Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - 2026 TOP 12: Most IMPORTANT Indianapolis Colts Players, Nos. 1-6

Starting point is 00:00:00 Welcome back to part two of the top 12 most important Colts players for the 2026 season. Yesterday we talked about numbers 12 through 7 and today we're revealing the top six players. Let's get to it. You are Locked on Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Welcome to Locked on Colts. I'm Zach Hicks. Arthur. And on today's episode, we are continuing our topic from yesterday where we talked about the top

Starting point is 00:00:41 12 Indianapolis Colts players that are indicative to success for the team in 2026. So this isn't just a ranking of the 12 best players on the team. This is the 12 most important players for the team this upcoming season. Just to rewind what we talked about yesterday, though, we talked about numbers 12 through 7. And in order from from lowest to highest or however you want to rate that, at number 12, Quentin Nelson, number 11, Mooney Ward, number 10, C.J. Allen, number nine, Jalen, Tewimoow, number eight, DeForest Buckner, and number seven, Tyler Warren. So we're going to kick off today's topics, talking number six and five, then going four and three, and then finishing it off with numbers two and one. But Jake, let's go to number six here to kick off today's show,

Starting point is 00:01:25 and that is left tackle, Berenhart, Ryman. I think a player who was number three last year when I did this like on a in like a solo capacity. So with us coming together a little bit more of communication on this one between us, we have Ryman falling down the order a little bit. And, you know, I'll shoot it to you here in a second. But part of the reason why he fell just a little bit for me is I did see the Colts play against Seattle Seahawks this past year with Philip Rivers at quarterback with Luke Tanuda at left tackle and Jalen Travis at right tackle.

Starting point is 00:01:59 And they were, I mean, they were 40 seconds away. from winning that game and putting up a reasonable point total, which made me think that the Colts can somehow work around a left tackle a little bit better. But at the end of the day, your left tackle is one of the most important players. Berenhard Riemann is one of the highest paid players on the team, one of the best overall players on the team and your left tackle is always going to be important for success. So even though he fell slightly for me this year, purely because of me seeing Shane Scyken scheme around it a little bit last year in some capacity, I still think left tackle is so vital to success and Berenhardt Riemann, a very good football player for the Colts.

Starting point is 00:02:35 Yeah, without a doubt. And while you probably could scheme around it and kind of weasel your way around for a little bit, I do think the longevity over the season, he finds his value truly. You know, that's why they gave him 20 million a year. But he has become, you know, really, you know, he's not an elite left tackle necessarily, but I think he's knocking just outside that top 10 of NFL offensive tackles. you know, so the Colts have themselves an above average blindside protector, which is always good. The guy is good against the run.

Starting point is 00:03:09 He's very much adequate and past protection as well. I think he has ugly moments and bright lights, which I think skews some people's perception of him sometimes. I think he's kind of polarizing, Ryman is. But overall, you look at his whole body of work. He's a very, very solid left tackle, which, as we know, if you've got that in the NFL, that's something you cannot let go. That's why we said leading up to his contract extension about this time last year, yeah, you cannot let that guy.

Starting point is 00:03:39 You can't mess that up at all. You have to lock him up long term. And so they did. And I would also say, you know, the depth behind him makes him more critical as well. Because, again, you have Luke Tanuda, which he played, I think, 25 snaps or something in relief for Ryman in Seattle. But I wouldn't be comfortable with much more. You know, you got Blake Freeland, you got Luke Tanuda, Byron Matos, Nolan Rucci.

Starting point is 00:04:05 Like, if Ryman goes down, I'm pretty worried about that. You know what I mean? Because then you probably have to shuffle the entire line to figure something out like they did against San Francisco. Because that next week after Seattle, when Ryman missed the entire game, they shuffled a lot of things. They didn't just put Tanuda back there. So I think just for continuity's sake and the fact that for the most part, he's kind of a set it and forget it, of tackle. He's someone that can help you sleep easy at night. Yeah, I will kind of push back a little bit on some of the people who may be down on Ryman or think that he's not as good as his contract or

Starting point is 00:04:41 anything like that. He's a fantastic player. I remember when there were some calls last year for fans being like, oh, we're overpaying him. He's not performing because of those heightened pressure numbers against the Colts against the Steelers and the Falcons games. Ryman was not the issue in those games remotely. Those were mostly Blitz issues more on the running back. trying to pick up pass protection more on the scheme and the quarterback trying to get the ball out. Ryman was doing his job at a high level. So offensive line play, I think, is forever going to be misunderstood by the masses. When you look at Ryman and you really hone in on him, like, yeah, there's a couple of bad reps here and there,

Starting point is 00:05:17 but for the most part, a very, very good left tackle. It's extremely hard to find someone of this caliber. And I think we have like the second coming here of Anthony Costanzo where it's like, this is a set it and forget it type guy who maybe never be a, may be a, may never be a Pro Bowl player, right? I don't think Costanzo ever made the Pro Bowl in his time of Colts or in his NFL career. But did any one of us complain about him at all throughout his career? Very good football player.

