Fantasy Football Daily - Fantasy Points Podcast EP 2: Indianapolis Colts RB Zack Moss

Episode Date: June 26, 2023

Indianapolis Colts RB Zack Moss joins Joe Dolan (@FG_Dolan) and Trey Kamberling (@TreyKamberling) to discuss his outlook for 2023, the state of the running back position while in a contract year, and what it's like to be traded in the middle of the NFL season. Want to join a high-stakes dynasty league -- or any other high-stakes league? All new FFPC users get $25 off their first FFPC league of $35 or more, including dynasty orphans, using our affiliate link: https://myffpc.com/cms/public?affid=fantasypoints FANTASY POINTS PROJECTIONS ARE LIVE FOR ALL STANDARD AND PREMIUM SUBSCRIBERS! Interested in playing Best Ball in 2023? There's no better place than Underdog Fantasy. Use our code FANTASYPTS to sign up for a new account at Underdog, and not only will you get a 100% deposit match up to $100... but you'll get a Fantasy Points Standard subscription for only $5! https://www.fantasypoints.com/underdog --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/fantasy-points-podcast/support Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Nothing else is Rees. is Zach Moss with the Enappist Coast. You listen to the Fantasy Points podcast. My name is Joe Dolan and with our director of social media, Trey Camberling here. Hope everybody enjoyed the interview we did with Detroit Lions, rookie linebacker Jack Campbell. We have somebody who plays offense today, Trey,

which, you know, we don't talk defense a ton, unless you listen to our guys, Vardons, and Simons, do the IDP corner podcast. But it was great to talk to Jack, get some insight from him. And now today, we're going to talk to Zach Moss, The running back for the Indianapolis Colts, obviously, was drafted in the third round a couple of years back by the Buffalo Bills and got traded midseason last year in the Naim Hines deal and has kind of started to reestablish himself in Indianapolis. Ended up maybe, I don't want to say rescue his career, but just kind of give him a fresh start where there's going to be some more opportunity for him. It was interesting to hear his insight on some of the things surrounding the running back position, the fact that Anthony Richardson is going to be there in Indiana.

I hope everybody enjoys talking to it. Trey, good to be with you again, my friend, out there in Utah, which is where Zach is. Yeah, he's, he's kind of the king of Utah. If you, if you talk to any of the media personalities around town, they'll say he's the easiest and best interview, great guy. Just had a baby. So he's going through all that kind of stuff. You'll get to hear a little bit about his journey in the pod. You know, he gets traded. And, and yeah, a lot of other interesting things about the young guys he's playing with his time with Josh Allen. It's a great interview. such a great guy and with all that going on you know we were super appreciative that he that he gave us the time so uh we spent 15 minutes with zach moss and i hope you enjoy it and here he is welcome back to the fantasy points podcast loving having players on sharing their opinions with us and just sharing a little bit about themselves today we're thrilled to welcome in zach moss running back of the indianapolis colts to the show uh with tray camberling i am joe dillon of course zach it's wonderful to have you on Thank you for joining us. How are you doing today? Absolutely, man. I appreciate you having me. I'm doing well. How are you?

Doing great and like really just interested to get like your opinions on, you know, having your first off season with the Indianapolis Colts. And, you know, I think there's some opportunity here for you. Behind Jonathan Taylor seems to be a little bit of a committee forming. Everybody's kind of got their own special skill set. What are you expecting to provide in your role in 2023 in this backfield? Just consistency. something my approach is to every season is to be as consistent as I can be, be the most consistent back on the team. So, you know, whatever that role is looking like, whatever the coaches are asking for from myself, is just to be consistent and just, you know, to do that every single time. So that way, you know, one of the biggest things coaches love and players is to be able to

trust them in any moment of the games, you know, late time in the game, early in the game. Closed and halftimes, you know, football on this level is more situational things. So they love to have people they can trust. So just being consistent and I think when you be, when you are consistent, that equals a lot of trust factors from the coaches. You look at the other guys in that backfield, J.T. Evan Hall is a rookie, Dion Jackson. What are those guys bring to the table? Do they each bring something kind of unique? Yeah, we're all totally different.

You know, obviously JT is who he is. I'm myself and, you know, Dion and Evan are two really good players as well. We all bring something totally different, which I think is a big thing that you do need in the running back room. It's guys who can do different things and can also do a lot of things similarity-wise very efficiently as well. So we all bring something totally different. Evan is a real good past. So is Dion. You know, I like to think of myself as an all-around guy, and JT definitely is that.

