T-minus 60 seconds in counting we pass T minus 60 55 seconds and count Neil Armstrong just reported back it's been a real smooth countdown pass the 52nd Mark power transfer is complete we're on internal power with the launch vehicle at this time 40 seconds away from the Apollo 11 liftoff all the second stage tanks now pressurized 35 seconds and counting we are still go with Apollo 11 30 seconds and counting astronauts report at Fields good t- man has 25 seconds 20 seconds and in coming tan has 15 seconds guidance is internal 12 11 10 9 ignition sequence start 6 5 4 3 2 1 Zer all engine running we have a liftoff 32 minutes past the hour liftoff on Apollo 11 power play well hello and welcome to the bullpen I am James Roy and with me as always is my co-host Tom jabia Tom how are you doing today I'm doing pretty good uh you know football is in 24 hours 25 hours something like that you know out but who's counting right who's counting you've been counting since before the draft so I want the draft tomorrow I want I want the season start the next day like that that's where you've been for a while now so I'm surprised you don't have like a running countdown in the background just like here's the exact milliseconds that there is left until the Texans play football ah you know it's hard to like map the the the national anthem stuff like that I don't want I don't want to give anybody false advertisements you know I just want to Ballpark it it's like when the Dynamo say kickoff started and it's like well there's 15 minutes till the game actually starts it's like or like going to the movies you know you go to the movies and you're like well if I'm a little late to the showtime I'm just what am I missing the previews as much as I personally love seeing the previews you know I I if I'm a little late I'm a little late you know I'll still make it to the movie so yeah I'm excited too I mean tomorrow we get extra football we get the first pre-season game Hall of Fame game not really sure what to expect out of it the bearss have come out and said very clearly they're not starting they're not playing their starters and the Texans have been eh they you know Deo Ryan was asked about it twice in press conferences and basically joked about it the first time felt like he was a little more frustrated with the question the second time um he they don't you know they don't let anything out him and cerio have been you know tight lipped ever since they both got there so it's no surprise that we don't really know what direction they're going in but looking at tomorrow like what are you the most excited to see in this game in general obviously we've been talking about the quarterbacks I am curious if Kamari Lasser sees the field i i i everybody has anointed him CB2 the depth chart has him CB2 but ad man's a rookie so you're telling me if he's CB2 he shouldn't play and I'm okay with that but if he plays then that's probably going to give us something to talk about it's it's really it's really going to be interesting what happens with the guys behind him like are we going to get Jeff UDA and CJ Henderson who are you know what this is their third year I believe so what do they have to prove so it'll be interesting it'll be interesting to see we just got a comment on YouTube that per Aaron Wilson I have notifications on for Aaron Wilson on Twitter and I and I guess I missed it I I was taking care of my son to day okay you know they're they're more important things sometimes but um but apparently we we do know that the starters are not likely to play uh based off Aaron Wilson's reporting I I've talked to Aaron Wilson I trust that that's the case if he said it um so you know Davis Mills Damen Pierce you know that's what we're going to see on offense um where do you think on the depth chart so you talk you already talked about defense and I agree with you I think we might see the rookies get some run depending even if you know you you perceive Kamari lter as a starter you probably might see him get a drive and then kin bulck definitely will get play time based off of the no starters rule um and so with that looking at the offense where do you think the cut off is on the depth chart specifically with wide receiver like where where are you like okay these players aren't playing everyone else is playing I think after three so tank won't play Nico won't play Stefan won't play and then Robert Woods won't play so everybody else will probably be fair game okay why why would Robert Woods not play because he's like a hundred years years old in football years I mean I don't know why you would play Robert Woods I mean yeah I know I feel free on that okay I mean it makes sense in that particular position group it's not like everyone like and and I it's kind of to the point that you're making with okuda and Henderson which is that you know what do they need to prove now to me okuda and Henderson will probably get playtime because they're trying to see which one they like better out of the two but with with Robert Woods once you reached a certain point you've played enough football that the Texans have a known commodity in Robert Woods and the only thing that can happen if he plays is that he could fall off they've got 12 wide receivers in that room I could imagine anywhere from four to five of them will not play because they're going to be looking at the other ones to make sure they know what they have as much and there's not a a specific cut cutdown deadlines throughout it's just the end on August 27th um at I believe it's 4 Eastern uh is the cut down time when you have to be at 53 and so I I would suspect that between now and then the Texans will probably start looking into making cuts on guys that they just don't see making the roster um and so they'll get an earlier opportunity than some to like look at that with the Hall of Fame game looking at the bear side is there any matchup you know from the bear side do you know anything about the depth on that roster for me I'm like I don't know what to expect from them it's probably bad for him on my part right I should be able to tell you their fourth wide receiver no I'm just say I'm just kidding I wish I could I wish I was that good is a Texans podcast doesn't mean you can't know every roster in the league front to back what are we doing I mean honestly you know I don't know that there's a a position that I'm gonna look like for Fantasy purposes I don't know that I'm in love with even the starters on that team so I don't know I I I expect to learn something I expect to be able to come out of that game and go you know what they had a tight end that looked good or you know what they had a running back that look good um I want to say uh former Texas running back from two D for no no no I'm thinking of a different one oh Roshan Johnson yeah we should get some Roshan Johnson as in a longhorn fan I would look for that and