The Texans traded for right guard Ed Ingram from the Minnesota Vikings. He appears to have been Minnesota's version of Kenyon Green. Payne and Pendergast take a close look at the move.
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00:00Good. I'm good. I'm, I'm, I'm a little bit nervous about Jose Altuve likely starting
00:07at offensive guard for the Texans this year. It's just as viable an opportunity as anybody
00:15else right there right now. But other than that, I feel like he's a veteran. He can get in his reps
00:20and he can play left guard for the Texans. I'll be cool with that. Yeah. That's where we're at.
00:24So I was wondering about this this morning. I was thinking about this. Like I'm, I'm super
00:28excited for the Texan season this coming season. It's hard not to be. They're a good team made,
00:32made some improvements on defense. They're, they're tearing down the offensive line,
00:37which I think as a, as in a vacuum, as a, as a, as a thought process and a philosophy,
00:43I think most Texan fans agree with it. But I pose the question yesterday, when does the Torah doll
00:50of the Laramie Tunsil trade the, the overall good feeling of just, okay, Laramie's not here anymore.
00:55We don't have to worry about the lack of leadership or the, the, the poor leadership.
00:59However you want to frame it in that offensive line room. Now I'm at the stage set where my
01:04question is okay on this good football team. And it's undeniable. The Texans are a good football
01:09team. They were one of the last eight teams standing last year. They're not great, but
01:12they're good. There's a micro rebuild going on right now inside that building, right? There,
01:19there, there's a, there is, there is a, a micro version of what was going
01:25on macro. And now I'm thinking to myself, okay, as they bring in Ed Ingram, who was,
01:31you know, on the outs in Minnesota veteran offensive lineman who started a bunch of games
01:35and had past protection ratings that were in the same neighborhood as Kenyon green,
01:40as did Lake and Tomlinson last year. If you, you know, pro football focus, whatever you buy into
01:44that, neither were great at past protection. What is the comparable stage of this offensive
01:52line rebuild to where the Texans were a couple of like, are we in the Cully era right now of
01:58this offensive line rebuild? We're like, if you put it into terms of hurricane Harvey, okay. We've,
02:05we've more relatable. Good. We've tore down, we've gotten rid of the, the moldy drywall,
02:11but we're still watching baseball in our garages with a generator. This is we're relying on FEMA
02:17funds right now to feel better about our current circumstances that Nick, Nick showing up in a
02:22FEMA vest and a clipboard. And we're like, Hey, I'll give you a, how about an Ed Ingram for now
02:28that you could, that'll keep you warm at night. We're running to the mailbox every day, hoping
02:32for the insurance check. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We need the real money to get this thing built.
02:38I'm on the verge of putting out a Tik TOK video of me desperately seeking help or getting a go
02:43fund me or what have you. That is really what this is. This is a mini rebuild going on within
02:49the framework of a team that is largely rebuilt. You know, like most of the defense is rebuilt.
02:55Like this is a, this is a super bowl caliber defense. The quarterback position is rebuilt.
03:00You've got CJ Stroud. You're about, you're about to pay him in a year. You've got
03:03CJ are in various states of repair or disrepair, but the offensive line yes,
03:10is in FEMA mode right now. I think that with that Ingram, so the latest signing a guard,
03:15he was a starter for one and a half seasons for the Vikings. The second round pick,
03:19when you watch him play, you can see the athleticism that made him an interesting
03:24prospect. And he has some really good clips of him doing some really good stuff,
03:28including against the Texans. I went back and watched some games versus the Texans.
03:32There's some stats versus the Texans. Yeah. They played the Vikings before he was benched. And
03:38that's the, the upside is all right. This is a guy that the Vikings at least thought highly
03:42enough of to make them a starter for a chunk of time. And it just, the consistency isn't there.
03:48So much like Kenyon green, who I'd say last year in the Colts game did some really good things,
03:55but you just got to do it consistently. The offensive linemen are a lot like baseball
03:59players. It's that you can, you can pick out the best moments and think, Oh, wow,
04:05that's an awesome baseball player. Yeah. Take the, take the best at bats. John Singleton has had.