And, I mean, all those guys are really all-around guys. But, you know, we all do something totally different in some areas guys are better at. But, you know, excited for this room, we got a real good room. Guys that love to work hard. So you look at the Dalvin Cook situation, you know, the guy who's produced the way he has just kind of getting released. Joe Mixon's in the news about the Bengals potentially moving on. You're in a contract here, and I mean, this is your livelihood. What do you think about the way the running back position is discussed?

How do you think about the way running backs are essentially being treated today? Is that what would you say to that situation that is probably very frustrating for you? You know, a lot of it is business. And when you understand how the business works and where the running back position was at back in the day, where is that now and how the game has developed and how we're being used in offices and things of that nature. I think definitely to some degree

we've been taken for granted for what we bring in the amount of hits, just the whole ensemble being a runner back in the league. But, you know, hopefully we can get back to where, you know, we used to be and, you know, teams definitely depended on running back a lot more than they do now. But a lot of it is just being, you know,

how the game has changed. The game is so much of a pass-heavy game and you got so many talented quarterbacks and a lot of teams are now looking for guys that can also, obviously, quarterbacks can obviously throw, but also run the ball very efficiently. You know, that's literally in every draft.

That's what you have going on now. So you need a guy who's a dual-threat quarterback. Back in the day, you didn't have to me do it thrice. So the back was dependent on heavily. So now the game has changed with that type of scheme from offmases and then just the analytic part of things and just number games. And, you know, it's gotten, it's a lot of things that were going up against as running backs.

But like I said, when you kind of understand it, you just have to find ways to maneuver around it and just continue to work and make sure you are being as valuable. as you possibly can in your position. Zach, you're known as a guy who's angry runner, short yardage, tough yards kind of guy, but you're also extremely reliable in pass protection. Do you think that's a larger focus this year

protecting the quarterback when you're rolling into the season with a rookie and Anthony Richardson? I think it's a big factor every season. Honestly, I think no matter what year the quarterback is in, pass protection is probably the most important things that us backs do. I think that is one part of the game where, like I said, where can you be more valuable at? A lot of backs can't pass protect with the consistency that it takes to be on the field every down, right? So that's a big part of it and understanding blisses and then picking them up over and over and over.

but obviously would have worked a quarterback in my position right now with Anthony you know my thing is to try to help him feel as comfortable as possible you know obviously that's going to take a few games and things that nature but

just to feel as comfortable as possible to have trust in myself all of us of mine and that we're going to make sure that he stays up off the ground, stays clean, so that way he can be able to be. make plays for us and get the ball down the ship.

How's Anthony looked this summer? He's looked real good. Real, real good to be that young and to have the work ethic that he has and to be as humble as he is, man, I think the sky is limit for him, just because, you know, the personality traits that he has. You know, everyone really does love being around him. He worked super hard, and I said, you know, the talent is there. He doesn't have a lack of talent from throwing the ball.

So I'm excited to see what he does in training camp, you know, once the pads are on and, you know, things are really flying around and stuff like that. So he's looked real good this summer, just picking up the offenses and things like that. But super excited to see what he does and not actually in training camp. The go-to comp for Anthony is kind of Josh Allen right now, a mobile quarterback, big arm. You obviously spent some time with Josh Allen. Do you see any similarities between those two guys?

Outside of the big arm, it's hard to tell right now just because obviously I have way more game experience playing with Josh versus Anthony right now. But, you know, from the athletic standpoint, I think Anthony definitely is a little bit more athletic than Josh. But, you know, like I said, it's hard to compare it just because right now I'm just thinking, of how Josh was in games and, you know, that type of mentality that he brought to the game, which elevated everyone around him. You know, that's obviously hasn't yet been seen in Anthony just because we haven't played games and been in live bullies yet.

But, you know, from talent standpoint, athletic standpoint, he doesn't lack anything from that at all. So, you know, it'll be how he commands the troops and, you know, things of that nature. once that time comes. Obviously, you played in Buffalo into last season and then got traded midseason. What's that process like that maybe fans don't understand? It's a process.

I mean, you start from obviously, you know, three years in Buffalo. So just being there, you kind of get set into being like, okay, this is somewhat in my home right now. and then you just get uprooted. The next, like, it's literally just the next day. So I think the trade happened on Tuesday, on a Tuesday, and then I was in Indy on a Wednesday. So, like, there's no, you know, super bridge in between, oh, okay, you get the, you know,

you get a chance to pack up stuff, you get a few days to kind of get your wrap your head around it and things that I've met you. That's not how it works, right? Tuesday, this happens. Wednesday, you're on a plane, you're in a new city, you meet new people. Now, you know, you're in a hotel for a couple weeks. You learn a new playbook, you know, all the type of things.