be like okay hopefully he you know does sort of well not not great but you know shines a little bit just good enough to to make you feel good be for being a fan of his college team yeah I know I know the feeling um Tyson baggot I believe is how you say his name that is going to be the quarterback that's in in all likelihood um a matchup between him and and Davis Mills is probably more evenly matched than you know a lot of the matchups that we we we could possibly have seen I don't know I mean how do you think that the Chicago at quarterback with Caleb Williams would compare like do you think that there's a significant gap between Caleb Williams and Davis Mills at this stage I mean I think there is I feel like Davis Mills has at least enough tape to be able to say that he's gonna have a a slight Advantage I'm not gonna say it's like you know Head and Shoulders better but I I mean definitely Davis Mills versus Tyson uh badget I I totally think Advantage Mills there Easy Mills and I was on a Bears um podcast yesterday in our Network and and the way I put it was you know y'all are basically going to be playing against you know uh jeez I'm blanking hard right as soon as I needed to say his name Justin Fields um you're basically playing against Justin Fields without wheels so like I don't know to do with that what you will but like I mean if you thought Justin Fields was all right like Davis Mills is just the passing aspect of Justin field so I which is better than Tyson baggot to me at least and it's it Davis Ms is obviously a little bit better of a passer than Justin Fields the Texans are regardless of what you feel about him blessed to have him as their backup quarterback so I all in all I think that it's going to be a good match up we got a couple questions in the chat um I'll throw this one up here if Mei is as good as people say do you think that the Texans keep him or let Diggs walk and then keep him as wide receiver three or do you think that they maybe try and get Diggs back in the building what do you make of of the development of Mei and how it affects the Texans decisions moving forward at wide receiver I honestly feel like nothing that happens in that wide receiver room is going to prohibit Stefan digs being a Texan if there's if there's a common Middle Ground number that they can get to uh I feel like you see him mentoring these young guys you see him being a leader on that team and when you think about the way the Texans cultures is kind of like structured and how they talk about you know player over uh or person over player to me if digs wants to be a Texan and and he wants you know to like meet them at at a spot he'll be a Texan I don't think they'll they'll complain about having you know three wide receivers or four wide receivers or whatever I don't I don't think that'll be the issue CJ strad has shown that he is very capable of spreading the ball around all over the field and if all of those guys are eating and the Texans are winning I that's the big caveat right winning cures a lot of things now if they want to go chase a bag obviously they can go chase the bag but if you tell me that these guys are are this close to the to the chip or you know make it to a super bow don't win and dig says run it back are we gonna tell him no because me's balling absolutely not I I think so um to an extent I do think there's a number I think that that cerio has shown that as much as he wants to like for example we'll look at the defensive end position and we'll look at Jonathan grenard look at what he got paid and then look at what the Texans paid denal Hunter obviously it wasn't as much as Jonathan Gard but it you know if you're getting performance from Mei that you think is on level to make this receiving course still be great next year and you know Diggs want significantly more I could see a situation where cerio's like yeah that's cool but like we've got metch so like you know why are we sticking I think in all likelihood that that that number would come down a lot if if Diggs was in that I want to win a championship and this is where I want to be mentality so I don't think the situations are exactly comparable but the Texans have shown a history of over a couple M picking a different player who was older you know they got the hometown discount from denal Hunter and so that also kind of played into it but I think that at the end of the day I agree with you it's independent of what Mei does this year Mei could become truly excellent and if if the number from Diggs is low enough that you know having four truly great wide receivers in that room would never be something anyone would say no to so I I think it's possible I think they could bring him back we got Houston stress in the chat I just put his comment up there earlier we're blessing that's for sure you should change uh your your username to Houston blessings because we're no longer stressing no longer um let's see he says that that Niko K's contract is looking better and better as a side note I agree with you I agree with you Houston stress that that that extension definitely helps definitely a big positive um kind of in the vein we I feel like with preseason we're really just talking about roster con construction what we'd like to see and this is just something that popped into my head so I want to bring it up um Madden ratings came out and the biggest disparity that I have is the whole Texans offensive line but I understand it for the most part but what really really gets me is that they they rated Blake fiser at 72 overall at tackle and they rated T Titus Howard at 71 overall as a right tackle do you think that this speaks to the the national media's view of Titus Howard as a as a right tackle do you think that that that's just part for the course or do you think this is Madden just typically as PR usual not really understanding how to rap players h i for the people that say that Madden Can't Rap players it's normally because their player they feel there's a bias there I think Madden does a phenomenal job for the most part trying to get all of these numbers as close as you possibly can and with Titus Howard I don't know how anybody can't see the national media just totally screwing this up because draft night or or leading up to the draft Texans need a right tackle when everybody in Houston is like no our right tackle is playing left guard and he'll be at right tackle and that that was because of injury and not because you know we don't have a right tackle and then obviously when you listen to some of the some of the guys in the Texans soccer room they'll tell you you know Titus Howard is a monster like and he's only gonna get better tonsil will tell you that now I think what hurts him with his matting rating if if you want to be like okay let's see why they did it he didn't play right tackle so they really don't have a ton of tape from last season to say