Uncovering the perfect fit for the Houston Texans

UNDER THE RADAR

NFL free agency is right around the corner and the Houston Texans have a ton of salary cap space. Not to mention, it was announced on Friday the NFL is raising the salary cap to $255.4 million, an increase over 13%.

PFF has the Texans with the 7th-most cap space in the NFL at $67.5 million. So what should the Texans do with all of that money?

Several players have already been connected to the Texans. Houston is the betting favorite to land Buccaneers receiver Mike Evans, according to bookies.com.

And Giants running back Saquon Barkley has been rumored to have interest in joining the Texans after he followed many players on social media like Brevin Jordan, CJ Stroud, Nico Collins, and others.

But in the video above, Craig from Sports Talk Extra makes his case for the Texans to address the front seven. But not in the typical way by adding a defensive lineman. He believes DeMeco Ryans will have interest in signing Panthers middle linebacker Frankie Luvu based on an article he read of Texans Wire.

Luvu was originally an edge defender for the Jets, but now is an interior linebacker who has seen a ton of success over the last two years with Carolina. He's recorded over 100 tackles in his last two seasons, and also sacked the quarterback 5.5 times last season, and 7 times in 2022. You don't find many players with both that many tackles and sacks.

Linebacker Denzel Perryman struggled in coverage for the Texans last year, dealt with injuries, and is 31 years old. So with his contract now expired, the Texans should look to upgrade.

Spotrack has Luvu's market value at $11.2 million/year. They believe he will command a deal in the 4-year, $40 million range.

So should the Texans make the deal?

Check out the video above to watch the full discussion.


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Now’s the time for the Astros lineup to start hitting its stride. Composite Getty Image.

The easiest way to win in the American League next to an opponent forfeiting the game is getting to play the Chicago White Sox. The Astros are in the “Windy City” this weekend for three games against the woebegone White Sox, most notably featuring Lance McCullers hoping to make some sweet mound music as he pitches in a game that counts for the first time since 2022. In 1979 the White Sox actually didforfeit a game, thanks to Disco Demolition Night. In a marketing idea gone very wrong, the White Sox blew up a big bin of disco records on the field in between games of the scheduled doubleheader. After the explosion, thousands of fans stormed the field, ripping up grass, lighting fires, with several fights inevitably breaking out. The lunacy left the field unplayable, the Detroit Tigers got a free win. The Astros will have to actually play the Chisox to get wins. Sweeping the three isn’t mandatory, but only taking two out of three would actually seem mildly disappointing.

Speaking of disappointing, Yordan Alvarez has to be hoping the calendar turn to May gives him a figurative fresh start. Counting the three games of March with April, Yordan just finished the second-worst calendar month of his career. His anemic .670 OPS through 30 games tops only his August of 2022 (.638). Last season Alvarez never had a month with an OPS lower than .776. In 2023 in what could fairly be described as awesome, Yordan’s OPS was at least .900 every month of the season. Last year, May was his worst month with the .776 OPS. The big man then went off the rest of the way with a .331 batting average and 1.069 OPS.

It’s still fits and starts for Christian Walker, with the downside still winning overall. An almost everyday cleanup hitter still hasn’t reached double digit runs batted in 30 games into the season (Walker has 9). Batting .143 with runners in scoring position tells that tale. It was Walker’s crush job of a home run Monday that jumpstarted an Astros’ comeback win over the Tigers. He followed with a two-hit game Tuesday. Then Wednesday it was five hitless at bats and not once getting the ball out of the infield. Walker enters the weekend batting .196 with a .632 OPS. Jose Abreu’s miserable tenure with the Astros ended with a .217 average and .625 OPS. Too many Walker at bats continue to have him fall in a hole that he will rarely climb out of successfully. He has a whopping 36 plate appearances that have seen the count go to oh and two. That’s 33 percent more than any other Astro (Jeremy Pena has 27). In his at bats that have gotten to the 0-2 count, Walker is three for 32. To be fair, no one makes a good living hitting after the count gets to 0-2. Entering play Thursday the Major League Baseball average in such at bats was .163. Walker is at .094. The great Tony Gwynn posted a .338 career average. In his 706 plate appearances that saw the count get to 0-2, Gwynn hit .268. Jose Altuve is .249 career after facing an 0-2 count.

It’s been an outstanding start for Jeremy Pena in his move to the leadoff spot with Altuve dropping to the two slot. Pena successfully reached base eight times in the three games of the Detroit series. His season on-base percentage is up to .355. If sustainable that would be a substantial improvement over Pena’s weak career .307 OBP mark coming into this season. Pena is faster and a clearly better base runner than Altuve. If the OBP stays up, Pena should have a new long-term home in the batting order.

Garner’s grit endures

In closing, a paragraph in salute to Phil Garner, and also to the Astros for inviting him to throw out the ceremonial first pitch Wednesday, on his 76th birthday. Obviously the magnificence of the past eight seasons trumps all before them in Astros’ history, but it should always be remembered that Garner skippered the Astros to their first ever pennant in 2005. Having gotten to know Phil a little bit through regular radio conversations in his time managing the Astros, a tip of the cap to one of the most engaging people I have met in sports, and a guy who is pretty much unsurpassed as a storyteller. If you missed it, this week brought public disclosure that “Scrap Iron” has been battling pancreatic cancer for over a year now. It’s a tough battle, but everyone who has ever known Phil is aware there was zero chance that he would back down from the battle. It was great seeing him Wednesday in great spirits. In 2029 the Pittsburgh Pirates will celebrate the 50th anniversary of their World Series winning team that was known for “We Are Family,” the Sister Sledge hit song of that time. Amusingly if not ironically, the hit that became Pittsburgh’s theme song came from a group that hailed from Philadelphia. Anyway, in the ‘79 postseason Garner batted a cool .472, .500 in the World Series on 12 for 24 as the Pirates rallied from down three games to one to beat the Baltimore Orioles.

For Astro-centric conversation, join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and me for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday. Click here to catch!

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