Fantasy Football Daily - Indianapolis Colts with Kevin Bowen | 2023 Franchise Focus Podcast

Episode Date: June 30, 2023

Few teams in the NFL underwent as significant an overhaul as the Indianapolis Colts headed into 2023. Plugged-in beat writer and radio host Kevin Bowen (@KBowen1070) from @1075TheFan joins Joe Dolan (@FG_Dolan) to break down the Shane Steichen-led coaching staff, rookie QB Anthony Richardson, and everything else Colts from a fantasy football perspective. 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

Hey, this is Zach Moss with the E-Napis Coast. And you listen to the Fantasy Points Podcast. It's time to the Fantasy Points Podcast, brought to you by FantasyPoint.com. Top-level fantasy football and NFL betting analysis from every perspective and angle, from numbers to the film room, with a single goal to help you score more fantasy points. I'm Joe Dolan, and welcome back to the Franchise Focus podcast series on the Fantasy Points Podcast Network. continue the franchise focus podcast series with our third division, that being the AFC South.

I've already previewed the AFC East and the AFC North. I hope everybody enjoyed those podcasts as much as I did. I hope everybody learned as much as I did. And I hope everyone was entertained as much as I did breaking down those two divisions. We have eight teams down following this round of podcast. We'll have 12. And honestly, we're just going to keep on going until we're 32 down. We're going to break them down alphabetically by division.

the AFC South will begin with the Houston Texans, then the Indianapolis Colts, then the Jacksonville Jaguars, and then finally the Tennessee Titans. So thank you for continuing to support the podcast series. I hope this is something that you'll make part of your pre-draft routine in 2023 or pre-training camp routine. Maybe you're doing best ball drafts right now and you're taking these nuggets to heart as I am. So thanks everybody for continuing to listen and let's continue with our breakdown of the AFC South. We have another returning guest for this 2023 edition of the franchise focus podcast. We're going to be talking Colts with Kevin Bowen. He is the host of Kevin Inquiry from 7 to 10.m. on 1075, the fan. He covers the Colts for 1075 and is entering his 13th season covering the Indianapolis Colts. You can follow him on Twitter at K. Bowen 1070. Kevin, thanks for rejoining me on the franchise focus podcast after an appearance last year. A lot of new stuff to talk about with the Indianapolis Colts, though.

Yeah, no shortage of entertainment for the Colts. here this all season and even last year as well. So appreciate you having me back on and making this an annual thing, Joe. So I wanted to start with with the overarching kind of the kind of the macro with the Indianapolis Colts. And that is the culture change, the coaching change with Shane Steichen coming in. How much different is he from whatever it was that the Colts were doing last year? And what kind of vibe have you gotten from Shane Steichen and his, the way he's going to work with the Colts this year. Yeah, I think the biggest appeal is certainly his quarterback background, and I know that that gets maybe a little bit into a specific position, but when you've had the

revolving door at that position like they've had since, you know, really Andrew Luck's shoulder issues first started to develop around 2015, 2016, it was needed. And you look at the variety of quarterbacks that Shane's work with directly, obviously the play caller for Justin Herbert in that rookie season, and then Jalen Hurts, each of the last couple of years, once Nick Seriani kind of handed those keys over to them. That is what made this very attractive. It was an awful offense last season. And you just needed, I think, a little bit of injection of life. And I'd say Frank Greg was a poor offensive coach, but I think, you know, his message and kind of his style, I just reached a bit of a stale point. And that's not all the blame. I think there's personnel

issues that were on this roster that contributed to 412 and 1 as well. So I think it was much needed reset. You get the young offensive mind in here. You make the splash at quarterback, and you see what that marriage can do here for the next five to 10 years. Obviously, Anthony Richardson was the top five pick in the NFL draft. And, you know, there was a point where he was getting some number one overall hype. What have you seen from Anthony Richardson so far in OTAs in mini camps? Yeah, I'll credit my colleague James Boyd. I thought he had a really good comment about watching him in the spring. Oftentimes, the best throw of the day was Anthony Richardson's, but the best day was probably Gardner Menshoe. And that, I think, makes a lot of sense. The flashes there, the

consistency is not. Now having said that, I don't walk out of the spring and full caveat, it's the spring. It's a handful of open sessions to the media. Guys like Michael Pittman and Alec Pierce and Josh Downs and, you know, Jelani Woods and Jonathan Taylor, all of them were banged up at different parts or for the entire spring. But I don't think I walked away thinking, oh my gosh, Gardner Mentchu is a light years ahead of Anthony Richardson. And now that gets into the debate, Joe, how much you play, Richardson and how early you play in because we haven't seen a prospect drafted four overall with 13 career starts from a college standpoint. I'm a believer that you throw them into the fire.