hey this is a good right tackle bad right tackle 70 is the the average the bar so if you're 70 you're average if you're below it you're below average if you're above it then obviously you're above average so yeah I I could see and I do agree with you I think that it's National media bias I will say as far as the the ratings go like I don't I don't like saying this um but like I I have to put my bias aside it's really nice to see that Joe Mixon is the number five overall running back in in Madden's ratings but if I'm being a realist and looking at like where Mixon is at in his career and as good as I think that he is I I probably would have been closer to like 86 or 87 if I was rating Mixon as a running back which I still feel like would have been high based on my bias at the position so like I think it goes both ways I think that some some players are getting more love than they should and some aren't like Will Anderson at 83 overall is Criminal I think he should be at least 85 overall which I know it seems really awkward to get mad over two overall points but the Texans there's some positions where the Texans should have more players closer to or in the top 10 that they don't um but you you know we've been saying this whole offseason that that everyone's going to see the Texans coming now they they can't fly under the radar but maybe it's still possible that the Texans could like maybe fly a little bit under the radar there's some some things people don't know about the Texans you know um I want to say it right here right now because I saw the comment I put it up there I'm going put it back up um Houston stressin we're saying it here Bullpen exclusive we're blessing this comment um will change his username to Houston blessings if he gets an interview with CJ stad or the Texans win the Super Bowl so let's get on that someone start spamming CJ Stroud's mentions and get him to do an interview with Houston stressin maybe use your connection with uh with the Texans voice you know Mark vandermeir get him to work with you work with the Texans Communications Department I don't know do something we got to make that happen I'm all for it um Houston stressen also added I think it's more of National media than EA um I agree with that um and I also agree I'm most upset about the wide receiver ratings I mean Nico Collins is rated at the same level as Gabe Davis they did not have comparable Seasons last year and and I don't think you dig super deep when they do their ratings it's based off the previous season so like I don't think that you got comparable Seasons from those guys so why are they rated the same um and then there's also ston being the only wide receiver with with 90 plus overall makes sense from a national media perspective but I'm not quite sure that I agree with that assessment I don't know how do you feel Tom I really think that for the people that that you know look at the Texans ratings and go well why this why that why this why that I really feel like especially with the wide receiver room those guys aren't gonna have monster Seasons relative to potentially Gabe Davis right so Gab Davis is in Jacksonville now right he's featured now so wow we we we we look at Nico's rating and go that's not good you know what is Gabe projected to do for Jacksonville versus what Nico's projected to do in Houston there are less mouth to feed in Jacksonville so I think like that has something to do with it right I I truly believe the reason Joe Mixon got rated so high is because deos came out and said I'm got to run the football and we're going to use Joe Mixon and if he's featured in this offense both with his legs and in the P game he's gonna look like a 92 by the end of the season yeah and and I I think what a lot of people miss out on and I occasionally do too because the time that I most commonly played Madden like it wasn't connected to the internet and the ratings were the ratings they didn't change so right now with with the internet like they can I think a lot of the madens rate madens ratings people are like oh we can scale this over time if we're wrong like if this player truly is great they'll perform and we can just change their rating when we upload the next week's roster so I think that plays a lot into it we got a couple comments on Instagram like you know ratings will be so different next year I agree with that I mean I think that if the Texans perform the way that everyone in Houston knows that they can we're we're going to see them go pretty deep in the playoffs and we're going to see a lot of people find out you know what the players on the roster uh names are and which one on are actually really good um it takes more than a season I mean as as good as the Texans were they went from Underdog to oh maybe we should pay attention to this team so this is that season where people outside of Houston are like oh you've given us reason to believe that we should watch what you're doing and so Midway through the season I I've had people coming up to me now like the real football Watchers that watched the Texans last season will see me in Texans gear and you know obviously I'm out in California and they'll see me and they'll go oh dude I week 10 going to suck that's I can't I can't imagine being the Cowboys and having to figure out how to play you in week 10 cuz obviously there's a lot of Cowboys fans out here cuz why not um or like they go there for they go there for spring training yeah they're they're like calling out players deep on the Rost I'm like people who watch football know what the Texans are people who don't the The Pedestrian the Casual fan um is is going to need a little more attention from the national media and this is the year that the Texans do that there's been plenty of times where other teams have been put in this spot and have faltered um those teams had weaker foundations than I think the Texans set up so I have confidence that the the Texans will rise to the occasion um we have a question in the chat says will Petri eventually move on to Nickel um or is he going to stay at Free Safety Houston strent had outlined that this is more of a star safety position I've been saying that a lot when people ask me about this but it is it is actually pertinent to the preseason game because I'm wondering you know the Texans said the starters aren't going to play but if they do they feel that Petri needs to get run at nickel then maybe they'll give him a drive I don't know but I think that it's more suitable to his abilities um I've told Tom several times that if there was one player who watched who if they watch this podcast would probably not like me as a person it's probably Jaylen Petri um I've spoken pretty candidly about how I think he needs to improve um I I try not to I try not to talk down on players but I guess it came across like I was trying to talk down on Jaylen Petri um but with that in mind