Who is the Texans’ most important newcomer?

Summary

Payne & Pendergast: Who Is the Texans’ Most Important Newcomer?
Episode Summary – July 24, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this lively episode of Houston’s sharpest sports talk show, B. Scott sits in for Seth Payne to break down one of the most pressing training camp questions alongside Sean Pendergast: Who is the most important newcomer for the 2026 Texans? With camp just days away and expectations running high for Demeco Ryans’ squad, the hosts dig deep into the significance of offseason additions, from draft picks to free agents and trades. Their discussion centers around not just excitement, but which newcomer is truly critical to the team’s chances to build on last year's playoff success.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Evolution of the Texans’ Offseason Focus

• The hosts reflect on how the team, once deeply in a “developmental phase,” is now “just adding along the margins” (03:14, B. Scott), a sign of a playoff-caliber roster.
• There’s emphasis on how this makes the question of the most important newcomer sharper; fewer holes, higher stakes for each addition.

2. Defining “Newcomer”

• Clarified as any free agent, rookie, or traded player on the roster for the start of camp who wasn’t on the team for last year’s playoff exit.
• “Think Keelan Rutledge, Kaden McDonald, Wyatt Teller, Braden Smith, Reed Blankenship, or David Montgomery” (03:41, Seth).
• Notable boundaries: “Tank Dell doesn’t count…he was technically on the team” (06:59, Seth).

3. The Candidate Pool

• Rookies: Keelan Rutledge (center), Kaden McDonald (DL), Marlon Klein (as a wildcard).
• Free Agents: Wyatt Teller (LG), Braden Smith (OL), Reed Blankenship (safety).
• Traded Players: David Montgomery (RB), Martin Mapu (LB/safety; acquisition significance increased due to recent injury to EJ Speed).

4. Most Exciting vs. Most Important

• B. Scott: “The one that has me most excited is Reed Blankenship...strengthening an already elite defense always intrigues me” (05:22).
• Seth notes how Blankenship could “unlock” rookie Kalen Bullock, but both agree that—while important—these moves aren’t as urgent as offensive upgrades.

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The Hosts’ Choices & Reasoning

B. Scott’s Pick: David Montgomery (RB)

• “The repair of the offensive side of the football is the most important thing for this football team. So I'm going to go David Montgomery in all this.” (05:57, B. Scott)
• Emphasizes the fragility of the RB room: “If something happens to David Montgomery...we're right back to the situation we were in last year” (06:34, B. Scott).
• Values Montgomery’s locker room presence and his reliability as a lead back.

Notable Quotes:

• “If something happens to David Montgomery, we're...right back at the Square. Square One is maybe being a little bit dismissive of Woody Marks. But we're right back to the situation we were in last year where Woody Marks is maybe playing a little out of position or a little out of role.” (06:34, B. Scott)

Seth’s Pick: Wyatt Teller (LG)

• “For everybody else, I can think of either who the backup is or…what is the contingency plan…if this doesn't work out...I don't know who the left guard is if something happens to Wyatt Teller.” (07:32, Seth)
• Highlights the “domino effect” of losing Teller, destabilizing both the center and tackle positions, and the unknowns behind him.
• Stresses the offensive line’s poor history of Pro Bowlers and the rare potential for an anchor at left guard.

Notable Quotes:

• “I don't know who the left guard is if something happens to Wyatt Teller. He's not any good.” (08:15, Seth)
• “If he’s good, not even necessarily all pro Wyatt Teller, but if he’s some version of that, he could make Ariante Ursary on one side, and whoever the center is...better football players.” (10:52, Seth)

Discussing Contingency & Depth

• Seth outlines potential worst-case fallback: “I would think Keelan Rutledge, even if Keelan Rutledge were playing center…moving Keelan Rutledge over to left guard, and putting Jake Andrews…as your center…but that gets a little dicey.” (09:40, B. Scott)
• They agree: depth at OL is the team’s biggest pain point, especially with left guard.

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Other Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On the 2023 QB Drama:
  • “Are we not…grown ups? Have we been here before?…Do we football, bro?” (00:52, Seth)
• On historical OL struggles:
  • “Only been four Pro bowl offensive linemen in the history of the Houston Texans…that’s the list, that’s crazy.” (11:42, B. Scott)
• On team-building progress:
  • “It just shows you how much we get caught up in our own little offseason narratives…if you just do the 30,000 foot view, you're like, of course the number two overall pick is going to start.” (01:27, Seth)
• Final word on importance:
  • “When something's important like this, it's usually for a reason that’s a little painful.” (08:33, B. Scott)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:10 – Start of show, training camp countdown, and reflection on Texans’ progress
• 02:43 – The “Who is the most important newcomer?” question is introduced
• 03:41 – Defining newcomers (rookies, free agents, trades)
• 05:22 – Reed Blankenship and the impact on defense
• 05:57 – David Montgomery: the most important addition?
• 07:32 – Why Wyatt Teller’s left guard spot is so vital
• 09:40 – What happens if Wyatt Teller goes down? Contingency scenarios
• 11:31 – Texans’ historic lack of Pro Bowl O-linemen
• 12:05 – Wrap-up before headlines; potential for offensive line breakout

