← Payne & Pendergast
Payne & Pendergast
HOUR 3 - Who Do We Trust in the Astros Rotation? + Who Will be the Texans' Breakout Player? + Payne Index
00:40:42
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- [00:00]
Seth Payne
On the under $3 menu at McDonald's, a sausage burrito is $2. So dip, drizzle or douse to your heart's desire. Cause no matter how you sauce your sausage burrito, it's still just $2. Limited time only.
- [00:13]
Luke Morrow
Prices and participation may vary. Prices may be higher for delivery.
- [00:15]
Commercial Announcer
Okay Mr. Floopers, meow once if I'm the best cat mama in the whole wide world. Okay, meow once if it's Shiba time and I'm the best, I knew you loved me.
- [00:24]
Luke Morrow
Go from ignored to adored with Shiba Grilled. It's protein rich and made with real chicken or seafood tap to buy now or find at your favorite retailer.
- [00:31]
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- [01:01]
Luke Morrow
What's the Astros biggest need right now and should they actually even bother making moves at the deadline? We'll talk about that here. Payne and Pendergast, I'm Luke Morrow in Fruchon alongside Seth Payne. Seth Somebody said on the text line I feel like Seth's idea for NFL branded diapers is one step closer after seeing Coach prime become a spokesperson for Depends.
- [01:24]
Seth Payne
Oh, is he?
- [01:25]
Luke Morrow
Apparently, yeah.
- [01:26]
Seth Payne
There's a. It was. My idea was basically Underoos for adults that now and I think they do make Underoos for adults or at least overweight children. But the. That's where I shop for my adult Underoos. I go to the Husky section.
- [01:40]
Luke Morrow
The overweight children.
- [01:41]
Seth Payne
Yeah. Dillards. The. The. The. It's a brilliant idea, but I lack the follow through to follow through follow through in it. But yeah, like Texans branded Depends undergarments and stuff. I totally go for that.
- [01:56]
Luke Morrow
Yeah. Well, when.
- [01:57]
Seth Payne
When the day comes when I need
- [01:58]
Luke Morrow
it, it might be yesterday. We were talking about what pitch ideas would you bring to J.J. watt on Shark Tank. That might be one. And especially now you got Coach prime, you know, promoting Depends.
- [02:08]
Seth Payne
Does he. Does he. Does he say anything? Is there a testimonial? Does he have to use them or anything? Given his. I don't want to make light of his medical.
- [02:15]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, right. That was My assumption was that's the connection, but I have no idea. That came in on the text line. I didn't know Coach Prime. It depends now, but I'll be.
- [02:24]
Seth Payne
I'll be impressed if he actually goes full testimonial and, like, talks about, like, you know, he's undergoing cancer treatment and everything. I had to. Okay. Had to do it. It's no big deal. Be like. Be like Coach Prime.
- [02:34]
Luke Morrow
Yeah. He's making it cool. It's like in Billy Madison, right. If peeing your pants is cool, consider me Miles Davis.
- [02:40]
Seth Payne
Yeah.
- [02:40]
Luke Morrow
It's. It's.
- [02:42]
Seth Payne
It's becoming hip again now. Yeah. So the first time Dion's out there during. On the sideline, you're gonna have to see if there's a little extra bulge in his. Under his pants.
- [02:53]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, that's always the worst for the old folks walking around, it gives them, you know, makes it look like a FUPA or something. I got the diaper underneath. Speaking of Colorado, by the way, did you, Seth, did you ever go through your NFL career without bothering to watch film on any of the opponents or anything?
- [03:11]
Seth Payne
No, no, no, no. Nor in college either. Like, that was. That's one of the first big shocks to your system when you. Is the first time you're in a film session, you're like, my God, like, how much longer are we going to do this? Why is Coach talking about the same play for. For 10 minutes in a row?
- [03:28]
Luke Morrow
Yeah. Well, here was Julian Lewis of Colorado, Coach Prime's team, there, talking about how they didn't watch film on defenses last
- [03:38]
Seth Payne
year, the most since last year to
- [03:39]
Luke Morrow
now my play, I'm actually looking at the defenses now.
- [03:43]
Seth Payne
Last year wasn't really looking at defense
- [03:45]
Luke Morrow
as much as kind of high school free ball and just out there playing football. But, you know, it's a lot bigger than that now. Should be fine.
- [03:54]
Seth Payne
Colorado fans weren't all that happy about that, that they were just out there free balling. Speaking of. Depends. They were free ball. And I. I get. I could go either way on this, because especially when you're playing, it's in college and in high school, there are times where it really is more about, especially with a young quarterback, getting them. Getting them to understand and play and execute the scheme. And realistically, a lot of good colleges are just. They're. They're getting guys wide open based on the play call, and they're getting so much direction from the sideline that you can make the argument. Yeah. That for him that year, they just needed to get him to be able to Execute the offense and then you take a next step. Now it's with a different offensive coordinator, and now he can be a little bit more advanced. But I think it probably does speak to a little bit of just, man, what a big drop off it was for Colorado as they adjusted to not having, you know, a couple of the best college football players in the country on their team, making things happen.
- [05:01]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, maybe. Maybe a big part of the reason why they went 1 and 8 in the conference last year. By the way, Pat Shermer was the offensive coordinator. He's an NFL guy, so I am surprised that they operated like that. But.
