seth Payne]

That's, you know, when he's talking about their need to be more precise. Did he use the word precise again? He may have in their. In their reads and all that. It always annoys me when I see people say sometimes that, like, well, you know, the running backs coach, you know, on an NFL team, they don't do a whole lot because you just give the ball to guy and run. I'm like, okay, maybe some coaches feel that way, but there's. There's a lot of coaching that goes into coaching a running back if you want them operating. Probably not to mention just in pass protection.

[Will Anderson Jr.]

Yeah.

[David Pendergast]

You don't want to hit your quarterback.

[Seth Payne]

I do. Like, I get offended on behalf of Danny Barrett and every other running backs coach when people act like, oh, like running backs coach, what do you do? Can't teach that. Like, yeah, no, there's a lot that goes into it, and he's a good one. And I think that that's where David Montgomery specifically can make a big difference. Just like, no matter where he is in terms of, you know, his peak production or athleticism or anything, he's 29 years old. That's. Or he's going to be 29. That's. That's really old for a running back. Like, I. I went back and thought about man, Marcus Allen in the final year of his career was in 1997. So I was a rookie and we're playing the Chiefs and Marcus Allen is their short yardage back. That's it. He's not. He's not Marcus Allen from the highlight reels or anything.

[David Pendergast]

I had him in fantasy that year. Yeah, he had like 200 yards rushing, but he had like 14 touchdowns.

[Seth Payne]

I tell you this, he was so. He wasn't at his peak anymore, but he hit the hole so freaking hard. And he made his decision so quickly that it felt like. Because I was a rookie, too, and I wasn't ready for it. Like, there were a couple of plays down in short yardage where I felt like I had a good rep going and I went to throw my offensive lineman and Marcus Allen was already past me. Like, the whole rhythm of it was disrupted. But, like. So the. The vision, the strength, all of those things are still there. And as I was saying earlier, the short yardage, running game alone and the short. The running game down in the red zone could really have an outsized impact on how effective this offense is. And I think David Montgomery will still be good, really, really good at that stuff, no matter what the rest of his production.

[David Pendergast]

We're spending a lot of time on the offensive side of the ball because that's where I think a lot of the question marks are with this team. I want to hear what you have to say about the tight end room, but before we do that, here's d'. Amico. Ryan's on the. The newly added depth in the tight end room.

[d' Amico Ryan]

I expect our tight ends to play much better this year, starting with our coach, James Farris. Passionate coach, guy who's played the game for 10 years. He brings that energy, brings that passion, knowing what it's like as a player.

[Will Anderson Jr.]

Right.

[d' Amico Ryan]

And he's done a great job pouring into those guys. Kaylee's working with the tight ends as well. And the group, we have a really deep group. I mean, we have, you know, six, seven guys there who can go play for us. So that's the exciting part about it. All different guys, when you talk about passing game, blocking game, we got a plethora of guys who should allow us to do some cool things when it comes to 12, 13 personnel. So I'm excited to see our usage and how guys, you know, just thrive in camp, see what they do well and see how we can use them to our advantage in our offense.

[David Pendergast]

That was my favorite part. The cool things they're going to get to do.

[Seth Payne]

Oh, yeah.

[David Pendergast]

In 12 and 13 personnel, it's like getting tricky with a hammer.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[David Pendergast]

So 12 cool things you can do with this hammer.

[Seth Payne]

So 12 personnel is two tight ends. 13 personnel is three tight ends. And even in saying that and, you know, and using 13 personnel, that's kind of like people. People know the teams that are planning on using a lot of 13 personnel because just about half the league drafted a tight end this year. You just need more bodies and more numbers. I thought the. With Foster Moreau, the most encouraging thing I saw from him yesterday was also the dumbest thing he did, which was he tackled Kamari Lasseter after Kamari Lasseter got an intercept. Yeah, don't do that.

[David Pendergast]

He's one of our best players last.

[Seth Payne]

I love seeing it. I like seeing that kind of. You know, it's kind of like when a kid. Like when a kid who's been bullied actually fights back. You're like, that's how I feel about the offense.

