Hey everybody, this is your GM, your back row
dominance, your hopium, hopium, hopium, hopium,
hopium dealer, your GM who currently is not on
a team right now, but don't you worry about it,
Kale. Here to bring you episode 11 of the Stack
and Shed series. Now in this series, we're covering
all 32 teams, so everybody gets a chance to be
talked about, all right? Now in this series,
we're covering a few different topics, and they
include what went wrong, what do they need, stack
or shed, their draft picks. One move I would
do in their cap space, all right? Now, in this
episode, we're going to the Dirty South, all
right? We're stopping by the Trill Burgers. We're
stopping by the Screw Shop. We're stopping by
a few different landmarks in H -Town, all right?
We're getting ourselves a couple things to get
ourselves acquainted with the culture and everything
because we're talking about the Texans, all right?
So make sure you guys go to Bucky's and get yourself
and me a t -shirt. Get us some brisket. Get us
some chips. Get us some snacks because we got
a lot to cover with this team. So let's lock
in. All right, let's get into it. So what went
wrong in the Texan season? And I will eventually
say it was regressing quarterback play. Going
into last season, I had a lot of questions about
C .J. Stroud due in part to his regression that
we have seen within the last few years. And this
isn't the type of regression that only former
players or coaches or former offensive coordinators
or people who've been around the sport of football
can only see. This is the type of regression
that everyone can see. He's not throwing the
ball like how he used to. He's not executing
the plays like how he used to. He hasn't been
super consistent. When comparing CJ Stroud from
2024 to 2025, this is what you have according
to Sumer Sports. So in 2024, CJ Stroud was 532
passing attempts for 336 completions, 3 ,727
passing yards, 219 .2 passing yards per game,
7 yards per attempt, 20 touchdowns, 12 interceptions,
a 63 .2 % completion percentage. Now in that
season, they made it to the playoffs and these
are his stats. He was 41. for 51 which is 67
.2 percent 527 passing yards one touchdown one
interception and 8 .6 yards per attempt now when
you look at his stats this past season this is
what we have 423 passing attempts for 273 completions,
3 ,041 passing yards, 217 .2 passing yards per
game, 7 .1 yards per attempt, 19 touchdowns,
8 interceptions, and a 64 .5 % completion percentage.
Now when you look at his playoff stats, it's
actually really bad. 41 for 79, which is 51 .9%,
462 passing yards, 2 touchdowns, 5 interceptions,
and 5 .8 yards per attempt. Now, I'm not saying
that CJ Stroud needs to be in the same stratosphere
as a Burrow or Allen or Lamar or Mahomes, but
CJ Stroud has the talent to be a really good
quarterback. And in the past few years, we have
not seen that in CJ Stroud. And there's nobody
that he can point the finger at but himself.
Going into the playoffs last season, the Texans
were primed to go on a crazy run. Their first
opponent was the Steelers, a Steelers team that
hobbled themselves into the playoffs. And for
a majority of the game, it was the Texas defense
that was keeping the game close. Then your next
opponent was the Patriots, a Patriots offense
that wasn't playing their best ball. And you
mean to tell me you wasn't able to capitalize
off of the defensive plays and try to put some
points on the board? Now, I wasn't expecting
CJ Stroud to just light it up for four quarters
straight, but what I was expecting was for CJ
Stroud to capitalize every single time the defense
put them in a great field position. But that's
not what we saw. Instead, we saw a quarterback
that looked like a deer in headlights. Understand
this, my fellow football junkies. It is the playoffs
that defines a quarterback's career, not the
regular season. Jared Goff looks fine in the
regular season, but when he gets to the playoffs,
he folds. But guess what? When Mahomes gets into
the playoffs, he is a completely different beast.
Tom Brady can struggle the entire regular season,
but if he gets into the playoffs, it is hell
to pay for any team that has to face him, regardless
if it's home or away. That's what defines who
you are. And so far, what can we say about CJ
Stroud in the playoffs? What can we say about
CJ Stroud in the regular season? Because everything
that I have to say about him really isn't that
good. And I know that he has the potential to
do it. You just have to put it together. Now,
I'm not saying this was a Super Bowl roster,
but this was the closest thing to it. This should
have been the year that you would have went on
that run. Because at that time, guess what? Mahomes
was in the playoffs. Lamar was in the playoffs.
Justin Herbert was in the playoffs. It was wide
open for you. The only team that was a true threat
in the playoffs for the AFC was the Broncos.
So the only thing that you had to worry about
was the defense. And as long as you kept the
defense in check, you had a legitimate chance.
And that's not what we saw. We saw somebody that
folded under pressure when the team needed him
the most. And that's not what you need in a quarterback.
You need your quarterback to elevate their play
when all the pressure is on their shoulders.
And you can't say that Texas haven't done their
job because they've surrounded you with endless
weapons. You have a really good receiving core.
You have a productive tight end. You just got
David Montgomery. They just signed Braden Smith.
