With the Texans opening the season on the road against the Indianapolis Colts, In The Loop goes over which players must make a good first impression.
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00:00Right now, though, let's talk about which individual players
00:02for your Houston Texans must make a good first impression,
00:05particularly if they want to get a W in Indy at Lucas Oil
00:08Stadium. This Sunday noon is when it kicks off. And john, I
00:14have a strong feeling that you have a name that immediately
00:16jumps up a name that has already come in on the YouTube from Nick
00:19goes vest mode. Joe Mixon.
00:22Joe Mixon is one for sure. He's not my number one.
00:25Okay, so well, let's go with yours. And I know that we'll get
00:28back to Joe Mason because Joe Mixon is an interesting answer
00:30for me. No, he absolutely is. I want to know what you and Figgy
00:33think as well. Because you know what they say, you can only make
00:36a first impression once. And for some players more than others,
00:40that first impression this year, it's kind of going to just sort
00:43of start the narrative. And a lot of people once a narrative
00:48starts rolling, okay, a lot of times, you know, people are like
00:51hard to break. You got to go out of your way. There's got to be
00:53an abundance. Oh, he's a blah, blah, blah, based on one game or
00:57based on two games or whatever. That's what the hell we've been
00:59talking about with Stefan Diggs. Exactly. Right. Exactly. So
01:02there's a strong narrative there. I think I think for like,
01:05not PR, but narrative purposes. Damien Pierce, if you get on the
01:10old body and you carry the ball, the way that we talked about
01:13Damien Pierce, I don't know why my brain just did not even think
01:16about that. Yeah, that's my number. That's my number one. I
01:20mean, it's so obvious. It's so important. And the boys asked us
01:24this during toss this morning, when we were walking into
01:28studio, the and I had, you know, my answer because I said it here
01:32on the show. Who's going to be carrying the ball second? Yeah,
01:37tonight. I mean, Sunday, I think it's gonna be cam acres. I think
01:41that depth chart has just was just a another solid, so to
01:45speak for Damien Pierce, maybe maybe a little bit to throw
01:48throw the Colts off the scent a little bit, which I never buy
01:51into they know the story. They follow this stuff more than we
01:54do. But if Damien Pierce does carry the ball second, let's say
02:00he gets what six carries, you know, because Joe Mixon is going
02:05to carry the load. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, let's say he
02:07gets six carries. And he goes for 12 yards. That narrative. It
02:13ain't going nowhere anytime soon. I don't I don't unless he
02:16runs for a buck 80. You know, in week two against the Bears or
02:19something. He's got to have a good first impression. You're
02:23right. I do wonder, and maybe this is just me being so
02:27process driven versus results. How much of that do you think
02:30is actually the numbers themselves? Or if it looks like
02:33he's actually seeing the scene gaps better, even if the numbers
02:36aren't there in a big way? Do you think that there's a
02:38possibility for that narrative to not be as big? Maybe but what
02:42if Joe Mixon has 18 carries for 101 yards, right? And then he
02:46has six for 12? Yeah, that that's, that's a bad look. And
02:50I understand I'm being in some ways devil devil's advocate here
02:54and the devil don't need no advocate. But like, I'm, for me,
02:58it's all the thing that's gotten me about Damian Pierce. I know
03:01that the eight eight carries for nine yards in the preseason was
03:04the easy stat. For me, it was just he looked like he did not
03:07have a feel for the way makers did the way to run behind this
03:11yes line right or in this in this blocking scheme. And that
03:14was the thing that got it for me. And so if for some reason
03:17that looks different, I feel like I'll be quicker to get back
03:20into the place from like, okay, cool. Even if the numbers aren't
03:22there as much. I'm although to be 100% fair, I don't I'm trying
03:26to envision what it looks like if you were seeing if you're
03:28seeing the gaps well, but also still not putting up yards. I'm
03:31trying to envision what that looks like. And I don't have a
03:32great answer. And let me go through the other three very
03:34obvious ones here. Because I've got some not so obvious ones.
03:38And I want to know what you guys think should who has to have a
03:41good first impression. The other obvious ones are Kenyon Green,
03:44of course. Sure. john Metschy, of course. Okay. And Titus
03:48Howard. Yes, of course. Yes. So those the obvious ones are
03:52Damien Pierce by a mile. And then those three guys. Here's
03:56some not so obvious ones that I think it would. I'm not saying
03:59it would be like make or break. But man, it would be cool if
04:02they make a good first impression. Number one on this
04:05list for me is Will Anderson. Yeah, we love him. We know what
04:10he's gonna be. We talked about how great he's gonna be. And and
04:14we saw some hints of some real pass rush prowess at the end of
04:18last year. Hey, give me a sack man. Give me a sack and two
04:22tackles for losses. And then all of a sudden people are gonna be
04:25going all right. It's happening. You know what I mean? Yeah.
04:28Okay, that's interesting. We got some folks getting involved.