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Takeaways

• The offensive side of the ball remains the focus for the Texans’ next leap, and both Montgomery and Teller are seen as linchpins for 2026.
• While the defense could take another step, offensive injuries or misfires—especially at left guard and running back—pose the biggest threats.
• The hosts’ picks (Montgomery and Teller) reflect both excitement for proven pros and concern over depth and team history at their respective positions.
• Listeners gain a practical understanding of how nuanced “importance” is when a team is building for contention instead of just survival.

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Transcript

[Rachel Braethan]

Life can feel overwhelming. But on my podcast, from the Heart with Rachel Braethan, we're in it together. Every Friday brings you a new story. Listen to from the Heart with Rachel Braethon. Wherever you get your podcasts.

[B. Scott]

Sugar Lane Studios. Here's Pain and Pendergast. Hi, Pain and Pendergast. Be Scott in for Seth today. Monday and Tuesday as well. We're counting down to training camp for the Texans. First practice is next Wednesday. Cannot wait. Here we are, man. Year four. Yeah. Of the Demico Ryan's era. Already less than a week away year for the C.J. stroud era. The Will Anderson Jr. Era. Man, that, that flew by.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[B. Scott]

It feels like just yesterday we were talking about CJ Stroud going to be named the starter of this football team. Yeah.

[Seth]

And what's taken him so long?

[B. Scott]

Yeah.

[Seth]

You know, remember it was kind of a. It was a little bit of a controversy.

[B. Scott]

Why are they. Why are they making him earn this

[Seth]

even though we all knew. I can remember feeling this way at the time. Like, what are, what are we all doing here? Like, are we not. Are we grown ups? Have we been here before? Like, have we. Do we. Do we football, bro.

[B. Scott]

We had, we had just done it. I mean, not, not to the magnitude of a second overall pick and the anointing of the new king. We kind of done it the year before with Davis Mills. Yeah, you know, that's true. But. But they, they actually anointed Davis earlier in 2022, much earlier than they did C.J. in his rookie year, if you remember. Back to that. Yeah.

[Seth]

But it just shows you to me how much we get caught up in our own little off season narratives. Because if you just, if you Bird's eye view the thing and, and just do the 30, 30,000 foot view, you're like, of course the number two overall pick is going to start over the guy that was there the year before that they're essentially replacing.

[B. Scott]

Right. Especially when he was showing no signs of being overmatched or anything like that in training camp. Like, oh no, he. He looks like he knows what he's doing.

[Seth]

And I hate to do this because I like Davis a lot, but he, his play is really what necessitated drafting a hundred percent. Right. Cause we were talking about that the year before. The ideal scenario would have been that he would have gone out there and outplayed his draft stock or his draft

[B. Scott]

status and win 8 games, play win enough games to where they're not in position to draft your replacement.

[Seth]

Right.

[B. Scott]

You know what I mean?

[Seth]

Or even if they Are maybe they can just draft Will Anderson and not have to trade up to. To get him.

[B. Scott]

Right.

[Seth]

And so you just pick the two and wherever they were. 10, 12. 12, 12. Yeah. They could have just done that instead, you know, but no, they needed a quarterback, so. And we all knew that.

[B. Scott]

Yep. It all worked out.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[B. Scott]

So. So I'm going to let you lay this question out, B. Scott. Cause this is a B. Scott question. We're doing a question each day for the 10 days leading up to camp. We're counting down. And we are down to question number four.

[Seth]

Yeah. And so this was my stab at it. And I already enjoyed and appreciated the questions that y' all had asked in the 10 days or the 10 days leading up to. So the five days leading up to this one. Yep. And so the one I came up with, who is the Texans most important newcomer? And the reason why is because that's what training camp largely is about. The newness of the. What is this team gonna look like in comparison to the team that we saw the last time or the last time they were out there? And so to me, it's even more important when a team is not in the developmental phase, which is where the Texans were in 2023, but when they're just adding along the margins, they're just adding pieces. And their needs were very. Not overwhelming, very clear and succinct, and they addressed those needs. And so I felt like this could be an easier exercise because we don't have to go through the whole team. There are very few newcomers that I think are candidates for the answer to this question.

[B. Scott]

So before we give our answers to this, yes, two things. One, just to be clear, newcomer can

[Seth]

be a Newcomer can be a rookie, a free agent, or someone who was traded for. So a rookie. Think Keelan Rutledger or Kaden McDonald a free agent. Think, of course, Wyatt Teller or Braden Smith.