I get a little vibe from Shane Steichen and Jim Ursae that they are open-minded to that. And, you know, when you exit the spring and you don't see a big separation, in my mind, this is when we should see the big separation. Because it is Richardson's first time on an NFL practice field. It's purely passing. You know, yes, there are run play that you have, but it's not like you're really, you know, obviously you're not taking quarterbacks to the ground, etc., etc., etc. And that's an element of Richard's game that he obviously will incorporate.

And, you know, there's an argument to be made of when he does incorporate that. He's going to be a pretty instant impact guy from an NFL standpoint. So, again, stringing that consistency together will be important for Richardson. But I don't get a vibe that the playbook or the NFL scene is too big for him from an emotional kind of mental standpoint. Obviously, physical questions about his accuracy are fair to be had and ones that I don't think you can truly get an answer on until more practice. and certainly games. So I've made the comment all offseason that when people ask me, how many games do I expect Gardner-Minshue to start?

My initial reaction is, do you know who the owner of the Indianapolis Colts is? I kind of get the vibe that Jim Ursae wants to play with his new toy. But the coaching change does give me a little bit of pause there. And I presume at least at this point, that decision will be entirely Shane Stuygens. Yeah, I mean, certainly when you think about Erse and Stuyken, Joe, right after the draft, they made it very clear that they were open-minded to playing Anthony Richardson early. You know, I think when you view positions in sports, I would argue there's not one that differs more from practice in a game than quarterback. You literally wear a different color jersey when it comes

to practice time. So, you know, Shane Steichen's history with a variety of different quarterbacks, I think is appealing. And, you know, I kind of view it like, it's not like you need to empty the playbook week one. You can be very selective in what Anthony Richardson does well. tried to kind of throw him into those different settings. And I don't think you get a true answer or true gauge on it until you're able to put him out there in uncontrolled settings. Again, I don't view Richardson as this guy that you're going to break mentally if you put him out there.

It's not like they have a young offensive line that you want to see gel together. It's a veteran offensive line in over half the spot. So that to me wouldn't be as much of an issue. So I think you throw them in there. and you certainly try to get an answer on him because this is a guy that, again, brings a resume in the NFL, unlike anything we've really ever seen. So last year in the fantasy football circles, Jonathan Taylor was going basically either the first or second pick of every draft. Guy gets a couple of injuries for the first time in his life, and now it feels like everybody's forgetting about him. He's falling frequently to second rounds of drafts.

I wanted to get kind of a look into, A, number one, how you think Shane Steichen's going to approach the run game. And number two, Jonathan Taylor, how did he react mentally to last season, which was probably the most trying season of his entire life? Injuries are not something Taylor's ever had to deal with. I mean, dating back to his Wisconsin days, dating back to his high school days in New Jersey. So, you know, first ever time having a surgery, you know, missed the entire spring offseason program. We'll obviously kind of see where he's at come the start of training camp. You know, whenever they turn the keys over to Richardson, Joe, you would think the Richardson-Taylor duo would. be one of the more dynamic, you know, rushing duos in the NFL.

And the Colts finally, I think, have a presence at quarterback to where, you know, you got to think twice about, you know, committing all your resources to Taylor and stopping the run game. You know, what will that do to his yards per carry? I think it's got to raise it a little bit. Now, does it limit some of his touches? You know, does it limit some of his red zone opportunities? Those are probably fair questions to be asked. But, again, I think from an efficiency standpoint, you would like to think things would rise.

You know, the question with Taylor, from a fantasy standpoint, I think it has always been kind of his third down role. It didn't seem like that was a huge part of, really hasn't been a huge part at all in his career. And there have been some moments in past protection or catch some ball out of the backfield where, you know, there's a reason why Alvin Camara and Christian McCaffrey make the money that they do. I think something that, you know, maybe not have a ton of fantasy impact, but it's something worth to watch. You know, what do they do with this Johnson Taylor contract extension? in all likelihood he's going to get one from the team, but when does that happen? Does it happen for the start of the season? Does he play out a contract year?

Obviously, he'd be pretty high. I think he's a pretty highly motivated individual to begin with, but he'd be really highly motivated if he is playing in a contract here this season. So as long as that ankle injury is good to go, I see no reason why you wouldn't take Taylor very high, even if you're starting a rookie quarterback and you could have teams load in the box. If there's a second running back who's going to emerge with some sort of role here, Who would you anticipate it being? Colst did not make a huge investment in this position this

offseason spending just a fifth round pick on Evan Hall traded for Zach Moss last year. If one of those backs emerges behind Taylor, who do you think it would be? You know, it's probably Moss from a first and second down standpoint. If I'm not mistaken, I think Moss had a hundred yard game to end last season when Taylor was out. And then you brought up Evan Hall, you know, what exactly does that third down roll look like? Is it something they still want to give Taylor opportunities at? Or does a kid from Northwestern who had, you know, a good amount of catch numbers in college. Does he, you know, play a little bit more in that role? I mean, think about Taylor, and you would know this better than I, Joe.

