The 610 pregame and postgame host joins BRB for five questions.
Sean Pendergast is one of the busier guys over at 610 AM. In addition to his morning show (Payne and Pendergast), he also serves as one of the pregame and postgame hosts for all Houston Texans games. He also happens to be one of the nicest guys in the business and he happily took time out of his busy schedule to answer some of our questions about the Texans and their offseason so far.
Battle Red Blog: The Danielle Hunter signing is obviously the biggest name that came in free agency. Which of the other moves do you think was the most shrewd for Nick Caserio?: I
Sean Pendergast: l love the Denico Autry signing. The Hunter signing was the one that pushed the Texans over the top with the national media, but the Autry signing was the type of acquisition you need to make on the margins to push things over the top. Super productive (11.5 sacks last season), super durable, and very versatile. On my show, Caserio called Autry “a junkyard dog, a bad MFer, and someone you want in a dark alley with you,” so I’d say he likes Autry! The Azeez Al-Shaair signing, too. Everyone was freaking out after Day 1 of free agency because the Texans hadn’t made a “splash” (code for “overspend”), but those two guys will be key pieces this season.
BRB: Are there any players and/or contracts we added that you wouldn’t have done? Are there any guys you wish we had made a bigger effort to get?
SP: Most of the signings the Texans have made are in the “bargain bin” category, so it’s hard tog et too angry about any of the deals they gave out. I guess the one contract that raised my eyebrows was the extension they handed to Joe Mixon (three years, $27 million) before he’s played a down of football for them, but my guess is they were ready to do that in free agency, if he were released, and they are clearly bullish on him.
BRB: A lot of talk was made of the Texans trying to get Keenan Allen with a future draft pick. Other big names have been linked to Houston as well. Would you add a veteran wide receiver if you could or stick and pick?
SP: I’d do both! I don’t think there are many wide receivers left on the free agency board, certainly no super expensive ones. I’ve been an advocate of Tyler Boyd as a bargain slot guy, and he is still put there (as I type this). I would also use the 42nd or 59th pick (if they stay in those spots, which they won’t, but for now…) on one of the receivers in this very deep class. Hell, there will probably still be a very good receiver there at the 86th pick, as good as this group of prospects is.
BRB: The Texans still have a little bit of spending money left if they don’t make a big trade. What positions do you see them targeting before the draft?
SP: As mentioned above, I’d still look for receiver help. I have to imagine the secondary is still a big focus. Rolling with Jeff Okudah or C.J. Henderson as your CB2 feels very risky. I’m surprised they haven’t signed one of these veteran safeties yet, but there is still time and a LOT of names out there. Also, I could see them bringing in one more veteran RB.
BRB: Obviously the big draft trade and free agency has recalibrated our thinking in terms of the draft. What positions do you see them targeting with those second round picks?
SP: As I mentioned above, I’d be stunned if they don’t take a receiver with one of those picks. Aside from that, I’d bet the other pick will almost certainly be on a defensive player. There are some very good interior defensive linemen (Sweat from UT, Fiske from FSU) that fall right into that 42nd overall range.
We want to thank Sean again for taking the time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions about the Texans offseason so far. In addition to catching him on his morning show (6 AM to 10 AM) you can also catch him on the Houstopia Football Podcast which can be found on Audacy. For those living outside the immediate Houston area, you can catch all of the shows on 610 on the Audacy app or on Twitch.