[B. Scott]

For the guys, Reed Blankenship.

[Seth]

Reed Blankenship. For somebody who was traded, you could think David Montgomery. But basically anybody who is on the team at the start of training camp, when. When we go out there next Wednesday, who wasn't on the team when they lost in Fox.

[B. Scott]

It's funny because I think we just threw the names out there. Like if we were. We're going, okay, here's the pool of players to pick from. We were being specific.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[B. Scott]

I think in just laying out what exactly qualifies as a newcomer, I think literally the names that we. That you and I collectively just put out there are. Is probably the pool we're Picking from here the top two rookies, Keelan Rutledge and. And Kaden McDonald. You know, maybe I don't have Marlon Klein fits in there for people, but

[Seth]

he could be like an X factor wild card. But yeah, there would be a stretch to call him the most important.

[B. Scott]

I'll just throw him in there because he's a second round pick. And then the free agency signings, the certainly the offensive lineman, Braden Smith, Wyatt Teller, and then on defense, Reed Blankenship trades. The only trade I can think of is David Montgomery. Unless you're counting someone like Martin Mapu who they traded for is a low level trade. Yeah, but he's more important than you think right now because the injury to EJ Speed.

[Seth]

Yeah, I know. Seth loves him.

[B. Scott]

Seth loves him. Yeah, Seth. I don't know. I don't know if he loves him yet. He loves the idea.

[Seth]

That's a better way to put it.

[B. Scott]

Yeah, he loves the idea of him right now. He loves the potential. Yeah.

[Seth]

Misrepresent.

[B. Scott]

You just bought a Marte Mapu Jersey @buc EE's. I don't know if you knew that.

[Seth]

My bad, Seth.

[B. Scott]

Yeah.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[B. Scott]

So I would say of all those, the one that has me most excited. I know you're talking about most important, but we've done some newcomer lists on the show since free agency in the draft. The one that has me most excited is Reed Blankenship. Just because the idea of strengthening an already elite defense always intrigues me. Yeah. So the, the Caden McDonald and Reed Blankenship dynamic in this question is intriguing to me. But Reed Blankenship and Seth's made this point. It's not just Reed Blankenship, but it's the version of Kalen Bullock that might get unlocked with having somebody who locks things down back there.

[Seth]

Underrated point.

[B. Scott]

It doesn't make him the most important because the, the. The repair of the offensive side of the football is the most important thing for this football team. So I'm going to go David Montgomery in all this.

[Seth]

Okay.

[B. Scott]

And in part is almost a. A sequel to the question of the day yesterday, which was how. How concerned are we about the overall depth of the running back room if something happens to David Montgomery? I love Woody Marks and everything, but if something happens to David Montgomery, we're.

[Rachel Braethan]

The recap show is an inside look into the world of global soccer and women's sports. Follow and listen to the recap show wherever you get your podcasts.

[B. Scott]

Right back at the Square. Square One is maybe being a little bit dismissive of Woody Marks. But we're right back to the situation we were in last year where Woody Marks is maybe playing a little out of position or a little out of role.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[B. Scott]

To say. And then the backups are Jawar Jordan and British Brooks at this point. So for depth purposes and because I think he's going to be excellent for this football team in the locker room and on the field. David Montgomery is my answer to that question.

[Seth]

I like it. I like it. So I. And I'm seeing on the text line, someone has this tank, Dale Count. He's an interesting candidate, but he doesn't. Because he was technically on the team.

[B. Scott]

Not a newcomer.

[Seth]

He's not a newcomer. But he. But that is a. Something that could change the dynamic of the. Of the offense and the team. I understand where they're coming from.

[B. Scott]

Yeah. I like the spirit of the answer. Yes, yes, yes. What's your answer?

[Seth]

And it's creative. So my answer. I liked what you said about the defense too. Cause I'm just as excited about them. But I'm with your logic of that not being the most important, which is the question. Most important for me is Wyatt Teller.

[B. Scott]

Okay. That's a good one.

[Seth]

And here's why. Wyatt Teller. I. For everybody else, I can think of either who the backup is or at the very least, what is the contingency plan or the workaround if this doesn't work out. Right. The defensive guys, you can pretty much lay that out that it was already a great defense, one of the best, if not the best in the league without the newcomers. So they're going to be fine. If those guys, for whatever reason, don't work out.

[B. Scott]

Sure.

[Seth]

Even David Montgomery, as you just kind of laid it out there, the depth of a little bit concerning. Well, I do know that Woody Marks can at the very least play that outsized role. Even if it's not ideal, even if we won't like it. I've seen him do that before. I don't know who the left guard is.

[Maddie]

If.