[David Pendergast]

Those are my favorite videos.

[Seth Payne]

They've been bullied a lot, but now they've got the. Now they have Foster Moreau who comes in. It's like that Lucas movie from back in the day.

[David Pendergast]

Oh, yeah.

[Seth Payne]

You know, the offense has got this. This big dude that's going to stick up for him now in the form of Foster Moreau. Foster Moreau plays like a guy that's like, kind of. That could be kind of a fancy laugh, you know, I'm Foster Moreau. Oh, totally, totally. Send back. Send back this trust.

[David Pendergast]

Just picture him, like, picturing Blake Fisher in a letterman's jacket. It's eight sizes too big for him.

[Seth Payne]

It's a little bit like the boy named Sue. He's like, foster Moreau has to be nasty because he's got the name Foster Moreau. So you think he's just some punk? Like, no, no.

[David Pendergast]

You got to be. You got to be double tough.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[David Pendergast]

Foster Moreau.

[Seth Payne]

So he tackled Kamari Lasseter. It was a nice form tackle and everything. It wasn't like he. It wasn't like. He just wasn't like he blindsided him or anything.

[David Pendergast]

No, no. He just dragged him to the ground.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[David Pendergast]

Still not supposed to do it, but it wasn't bad. What about the other guys? What about the guys who are, like. The two guys who I think are under the most pressure in that group are Kate Stover and Brevin Jordan.

[Seth Payne]

All right. Kate Stover and Brevin Jordan. Nothing notable to tell you other than I was annoyed that Cade Stover changed his number because the first couple times I saw Foster. The first time, a couple times I keep doing this. It's been. It's been Multiple times so far this spring, I've seen. I've seen Foster Moreau wearing 87 and thought it was Kate Stover. And I've been. I've been impressed by Kate Stover. Like, ah, crap, that's. Well, I think nothing notable. I didn't see anything notable out of those two guys that we don't already know. Marlon Klein, it's been. He was working in some blocking drills next to Foster Moreau, and you can see the potential for physicality in the running game and in the blocking game with Marlon Klein. He almost had a beautiful catch at the end of practice.

[David Pendergast]

It's the last play, I think.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. Reeled it in, had to dive for it, but hit the ground hard and coughed it up.

[d' Amico Ryan]

Yep.

[Seth Payne]

Look at this. Ain't no German soccer pitch. Okay. This ground is hardened for football. Okay, son? All right. You gotta hold onto that ball. But it was almost. Almost a really nice catch. You know what we love in offensive football? A lot of almost.

[David Pendergast]

If he made that catch, it would have been the second biggest thing we're Talking about behind CJ's contract.

[Seth Payne]

Well, you know what? It would have been on the social media platform, like, highlight from the team.

[David Pendergast]

Yeah. And you and I would have been getting texts and tweets from people like, yo, yeah, Marlon Klein.

[Seth Payne]

But we.

[David Pendergast]

Video. I saw.

[Seth Payne]

We see the. But you can definitely see the upside there in terms of just, yes, he has receiving ability, but they also really, really, really want guys that are. Can be physical, both in the run game and pass protection.

[David Pendergast]

Your notes are all on the offensive side of the ball, which I think makes sense because that's where people have the most questions.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[David Pendergast]

Was there anything defensive?

[Seth Payne]

No, I. Oh, you don't have my full notes. I didn't put my defensive notes in there.

[David Pendergast]

Okay.

[Seth Payne]

You know, the one thing was that the linebacker. The linebacker, it's hard to talk about on radio because I saw Jamal Hill walking out and, you know, I was like, oh, yeah, Jamal Hill. We haven't talked about him in a while, but, like, he's a big guy. He's in his third year. They drafted two linebackers this year. Like, this is a big year for Jamal Hill to. To take another. The proverbial next step. But there's just a lot of guys in competition for that third linebacker spot.

[David Pendergast]

Yep.

[Seth Payne]

And at this point, I couldn't tell you exactly who the leader in the clubhouse is. We talk a lot about Marte Mapu and Wade Wood as. But there's Jamal Hill, there's Aiden Fisher, there's Casey Osai was out there. He's a big guy.