They just signed Wyatt Teller. You have everything
that you need to be successful. All you have
to do is just deliver. If you made it to the
AFC Championship this past season, nobody would
say anything about you. But because you guys
failed to make it to that point, and because
you guys failed to capitalize on a year where
Patrick Mahomes was not in the playoffs, now
everybody is looking at you, asking the question,
is CJ Stroud the franchise guy, or is he just
the bridge for somebody else to come in? Now,
with that being said, what do the Texans need?
And that is more consistency from CJ Stroud.
I don't know if they need to bring in somebody
to just refine CJ Stroud. I don't know what it
is. But whatever the Texans need to do to maximize
CJ Stroud's potential, do it at this point. Because
this is a very loaded roster. And this roster
can go to the Super Bowl. All they need is for
CJ Stroud to get his act together. As long as
C .J. Stroud can play to where he's either the
best or the second best quarterback in his division
and maybe the 10th or 15th best quarterback in
the AFC, I think the Texans have a chance. But
if he fails to reach that point, then we need
to have an honest conversation about C .J. Stroud.
Especially with next year coming up where everybody
is saying there's supposed to be a robust amount
of quarterbacks that are going to be available.
And we also have to remember that the Texans
have a major financial decision that they have
to make with CJ Stroup because they either have
to pick up his fifth year option or they're going
to have to pay him 60 plus million a year. And
at this point, I would venture to say the Texans
are probably going to let this thing play out
all the way to the end. Now, with that being
said, the question we all need to ask ourselves
is stack or shed. And I would venture to say
stack. And the reason why I say that is because
this is a very loaded roster. I would venture
to say this is the best roster in their division.
You have all the things that you need in order
for this team to be successful and to go on a
long playoff run, maybe even go to the Super
Bowl and win the Super Bowl. All you need is
for C .J. Stroud to elevate his play. If you
can play like how Sam Darnold played last season,
that is enough for the team to make it to the
Super Bowl. Because Sam Darnold wasn't spectacular
last season. Sam Darnold really didn't start
cooking until he made it into the playoffs. If
you don't believe me, look at the stats. The
stats don't lie. The play don't lie. The tape
don't lie. All right. Now, with that being said,
when we look at their draft picks, they have
their first. They have two seconds, a third,
two fourths, two fifths, and a seventh. Now,
we all know the Texas GM loves to be fluid when
it comes to the draft. Sometimes he'll trade
up. Sometimes he'll trade down. Sometimes he'll
trade away some picks to get a player. He likes
to do it all. All right. But the question is
this. Do you believe there is a position of need
on your team right now that requires you to be
aggressive and trade up? Or do you feel complacent
on how your roster is right now and you can trade
down? And speaking of that, the one move that
I would do is entertain trading out of the first
round. And the reason why I say that is because
this draft class isn't a draft class where you
need to take somebody in the first round. Instead,
this is a draft class that you can see how the
board falls and you can trade out of the first
round and still get a high quality player. The
Broncos have been looking for a high quality
wide receiver. And this is a wide receiver class
that's really good. But they said, you know what?
We want the proven tech. over the potential talent.
And that makes sense. So if you're the Texans,
I would trade out of the first round. I would
play around in the second and third round, maybe
use the fourth or fifth round to, you know, add
some depth and maybe some competition for, you
know, for certain positions. And then I would
just go from there. Because at this point, what
do you really need on this roster? You have Will
Anderson. You have Daniil Hunter. You have your
quarterback for now. You have your wide receivers.
You have your running back. You have your offensive
line. The only position that I would say the
Texans... probably need to address is interior
defensive line. But even then, there's not a
lot of high quality prospects that they can go
after. Unless you go after Caleb Banks, unless
you go after Daryl Jackson, unless you go after
Dante Corleone, or you make a move for Lee Hunter,
there's no need for you to allocate a first round
pick on a defensive tackle, especially when you
know that some of these defensive tackles may
fall. There's a good chance that Caleb Banks
may fall because he has a fracture in his foot.
There's a good chance that Lee Hunter may just
be a high -end second -round pick. There's a
good chance that Dante Corleone, Daryl Jackson,
Zane Durant, and all those defensive linemen
may still be available in day two and day three
of the draft. And I want to put y 'all on game
real quick. There's a lot of teams right now
that are preparing for the 27 draft class because
a lot of people believe that the 27 draft class
is going to be another spectacular draft class
because you have people such as Jeremiah Smith,
Ryan Williams, Lenore Sellers, Archie Manning
possibly. So really think about this for a second.
If you're the Texans, it's better for you to
just trade down, recoup some picks for this draft
class as well as the 27 draft class to position
yourself. to make a major move if you want to
do it in 27 or in 26 at the trade deadline instead
of just taking somebody that you're really not
high on in the first round looking at the texans
cap situation they have 28 .5 million now that
number can fluctuate a little bit because we
all know they're going to pay will anderson and
we all know that they're probably going to save
a lot of that money for the draft but my question
is this If you're the Texans, do you try to be
players in that second and third wave of free
agency? Because there's a lot of notable players
that are still available. You can go after Cam
Jordan if you want to. You can go after Deebo
Samuel. You can go after Jawan Jennings. You
have a lot of options, but only time will tell.
But I'm in this episode here. If you guys like
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