[Seth]

If something happens to Wyatt Teller. He's not any good.

[B. Scott]

That's the PTSD I don't need. I don't want to. Rotating left guards. Yeah.

[Seth]

I don't know who the City sue is of 2026. And I don't really want to. I hate to even go here because I'm not trying to bring the vibes down to the show.

[B. Scott]

No, no, no.

[Seth]

We just got to be real about this.

[B. Scott]

Well, when something's important like this, it's usually for a reason that's a little painful.

[Seth]

I Feel like even with Keelan Rutledge. So I, I, I'd rank these like I think somewhere and you can decide how you want to rank the three. But it's some combination of the Keelan Rutledge, David Montgomery and Wyatt Teller combination. The center, guard and running back combination of newcomers. I really believe that. But even with Rutledge, you still got Jake Andrews, which again, not ideal. Similar to the Woody Marks thing. Not exactly what you want, but at least you know you've seen them win double digit games in a playoff game and have a successful season with both Woody Marks in that role that we all agree is outsized and Jake Andrews who's in a role that, that is probably outsized. They can survive that. I don't know how they survived the Wyatt Teller thing.

[B. Scott]

Well, if I had to guess, if I had to guess, if something were to happen to Wyatt Teller like in week two, I would think Keelan Rutledge, even if Keelan Rutledge were playing center, based on how the team's constructed right now, I would think it would be something along the lines of moving Keelan Rutledge over to left guard.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[B. Scott]

And putting Jake, and you know, Jake Andrews is your, Assuming Jake Andrews makes the team and he's one of the backups, that he would then be your center. That, that gets a little dicey. Now they're obviously not afraid to make big moves on the offensive line to address left guard. They continually move Titus Howard, your right tackle to left guard. They did it over and over again through multiple head coaches in regimes. The tough part about that center is a little different. You know what I mean? Like there's a chemistry thing with the center and the quarterback.

[Seth]

Yeah. Well, and there's a domino effect thing happening there. Whereas if you think that Keelan Rutledge should be and would be the starting center and would win that if he's got to be the one to replace Wyatt Teller, that means that Jake Andrews has to be the one to replace him right center. And, and so the domino effect there, two spots is that you've created two spot. Yeah, you got to fix two spots, which I think is again less than ideal. And also with Wyatt Teller, I feel like Wyatt Teller, if he's good, not even necessarily all pro Wyatt Teller, but if he's some version of that, he could make Ariante Ursary on one side. And whoever the center is, whether it's Jake Andrews or Keelan Rutledge, but better football players, if he is up to that.

[B. Scott]

Oh, I like that. The ripple Effect of the bet there.

[Maddie]

Yeah.

[Seth]

I think you're a better center with a better left guard next to you and your better left tackle with a better left time.

[B. Scott]

We had good left guard play on that.

[Seth]

Another part.

[B. Scott]

Yeah. It's funny, I was listening to. I think it was. I think it was. I can't remember was in the Loop or the Drive talking about this, but one of them, one of the shows was talking about the offensive line. And they've only been. If they. If they're not. Numbers were right. There's only been four Pro bowl offensive linemen in the history of the Houston Texans. Laramie Tunsil did it like five times. Dwayne Brown did it multiple times. Wade Smith and Chris Myers, I think each did it maybe once or twice.

[Seth]

Yeah, I know it was once.

[B. Scott]

It. Yeah, that. That's it. Which is according to them. And I. And I'm racking my brain. I can't think of any from prior to that.

[Seth]

That's the list.

[B. Scott]

That's the list. That's crazy.

[Rachel Braethan]

So.

[B. Scott]

Yeah, I don't know that maybe that's another question down the road. If the Texans are going to have a Pro bowl offensive lineman out of this group, who could it be? Yeah, who do you want it to be?

[Seth]

And it feels like.

[B. Scott]

Save that.

[Seth]

It feels like Ursary and that like that left side has the best shot at it.

[B. Scott]

My answer would be Ursary because if you get a Pro bowl guy in the second year at left tackle, you've got your next Laramie Tunsil and Dwayne Brown. Yeah, that's the answer.

[Seth]

Yeah.

[B. Scott]

All right, headlines. Not that many. You know, dead day yesterday, no Astros, but we found a few Rockets. Welcome back in an old face. Astros are in a big series coming up tonight, so we'll get to all that in headlines. Coming.

[Maddie]

Hey, y', all, I'm Maddie. And I'm Poodle. And together we host the podcast Reality Gays. We are two ridiculous homosexuals who love nothing more than talking about reality television and tearing in a new one. So whether it's 90 day fiance love is Blind Love After Lockup, or any other trash TV show about lonely hearts looking for. For love, your gay besties got you covered, y'. All. New shows every week. Follow and listen to Reality Gays wherever you get your podcast.