[David Pendergast]

So that'll be Hansen still hanging around.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, yeah. So there's a lot of guys to, you know, just kind of monitor that as the preseason rolls along. But the only, like, my biggest takeaway about the defense was okay. I saw nothing out here that has me less confident about the Texans defense

[David Pendergast]

being elite this year.

[Seth Payne]

Right, right. There were, you know, knock on wood. There were no injuries or anything, but it was all good.

[David Pendergast]

I'm rooting for Wood as in that battle for the third linebacker spot just because one, he's intriguing. Just the physical traits are intriguing to me that he was a safety in college who, you know, put some beef on, became a linebacker. He's got good athleticism. He's going to be on special teams for this team for sure. But the fact if you get a fourth round rookie that all of a sudden is in the mix in your rotation as a linebacker. I mean, Henry Toa. Toa, he hasn't been a great player for the Texans, but he's been a useful piece and they got him in the fifth round a few years ago. You get guys on day three that are in the rotation for you and you're laughing.

[Seth Payne]

The, the. The only notable thing when I spent time watching the defense yesterday was just. I appreciated. Well, there was the team, the offense was working on the center field. I was watching the defense of Walkthrough.

[Nick Caserio]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And just, you know, watching Reed Blankenship fit in and communicate and those guys working through all of their stuff, it's fun to watch. Like they're, they're true professionals. And as far as, like, Reed Blankenship. Yeah. I haven't seen any hints at all or anything that there's going to be confusion or he's not going to be a fit. It just, it felt like there were five fingers in a glove.

[David Pendergast]

Yep. All right, so Will Anderson met with the. Met with the media yesterday. And as is the rule on this show, if Will Anderson speaks, there will be at least two clips played on this show because we Love Will Anderson Jr. So, David, if you're listening, we're going to skip down to the Will Anderson audio here.

[Seth Payne]

Motivational speaker.

[David Pendergast]

He is. He's excellent. And he's. That's what he's working on, too, kind of is his leadership.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah.

[David Pendergast]

You know, getting up in front of the team.

[Seth Payne]

And I thought you meant his actual, like, motivational speaker presentation.

[David Pendergast]

He may very well be working on that, too. I have no idea.

[Seth Payne]

He could totally do it.

[David Pendergast]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Seth Payne]

100% he's the one guy that I can't listen to at 2x speed when I'm trying to hurry through listening through cuts because he talks so fast. He talks so fast, so much energy.

[David Pendergast]

But he's also. He's also not a guy you feel like you got to get through the audio with either. You know, I want to. I want to savor this and listen to this guy at one time. Speed. This is Will Anderson talking yesterday on this team going places that they've never been before.

[Will Anderson Jr.]

Yeah, most definitely. Coach. Talk about putting a bull on the ring. That's something that we're striving for, something that's never been done in the city that brings something special back to this city. And I think everybody's aware of that. I was just talking about telling the guys yesterday the seriousness of what we're trying to accomplish here, man, like be a part of it. Like you're here for a reason. And I think the expectation is like nobody outside of this building is going to have a higher expectation of what we have in this building. But I think we did a really great job of laying the foundation of who we want to be as a team, what we want to accomplish as a team. And swarm is our foundation. So like I say all the time, it's like when everything goes wrong or we're not doing this, that we have a foundation to lean back on. And I think that's why we've been able to be so successful. You know, my four years of being here, because d' Ameco has did a really good job of laying the foundation down.

[David Pendergast]

Todd, you're right. There's no chance listening to him at two times. Speed.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, it's funny, you know, I always, I played for coaches that were kind of old, you know, Dom Capers and Tom Coffin and not talking about, you know, the super bowl in the media and all of that. We keep all this stuff in house and you don't have to make bold proclamations. Coughlin, especially Capers, we were never really in a position where, you know, people were asking a whole lot about the Super Bowl.

[Byron]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

That was not, not when he was in Houston, obviously.

[d' Amico Ryan]

Right.

