# Kyle Brandt: Brandt picked the Texans as the overlooked AFC team that will close the gap on Kansas City in 2025, and named Joshua Palmer of the Bills as his breakout player.

**Claimed:** Mar 13, 2025
**Pundit:** Kyle Brandt — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/pundits/kyle-brandt
**Outlet:** Move the Sticks (podcast) — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/outlets/move-the-sticks-podcast
**How it reached us:** said on air or in an interview
**Original:** https://omny.fm/shows/nfl-good-morning-football/gmfb-thursday-hour-2-which-afc-team-can-knock-off

One checkable claim, graded on its own against what actually happened.

Nothing to score yet: this grades once the result is in.

> The Texans will not be the darling team this year... This will be the team that is not being looked at.

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **Houston Texans to beat expectations**
  - Kind: Surprise Team Calls · About: Houston Texans
  - Verdict: not settled yet

## Who this take is about

- Houston Texans — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/nfl/teams/texans

## What others said about the same people

- Jared Koch on Nico Collins: Koch projects the Texans' wide receiver depth chart after Jayden Higgins' season-ending injury, naming Nico Collins, Xavier Hutchinson and Jaylin Noel as starters, listing backups and roster locks, and predicting Collins tops his 2025 receiving marks. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/74bc29c1-a3ec-4b20-bd4a-2766759c439b (scored 100)
- Jared Koch on Brevin Jordan: Koch expects Brevin Jordan to be the odd man out among Houston's five tight ends and be inactive for the Week 1 game against the Bills, largely due to a leg injury. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/e72db74e-4086-48d6-bb8f-1db483450348 (scored 100)
- Jared Koch on Lewis Bond: Koch argues Kayshon Boutte is a winner in the trade to Houston, likely to see many more snaps and potentially post a career season, while Xavier Hutchinson's path to a breakout gets harder. He also sees Kamari Ramsey stepping up as the primary backup safety behind a top three of Bullock, Pitre and Blankenship, and views Jared Wayne as a fringe roster player squeezed by receivers he calls virtual locks. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/14048ef2-7210-46fd-825a-b9849c144a9f (scored 100)
- Jared Koch on Jared Wayne: Koch highlights five Texans preseason standouts, suggesting Jared Wayne could claim the final receiver roster spot, Aiden Fisher could sneak onto the 53-man roster, Jaylen Reed has locked in a Week 1 roster spot, Marlin Klein will climb the tight end depth chart, and Wade Woodaz has a solid chance at the LB3 role. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/80908eb0-4378-4d88-8dfa-936ca4556c28 (scored 100)
- Jared Koch on Jared Wayne: Koch argues that with Jayden Higgins lost for the season, third-year receiver Jared Wayne's rising stock makes him likely to make the Texans' 53-man roster rather than the practice squad. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/b71ff635-378d-4adf-ae7e-4443d1019207 (scored 100)
- Lance Zierlein on Lewis Bond: Zierlein expects Texans QB C.J. Stroud to play roughly 10-12 plays in Thursday's preseason game, with Davis Mills going to halftime and newly signed Brett Rypien playing the entire second half. He also said if Tank Dell isn't ready, Lewis Bond and Jaden Hall would both likely make the roster, and predicted Keelan Rutledge will be the starting center with Wyatt Teller and Braden Smith starting. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/20e6ff7b-1de6-4de6-9567-3997edaea6b8 (scored 100)

## More surprise team calls

The same kind of call, about other players and teams.

- Carter Bahns on Cincinnati Bengals: Bahns named the Bengals a dark-horse Super Bowl contender on the strength of their retooled defense. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/498b82e1-23f4-4817-a025-fb862176a7d5 (not settled)
- John Breech on New Orleans Saints: Breech expects Caleb Williams to return quickly from his hamstring injury, at the latest by Week 4 against the Jets or Week 5 against the Packers, and he picked the Rams to beat the Giants on Monday night. He also floated the Saints as a potential surprise team this season. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/66fd2840-c785-4c7f-9284-eb570c4dd0c4 (not settled)
- Ralph Vacchiano on New Orleans Saints: Vacchiano says the Saints, whom he had already called the NFC's biggest surprise of the season, are good enough to win the weak NFC South, though not yet a championship contender. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/5f9c80c5-56ee-4c30-9938-09b673e1cb7f (not settled)
- Gilberto Manzano on Las Vegas Raiders: Manzano calls the 2-0 Raiders under first-time head coach Klint Kubiak one of the season's biggest surprise teams and a club now thinking playoffs, sees the 2-0 49ers headed for another winning season, and views New Orleans as the class of the NFC South with Tyler Shough playing well. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/fa21a317-d0b7-4f3e-81de-9d115e1a8be7 (not settled)
- John Breech on New Orleans Saints: Grading Week 2, Breech says the Saints — fresh off upsetting the Ravens in Baltimore — look like a club that could beat expectations this season. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/1a27a5ac-d1f0-4578-b0d0-9ef7e24f7639 (not settled)
- Nick Wright on Atlanta Falcons: Wright stuck by his preseason call of a 12-5 Bills team that wins its division, picked the Jaguars to beat Denver outright, leaned Texans over Cincinnati, still has Atlanta as his deep sleeper, counts New England among his 14 playoff teams, and recalled pegging Washington for a 5-12 or 6-11 year with a bottom-six defense. — https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/opinions/d9357a30-3f1d-4be4-8ce6-529f21f9aeac (not settled)

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Accuracy is 0-100 against what actually happened. The naive guess is what a strategy requiring no knowledge would have scored on the same call — the difference is the skill, and it is what the MissedTakes Score averages.

Full method: https://missedtakes.thegoodapps.co/methodology

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