- [05:11]
Seth Payne
But that's where it is. I mean, you kind of got to do a triage on the situation when you're looking at a team and when you've got young players and you're trying to install an offense or you're trying to get a young quarterback to come along. It said, okay, first and foremost, we got to get him to be able to execute the playbook and then you can worry about the higher level stuff later on. But it's not, it's not ideal.
- [05:32]
Luke Morrow
Obviously, on the text line, somebody did say, Coach prime has publicly acknowledged that he uses adult diapers because of his medical condition. Medical condition. So, yeah, that's a good.
- [05:42]
Seth Payne
That's a strong move. By Depends. That's a. I'm guessing it's hard to get genuine celebrity. Like, you're not gonna get movie stars or anything to necessarily do that because they got to keep their cool factor as high as possible. Whereas Dion, Dion, whether. Whether you love him or hate him, you have to acknowledge that he's got a cool factor. That's. That's pretty extreme. Yeah. And for him to do that. Yeah, I think it would make me more comfortable. Yeah. I would go in and I would say, what are you laughing at me? No, Dion. Dion, you know, Deion Sanders is. And the 16 year old girl working the register was like, no, I have no idea. And sir, no, I wasn't. I wasn't laughing at you. I was on my phone.
- [06:23]
Luke Morrow
I'm gonna just start wearing them now, even though I don't need them, because Dion's made it.
- [06:27]
Seth Payne
So people will claim that they'll do it in when they're watching sports or something. I can't imagine that it's actually comfortable sitting there on a wet diaper.
- [06:36]
Luke Morrow
Not a chance. People will do it for Times Square for New Year's Eve because you just. You can't move. You want to get your spot, you got to get there early. To go watch the ball drop. And people apparently will wear diapers. That's got to be the worst to walk around in a soggy diaper all night.
- [06:48]
Seth Payne
I'm going to do that. I'm going to go out and buy some, some Depends this afternoon.
- [06:52]
Luke Morrow
Yeah. Test.
- [06:53]
Seth Payne
I'm going to experiment with it to see what it's like to actually sit. Sit after you've soiled them the first time with a reasonable, with a reasonable amount of urine. I'm not going to change my, I'm not gonna like, you know, drink more fluids or anything.
- [07:06]
Luke Morrow
It's, it's the circle of life. Jerry Seinfeld has that whole bit of, you know, your, your last birthdays are like your first birthday.
- [07:13]
Seth Payne
You know what I need to do? I don't think my wife is listening right now. I'm gonna wear them for like a week.
- [07:18]
Luke Morrow
Mm.
- [07:18]
Seth Payne
And just. And go in them like normally, like throughout the week.
- [07:24]
Luke Morrow
Yeah.
- [07:25]
Seth Payne
Well, I'm gonna see if she notices or not.
- [07:28]
Luke Morrow
That would be great then. That's a real campaign for Depends.
- [07:32]
Seth Payne
Yeah. Yeah. Like, yeah, I did. I wore these for a week and my wife didn't even notice.
- [07:36]
Luke Morrow
No smell. No. Tell Depends the Astros by probably ask
- [07:41]
Seth Payne
why we've got a diaper Genie in the, in the pantry, but other than that, she's not gonna have a clue.
- [07:47]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, that's right. Well, we'll really put them to the test to see how good they are. The Astros lost last night eight to two. Spencer Araghetti got knocked around. He has an ERA of, of like almost nine here in the last seven starts. Astros pitching has not been good. They've dropped the series to the Nationals. So I asked, you know, what's their biggest need at the deadline at this point and you can let us know. 713-572-4-610. Because still yesterday Dana Brown, at least before that Ericetti outing is talking about, hey, we still, we're looking to add a left handed outfielder which has been, that's been the, the company statement here for the last few months. But at this point it seems like it's gotten so unshaky with this rotation that the Astros might need a pitcher more than anything else right now.
- [08:35]
Seth Payne
I do, I think that if, if you're going to be aggressive with the trade deadline because it's a failure, if you're not a playoff team, etc. Etc. And all that, like the, the biggest issue right now on this team, the thing that would make it impossible to actually win a seven game series, I think is that you Just you don't have enough pitchers to, to actually make it through. You might as well spot the other team two wins in a seven game series. Because at some point, whether it ends up being a Burrows or an Arrogetti or Imai, like they're gonna, they're gonna have a couple of really horrendous performances. And that first and foremost, I don't even want to talk about, you know, pitching wins championships or anything. But I just like that's the most glaring issue that they have. Despite having a really healthy win loss record since late May, they're doing it while also having their starting rotation have about a 6 era that all of a sudden you flip that with just one guy, one guy brought from outside and maybe one Christian, Javier or something actually being a good performer. It completely flips how far you could actually go in the playoffs. And replacing Bryce Matthews with a left handed bat, I don't think it does nearly as much for you as a starting pitcher right now.