I mean, outside of Derek Henry, I can't imagine there's too many running backs in the NFL that just have a higher percentage of usage compared to the other running backs on the roster than him. They have not been very, you know, running back by committee, understandably. Now, of course, Shane Steiking comes from a team that did a little bit more of that. But, yeah, I would have to say first and second down duties, You get into third down. I think that's where whole is. Let's move on over to the wide receiver position.

There's a lot of interesting names for the Colts, but I'm not sure how much production there is here. Michael Pittman coming off, I think, a very quietly solid season, but it just feels like the quarterback position, maybe some of the play calling just limited the upside there. What are the Colts like about this receiving group? Is there areas that you think they need to improve? Yeah, I mean, certainly the size of the first two guys. You talk about Pittman. You talk about Alec Pierce.

Pierce in particular, you know, it's not like he had a ton of catches in his rookie season. But when he did, it was often winning 50, 50 balls outside the numbers. And that is something that Anthony Richardson excels in. It is throwing the ball vertically, you know, working on kind of the short intermediate stuff. But again, when they turn to Richardson, that seems to be an area that, you know, he has a strength in. You know, for Pittman, I think he's another guy that isn't in a contract here, is he a legit number one? how do you define legit number one? You know, fantasy-wise, probably not when you consider the amount of touchdowns he's had in his career.

But, you know, if you're his agent and you look at the yardage Michael Pittman's had over the last two years, it's probably top 25 in the NFL. And look at the quarterbacks that have thrown him the football. I mean, the Colts have told you what they've thought about Carson Wentz and Matt Ryan and Sam Ellinger and Nick Foles, etc., etc. So if and when they ever settle on a quarterback and it becomes, you know, a consistent presence, does that mean more for Pittman. Again, he's dealing with a hip injury that battled them last year. So that's something to keep an eye on as the offseason unfolds.

He did not participate in the spring. But right now I put those two atop the depth chart. And then rookie Josh Downs at a North Carolina, third round pick, had a really nice rookie mini camp. You know, he's probably in a little bit more of a kind of death by a thousand paper cut role, you know, just kind of a high catch guy. If, you know, he is going to be that full-time slot. I mean, Isaiah McKenzie, Ashton Duel and some other names,

I don't think are worth noting just yet, particularly when you don't expect a very potent passing offense. But I would say Pittman, Pierce, the one and two, and then right now in that slot role, I would think would be the rookie downs. I just talked to Zach Moss actually this week. And he mentioned that Alec Pierce hadn't done a ton in minicamps, hadn't seen a ton of him. Is there something wrong with him? Is he just coming off with some dings and dents? Yeah, he was dealing with a little bit of a foot issue, more so in May. He did participate here in June.

So of the skill guys, it was kind of a bummer in general. It was a very, very banged up past catching group throughout the offseason program. So for both Ventua and Richardson, you know, a little bit behind the eight ball in terms of, you know, how chemistry-wise they were able to build with those guys. You know, I think one of the reasons a lot of folks were optimistic about this team, I guess maybe when Andrew Luck just made the shocking decision to retire, was the strength of the offensive line. and I think there was a point just a couple years ago. We were talking about the Colts having the best offensive line in football. It's kind of become a hodgepodge unit since then. What is the outlook for the offensive line this year?

We know Quentin Nelson's great. That's not a question. But Raymond, the rookie last year, had some struggles. What's their outlook up front? Yeah, they did not make any notable personnel changes. They drafted Blake Freeland around four. But outside of that, Joe, it's the same five-man group that ended last year together. So I think the message is,

we feel like these guys, their resumes, the back of their baseball cards, if you will, they'll show out, and we'll make a coaching change. And Tony Sparano, Jr. is their new offensive line coach. It's his first time in the NFL leading an offensive line unit. So that is the plan of keeping Bernard Ryan going into year two, who I did think played better as the year moved along. And then obviously, Quentin Nelson, a left guard, Ryan Kelly at center. The right guard is Will Fry's, former seventh round pick.