04:10Yeah. And you're like, look at this monster. This guy's a beast. It's a matter of how often
04:16do you do it and how regularly do you do it? So adding to the guy that hasn't done it consistently,
04:22the biggest thing I would say about the offensive line patchwork right now is that in signing two
04:29guards, two veteran guards, I think there it's a very clear indicator that there will be genuine
04:35competition this year. If there's one thing that bothered me last year, all through training camp,
04:41it was that man, boy, they must feel really good. They have just put their names in ink on the depth
04:50chart and they're not, the tackles aren't practicing. They need their rest. They need to,
04:55Oh, they've got a little owie or something. And that somehow you're going to just show up
05:00in week one and be a okay on the offensive line. That that goes against the grain of everything
05:06that they preach. It goes against the grain of everything that D'Amico is about largely
05:12and says he's about and it yielded bad results. So there's going to be genuine competition at
05:18the interior offensive line and hopefully an offensive tackle. Cause right now there just
05:22aren't enough human beings to play tackle for there to be a genuine competition.
05:25Yeah. To this point, this, to this point, and I think they're going to make more moves. I think
05:30offensive line is going to be a huge focus in the draft. I get all that as it sits right now,
05:36March 14th, this is a huge bet on Nick Caley and Cole Popovich, right? As, as currently constructed,
05:44this offensive line room is a huge bet on coaching and that Bobby Slowick was the problem.
05:50Not, not the, not the player. You know, I get it. They've gotten rid of a bunch of guys,
05:55but they've not added significant level talent to that room.
05:59One of the little exercise I did yesterday, just, just by way of making myself feel a little bit
06:05better, but then also pointing out that, Hey, you don't have to have one of the best pass
06:10protecting tackles in the league to have a good enough offensive line to win a super bowl. So
06:15the chiefs, when you bring up the chiefs, it's a little bit unfair because they also have Pat
06:18Mahomes and Andy Reed, but there's multiple instances of this throughout history. If you
06:23looked at 2020 Superbowl, they had an offensive line that was about middle of the pack, but their
06:31offensive tackles, Donovan Smith and Juwan Taylor were not good. They were worse than the Texans
06:36offensive tackles were. What they did have was a really good interior offensive line. They had Joe
06:40Tooney playing as natural positional left guard. They had Creed Humphrey. They had Trey Smith. So
06:45I'm not overly concerned about, Oh, how do you replace Laramie Tunsell? It's just, you've got
06:50to have a few viable guys and or studs somewhere along the offensive line. And then you can get by
06:56with guys that are just passable players right now, though, the only guy that really, I mean,
07:02Titus Howard, if you're going to pray at the altar of pro football, focus, pass protection grades,
07:07Laramie Tunsell would have had the second or Titus Howard would have had the second highest
07:11pass protector rating on that 2023 chiefs offensive line. So, you know, you've got Titus
07:17is he's not played up to the level of his contract, but he's a viable offensive line.
07:23It's the other four positions right now that you just don't have a clue about. That's a lot of,
07:28that's a lot of dudes to fix. That's a lot. Yeah. And then, then that's what I'm saying.
07:32That's kind of like, as of right now, it's a bet on coaching, but we know there's going to be more
07:36to do. Yeah. I'm with you. Like, look, if Titus can get out of his feelings about his friend,
07:40Laramie getting sent to Washington, there's a lot to, I mean, it's a former first round pick.
07:44There's plenty to work with there, you know, like got to get in shape. I think he needs to show up
07:49in better shape than he showed up in last year. It's going to be a swell idea. I think so. Yeah.
07:53That's like a pretty, seems like one of the, like maybe should be highest on the priority list on
07:58your off season things. I would hit my bell for that hot take, but it's across the room right now.
08:02So just assume set to have your bell right there. Yeah. This needs to get in shape. That's a big
08:08take by me right there. I feel, I feel good about today mentally. Cause I already caught myself with
08:13one naming error. And then I liked that. I opened up the show was something that was going to make
08:17you try to figure out whether to correct me or not. When I said that Jose Altuve might be a starting
08:22left guard for the Texans. You understood that it was a joke. I didn't plan that either. It just
08:29came to me in the moment. Cause I was watching, I was watching Jose Altuve jump too early on that
08:34catch yesterday, right before the show. Well, that catch
08:42getting some love on the text page right out of the shoot. Well said Seth,
08:45I think they're talking about your FEMA comparison. That was, that was solid.