think this is a better suits his skill set and it leaves him in a position to continue to be one of the players that I I think a lot of people within the organization view him as a potential face of the franchise which is why he's so prominently featured it's why he his jersey was one of the first jerseys to be available when the new jerseys came out um so I think that I I think that if the Texans are smart that and they are um that schematically they'll look and they'll be like oh well this is where Petri fits I don't how do you feel about it Tom I really don't think you're gonna see jayen pet tomorrow I really think that while everybody wants to see him at the nickel and he will play some nickel I think the the the depth chart came out with him as the free safety so if if we un official depth chart if we wanna if we and that's the funny thing right you get some guys that are like oh no look look look CB2 CB2 dep chart he's there he's lock locksmith in there done and they're like oh but don't look at don't look at jayen Petri the fact that they got him a free Set n that's not true he's been playing nickel he's gonna play nickel that thing doesn't mean anything it's like well which one is it you can't you can't which one is it you can't say look look look and then go but don't look don't look so I I'm I'm really just I'm gonna see that last preseason game second last preseason game and really just go from there and go is this is this the team that they're going to roll out and I I truly believe that this could evolve over the season right he could start at free SA and then they could run into a position where they play a little bit more nickel and then you see him at the nickel um it's just I don't know people have talked down on the depth at that Texans have at safety it's the reason why Justin Simmons to this day is still a player that the Texans fans really want the Texans to approach it's the reason why um there's not a lot of confidence in the depth chart past Jaylen Petri there's not really someone that people view as someone who could step up and play instead of him um in a lot of people's eyes I think that Eric Murray or MJ Stewart could be I don't want to say on the same level cuz that would be a disservice to what Jaylen Petri is um oh hey Tom look he's coming bend your haircut my goodness um but I I think that we did get bad framber tonight so far it's not looking good yeah so far you know two-run Homer don't worry we we'll rebound um but looking at what the Texans have at safety I mean I still agree that Simmons would be a great signing but I think that Eric Murray could be serviceable in the event that they decide to move Petri down to Nickel more more prominently um what does that speak to in the in the nickel position to you so on the Texans unofficial depth chart they've listed Desmond King and Miles Bryant as the nickel cornerbacks um miles Bryant High Praise from John Hickman and other uh people that have watched the Patriots play uh in terms of what he could possibly be at nickel um and Desmond King is just the know commodity he is he's been on the team he has a signature you know Sage Rosen Phil's Rosen copter Type move going on now so he's really established himself in Texans history what do you what do you make of of that position without Jaylen Petry maybe that speaks to how much they like those guys I think that while you want to move uh Jaylen Petri down to the nickel if you've got guys that you feel are really good at the nickel we were we were talking about how okay maybe maybe this is better for jayen Petri but maybe those guys are better for the nickel than Jaylen Petri would be and just leave him at free safety I really feel like as much as you were very critical of him as much as he probably would be critical of himself when you look at the way this defense is constructed and you look at what this pass rush could potentially be obviously we got to see it play out the guys's got to be out there you know we got to see denal and Will Anderson gets to the quarterback but when you have those kind of guys those difference makers causing havoc in the back field you're not gonna need your free safety to be as as counted on as much it's when they don't get home that your free safety's got to be great when those guys are getting home that free safety is just ball Hawking and I and I'm totally fine with jayen Petri being out there just ball Hawking 100% now now we spoke to it a little bit um on our game preview this week I believe um and you can check that out it's on YouTube and Spotify and apple music um but Deno arre suspended um and and we're looking at the defensive line it's a position that in my mind Deno atre's availability definitely was what my view of the team hinged on um but looking at what they have now apparently um who do they have listed at the defensive tackle position uh man I had his name in my head and I just blanked on it so I'm going I have the depth chart right in front of me um Tim settle is who they have kind of flexing into the defensive tackle position and so or sorry Mario Edwards Jr my bad I was like trying to find his name on the depth chart kept looking it over um and they really like him in the middle do you think that it's caus for concern that Deno Atri is not available the first six games of the season for the Texans depends on if a certain number 99 decid besides he's done vacationing and you know the phone rings and he shows up and time to go to work obviously that was something that was being discussed a lot you know before training camp hey hey he said if you called would you show and I'll show and you know Deo was like well I guess I better make that call you know tongue and cheek type but now you have a reason and obviously that's the extreme scenario we could talk about Mario Edward Jr and and and whoever else as as a filler um you talked about the SP the cap space sorry uh about using it for Simmons but maybe that's something that they can look into you know finding a DT on the street to to maybe help there as opposed to going out and getting a safety um maybe somebody gets cut and they're like oh this guy would be perfect you know we can coach him up we can do this so it'll be interesting to kind of see how that plays out uh Foley yeah yep that's that's a good call there Retreat so uh I really am not too concerned yet because nobody's hurt so right now I think the depth is there barring injury obviously injury changes things for me yeah defensive tackles is a very rotational position already so I mean all you really lose out on is Deno atre specifically would be really great inside on third Downs that was where his strength was um but I think that that they spoke really highly of Mario Edwards um and then Foy Fuki if if I've said that correctly I hope I did fasi I know I we've managed to find a lot of difficult I think Retreat did it right with Foley