[Seth Payne]

When he was in Carolina. Yes. But with Coughlin, Coughlin, when we would be asked, you know, we were in position to win Super Bowls and whatnot. You know, he was very strict about that. And you're not doing all this. I feel like d' Ameco doesn't. I don't think he has like a heavy handed policy about how guys speak to the Media. And it's interesting to me because when asked questions about the super bowl and stuff like that, you know, some guys will just kind of, you know, keep things to themselves. Other guys will talk about it pretty casually. But I like that d', Amico, d' Amico and Nick have done a good job of getting a certain type of player to where they don't have to have a lot of conversations or policies about what you can and can't say. Because I think for the most part they're their key guys are cut from the same cloth.

[Byron]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

You know, it's not like it's not like Will and talking about the super bowl or going to the Super Bowl. It's not like he's getting up there and saying like, we're going to put the, we're going to put the league on blast.

[David Pendergast]

And, you know, of all the guys, do you have to worry about Will Anderson, like kind of taking a day off?

[Seth Payne]

Right, right, right. Yeah. Well, I got, you know, I told you when d' Ameco was the defensive coordinator in San Francisco, I went back through after the Texans had hired him. I went back and watched all of his press conferences and one of my favorite answers he had given was when somebody asked him, how do you get these guys to practice so hard? And he said, we don't really have to talk about it a lot. You know, we've got the kind of guys that, you know, know what the standard is and they respond to it. So if we talk about it, it's like every now and then maybe somebody has to, has to be told, this isn't the way we do it.

[David Pendergast]

Some of them even like practicing.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. Yeah.

[David Pendergast]

Here's another one from, from Will Anderson on leadership and specifically talks about Kaden

[Will Anderson Jr.]

McDonald year for man. Just, I guess, just to continue.

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[Seth Payne]

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[Byron]

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[Byron]

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[Will Anderson Jr.]

Just wreck having all phases of the game. But I think one thing that I really want to step up on and it's something I wrote down on my goal sheet, is just, just becoming a better leader, you know, better chance of disconnecting with the guys and really, you know, being more vocal and really, you know, being hands on with the guys. You know what I'm saying? Like really like taking the young guys under my wing. And Kaden has been a great addition to our room because it's given me that, that time to really like have a rookie. Like I've had a rookie. But like he's, he's kind of different, you know what I'm saying? He's a high draft round pick. I mean he's a high draft pick and he, they come they expect him to come in and play. So it's my due diligence to help him out and help him reach every goal that he wants and show him the way. But he have, he has worlding. I mean, Sheldon, he has De Hunt, so he has a whole bunch of guys to help him. But I think that's just one area that I want to evolve in and just being a really great leader, this

[David Pendergast]

is, this is where I want to say to Will when he's like, it's my job to help him achieve all of his goals. This is where I want to go. You realize that he stated one of his goals is to be first team all pros.

[Seth Payne]

Well, I think.

[David Pendergast]

What do you think the chances are you helping get there?

[Seth Payne]

You know what, Honestly though, because some of the other things that Will talked about yesterday, you know, when he was talking about his goals, his goals are all process oriented and that you don't worry about the outside honors. And that was, you know, we had. When Kaden McDonald got up and just said, you know, all rookie, first team all pro. It was one of those moments where I'm like, all right. I don't, I don't think he quite understands. It's kind of like saying, I like it. No matter how good you are as a rookie to make defensive first team all pro. It's especially as an interior run stuff

[David Pendergast]

in the league at his position.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah. So like he just, you know, he just doesn't know what he doesn't know. But the real lesson is that, man, you got to be real careful when your goals are outside acknowledgment because that's not always the best indicator of how well you've done. Like if you, like, honestly, if we wanted to sit down and make a plan for how to be first team all pro and that was what you were going to attack. Half of your goals are going to be based on the PR side of things. You know, be sure you're reaching out to the nugget hussies and everything. So like that's, that's not what your goals should be. Your goals should be about the things you can control. And that probably is the kind of stuff that Will has talked about with Kaden McDonald, you know, and then that's that one of the other things that Will said was that he's, you know, he wants to be sure that he's not just a leader in the D line room, but that when it's the entire team or when it's the entire defense that he's speaking up in those moments.

