Our favorite uncomfortable national media reactions to Houston Texans trading for Stefon Diggs

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Our favorite uncomfortable national media reactions to Houston Texans trading for Stefon Diggs
The Texans have everyone's full attention. Composite image by Brandon Strange.

After the Houston Texans traded for Bills receiver Stefon Diggs on Wednesday, news of the deal caught like wildfire and was a main topic of discussion on shows like Undisputed, First Take, The Herd, and countless others.

For the most part, everyone was very positive about the trade from the Texans perspective. In fact, Vegas updated the Texans and Bills' odds for the 2024 season.

Before the trade the Texans odds of winning the Super Bowl were 25-to-1 (+2500). Now, the Texans odds have shifted to 15-to-1 (+1500). Clearly, the addition of Diggs improved the Texans' chances of winning it all in 2024.

The Bills on the other hand are going the other direction. The Bills' chances of winning the big game have decreased a bit. Before the trade they were at 12-to-1 (+1200), and after the trade, 14-to-1 (+1400).

The Texans odds are now around sixth-best to win the championship, right around the Dallas Cowboys. Which brings us to Skip Bayless' show, Undisputed.

Skip (a Cowboys superfan) and Keyshawn Johnson debated whether the Cowboys or Texans have the best team. And it wasn't much of a debate. Bayless shockingly conceded to Keyshawn that the Texans have the better squad heading into the season. Skip is a Houston hater, so saying that must have really hurt.

Which is quite the contrast from Colin Cowherd, who didn't even have the Texans making the playoffs before the Diggs trade. And even after the Diggs trade, Cowherd mostly ignored the Texans side of the trade, and focused on the Bills. Some things never change with Cowherd.

He gave the Texans some love once CJ Stroud was taking the league by storm, but he was very dismissive of Stroud and the Texans before and after the season. Cowherd thinks the team will take a step back due to their first place schedule in 2024.

How did this deal come about?

Adam Schefter revealed on The Stephen A. Smith Show that the Texans initiated the trade with the Vikings, not the other way around. The popular opinion was the Vikings wanted a second first-round pick that would help them trade up for a quarterback in the draft. But that's not the case, according to Schefter.

It seems GM Nick Caserio was interested in turning the Texans' 2024 first-round pick into two second-rounders. Which indicates the Texans were looking to add a receiver, but needed an extra second-round pick to do so.

Which is good news, Houston had a plan, and they executed it after the trade for Keenan Allen fell through (the Chargers preferred to send Allen to the NFC, and he is now a Chicago Bear).

How will they use Diggs?

Many people believe Diggs will play outside with Tank Dell taking over as the slot receiver. But based on the slot percentage of all the Texans receivers, that may not be the case.

2023 slot percentage

Robert Woods 57%

Noah Brown 39%

Stefon Diggs with Buffalo 36%

Tank Dell 29%

Nico Collins 20%

As you can see from the numbers above, Dell wasn't in the slot all that much. Perhaps the Texans have plans to use Diggs on the inside based on these numbers, and their failed attempt at landing Keenan Allen. Rotating both Dell and Diggs in the slot could also be an option.

Be sure to check out the video above for the full discussion, and to learn how the Diggs trade altered Stroud and Allen's MVP chances!

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The Astros beat the White Sox, 10-2. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

Christian Walker homered among his three hits and had a season-high four RBIs to lead the Houston Astros over the Chicago White Sox 10-2 on Wednesday night.

Jose Altuve added two hits to give him 2,300 in his career, joining Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (2,342) as the only active players with at least 2,300.

Altuve got things going with an RBI double in the first. There were two outs in the inning when Walker homered to left field off Sean Burke (3-7) to make it 3-0.

Houston starter Ryan Gusto (4-3) allowed seven hits and two runs with a season-best seven strikeouts in a season-high six innings.

Josh Rojas had two hits for the White Sox, who fell to 7-27 on the road.

Altuve singled with two outs in the third before Yainer Diaz walked. Walker then smacked a line drive to center field for a double to score them both and push the lead to 5-0.

There was one out in the fourth when Cam Smith hit a ground-rule double. With two outs, Jeremy Peña doubled on a ball that bounced off the wall in left field to make it 6-0. Isaac Paredes followed with another RBI double to chase Burke, who yielded eight hits and seven runs — both career highs — in 3 2/3 innings.

Rojas singled in the fifth and moved to third on a ground-rule double by Vinny Capra. Rojas scored on a groundout by Mike Tauchman to cut it to 7-1. Miguel Vargas hit an RBI single to make it 7-2.

Paredes had three hits and two RBIs to help the Astros snap a two-game skid.

Key moment

Walker’s home run that put Houston up 3-0 early.

He talked about his big night following the game.

Key stat

Walker had just two RBIs in his previous six games.

Up next

Houston LHP Framber Valdez (6-4, 3.07 ERA) opposes RHP Davis Martin (2-6, 3.62) when the series concludes Thursday night.

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