it just left it at that yeah I just I should have just left it at that but you know I I don't do things halfway I guess so I just had to get to the last part of the name um but the Texans D liion room as I've said before not a lot of star power um there's definitely room in the cap to to grab some somewhat maybe a little bit of star power but it's never been really the the identity of that team that defensive line uh since then let's see Houston stress is bringing up more about Petri and as Tom knows very well I you love to talk about him love talking about Jaylen Petri so another misconception about Petri is that he had an awesome rookie year and regressed last year the stats are misleading he had 40 less tackles and five interceptions versus zero and roughly 200 less snaps also graded better um with PFF year 2 Tom's heard me say this and if you watch the show a lot you've heard me say this I always viewed it as Jaylen Petri had a larger number of tackles due to a larger number of opportunities because the team sucked as rookie year and so at the second level you shouldn't have to make those plays um that that Petri was having to make so he had a m tackle problem in his rookie year that that was pretty prominent and then he was but he had so many opportunities that he led the team in tackles and so then the next year this past year the team got so much better that he just wasn't really put in a position to have to make that many tackles and I mean he made more interceptions yeah I'll I'll give you that but um in my mind I I agree with you that I don't think it was an awesome rookie year in regression I think that that he was he was lifted up in his rookie year due to the circumstances of having to be you know that guy who made a bunch of tackles and and it the stats that were produced from the team being bad on defense kind of led to him being held to this higher level and I think he's able to attain it I think that he can 100% reach it especially with Deo as his defensive coordinator um it's just people I I agree with you that viewing it as a regression is not necessarily the right way to view it cuz it was kind of like maybe he took a step back but I mean it was pretty pretty in line maybe slightly better than his rookie year honestly yeah but let's be very clear about something I don't think you really care about his tackling ability or anything in the Run game your issue with Jaylen Petri and why you want to see him move down into this star role the nickel role is because of his deficiencies in coverage you believe you believe that Derek Stingley Jr just absolutely covered his ass up the entire the entire season like every not the entire season otherwise the passer rating he allowed would be lower if if Dereck Singley could cover for dere for jayen Petri the whole year then we we would think that Jaylen Petri was great in coverage looking at the stats but the stats show that the the passer rating of when throwing his direction for the post is the largest on the defense last year that I think Steven Nelson gave up like 50 or 60 um and then when you look at Jimmy Ward was like 91 jayen Petri was like 128 like it was like an an obscenely high passer rating when throwing in his Direction and so I and that's that's another product of of the difference in in you know year one to year two in year one how many teams were throwing at Jaylen Petri late in games I mean the Texans were there was not very many games where the Texans were in it late so he wasn't having to play a pass Defender late in games and so we didn't really get a good sample now the Texans were in a lot of close games last year so he he was tested and I I'm not going to say he failed the test I mean he just wasn't as good as I think his reputation from his rookie season would have led you to believe so once again I don't think I don't I don't not like Jaylen Petri I think Jaylen Petri is perfectly capable of being the Houston Texans long-term starting safety I just think it's it's important to acknowledge what he needs to do to get better in order to you know what was it we we you specifically but me too have talked about how how nice and refreshing it was to hear Damen Pierce say hey hey I wasn't the guy that I needed to be this past year but I but I'm getting better I'm picking up the system and and I'm finding myself kind of thing like I respected that and I don't need Jaylen Petri to come out and tell me that I just want to see it on the field I I just want to see you know someone throw the ball his way and him play it well or or if they decide to play him in the nickel I think that's great I think that he his run stopping was great that was one thing that's not changed about him he has consistently been great at that so why not let him do what he's good at instead of asking him to do something that he maybe didn't really exactly show to be very good at I mean obviously give him a chance coach him up but I don't know man I don't know for everybody I just want y'all to know I love talking about jayen Petri because I get to see not necessarily like like on eggshells or whatever but you really get to see James go in and then go but but look I love him and I want him to be great but and and you could definitely him conflicted the entire time he's talking and it's just a lot of fun like I I'm I'm willing to go hey he's a young kid he's going to get there and he's like I need him better now and and it's it's always good ah man I don't know H I hate it because I don't I the the last thing I want and I'll walk you through in my brain like what what happens and and I'm not trying to backpedal I legit I I I don't feel like I'm contradicting myself I feel like I there's a difference between being critical and just bringing up issues issues for the sake of it like there's there's a point in Jaylen petre's play that I'm critical of but I do think he's capable of being a great player in this scheme and so I obviously with this topic go a little harder on it probably than than most we don't have a lot of at this point in Texans history there's not a lot of controversial I need to go in on it and let you know exactly how I feel topics it's like CJ Stroud's great this offense is great the defense is great let's go win a Super Bowl so with that my my in my mind I'm saying all this stuff and then I remember that this is on the internet widely accessible and I go hm what what if there's like this off chance that someone puts this in front of Jaylen Petri like what's he even going to think of what what I say cuz because no one listens to the whole thing they listen to the first part where you're like talking about their shortcomings and then they cut it off at the point where you're saying but I think he could be great and so who is this guy get get him out of here and then all of a sudden in in week three Jaylen Petri cleats are going to say something like f James