04:31Someone three they said mixing is gonna be washed up. Okay,
04:33you're you're coming in hot with that one. Okay. We got you on
04:37wax though. So if you want to come back around and be like,
04:39Nah, you see, I told you, you will have that down. But that is
04:43you were out there early on that one. Okay. 832 I agree with
04:47Lassiter and Toto must make good first photos. The next one I was
04:51going to mention the Colts will test them early and often and
04:53that is 100% true. Lassiter I guess I just have more
04:56confidence in but he's not wrong. Mine is Toto especially
04:59with Lassiter like he has a possibility of being matched up
05:01with some speedsters. Now one of them is not going to be in this
05:04game. wide receiver Josh downs is officially out for this one
05:07now kicker Matt Gay is a TBD still because and he's dealing
05:10with a hernia. Man, I hope he does play he did kick this week
05:13but he's dealing with a hernia. I don't know how much but yeah,
05:17Josh down speedster he won't be there but there's some speedsters
05:19in there and I know we've given we felt comfortable. We've been
05:22kind of assuaged with Kamari Lassiter and his the way that
05:25his technique is kind of made up for that four six speed. Yeah,
05:28but when you actually get there on that football field and games
05:31and you got some speedy guys that get punched in the face is
05:34Mike Tyson, right? So it will be interesting to see how he holds
05:38up in that. And then I have one more not so obvious one. And
05:41then I want to hear what you guys think is the most important
05:43first impressions and text in 7135724610. You know how I feel
05:49about Stefan Diggs this year? Yeah, I think he's gonna he's
05:52probably my favorite player. He's he's so integral. I think
05:57he's you're holding you're holding the ticket on first
05:59first pass to Stefan Diggs. I'm holding that ticket too. But it
06:03would be cool man. It would be cool if he makes that big time
06:06first impression and and not not only is my opinion justified,
06:10but a lot of fans will feel really really good about
06:13I do I do wonder though, right? Like I don't know that the
06:15Stefan Diggs narrative is about the first game at all. I feel
06:18like the Stefan Diggs narrative is does it go south? Yeah, week
06:2210 week 13. That's fair. wildcard round, right? Like I
06:26think those are the questions that I think that people are
06:28really more looking at. Yeah. And so I don't know that you can
06:31do anything for that narrative in week one, honestly. Yeah, no,
06:34that's fair. What about you, though? Um, a name that came up
06:38that was a good one was Neil Hunter. But I think I was looking
06:41more interior. I'm looking at someone like, I don't know which
06:46one to pick between Mario Edwards and Fatou Kassi. And
06:48maybe we just go ahead and put them both together. Like I think
06:51that this is this is going to be an interesting space. And how do
06:54they how do they help the likes of Hansen and To'o To'o by
06:58making sure that those guys are clean with strong play in that
07:02defensive line spot. And of course, I think there's a lot
07:04more comfort and belief in those guys, particularly Fatou Kassi
07:08who, you know, free agent acquisition and that stuff. But
07:11um, yeah, there I think that first impression is going to be
07:14do a go a big long way rather, in helping, helping people
07:19believe that the run stopping of this defense can be better.
07:23Figure you got anybody? Yeah, I think I got to I think the
07:26texter who brought this up last year, Kamari last year, I'm
07:29gonna be looking at him as a first impression because I'm not
07:34too confident the other people they got behind him. Well, that
07:37too. So if he can't handle the pressure and all that stuff,
07:40man, yeah, it's gonna be a long season, but or at least the
07:44first impression will be we'll say that. Yeah, yeah. But my
07:48second person I'm gonna be I got to look at Jalen Petrie, man,
07:51because yeah, that's a good Yeah, this is a new role, man.
07:55He struggled. We know he struggled last season. So I want
07:58to see how he was his first impression for this new role,
08:02not only first impression, but if it lingers, I mean, this
08:04could be his last year here. We thought that was on the table
08:08that last year might have been his last year. And then
08:10honestly, we're gonna be having questions about Hey, we should
08:13have had somebody I mean, we should have looked in more in
08:16the safety market. Yeah. And there's a name one name in
08:19particular that you start looking at when you talk about
08:21Jeffrey Simmons, right? Now, another thing on you mentioned
08:24that DB death if it is if it's a little bit of a struggle
08:28situation for Jalen Petrie. What is your next answer there?
08:31Yeah, right. Because again, miles Bryant. Yeah, cool. Well,
08:37at the nickel. Oh, you talk about last? Oh, no. But I was
08:41talking about Petrie. Yeah. Yeah. Right. So that's also
08:45another thing that that is interesting. Why you what while
08:47we're at it? Kalen Bullock. I mean, I think he's another one
08:51of those depth chart guys that is not real. You know, the most
08:54of the depth chart is accurate. I think Damian Pierce is
08:56inaccurate. And he's actually the third running back. We'll
08:58find out. I think Kalen Bullock is the starting safety. Like
09:01he's going to be trot out on the field. And and and he you
09:05know, his first impression is going to go a long way as well.
09:09Like if he's going to just get picked on or, you know,
09:11whatever, maybe beat somehow or whatever. I think Kalen Bullock
09:15would be a big one. Someone brought up Aziz. Do you think
09:18that it's like because we did the question is individual
09:20players that must make a good impression. You think that's
09:23going to shift anything if Aziz maybe doesn't look like he is
09:27all the way the beast in the middle of the defense that we
09:30anticipate? Well, I think yes, if he if he makes a bad first
09:34impression, okay, yeah, that's gonna go a long way. But I just
09:36for me, it's not even a factor, right? I'm just so you know, so
09:40in on on what he can bring and what he will bring for the
09:43squad. But yeah, if it all of a sudden, you're like, Oh, wow,
09:46where'd that come from? He didn't look good at all. Then
09:47yeah, that's could be something that could linger a little bit.
09:50No question about it. Alright, so if you want to keep sending
09:53those in, please