- [09:55]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, I'm with you. It's, it's, it's become such a glaring weakness for this team, this series against the Nationals. Statistically in some categories, the best offense in baseball, the three Astros starting pitchers, none of them made it through five innings, which then further tax the bullpen. And that's eventually going to catch up to you as well. So a good starter is going to by domino effect, help out your bullpen here down the stretch. There's a bunch of names that we throw around. You got Hunter Brown, Peter Lambert, Spencer Arrogetti, Mike Burrows, Imai Christian, Javier, Lance McCullers Jr. Blanco was new Ski, this, this Triple A guy, Ethan peko, that's what 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 names, 10 starting pitchers that we talk about for the Astros. But realistically, Seth, out of those 10, how many of them do you actually truly trust? Like say it's a playoff game today and the Astros have to pick a starter. How many of those 10 would you actually trust in a big game that
- [10:55]
Seth Payne
I really trust genuinely down in my soul trust. As long as he keeps working his way back. Hunter Brown, right. And that's it. And I, and honestly man, I going there, if I, if I were to go backwards in time and just go, let's go, let's do some seven game series here. Like in the last seven games, the, the Astros have allowed eight or more runs three times. We go to the seven games before that and they allow, they have a, they allow five or more runs. Four out of those seven games. Like and then they had a pretty good stretch. They had a good seven game stretch where they only allow one seven game run in a seven game or one seven run outing in seven games. And then you go to another, the next one, they allow eight runs, they allow nine runs, they allow seven runs in a seven game stretch. Like it's I, they just, they, they absolutely have to address starting pitching first and foremost if they're actually going to make a real move that makes them into a different team.
- [12:02]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, it's the biggest weakness. I mean the offense has holes, of course, the whole roster does, but the offense is better than the starting rotation. Right now you need to address the biggest weakness, pitching. And it's only getting worse. I'm with you. Of those 10 names, Hunter Brown's the only one I trust. I would like to trust Peter Lambert but I'm still have this Cinderella concern of, you know, the other shoes going to drop and, and can we really count on him in a pennant race or in a playoff game. He's been really good all year but we just haven't seen this from Lambert before this year. That it's tough to still buy in that this is just the new Peter Lambert now as opposed to this has been a good stretch and he's eventually going to get figured out.
- [12:39]
Seth Payne
Yeah, the, I guess the one thing that saves us in the seven game series is if you have a bullpen day in there somewhere. That's. I feel way better about a bullpen day than any, than most of the starting pitchers. The only problem with that is that look, you've also got these starters that are only going, they're all going this last three week, this, these, these last three games, not a single one of them made it through five full innings. That you, you can't even rely on having a bullpen day if your relievers are going to be taxed that heavily for sure.
- [13:08]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, that's a good question too. Game one, Hunter Brown starting in a seven game series. Game two, I assume Peter Lambert. Game three, who knows? I don't know. Spencer Arrighetti, I mean he's been terrible for about six weeks now. Do you go with Imai and at least get three innings out of him?
- [13:24]
Seth Payne
You can't even piggyback Imai because it's just he at least does us the honor of just sucking right off the bat usually and then quitting. Yeah, I know Josh Miller pulls him but he pulled. I said this is starting to bother me. It is. All right, I get it. He's a rookie and all of that. But, man, everybody else. Everybody else out there, like, they take their medicine and they at least try to go five innings or so. With Imai, it's all. He's having a hard day. And, guys, he's having a hard time adjusting to the, you know, what time we eat dinner and everything. So let's just be sure we get out there and get him off the mound before it gets too late. And I'm starting to. I'm trying to be a good teammate, but I'm starting to grumble. I'm starting to. I'm starting to be a little bit of a bad presence in the clubhouse.
- [14:10]
Luke Morrow
Imai reminds me of my iPhone, where you spent a lot of money on it. And my iPhone. It's great. It can do a lot of good things. You know, like when his. When his breaking stuff is on, like, oh, you could see the potential there. But the longer you have the phone, the worse your battery gets. And even though it says it's 100%, by lunchtime, it's already dying. And it's similar where by the third inning, like, oh, we already got to go to the bullpen. We didn't get the. Usually you expect five to six innings out of your starting pitcher. You can't get there. Usually I expect my iPhone to make it through the day, but because my battery is so shot after only two years, it's like, I just. I gotta keep charging this thing. It can't last long enough.
- [14:48]
Seth Payne
What are you. What are you rocking with there on your iPhone? What version do you have?
- [14:52]
Luke Morrow
A good question.
- [14:52]
Seth Payne
My battery has been astoundingly healthy, and it's really starting to annoy me. I'd like to. I try not to always replace my phone because I feel like I just. I should be more mature than that now that I need a new iPhone all the time. I've got. I'm on an iPhone 13 still, and my battery life is pristine. And I use my phone a lot.
- [15:12]
Luke Morrow
I'm on a 15. IPhone 15.
- [15:15]
Seth Payne
And then you live in westview and you got an iPhone 15 pimping. You're just always flaunting all this stuff.
- [15:23]
Luke Morrow
Oh, yeah. Okay.
- [15:25]
Seth Payne
What's the latest version?
- [15:26]
Luke Morrow
I have no idea. What do I do? I don't keep up because I'm with you. Like, I've had this for two and a half years. I never buy the new phone I spend. My phone bill is $41 a month. I love this phone, but my battery health. Let's see, where is it battery health? Right now, my maximum capacity is 81%. So even though my phone will say it's 100% charge, my battery really at its best is only 81%.
- [15:49]
Seth Payne
This battery shot because I am turning into an old man. I don't know how to check my battery life right this moment. But no, I think this thing has been an absolute horse. My, let's see. Well, I'm at 7% right now. How do I find out what my battery go to settings battery health insurance
- [16:09]
Luke Morrow
and then go to battery. Yeah, battery health.
- [16:11]
Seth Payne
Oh, my maximum capacity is only 81%.
- [16:14]
Luke Morrow
Ah, same with mine.
- [16:15]
Seth Payne
That's gonna hurt me on my trade in, isn't it?
- [16:16]
Luke Morrow
But that's pretty good because you have a 12, I have a 15, and
- [16:19]
Seth Payne
yet I have a 13. I'm not a peasant.