[David Pendergast]

Yep. All right, Payne and Pendergast with you here on a Thursday, day two of Texans training camp. We talked a little bit about the Kyle Shanahan situation yesterday. The car accident that took 11 days to report that it even happened. And then it took a few days later for Kyle Shanahan to meet with the media and say, I guess disclose all the misreporting there was on. On. On his car accident. I don't know if you saw this. Hey, Byron and David, we're going to skip down to Adam Peters, the GM of the Commanders, some of the fallout from the Kyle Shanahan car accident in which Kyle Shanahan admittedly was at fault in that he claims that he dropped his phone in between the seat of his. Of his car and he went down to fish for the phone, took his eyes off the road. Next thing he knows he's slamming head on into a vehicle with a 21 year old woman in it who initially had been tagged in the system as being at fault. Kyle Shanahan corrected all that. Brandon Aiyuk, man, cannot resist. Did you happen to see.

[Seth Payne]

Oh yeah.

[David Pendergast]

Brandon Iuk.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, I think I sent it to you.

[David Pendergast]

Didn't you posting on Instagram? You may have. Yeah, you may have. Brandon Aiuk posting on Instagram just making fun of Kyle Shanahan getting into this accident, which is like, I mean Iuk is so far out over his skis and lacking in class right now.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, I was always going to be more of a surprise if he didn't

[David Pendergast]

do it, he didn't do it.

[Seth Payne]

You know, the other people were. The other thing people are wondering is if Brandon Aiuka is going to show up at Commander's training camp just as a fan and be a complete distraction.

[David Pendergast]

It's not out of the realm of no.

[Seth Payne]

God, no. It's not. The only thing he has to. First he has to be sure there's no warrants for his arrest there. That's what we know these days. And he had to ask. He asked. He had to ask Instagram if there was a warrant for his arrest in California.

[David Pendergast]

And there was.

[Seth Payne]

It turned out there was.

[David Pendergast]

There is. Yeah. Still they've got one out for him for vehicular stuff. So Adam Peters, the. The GM of the Washington commanders who knows Brandon Aiuk from his time in San Francisco. Peters was in the front office in San Francisco working for John lynch for several years, was asked a question. He and Dan Quinn, the other voice you're going to hear in this audio, the two of them are doing their press conference, I guess, to kick off training camp a couple of days ago. And credit whichever media member this is. Found a way to ask a Brandon Aiyuk question without saying the name Brandon Aiyuk. Take a listen.

[Byron]

Adam.

[Nick Caserio]

One for you.

[David Pendergast]

Just in a general sense, as you're

[Seth Payne]

always looking to improve the team when you're evaluating guys to maybe bring in for workouts, whatever.

[David Pendergast]

What role, if any, does kind of

[Seth Payne]

a player's social media have in that evaluation process?

[David Pendergast]

That's a good roundabout question.

[Seth Payne]

You are straight badass right there. But no, we, I mean, we look

[David Pendergast]

at everything, J.P. i mean, it's a

[Seth Payne]

great question, but we do look at everything and you know, we want to

[David Pendergast]

make sure it's the right player to be in our locker room, in our

[Seth Payne]

bloodstream and in our culture.

[David Pendergast]

And, you know, we often, you know,

[Seth Payne]

we look at that stuff. I mean, it's not always the first

[Nick Caserio]

thing we look at.

[David Pendergast]

Obviously you're looking at the tape and you talk to the teams that the

[Seth Payne]

players have been on and how they

[David Pendergast]

were in the locker room, the players

[Seth Payne]

that have played with them and so

[David Pendergast]

on and so forth to make those decisions. But you know, that's not usually a

[Seth Payne]

huge part of it. Usually

[d' Amico Ryan]

well played.