that guy sucks can't stand him and then and then going to be a whole thing and it's going to be out there for the wrong reasons I don't think that's likely at all but I'm just going through the possibilities man good grief let's see saw a video the other day with caption of whether or not Aran Fosters should be in the Ring of Honor it was probably my video I've been pushing that narrative for a while now um I think that that he should be not to abruptly change topic but I just that comment caught my eye um what are your thoughts on Arion Foster in the Ring of Honor since we're in this Hall of Fame era if you will I I really feel like Aran Foster is probably the best running back in Houston Texans history um it's not necessarily Up For Debate or anything like that but there's not like this crazy competition either if if I mean he had like a couple really really great seasons and you know once he once he got nicked up you know it was kind of it was kind of a shortlived thing um I don't know what there what their criteria is for the Ring of Honor if if you're thinking about like greatest Texans right now he's definitely part of that what was the only probably successful era of the Texans where you felt like they had a chance to really do some things with shab and AJ and Aryan and and that's that's really it you know obviously JJ as well so I don't know I don't know if you want like I don't know if you want the ring to be like full of names or you know you really want to have like some truly epic change the game type players that that's just where it kind of for me it kind of sits if you're gonna if that Ring's gonna be like around and around and we're gonna have like layers to it then yeah do it if if we're talking about the top 20 then you know maybe maybe not yet we're cutting it off at 20 as soon as there's 20 players ahead of any player in the ring they're just out give the jacket back I'm just kidding basically um basically I mean I for me I I've spoken on this a lot but like when when this first happened right the the discussion kind of kicked off when JJ Watt was being inducted into the Ring of Honor um and and people were like what about um I'll throw out some names don't judge me for it because I I do to some extent like these names depending on how you view the Ring of Honor um but people would be like what about Foster what about sha what about uh Cushing what about you know Deo Ryan what about all these guys that have been V you know Key Parts I I think I even heard someone say Connor barwin who is a personal favorite of mine even though it was a shortlived thing um but when you look at that you have to compare what are other teams using their Ring of Honor for so the the the Packers is the one I Look to as my example and they have a cornerback in their Ring of Honor it's been a while since I looked I don't have his name but they have a cornerback in their Ring of Honor I think played three seasons for the team and did pretty good while he was there but like the L ity of his time I don't even think he did much for another team like he just had three really good Seasons with the Packers and then he got inducted into the Ring of Honor so like some teams including the Packers who is like a really big historic team use it that way and in my opinion the the Hall of Fame is for honoring the all-time greats let them have that the gold jacket that means you did it in the eyes of the national media right so Hall of Fame that that qualifies you to be in the Texans Ring of Honor that it's automatic like no one has any say if you're in the Hall of Fame you will be in the Texans Ring of Honor it'll probably happen in the other order that's how it usually happens but um in my eyes the Ring of Honor its purpose is to honor players that meant something that did something truly great that will never be honored in the ring in the Hall of Fame right maybe they will like you you will have Hall of Famers in your Ring of Honor but what it really means is the players like Aran Foster for great years one for a fouryear stretch fantasy Monster uh one of the best if not the best running back in the league during that stretch it's hard to say with you know Adrien Peterson being in the league at that time but uh I mean when you look at what he brought you know but then what I think throws people off of it is is that once you start thinking like that and you start thinking about four great Seasons you start having to think about names you know that are less glamorous players that maybe weren't your favorite like oh well we'll put Whitney mercilus in the Ring of Honor cuz he he did pretty all right or javien Clowney was pretty all right when he was in Houston so so I think people are afraid of it becoming this thing where you go oh well what about Jake Hansen or Neville hwit those guys were like special teams monsters they deserve to be recognized in the Texans Ring of Honor and it's like I don't think you're degrading it or defiling it by letting players in that were truly Elite for the team that will not make the Hall of Fame so Aran Foster to me is 100% And then there's other players I I could I go back and forth on but but out of all the players that aren't in the Ring of Honor that are eligible right now to be in it Aran Foster to me is the only one that I can unanimously say in my mind like I'm easily a yes on that one I think it should 100% happen Dwayne Brown I go back and forth Just because of the way he departed from Houston but I do agree that as the the Cornerstone the longest tene player the solid left tackle the whole time he was there like there there's a case for it so but yeah and and Dwayne Brown isn't he in New York right now with uh with Aaron Rogers he's on the Jets I want to say he's still playing so either way I I wouldn't put him in the ring of under because he's still playing so that that's his disqualifier right there um maybe Chris Brown or Shane lechler see then you get into special teams names and people are like Chris Brown you have mixed feelings about it because maybe he missed a kick or two I don't know see I feel like Shane lecker was the name I was thinking of I was waiting I was like if you're gonna put Aryan Foster in the and and another guy that's probably gonna go when he hangs it up right is weeks right been on the team forever John weeks is yes as soon as he hangs up the cleats but give him the red jacket that guy is is Texans Ring of Honor material so and then if you put Aran in there's no scenario where you don't put dehop in yeah I mean it's the same case where like dehop was if you look at the tech so if you look at the top 11 single season receiving yards totals and I say 11 because I don't want to include Brandon Cooks in the discussion um but the top 11 single season receiving yard totals for the Texans in the top five there's no one but DeAndre Hopkins and and Andre Johnson um and in the