- [16:21]
Luke Morrow
Oh, sorry, Excuse me. Okay, you have a 13, I have a 15. We're both at 81%.
- [16:26]
Seth Payne
So I got a notification that one of my apps isn't going to be able to work with the iPhone 13 anymore. So I got to, yeah, I'm going to have to upgrade here at some point.
- [16:33]
Luke Morrow
That's the worst I hold on to. Look, growing up, we had the same box TV in our living room for literally like 40 years. And so that trickled down to me. I have a nine year old car, I have this phone. My laptop I'm working off of right now is who knows how many years. Same idea. It's like too old. I can't update certain things on it. I hold on to everything until it stops working and then I'll replace it.
- [16:55]
Seth Payne
It's the one, you know what, honestly, where people tell you about there's a difference between getting rich and staying rich. And they're not always the same skill set. If you ever start to worry that you're, you know, you're just being too consumeristic or anything, but you also want to be rich. Go through River Oaks every now and then and see some of the people in there that are driving like a really well kept up 25 year old Mercedes. You know, like they don't just, they're not just buying a new car every year or anything. And they'll, they'll buy nice things, but they don't, they don't buy things just to buy things.
- [17:27]
Luke Morrow
Exactly.
- [17:28]
Seth Payne
You know that there's a certain, they, there's a certain level of restraint.
- [17:32]
Luke Morrow
Yeah. That's what Jeff Bezos has said. That's the worst investment is a new car. He has driven. I don't know about now, but he used to drive like a 25 year old car.
- [17:40]
Seth Payne
I've had dicey experience with that because I usually try to do the the first car I ever bought my stepfather, after I got my signing bonus in the NFL, he, he gave me the advice of, you know, buying a slightly used car is your best bang for your buck. And I did. But the problem is every time I buy a lightly used car and it's an awesome deal and everything in the carfax checks out and all of that, there's just that one little thing that pops up that you're like, oh, I wouldn't, I wouldn't have this issue with a brand new car. Or at least if I did, I would have known it and seen when it happened and everything. And I'm just never as comfortable as when I, I know I'm paying a premium for a brand new car, but that I like. I feel like any of the issues that it has are my issues that I've either contributed to or I'm aware of them. I don't like, I don't like having that sprung on me with a, you know, with a used car.
- [18:29]
Luke Morrow
That's a good point. That is the nice perk of a new car. You don't have to worry about all these issues. I got plenty of stories of that coming up. Who will be the Texans breakout player of the year? We'll get to that next Payne and Pendergast.
- [18:41]
Commercial Announcer
Okay, Mr. Floofers, meow once if I'm the best cat mama in the whole wide world. Okay, meow once if it's Shiba time and I'm the best I knew you loved me.
- [18:49]
Luke Morrow
Go from ignored to adored with Sheba Grilled. It's protein rich and made with real chicken or seafood. Tap to buy now or find at your favorite retailer.
- [18:56]
Commercial Announcer
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- [19:26]
Luke Morrow
Who will be the Texans breakout player this year? It's Payne and Pendergast. I'm Luke Morrow, in for Sean alongside Seth Payne. You can always text the show 713-57-24610. Or get to us in the YouTube and Twitch chats as well. Couple texts that did come in that. That made me laugh because we were talking about the pens last segment and. Hold on, let me find them because Depends undergarments. Yes, that's right. Now I just lost them. I had them pulled up here. We have had so many enough texts come in. Oh, here it is. Coming up on next week's Pain and Pendergast, Seth learns what a UTI is.
- [20:03]
Seth Payne
Yeah, yeah, yeah. If I'm sitting in my own fil for hours, I'm not going to test the limits of Depends. Remember the astronaut woman that was charged with the murder or attempted murder of her husband?
- [20:14]
Luke Morrow
No.
- [20:14]
Seth Payne
I don't know. She drove. I want to say she drove from Texas to Florida in one shot.
- [20:20]
Luke Morrow
Wow.
- [20:21]
Seth Payne
And she wore Depends or she wore adult undergarments. I don't want to get sued by dependence. That was part of how she was able to do it and make it like she made an improbable, improbably quick trip to Florida and back.
- [20:32]
Luke Morrow
That's wild. And then somebody else, you know, when I mentioned that people wear underwear for Times Square on New Year's Eve, somebody said, yeah, that sounds like a great idea. Until you meet a girl on New Year's Eve, take her home, and she has to watch you remove your diaper.
- [20:46]
Seth Payne
Yeah. Hey. Nothing. Yeah, nothing to see here. Yeah. Taking off your Depends. That's a rough one. Yeah. So, I don't know. Will I get a what if I don't want to talk about it? Go buy some Depends and some jock itch cream, too. At the same time. Yeah.
- [21:08]
Luke Morrow
Lovely. Who will be the.
- [21:10]
Seth Payne
That's right. It was Colleen. She. Lisa Nowak or Novak. She drove 900 miles to attack her ex's girlfriend.
- [21:19]
Luke Morrow
Oh, my gosh.
- [21:20]
Seth Payne
Crazy. 2007. That was forever ago.
- [21:23]
Luke Morrow
Yeah.
- [21:24]
Seth Payne
She drove from Houston, Texas, to Orlando, Florida, to confront the woman who'd won the affections of an astronaut that Novak had been involved with. Instead of having the conversation she claimed she wanted, Novak was arrested for attacking the other woman. So that was. Yeah. She wore diapers on her 900 mile drive in order to avoid bathroom breaks.