[Seth Payne]

So I think the big thing there is obviously like Jaden Daniels and Brandon Aiuki know each other from college. Brandon Aiyuk was presenting it almost like it was a foregone conclusion that he was gonna or Brandon Aiyuk was presenting it like it was almost a foregone conclusion that he's gonna reunite with Jaden Daniels. All we know publicly is that Brandon Aiyuk has now publicly called out Jaden Daniels at least a couple times on social media. Yeah, called. Basically called him a mama's boy and then he won't answer his phone, all these other things. So, yeah, like the team's going to talk to Jaden Daniels and players are careful. You know, you don't want to talk smack about people necessarily. But you might say like, well, he's, you know, if I, if I were Jaden Daniels and they came to me and asked like, so what's up with Brandon iuk?

[Nick Caserio]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

And be like, yeah, you know, yeah, we used to be pretty tight. He's. He's an interesting guy. He's an interesting guy.

[David Pendergast]

I haven't spent a lot of time around him the last couple years, so I don't really know how he's. How he is now.

[Seth Payne]

Okay, so you're telling us you're not giving us like a full bore endorsement of like, hey, I'm not saying that, but you're not giving it to us. Right. I never said I'm not doing that, but I'm also not doing that.

[David Pendergast]

Right, right, right.

[Seth Payne]

I think that the problem. This is the problem with Brandon Iuk. Even if you're acting crazy on social media, this is the biggest problem for any team that wants to get him is that look, look at what happened in San Francisco where it really seems that he had these. He was disgruntled. He wanted to get traded. He submarine to the trade that they had in place for him. And finally they came to a deal. A really, really good deal, a really good contract extension. But he couldn't let it go. Like, he couldn't let those hard feelings go. And ultimately, just now, if he still wants to play football, he just doesn't want anything to do with San Francisco because he just. So I'm. If I'm a team and I'm thinking, okay, well, maybe I can get this guy at a discount. This is not the guy who's going to be cool with. With that contract. He's going to be immediately. He'll be. The first time he has a big game. He's going to be pissed off that you're only paying him $5 million this year.

[David Pendergast]

You know, on this show, the two of us, I tend to be the one. Well, that guy's never playing again. No team's going to sign that guy. You tend to be the guy like Sean. There's 32 teams. Somebody's going to sign Antonio Brown.

[d' Amico Ryan]

Yeah.

[David Pendergast]

And sure as hell somebody signed Antonio Brown. Back when you and I had conversations about him like that. What do you think about Brandon iu?

[Seth Payne]

I think there will be a team that tries it if he still wants to play football. I don't know if he wants to play football still because he's acting like the way he's acting, it's like he's not even aware of, like, the process that needs to go on for him to get back into playing football.

[David Pendergast]

He's also made his money now, too.

[Seth Payne]

Yeah, 50 million. Well, but they can claw back some of it. There's. There's. The 49ers might be able to demand some of that money back if things keep going this way.

[David Pendergast]

Yeah, that's.

[Seth Payne]

So I think that somebody will sign him, but it's going to be on a short leash and that. Because he's just that, you know, there's a lot of other guys that I would say, look, George Pickens. George Pickens has done a great job of basically understanding that he's got a certain reputation and that he's done everything he can now to like, I'm going to, he's going to play on the franchise tag. He's not doing a hold in or anything like that. And so far so good in that regard. I don't know if Brandon Aiyuk has that in him to suppress the ego. So somebody will sign him, he'll get disgruntled and it'll be one of these like Albert Haynesworth type things with the Patriots where he's there for three weeks.

[David Pendergast]

I would have lost a ton of money betting on George Pickens playing on the franchise tag.

[d' Amico Ryan]

Yeah.

[Seth Payne]

Signing the 10, signing it and going along and being really.

[David Pendergast]

He signed it early too. You know, it's not like one of those things like camp rolled around. He's like, all right, well, I guess I'll go to camp. He's, you're right. He's been a good citizen. All right, Pain and Pendergast with you. Final segment. Coming up, we got another contract extension yesterday that might be instructive for the Houston Texans. We'll tell you who that was.

[Seth Payne]

For years, Gone south has been a podcast about crime in the American South. But for our new season, we're widening the lens through deeply reported narrative driven stories. We're digging into the myths, scandals and power structures that still shape the south and in a lot of ways, the country itself. Follow and listen to gone South Season 5 An Odyssey podcast, available now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your shows.

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