Day 1 (sort of)
Before I get rolling, here's a reminder: Follow Texans All Access on Apple Podcasts or Spotify so can keep up with DeMeco Ryans, Nick Caserio, and all the draft and free agent chatter around the Texans.
It's technically incorrect to call this Day 1, but it is for me and John Harris, as we get to interview people and talk from Media Row.
DeMeco Ryans visited with us and said he really values the interviews with the players. Teams get 20 minutes to chat with prospects and Ryans likes to keep things loose and find out about their dedication, their 'why' in doing what they do. The information is valuable not just for Draft Day but also when the same men when they become free agents years later. If you've met them and know them, you can use that info when making acquisition decisions later.
Check out our Combine visit with the head coach here.
Other thoughts…
- Aaron Glenn held his first Combine press conference as head coach of the Jets and was delightfully Parcells-like. It's one of the mini-revelations about his public demeanor as the head mentor.
Glenn and I did a weekly show together in the first season of the franchise (2002) and I got to know him a bit. He's worked long and hard for this gig and it'll be fun to watch what he does in New York. I'm glad that they're not in the division and I wish he was in the NFC. But it is what it is.
- The difference between this off season and last, from a league macro perspective is that the number one pick does not belong to a big market team (Tennessee this year vs Chicago last April) and there is no consensus slam dunk quarterback. Even though we know how these things don't always work out as predicted (see years 2023 and 2024 for examples, the fact that an AFC South team has the top selection has us on high alert.
- Everyone seems high on the Texans. Greg Cosell from NFL Films told me "I love the defense" while describing how edge players Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter provide the chance to 'get pressure without sending extra people.' Adding that Kamari Lassiter and Derek Stingley Jr. keep things tight at corner so DeMeco Ryans can get creative in other areas.
- There's more media here than ever. I feel like we say that every year but there are 64 tables on media row, not including the big platforms like Sirius XM, Pro Football Talk, CBS and ESPN, who have their own area. When I first started coming here 12 years ago, there were less than 10. The writer's room looks like NRG Center.
The league is more popular than ever. When you have a product that consistently draws more eyeballs than, well, anything, you're going to get a lot of drafting off any possible related news stories.
And that's what the Combine is – pure content for everyone from draft nerds – with all the measurables coming out of here – to big talk radio stations wondering what's going to happen with Aaron Rodgers and Myles Garrett.
There's also the free-flowing communication between league people, media and agents, that happens here. The Indy night life during Combine week features a lot of conversations that likely shape much of what goes on after the league year begins in March. Bears GM Ryan Poles once talked about how his deal with the Panthers for the 2023 number one pick was conceived here in Indy that year.
We're just getting started. Nick Caserio speaks Wednesday and will be on Texans Radio – we have Texans All Access all week long from here – 6-7pm on Sports Radio 610.