- [21:42]
Luke Morrow
Oh, man. Yeah.
- [21:44]
Seth Payne
You were just a young lad back then.
- [21:46]
Luke Morrow
Yeah.
- [21:47]
Seth Payne
You know, the way that worked, the way things really worked in adult relationships.
- [21:51]
Luke Morrow
That's right. Yeah. I.
- [21:52]
Seth Payne
Some point.
- [21:52]
Luke Morrow
Recall that.
- [21:53]
Seth Payne
So to tell all kids, at some point, there's going to be. There's going to be somebody in your life that makes you so angry that you drive 900 miles wearing depends to attack them. That's a. That's a. That's. That's. That's how much emotional be involved here.
- [22:06]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, that's right. Kids. One day you'll have to throw on some depends too, in your relationship. And somebody said, how is your phone bill $41 a month with an old iPhone? That's how. Who will be the Texans breakout player this year?
- [22:19]
Seth Payne
So a month.
- [22:20]
Luke Morrow
Yeah.
- [22:21]
Seth Payne
All right, we'll talk about this during the break.
- [22:22]
Luke Morrow
I honestly don't know how it's that low, but it is and I appreciate it.
- [22:25]
Seth Payne
You're like, like you're saying in some, like, little plan that they forgot about or something, probably, and you're just like, you're just waiting to. I lived in a house once that, like, it was a new house and they. The tax appraiser hadn't caught on to it yet for some reason, for like six years. I was paying like 200 a year in property taxes because it was classified as an empty. Empty lot. It was. It wasn't bad. Yeah.
- [22:50]
Luke Morrow
Yeah.
- [22:51]
Seth Payne
That's what you're on right now. You. You've. The Verizon or whoever you're with just hasn't discovered it.
- [22:57]
Luke Morrow
That's right.
- [22:58]
Seth Payne
Let's keep talking about it on the radio right this moment.
- [23:01]
Luke Morrow
Good thing these mics aren't on. Keep this a little secret. Who will be the Texans breakout player this year? ESPN had an article, Ben Solak, who. Who's referenced frequently, he did an article of the breakout player for each team, and he went with Kalen Bullock, who I think a lot of people took exception with. Like, I don't know. Does that really fit the criteria?
- [23:21]
Seth Payne
I feel like he's already broken out. He's already in a. He was. He made the Pro bowl last year. And I do think a lot of people, A lot of people already talk about him like he's one of the best safeties in the league. And I. It feels a little bit like when you had all these NBA people saying, like, hey, you heard it from me first. Amen. Thompson's a pretty good player. And you're looking around like every single person was, like, saying, hey, just so you guys know ball knowers like me, I'll tell you, Amin, Thompson's a pretty good player. Yeah. Like, when enough people are saying, like, hey, watch out for this guy. The guy's already been watched out for. So I think that's where Kaleb Bullock is. I think for me, the breakout player, the biggest, intriguing breakout player is Jaden Higgins and I think Jaden Higgins kind of toiled in anonymity last year because of the, you know, because of the Texans offense and the issues that they were having because he wasn't a first round pick. I think not as many people noticed that he did some good things as a rookie wide receiver and also because we've been like in recent, in the last decade we've had more just it's been more common for rookie wide receivers to really burst onto the scene. And I'm not saying he's going to be the next Jamar Chase or anything, but I think he's going to become a much more bona fide number two wide receiver. And like so breakout doesn't have to mean that he becomes one of the best wide receivers in the league, but it's going to be one that when we're looking at preseason wide receiver room rankings, that's going to be much more of an asset going into the 2027 season.
- [24:50]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, for sure. They need to. That's been the other thing I've been on. We talked earlier about Keelan Rutledge and that big question while the other one of course that I keep repeating on these airwaves over the last few months is the wide receiver position. I mean we talked about it Seth, you and I earlier this week of the questions that remain in that wide receiver room. I think it was yesterday behind Nico Collins. And so they need one of those guys, Higgins, Noel, Whoever to try to break out this year and add more depth to that wide receiver position. So hopefully so honestly and credit to John Lopez and Reggie, they on in the Loop. They they've turned me on to it and I've always kind of liked him. This might be quite a reach but I am on the Foster Moreau hype train and I don't know if that would even count as a breakout but I think he could play a big role in this offense this and even if it's not the sexy flashy stuff, I think he could be a play an important part and have a good year for this team. I don't know if he qualifies as a breakout, but maybe that's more of like an underrated player. But I'm on the Foster Moreau train.
- [25:51]
Seth Payne
Well, remember Cassario kind of just casually said when he was in an interview I think he might have been with John and Mark. It said that, you know, for a stretch before he got cancer, Foster Moreau was one of the best tight ends in the league. And I don't, I don't really remember that being, you know, something a lot of people were talking about. And I think where Casario it would be more. It's not because of the receiving production. It's the fact that he is a capable blocker and the, the 1, 2 combo in terms of just looking for versatility and being able to run multiple different styles of offense while just having a tight end on the field, I think that's probably what, what most intrigued Nick Casario. But I remember, yeah, like when he said that I went back through him like, yeah, you never had a breakout year as a receiver or anything. His career high is 420 yards receiving. I think he could be a breakout player. If. If the Texans are leaning into multiple tight end sets a lot and more frequently, like a lot of other teams seem to be planning and doing and it actually ends up working, then he's not going to get a whole lot of publicity for it. But he 100% is the guy that they were missing in terms of just being able when you want to be out there. And instead of having six offensive linemen have a tight end in place of Juice Scruggs so you can actually run the ball, but also have a viable wide receiver, viable receiving threat at tight end instead of an offensive lineman. That's a, that's a big, big difference from one year to the next.