top 11 there's no one but DeAndre Hopkins and Andre Johnson uh except for number eight which is Nico Collins this past season so Nico Collins that's why Nico Collins is criminally underrated Jonathan Joseph that's another name I I could sit here I feel like we're just a bunch of guys you know sitting by sitting by the campire naming random NFL players but it's just Texans players instead um I could go down the list I could go I mean as much as this there's a stigma around Brian Cushing for his like ped usage which was literally one season at the beginning of his career and one season towards the end of his career you don't actually believe that do you that he that he was suspended right that's so yeah I I I work and live in the real world where there's objective quality evidence required to prove things and there was only two instances where there was enough objective quality evidence to put a suspension on Brian Cushing so I think that he once again once you go down that path what's what's the minimum it sounds like four seasons four really good seasons do you think that Brian Cushing put up four truly good seasons for the Texans like truly outstanding years he was Rookie of the Year his his Defensive Rookie of the Year and then he had maybe one or two other ones um I I looked back at this cuz I I every time I go back and think of this I go okay well like what did they do and and in my mind like I don't know like Brian Cushing in my eyes is a great Texans player but I am not as certain on him as I am on other people for the Ring of Honor I think reputation wise and that's what people are trying to put a number on like performance but like what's your reputation what did you do for the Texans organization and how are you viewed by the Texans organization a lot of people the the the what's being thrown around about Andre we're talking about Andre going in the Hall of Fame Andre Johnson is is representing the Texans as a whole like he is the Texans like that's the sentiment I'm getting which is like it's easy to put him in the Ring of Honor it's easy to put him in the Hall of Fame I mean but he obviously also has a massive list of stats to back that up so maybe there are some players that don't have the stats to back it up but have like the a longstanding reputation there was nine years where people were like yeah the Texans defense you know Brian Cushing that's the guy in the middle the linebacker that runs it so I mean I don't know so do you think we honor Phil or do you think Phillip should be in the Ring of Honor Phillip Phillip Phillip Phillip I feel like I should really just instantly know this and man I'm just going to kick myself once you tell me what you mean by Phillip because I am I feel like when I went on that be Bears podcast yesterday they started asking me questions to test my Texans fandom and I was like I'm glad I passed and I feel like I'm GNA fail right now like I don't jessing you're you're testing me a lot Phillip are you are you coming up with a Phillip Tom I mean what is he talking about like is he joking like like Philip Dorset was that was that one oh I mean if he's talking about Philip Dorset I Dorset came to mind but I was like obviously he's not talking about Philip Dorset what what other Philip is there Buchanan maybe was that wor set yeah I man I don't know stressen eventually is going to have to to give us the answer if he's not on his if you guys when we're done if you're looking for more Texans content um PHS maybe Wade Phillips if we're going based on reputation I mean he did he was had reputation as a defensive coordinator and he definitely did his job in that regard we don't have the Bulls on Parade without Wade Phillips um or without Conor barwin but I I mean dude the Letterman jacket thing will never get him in the Ring of Honor I think if anything they should have his letterman jacket in in the the Texans Ring of Honor as like a rem no I'm just kidding we should definitely not be putting that sort of JuJu on on the Texans organization but I I could go on and on I could go on for days about who who should and shouldn't maybe one of these days Tom and I will just do release an hourong episode where we present each great Texans player throughout the team's history and debate their qualifications to be in the Ring of Honor if anyone's interested in that just let us know and we'll put it together so um we were supposed to talk about the the Hall of Fame Game today and we I think we did that we did do that did let's let's be very clear the Hall of Fame game is gonna be great to see these fire uniforms to see to see the Texans on national TV which which you know everyone's watching the Texans and and you're GNA see CJ and and all those guys on the sidelines yucking it up and it'll be that much closer to Real Deal football and we'll be critiquing the fifth wide receiver and the seventh uh uh defensive linebacker I don't know we we we'll be looking for players that make this roster based on this game 100% 100% before we go someone did comment they're interested in that that Ring of Honor discussion maybe we'll get our own ring of uh of judges to to select we'll get like stressin and Texans County and we'll get them in here and the Ring of the bull the Ring of the bullpen all right we'll get our regular guests to come on and uh and discuss with us who should be in and who should not um I I'd have to do also obviously a lot more research than I've done to this point which is a lot I've done a good bit I just don't have it fresh in in my head but in the Instagram chat is is is lightening up with interest in this uh this sort of format so we'll we'll have to to throw it together see do y'all have a podcast or something where do you usually talk about Texans well welcome to the bullpen I am James Roy and this is my co-host Tom chavaria thanks for tuning in to the bullin our Texans podcast I I really need to get like an overlay that shows our logo in the corner I feel like that's what's missing um actually here for a second I'm going to pull us both off the screen for half a second just to show what was on before we po all right the Astros are mounting a comeback ladies and gentlemen Pittsburgh's helping them Pittsburgh's trying to give this thing up they're trying I mean I would love nothing more than to see Pittsburgh give it up and the Astros win I think the Mariners are losing right now are already lost they already lost walked off yeah they got walked off by the Red Sox that's what it was um it'd be nice to gain a little cushion it feels like ever since the Astros took first it's been like but are they still in first what's going on so that would be exciting um man what a what a time we're entering in sports the Astros are actively playing the Texans are about to come back and the Rockets basketball get off the ground soon enough and we're just going to be in this like this Whirlwind