08:49I like the image of a, I'm going to have to work on my Photoshop skills this afternoon and put Nick
08:53in a FEMA coat. Nick Cole, Nick and Cole Popovich in a FEMA suit. Let's hear from the newest Texan.
09:01Here's Ed Ingram, the offensive lineman they picked up from Minnesota yesterday. Went to LSU
09:06in college, former second round pick. I'm talking about, you, you found this audio.
09:10Yeah, this was, well, this was in the area of 45 last night. They found it. So
09:13this was Darren Wolfson talking to Ed Ingram a week after losing his starting job to Dalton
09:20Reisner. This is long, but it's interesting. And how good of a feeling is it when Dalton
09:24post game or yesterday here in the locker room speak so highly of you,
09:29like that has to put a smile on your face, as tough a situation as it might be.
09:32It's a good feeling, but I'm not surprised by it at all just because of the type of guy he is.
09:36So, I mean, me and Dalton are boys, so, which made this transition a lot easier when, when it
09:42happened. So I'm excited for him. Is it hard? I mean, this is my first time dealing with like
09:49NFL, like adversity. So it was, it was definitely hard, but you know, it's tough not being out there
09:56with my boys, but at the end of the day, I'm taking this as an opportunity to sit back behind
10:00Dalton, watch him. He's an older player. He's a vet. Learn from him. Focus on my technique,
10:06focus on asking coaches questions, different stuff like that.
10:10So did you ask the coaches directly? Why is this happening?
10:14I mean, I didn't really have to ask them cause I kind of just knew what it was, you know,
10:18just about me, like just cleaning up the little things. Like I feel like I'm great in the run
10:23game, but like sometimes I fall off blocks. So it's just about cleaning up those little things
10:27that can make me a great player. I mean, I actually think, now, hey, I'm definitely not an
10:31offensive line expert. I won't pretend to be one, but I felt like, like Colts game, Rams game,
10:36that you played pretty well. I don't know about the Jacksonville game, but like those two games,
10:40Rams and Colts. So like, it surprised me a little bit. Yeah, it's, it's surprising, but at the end
10:45of the day, you know, they got to do what's best for the team and all I can do is control what I
10:50can control, which is myself and how I respond to it. So where does that positive mindset come
10:54from? Does that go back many years? I mean, God praying to God, uh, I got a good support.
11:00Um, my teammates, all of them asking like, am I okay talking to me, uh, talking to some of the
11:05vets, you know, Griff talking to him. I mean, I got a good support system around here. So.
11:13Okay. So I like the guy. Yeah. I like the guy. I like the guy. He's a swell fella. Yeah.
11:21I like it. Yeah. I stand your blocks and be better at past.
11:27Look, all I asked for is scrappiness as a baseline. Hey, these are our off season priority
11:32lists. Hey, show up in shape. That's a, that goes for everybody. That's I'm not singling out. He
11:38does look like he's in really good shape, which could be a minus because he's about 305 pounds.
11:42So it's not like he's a road grader, but, but he does get stuff done in the run game. Cause he's
11:47scrappy. He'll work up to the second level. It'll help the, you know, he'll, he'll scrape
11:52off the, uh, the defensive tackle work up to the second level. I had a couple of nice blocks
11:55against disease. I'll Shire last year in the Texans game. But also I liked that he owned it,
12:00that he saw it humming. Like he self scouted him well enough to new. No, he wasn't playing
12:05up to snuff. Uh, he did a shout out to God popular in the popular with CJ. I'm sure.
12:11Mostly, mostly I just liked Darren Wolfson and asking the question,
12:16starting off with, uh, you know, talking to a guy who'd just been benched, but Dalton Reisner
12:20apparently said something nice about him. Yeah. How good of a feeling is it that the guy who
12:24replaced you said something nice about you? I was like, it feels like a, it feels like a Berman.
12:30It feels like a Berman question. You know, that Dalton Reisner just said that you're,
12:35you're a pretty good guy. What do you think about that?
12:37Hey, we're here at the, uh, we're, we're here at, uh, we're here at Seth's, uh, the funeral of his
12:42wife. Hey, Seth, how awesome is it that Brandy had a life insurance policy? Isn't that a great
12:47feeling? I got, uh, yeah, I mean, uh, sure. Amongst, uh, many other things that are going
12:56through my mind right now. I, uh, yeah, I guess there's always a silver lining. I suppose Dalton
13:03Reisner.