- [27:23]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, breakout probably is too strong, maybe like underappreciated by the time the season goes on and we look back, he's a under.
- [27:30]
Seth Payne
You know what he is, he's an underrated breakout player. Like it could potentially break out into that. Those lists of most underappreciated players. So his breakout would be okay. He starts making the. The underrated lists.
- [27:45]
Luke Morrow
Right.
- [27:45]
Seth Payne
And then, and then the dream is that you get talked about being underrated so much that you actually become appropriately rated.
- [27:50]
Luke Morrow
Yes, of course, somebody said, we mentioned Higgins. Somebody said breakout player will be Jalen Noel in the slot. That speed will be deadly. How high are you on him progressing year one to year two?
- [28:02]
Seth Payne
I think the fun thing, the really fun thing to think about is, all right, A, if Jaden Higgins comes along and B, if Tank Dell ends up being healthy and being the same guy now all of a sudden you've got a lot of speed on the outside that really opens things up underneath. And yeah, Jalen Noel could become that lovable slot receiver that's just always there at the sticks or just turning up field and getting run after the catch. The thing that's underrated about him, I think is just how strong he is. And his ability to break tackles as a smaller guy, if you actually give him some space to work with underneath, that could turn into some really electrifying runs afterwards if teams are so focused on the outside wide receivers. And it's very, very possible, but it's like, it's like everything else on the offense right now. There's huge house of cards. Like, hey, all you need for CJ to look like a better quarterback is better offensive line play, better tight end play, more health at running back and. And for your wide receivers to stay healthy. That's all you need. And then CJ will be just fine. Yeah.
- [29:10]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, exactly. That's all you need.
- [29:11]
Seth Payne
All those things to come together.
- [29:13]
Luke Morrow
Yeah. By the way, I don't know if you had mentioned this earlier, but Ben Solak did. Ignat did acknowledge that, you know, while, while Bullock was his, his pick, he did acknowledge the Pro bowl appearance. And what he said in his defense was, I don't know how many NFL fans would list him, you know, with the names of the stars, the Texans defense, like a Will Anderson Jr. Like a stingley, so on and so forth. And he was saying that he believes he could put himself into the national spotlight more so here over the next year. So that's why he chose him specifically as the breakout player for the Texans.
- [29:45]
Seth Payne
Yeah. And I think the other thing, too is that there's times last year because of injuries at the other safety position, I don't think they were able to use Calen Bullock as creatively, I think, as they'd like to be able to just really take advantage of his range and his ability to just be all over the place. So with Reed Blankenship now, they can mess with those guys a little bit more. And you know, Calum Bullock can go down and play in the box. He can do. They can be more versatile on defense without getting overly complicated or anything. It just, it frees them up. If he's got a steady, solid veteran playing next to him or out there on the field with him at that other safety position, it really frees them up. To make the most of his range and his ability to cover just large
- [30:33]
Luke Morrow
swaths of real estate, you continue to let us know who you believe will be that breakout player for the Texans this year. 713-572-4-610 on the text line. Coming up, we're bringing it back, the pain index. How much would these things hurt if they happen here in the Houston sports scene? We'll do that next. Pain and Pendergast, this Father's Day.
- [30:55]
Commercial Announcer
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- [31:25]
Seth Payne
On the under three dollar menu at McDonald's, a McChicken is two dollars. Because when you're craving a McChicken, you deserve a McChicken. And now that McChicken is just two
- [31:36]
Luke Morrow
dollars, limited time only, prices and participation may vary. Prices may be higher for delivery.
- [31:40]
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1, 2, 1, 2, 3, 4. Gimme a break, gimme a break, break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar Gimme a break, give me a break break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar the chocolate crispy taste gonna make your day and wherever you go you hear the people say Give me a break, give me a break break me off a piece of that Kit Kat bar have a break, have a Kit Kat.
- [32:09]
Luke Morrow
I'm Jenna Fisher.
- [32:10]
Seth Payne
And I'm Angela Kinsey and we have
- [32:11]
Luke Morrow
the podcast Office Ladies.
- [32:13]
Commercial Announcer
Every Wednesday we'll be sharing even more exclusive stories and lots of laughs.
- [32:17]
Seth Payne
Follow and listen to Office Ladies on the free Odyssey app and wherever you
- [32:21]
Luke Morrow
get your podcasts, it's time to bring back the Seth Payne index here on Payne and Pendergast. I'm Luke Morrow, in for Sean alongside Seth Payne. You can always text the show 713-572-4610 or get to us on the Twitch and YouTube chats as well. When the previous time when we had worked together, I just came up with the idea of let's put a bunch of kind of did on the fly. Let's put a bunch of topics together, get Seth's thoughts on it, and with the help of Reggie, we changed the name to the pain index. It's a pun, Seth. Pain. And the idea is I give you a topic on a scale of 1 to 10, you label it as how much it would hurt.
- [33:04]
Seth Payne
Yeah, I'm telling the doctor. What's my level of pain? That's right. I'm being honest about it. I'm not just trying to score a bunch of opioids. Yes. Yeah. It's as the pretend let's pretend I don't have an opioid addiction.
