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The energy in this city right now is unbelievable with the World Cup in town, and boy did we have a stacked show for you today.
We started with one of my favorite media day visits from a couple weeks ago — LB Jake Hansen. Jake's been around since 2022 when he came in as an undrafted free agent out of Illinois, and he's turned himself into one of the most valuable special teams players in the league. He led our team in special teams tackles last year. I asked him about the biggest key in the Texans' transformation from a rebuilding team to a legit contender, and he didn't hesitate. "It starts with leadership in the building," Hansen said. "You can point to the players. You can point to [Head Coach] DeMeco [Ryans] to our [EVP and] GM, Nick [Caserio]. Nobody is satisfied. Everyone's looking for an edge. Everyone wants to get over the hump and get to AFC Championships and the Super Bowl."
Then we heard from C Jake Andrews, who gave us a fantastic look inside the offensive line room. I threw some names at him and asked for his take. On Wyatt Teller: "I love Wyatt. He's awesome. Really fun guy to be around, loves football, loves being out with the boys. He's a dude's dude." On Braden Smith: "He seems like a brick wall at times — I mean that in a good way — but he's a very funny guy." And on first-round pick Keylan Rutledge: "He's a little crazy, which I kind of like. He really, really loves football." Jake also told us the offense is a "big step ahead" from where it was last year at this time, which lines up perfectly with what Caserio told Payne and Pendergast a few weeks ago.
Speaking of Nick Caserio, we closed the show with his comments about C.J. Stroud. "It's probably been the best spring that he's had since he's been here," he said. "His on-field demeanor, his presence, his communication, his ownership, his leadership of the offense — it's really stood out." That's what you want to hear heading into camp.
And in between the football, Glenn Davis, Houston's soccer guru and host of the Soccer Matters podcast on ESPN 97.5 FM, joined us for a World Cup deep dive. If you haven't been to a match yet, Houston is putting on a show for the world.
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