It doesn't stop, you know, but, you know, my wife did a great job with just being able to handle all that stuff. You know, just packing up Buffalo and moving. So that way, I was able to focus on what I need to do on. on the field and things of that nature. But yeah, it's a lot. If you definitely go by, do it by yourself. Luckily, I didn't have to, so I didn't get a full effect on it. But it's a lot from the standpoint of just being uprooted from one place to the next.

You don't really get to say too many goodbyes. For me, it was off day, so I didn't really get to see anyone. So next time I see a lot of those guys would be in a preseason game when we played Buffalo this year. So we know about Michael Pittman, but there's a lot of young pass catchers there in Indianapolis. Josh Downs, Alec Pierce, anybody standing out to you in particular? Both of those guys didn't have a chance to do much in OTAs, dealing with some little stuff that he had going on, so they weren't on to feel much. But I've already heard really good things about Josh and his mindset that he brings to the game. And, you know, I've seen his tape, obviously.

So I would love to see what he does in training camp and how that's going to translate and what role he's going to play in helping us, you know, be better than we were last year. Obviously, Alex, guys going into the second year. So that's usually the year where they love to see guys jump in his league. And I think with new OC, new head coach, just being a new offense overall. and really understand the offense more that he did last season with all the other tour more that was going on as well, which is going to be hard for a rookie.

Get some stability in offense and just kind of understanding the game playing and stuff like that. I think he's going to have a really good year. You know, him being the second guy outside of pitman, and then you have downs and then we have the woods. And, you know, we have a lot of guys, big mode, just a lot of dudes that can really do a lot of different things. And I think being in this offense and obviously having Shane come over from the Eagles and

seeing the way they use so many different guys, just all over the field is you can't be any more happier to get a coach like that, the comment for you. What's been your first impression of Shane Steichen? He's a worker. Nothing short of work. You know, he's, it's hard to explain. You know, he just bought his work every single day. You know, it's not too many gimmicks and playing around. You know, it's more in the building. When it's time to work, we're working in between those lives. It's time to work full attention, making sure we get everything that we can out of the day.

But, you know, I mean, super good dude, though. You know, you can talk to him real personal. And, you know, I think guys get a real good sense of that from him, which always helps. But, you know, you can see why he's had success in his league. Since he's been in the roads he's been in, it's just the way that he attacks his day. And, you know, it's the standard that he sets. I think obviously being in Buffalo, there winning so many games and being in certain games and things like that and just being in that culture, we had a standard that we set that we need to be at every single day.

and I think Shane has something very similar to that that he's engraving into the Colts. So it's going to be fun to see how it works out for the first year. But, you know, he's definitely doing a lot of really good things. He's Zach Moss of the Indianapolis Colts. Having a full offseason with the team certainly helps you out. Thank you so much for taking some time out of your day to join us here. Zach, it's been a pleasure having you.

Absolutely, man. No problem at all. Yeah, Trey, it was really good to hear from Zach Moss. Again, this is a guy who you go back and you look at some old tweets and you're like, oh, man, I call them that points disappointing for fantasy. And I think they understand that that's kind of part of the deal like when you're a professional athlete, but that it always is nice to know. Oh, yeah, he's married and has a kid and he's had to move across the country. And this is a podcast that I think is really just going to help humanize guys who you kind of view as entertainment. And that was certainly one of those experiences for me.

Yeah, fantasy gets into that realm of, you know, just siloed focus on one thing, you know, yards, touchdowns, receptions. Like, there's a lot that goes into this football stuff, and there's a lot that goes into it off the field. And, you know, he's been through a lot this last year and gets an offseason in Indianapolis with these young guys and a new head coach. And, yeah, super excited for him, great guy. And I thought the interview was solid. We're going to have some more player interviews coming down the line. we're not ready to announce anything yet, Trey, but we're just hoping to keep bringing these little profiles

and these little snapshots for you. So I hope you enjoyed it. I hope you've been enjoying the franchise focus podcast series that quite frankly is exhausting me. But hey, I started it. I better finish it. There's no, I don't think I have a choice there. And I hope you've been keeping up with the Hanson's Hintz podcast

and the Taked Talk, Troy. We are loaded on the Fantasy Points podcast network now. We have a, which we change the logo a little bit. We had to call it the network now. Shout out to Joe Dolan. He's been putting in the work in the offseason like not many are doing, you know, in June. So big shout out to Joe. The content's been great. He's bringing a lot of stuff. Deserves the flowers right now. And Trey's the guy who makes me look and sound good by clipping out all the stuff that was crappy and just putting the good stuff on social media, which is, which I certainly need. So for Tray Gamberling, I'm Joe Dolan. This has been the Fantasy Points podcast. Thanks to Zach Moss for joining us. And we'll be. be back with you soon.