And the right tackles of Braden Smith, who's been pretty solid throughout his NFL career. So they are bullish that this group that's going to rebound. Again, Chris Bauer, their GM said personnel-wise, feel good about it. We'll make a coaching change. And they've got to support their quarterback better. They haven't gotten great quarterback, you know, play in general. But I don't think what they've promised these quarterbacks, whether it was Wence or Matt Ryan, I don't think they've held up their end of the bargain either. So offensive line-wise, I mean, unless they go out and sign a guard here before the start of camp. They're basically saying we saw some individual strides late last season and we feel like a

coaching change is going to help that group out. And do you feel like this is a legitimate quarterback competition heading into training camp that either guy could win this, Monshu or Richardson? Yeah, I think that's fair to say. Yeah, again, I've been kind of bullish on play at Richardson and the early returns I thought, you know, indicated they were open-minded to that. If you want to nitpick here in the spring, it seemed like it was maybe a slight edge to M-Shoe. He, He certainly was like the initial starter and the practices that we watched. There were days where he took all the starting reps. There were days where they split them.

And, you know, on the days that he took the starting, all the starting reps, Shane's second was quick to point out, well, that's just because you guys are only out here one day a week. You know, there are other days where, you know, things could change. So when training camp gets underway, obviously we're able to watch every practice then. So you get a clearer picture on that. But I don't think they are like gung-ho on one way or the other just yet. I'm looking forward. Everybody go to Twitter at K. Bowen 1070 because you're going to be getting the Gardner Minshue versus Anthony Richardson stats. Always love the quarterback battle stats. Kevin, before I let you go, I've been asking all of my guests here on the franchise focus podcast, maybe one under the radar player on the Colts roster who could make a fantasy impact. You told me who it is, and it's a guy I've been drafting in like the last round of my best ball drafts. It's a guy I'm excited about. Who do you think it is? Yeah, I'm going to go with Chalani Woods, the second year tied in out of Virginia.

You know, the Colts were not on prime time very often last year. The one time they were on Monday night football, Jalani Woods had a big game against Pittsburgh. And then of the many head scratching bangs from the Colts last season, he barely played the next two games. And I just feel like from a second year jump, you know, he admittedly had moments of training camp last year where he looked a bit lost. And kind of like, oh, is this going to be a red shirt year?

I think he feels much, much more comfortable. here in year two. I think sometimes when you play young quarterbacks, you see a comfortability with former or with tight ends. You know, in the woods case, he's former quarterbacks. I don't know, you know, that'll help things out in forming a relationship with Anthony Richardson. But that tight end room has no true number one. I don't think Moe Wally Cox qualifies as that. They drafted Woods in the third round for a reason. They obviously thought highly of him. And again, he had some flashes. He had games where his only catches wore touchdowns. So I just seem like he showed something in that Pittsburgh game that, again, head scratching wise,

the coach staff just didn't want to tap into or didn't try to tap into that much the rest of the year. And obviously, Shane Stiking comes from a background with a lot of tight end usage. So I think that that would be the guy that I'd qualify as a potential breakout. Under Jim Mersey, the Indianapolis Colts are never boring. And that's always good for the ratings for Kevin and Quarry, 7 to 10 a.m. on 10.5, the fan. But this year, the fans are probably listening with more of an optimistic ear than the tear it all down ear they were listening with last year. I'm not sure which one's more fun for you, though, Kevin, but I'm guessing you're feeling a little less vitriol from the fans this year. That's a very good way to put it.

I would not have said that last October or November. But what they have done, Joe, is they've created an ounce of hope. And the franchise has not had hope at the most important position in sports in quite some time. And that's what you've got to do in this league. I mean, look at the AFC last year, seven playoff teams and all seven of those quarterbacks, age 27 or younger. It is a golden era type of time in this conference. It's a young quarterback type of time in this conference. You better get in the fast lane or run off.

And it's a very intriguing process. Obviously, a lot of things have got to go right. You've got to support him. But at least it is an attempt at hope. And the AFC South has got a little bit of hope everywhere now, which, It's not something that you typically say about that division either. Yeah, I talk to Cody Stutes. I don't know if you know Cody from ESPN Radio Houston.

He was fired up to talk Texans. I was like last year it was like a funeral, man. So there is hope everywhere, especially with Jacksonville. But Kevin, it's been great having you on the show. Again, at K Bowen 1070 on Twitter. And it covers the Colts for 1075 there in Indianapolis. Kevin, thanks for joining me on the franchise focus podcast. It was great talking to you.

I always enjoy it, Joe. Have a great rest of summer, man. And I will be talking Jacksonville Jaguars with John Shipley on tomorrow's podcast. Fantastic having him on. Thank you, Kevin, so much. Thank you guys for listening. And we'll see you later on the Franchise Focus podcast. Thanks for tuning in to this edition of the Fantasy Points podcast.

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