- [33:15]
Luke Morrow
Yes.
- [33:15]
Seth Payne
As we go through this exercise, Right.
- [33:17]
Luke Morrow
Yes. Let's pretend. Astros don't add any pitching at the trade deadline. On the scale of 1 to 10, how much pain would that cause?
- [33:27]
Seth Payne
Oh, you know what? I feel like Dana Brown needs to earn the right to. To create actual pain. I think my expectations of what this team and what they're going to do are. Are so low right now, and I'm a victim of the moment because of this miserable series they just had. But I don't. I feel like that's the most obvious thing they have to address if you actually want to have any chance in a. In a playoff series, is that you just can't have these vast, vast wastelands in your starting pitching spots. And yet I also don't know exactly what. Like, I'm torn. I'm ambivalent. Because to actually get somebody that's going to make a difference, I don't know, you have the prospects or. I have the appetite for giving up. For those prospects. Giving up those prospects so they get. The Astros can only hurt me so much right now because I'm detached somewhat. I'm going to say that would be. That'd be a seven. That'd be a seven on the pain scale.
- [34:26]
Luke Morrow
Yeah. And I think part of it for me, too, as you've mentioned throughout the morning, is just the idea of once again, of settling for these guys coming back from injuries. And as a fan, that would really. That would be not demoralizing, but that would be a tough pill to swallow. Where that's the big move is Javier and McCullers finally coming back and seeing if they could do anything. It's. It's a little deflating.
- [34:46]
Seth Payne
It's really. It's just. It's. We've gone from the golden era to the era of just expecting half rations. Just like, all right, yeah, I know you're not going to do anything all that big or impressive or whatever, but. Yeah, cool. Show me what you got.
- [35:00]
Luke Morrow
It's depressing. Next on the pain index, say IMAI OPS out.
- [35:05]
Seth Payne
Negative 3.
- [35:07]
Luke Morrow
He opts out at the end of the season.
- [35:10]
Seth Payne
Negative 3. Elation in this. So 10 would be the most painful.
- [35:13]
Luke Morrow
Yes.
- [35:13]
Seth Payne
This is the problem. This is the problem. This is actually going to be a 9 or a 10 if he opts out because it means that he ended up figuring things out in the second half of the season was really awesome, then it's going to be a 9 or a 10. And because so, like, as of right now, if he could somehow miraculously opt out and be like, oh, cool, thank you. I will pack your bags. I'll find out what time you prefer to eat dinner. I'll give you a sticky baseball like they throw in Japan. I'll give you a nice little care package of everything you need to feel comfortable in your next spot. But I wouldn't worry about it at all. But if he opts out, it's, it's going to be because he was really, really impressive in the second half of the season.
- [35:51]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, it's kind of that double edged sword of either he's going to continue to stink and you're stuck with him, or like you said, he pitches well, hops out and it's like, oh well, there he goes. And you might not get anything in the meantime, this might be a team that if they do make it to the playoffs, don't go far enough. And so it's, it's kind of a lose lose either way.
- [36:08]
Seth Payne
Is the, is the bloom off the rose officially with the Astros pitch pitching development to where they were just for so long regarded as man, there's two teams you want to go to if you're a young pitcher, the Rays and the Astros, because they're going to get the absolute like they're going to teach you how to pitch and with the Rays they'll trade you off to a good team at some point. And the Astros were already good. So of course that's, that's a Shangri la. But man, my level of confidence that I used to have when they would bring in any random veteran pitcher was so high and now it just does not feel that way anymore for sure.
- [36:41]
Luke Morrow
I mean, two years ago you had Kikuchi come over and turn things around. Even last year you could point to like Jason Alexander. But this year Alexander went back, he turned back into a pumpkin. And as we mentioned earlier, I mean they kind of operate like that, relying on that where they bring in these six pitchers on bargain deals thinking like, yeah, we'll get the most out of them. And right now, three of them aren't even in the big leagues. They've combined for a nearly six era. Lambert's the only example of somebody that they did get to.
- [37:09]
Seth Payne
I think a lot of times when they get that initial bump when they first show up, it's got a lot more to do with pitching selection and all of that stuff that's still relevant, but they don't. The sum total of the people they have working in the pitchers in the organization is that you're probably never going to replace a guy like Brent Strom. That worked like Brent Strom was the perfect guy because he has. As an older guy he had all this experience, but he also had an appreciation for the analytics and he understood it and he used it. And just the sum total of everything they were doing from an old school baseball standpoint on into the space age stuff, it was just, it, it was, it was a city on a hill, you know, And I just don't think they have that reputation anymore.
- [37:50]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, no, I don't think so either, unfortunately. Next up on the pain index, you brought this up. I think this is a really fascinating thought. You brought this up earlier this week. If the Texans run game is solid, and we can all define that in different ways, but just say middle of the road in the NFL, it's improved from last year. It's not a huge issue. It's solid. Say the run game is solid, but the offense still struggles. That doesn't solve all their problems. Offensively. On a scale of 1 to 10, how much pain would that cause?