of Just Sports man I'm just man and the Dynamo the Dynamo are are in the Dead Heat they're hanging on by just a thread to eighth in the west so I think they'll I think they'll improve they they've made some moves in the transfer window listen guys this is a football podcast so I'm I'm going to give you the 5-second Dynamo Spiel I watch them I have season tickets they're fantastic they made two moves to get a striker and a Winger they're very young they're very talented once they gel with this team I mean the the the sky is the limit this is a team that can defend and move the ball around but didn't have finishers they went out and got two so if you haven't been to a Dynamo game you should it's a good time and it's probably the cheap cheapest ticket in town now with the way all these other teams are doing and there's a very good chance to make the playoffs there there's your super short show your super short elevator pitch for going to a Dynamo game man that stadium is is it's got a lot of space I think they average 14,000 people but they could fit like 20,000 uh if I'm not mistaken so it's right down the street from the Astros you know maybe on a day when the Astros aren't playing you just you know park where you normally do for an Astros game and just go to the showell um let's see this is off topic it's not off topic we're talking about all Houston sports now so we'll take this one off topic question before we end it um but I was hoping that we would have gotten our NHL team back this year sadly they went to Utah instead um I reckon we're probably going to get our our thoughts on that I mean I think H Houston it it's tough right because the biggest argument against the the city of Houston getting any team is is the way that that fans are we've had this discussion before where it's really easy to get attendance when the team's winning but what do you do when they're not I think that's that's probably it's a pretty obvious statement that most cities struggle with that but I feel like in the eyes of most people the city of Houston is particularly not interested in attending if you are not doing well unless it's the Rockets I think the Rockets have shown to be able to really draw attendance just regardless of how good the product's been and the Texans to some I I don't agree with the thought I think that for the most part outside of the Dynamo the Texans draw attendance to games or sorry the the city of Houston will will fill a stadium with people as long as you know they have the team there um but I I mean I'm interested in getting the arrows back in town I remember going to an arrows game growing up and thinking man this is great um it's one of the reasons that I even know what hockey is is because the arrows were there so um get so we can get rid of the Astrodome dude just pull the shell off the Astrodome and then put a hockey stadium in there instead that would be great if they could come to it I I think the astrodome's just there to stay I don't think anyone's doing anything about that there's too much legislation and and paperwork around that well they said it's more expensive to tear it down than it is to renovate it and use it so to well also with property taxes right they're paying I think like a hundred $20,000 a year to keep it and it would cost like o over like several several million dollarss to do the renovations and to tear it down it would cost several million because of the way it was structured is built uh built to last so I mean I'd like to see something happen with the Astrodome I think it's coming I think this Market is too big for them not to have a team here I think in the past they weren't trying to expand as much and then other team other cities kind of came to the Forefront but I believe that Houston is on the short list of teams after Utah and Utah kind of makes more sense to have a hockey team you know being where they're located having that kind of a you know winter where we don't necessarily have a winter um it makes sense to have hockey there but I think Houston's coming I think it's gonna happen Tillman fertitas came out and said you know that's something he wants to do and with all the money he's got I can't see a world where he doesn't get it done at some point no yeah and I think so uh a comments on Instagram capture what I was trying to say earlier is the worst thing about our Houston teams is that most of the ESPN's analysis always has negative or nothing at all to say about them it it feels like the national level just doesn't really want to embrace or get to know the Houston sports landscape and so outside of I would say the the you know when teams are doing good um I would say that in general the national media is just kind of nonchalant or disregards them in some ways so oh well I mean it's it's htown versus the world you know how it is so so um but yeah hey we just hit 200 viewers thanks for tuning in to our podcast that's called the bullpen I should start saying that more throughout I feel like some people don't know that this is a podcast so yeah this is this is the bullpen a Houston Texans podcast you can find us on anywhere you get your podcast and on YouTube so make sure you just do do a search and find us um I have been James Roy and you can find me at James Roy NFL and at M1 Texans fan across social media um Tom has been Tom and uh you can find him at TCT tom1 on Instagram and at Third Coast Tom on Twitter if you're looking for some Third Coast Tom therapy uh you can you can find it there that's where you got it um and his Instagram is not private anymore it's public I know it's been weeks but I'm going to keep saying that I have to I have to alternate between your Instagram's not private and he calls it X because that's what it is um so I just I just decided to go with the Instagram joke this week I'm like a broken record y'all I'll be here every week um all right thanks for tuning in um one more mention there's a there's a t-shirt giveaway going on on on X or Twitter depending on how old you are or how much you care to change your ways um but on my account at James Roy NFL um I'm partnered with the The Playbook products and there they're giving away a t-shirt it has um it says uh no chance question mark it's a playoff of CJ str's interview with Pat McAfee show uh right before they played the Browns in the playoffs they said hey just so you know Joe flacko is the only threat to the Ravens you guys have no chance to make it past the Browns um and it has the play um when when CJ strad hit brevan Jordan on that screen for 76 yard touchdown um drawn up on the T-shirt so if you're interested in that it's really cool shirt you can also shop that website for 20% off with the promo code that I have there um I should share that tweet to my Instagram so you can link to it but anyways um yeah on that note thanks for being here today as always Stay classy Houston and Vos Texans