- [38:20]
Seth Payne
That's all right. This is a tough one. They're going to do this in two different sets. Seth, the Texans fan, that's a 10 on the pain scale. That's, that's because that means like, all right, that means CJ's. CJ doesn't have excuses anymore. You know, the big excuse or explanation that I myself and others have been running with his man, he's never genuinely had just even a solid rushing attack. Then that includes the Joe Mixon year. They just didn't have a solid rushing attack, a consistent rushing attack. And it's hard for any quarterback to operate in that environment. If he gets that rushing attack this year and he's still not performing up to the level that we think he's capable of, it's going to be miserable. And yet the sports radio guy in me knows that that January through May, that would be a golden era of. People hate listening to us as we talked about this incredible, hopefully still incredible class of quarterbacks or potential, potential free agent signings or trades or whatever. But I know I would grow to hate that too, because we'd be talking about the same thing every single day. So I would still, even though I'd be financially benefiting from it, I would still be a 10 on the actual emotional and pain index. I'd be so. I'd be so frustrated and sick of talking about it for four straight months that I'd be, I'd be miserable. There's no, there's no. There's no positive way to slice this. It's. If C.J. stroud is not the guy that you're hoping he would be, despite everything else on the offense being improved, you got to go out and find a new quarterback at that point, and you can. That's. That's fraught with peril, as we know.
- [39:57]
Luke Morrow
Yeah. Yeah, I'm with you. It's sort of like the movie Hall Pass. If this scenario were to play out, it's almost like the movie Hall Pass where all married men are most. I won't speak for everyone. Most married men think that it's their wives. Like, oh, if I wasn't married, I'd be hooking up with all these supermodels out there. And then when you remove that excuse, like in Hall Pass, where it's like, all right, you have a week. Go do whatever you want. And they find out like, oh, actually, no one's interested in me. Then there's no more excuses to make. Like, it's just you're not the. The killer you think you are.
- [40:28]
Seth Payne
It's. Yeah, Yeah. I go through that. Just even when. When I'm. When my wife's out of town, it's like, I don't know. I have all these grand plans, not. Not getting into anything, you know, bad or out like, that I wouldn't normally be allowed to do, but just have the. The freedom to do whatever I want, whenever I want without having to check in with anybody. I end up doing the exact same thing I always do.
- [40:48]
Luke Morrow
Right.
- [40:48]
Seth Payne
It's a good reminder, like, oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, I don't have to start thinking that things are so awesome if we're out there and single and living this life. Yeah.
- [40:56]
Luke Morrow
Yeah. It's the classic, like, oh, we have a free night away from the kids, and then you're still in bed at, like, 9pm Anyways, you know, like. Next on the Pain index, Fred Van Vliet isn't ready for opening night. Let's say he misses the start of the season, however long that might be. He's not ready for a month, two, whatever. He did say recently his knee exploded on the pain index. How much would that hurt?
- [41:18]
Seth Payne
All right. Now, this is the big one for this. If. If that's the case. And Raphael Stone hasn't done a damn thing about it other than hoping to cobble together guys to pass and shoot alongside Marcus Smart this year. That'd be a 10. That. That would be really, really rough. Because everything. If the. If the Rockets don't do anything aggressive this offseason. Then they've been 100% just honest in their belief that hey, with Fred Van Vliet coming back, everybody's going to be, it's just going to be a much different operation. And then you don't have a Fred Van Vliet and you haven't done anything about it at all. That'd be a 10.
- [41:55]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, yeah, I'd be with you. I am concerned from that audio from Van Vliet. And then lastly, maybe most importantly on the pain index, say you bring home a woman on a one night stand. Just a general person, middle aged person, not too old. Of course you bring home a woman on a one night stand and she has to take off her depends. Oh, what is that on the pain index scale of 1 to 10?
- [42:19]
Seth Payne
That's inversely proportional to what she is on the looks scale. So it's not directly proportional but it's not like a one to one ratio but it's inversely so if she's a ten, it's like a five on the pain scale. If she's a one, then it's a ten on the pain scale because that's. Then you really got to start evaluating what you're even doing with your life while your wife's out of town. So yeah, just told your radio co host that all you do is sit on the couch and watch sports when your wife's out of town. And then all of a sudden I find myself with a one who's stripping off her depends speaking to me in a raspy voice almost. And then burns her to, burns her to pens with a cigar she's smoking. That's tough, man. That's a rough one by the way. Old, distorted looking, faded out tattoos from the 80s on her, on her biceps.
- [43:10]
Luke Morrow
Oh my gosh, she sounds like the woman from Goonies. By the way. I didn't say you specifically, I said in general. So I'm not.
- [43:19]
Seth Payne
Okay, well I go first person on this stuff.
- [43:22]
Luke Morrow
I wasn't trying to put you in this awkward place position.
- [43:24]
Seth Payne
That'd be the tough thing too is again then you get, you confess to your wife about it and then the what's worse isn't the confession but like actually showing the picture. Like yeah, this is, this is the, this is the woman that I chose to throw everything right for.
- [43:39]
Luke Morrow
Right.
- [43:39]
Seth Payne
What's worse, decided to risk it all for.
- [43:41]
Luke Morrow
Yeah, it's worse for the woman where she's like for the depends lady. Are you kidding?
- [43:44]
Seth Payne
Yeah.
- [43:45]
Luke Morrow
Oh my gosh. Come on. Up one Perfect. That's the pain index. I'm still working on the patent. Coming up, one professional sports league continues to embarrass itself. We'll talk about that next pain and pen.
- [43:58]
Commercial Announcer
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- [44:28]
Seth Payne
On the under $3 menu at McDonald's, a sausage burrito is $2, so dip, drizzle or douse to your heart's desire. Cause no matter how you sauce your sausage burrito, it's still just $2. Limited time only.
- [44:41]
Luke Morrow
Prices and participation may vary. Prices may be higher for delivery.