Starting point is 00:05:41 And I think that's where Ryman is at right now. So hopefully he can break into that Pro Bowl conversation eventually. I think he's certainly a Pro Bowl caliber left tackle. But, you know, it's just the, you have to win a bunch of games if you want to get your left tackle in the Pro Bowl game. Our next guy on the list here, though, is another highly paid Colt. And actually I had him really high on my list. And I think it was a big disparity that we had here. But Alec Pierce, the Colts, number one wide receiver.

Starting point is 00:06:08 And I think I had him at number three or four on my list. So he comes in number five. So not the biggest disparity. But I just think that he needs to really be that guy for the Colts this year. We have seen some really, really good things from him in the last two seasons. But it is time for the targets to go from whatever it was. like 80 something last year to get into like the 130s right like it's to have the biggest target share on the team he needs to be fed like a wide receiver one he needs to absorb a big

Starting point is 00:06:37 workload and he needs to produce on that workload anything shy of i mean what last year he had over a thousand yards on only 80 targets so anything not even 50 catches yeah anything shy of like 1,200 yards i think is a disappointment on this season form so he needs to perform not only like oh good Alec Pierce is a good player for the Colts, he now needs to be a star player for the team. He has paid to be a star this year. I think he's perfectly capable of taking that step. And that's why I have him as high as I did, where it's like I expect him to produce. And I think that he's going to be a vital part of the Colts offense.

Starting point is 00:07:12 But I mean, look, when you're paying a guy to be your wide receiver one, when you're paying him to be a top 15 receiver in football, you need to have that production this year as well. So I think he's extremely vital for the Colts operations on offense. And I think that this offense is going to, I don't want to say live and die through Alec Pierce because I think they have other weapons. But I think that if you want to have that high level offense that they had early last season, Alex Pierce needs to be a massive, massive part of that, which is why I had him very high on my personal ranking for this list. Yeah, he was already a difference maker for them finishing fourth on the team and targets, you know, last year and third on the team in targets. For this guy to be as productive as he is, again, he's never finished.

Starting point is 00:07:54 better than third on the team and targets in a season, which is crazy to me. And now he's going to be relied upon to finish first or second, along with Tyler Warren, likely. But he kind of talked a big game going into a free agency, you know, on K. Adams show. He's like, you know, I've produced all this with such limited targets. The expectation, if you broaden my, you know, broaden my role is that I should put up huge numbers. And so you look at that, I'm not going to call him like a Justin Jefferson or Jamar Chase type of player. but the impact that we see him have in such a small sample size, you broaden that and you should be looking at like a 1,500 yard guy for sure.

Starting point is 00:08:34 Like a guy who's getting around 10 touchdowns around 1,500 yards, he averages 20 yards per catch. Now the higher volume of targets with stuff inside the sticks is going to bring that average down, obviously, because what was it? At one point, I think we looked at it. He had like only 14 of his targets were inside the sticks or inside the sticks. 10 yards like very, very small number that obviously will increase. But if you just look at it, the guy has been really good in the red zone.

Starting point is 00:09:02 I think he makes very tough catches in traffic as well. He's very sure-handed. I'm very eager to see him in this broad and bowl. Like you give him the type of volume that Michael Pittman Jr. has had and you've got a guy who we know is faster, more explosive. His hands are just as good, if not better. And he's better in 50-50. cheat situations.

Starting point is 00:09:27 So this guy with well over 100 targets could be an enormous difference maker and a guy who looks like he's worth every penny. And you look around the league at receivers that have that type of value and their offenses are usually pretty damn good. Yeah, no, he needs to be that focal point this year. The Colts are paying him to be that much and they need that kind of production out of their wide receiver won this season, which is why he comes in at number five on our most important from Colts heading in 2026.

Starting point is 00:09:56 Coming up, we're going to dive into the top four and give our reasoning for those top four players. Support for today's episode comes from Square, the business platform that helps sellers become neighborhood favorites. Whether you're gearing up for a busy season or you're just trying to keep up with everyday demand, Square keeps your business running smoothly, from payments to online orders,

Starting point is 00:10:18 inventory, staff, and more, all in one place so that you can focus on your customers and not your to-do list. Square helps businesses simplify the day to day while still giving them room to grow. You know, I talk about, I feel like I talk about the farmer's market a lot on here and different ad reads, but it's perfect when we're talking about Square because we went to it last night and we stopped in at like three or four different places. And I think every single one of them used Square and it was so easy.

Starting point is 00:10:47 You know, immediate checkout. Some of them remember you from before. You have your phone number in there. Really easy to do tips and everything. It calculates what you might want to do automatically. So I think it's super, super user friendly. It's got the digital receipt, the loyalty punch, the fact that the person behind the counter is actually looking at you

Starting point is 00:11:05 instead of wrestling with a system, it actually all adds up. When you're not juggling five different tools just to take a payment and track inventory, you can actually focus on your customers, and that's what makes a neighborhood favorite. Square helps you run your business more smoothly, bringing payments, operations, and insights together in one place so that you're ready for whatever's next. right now our listeners can get up to $200 off of Square hardware when you sign up at

Starting point is 00:11:32 square.com slash go slash locked on NFL that's SQUA-R-E dot com slash go slash locked on NFL get started with Square and build a setup that works the way that you do all right welcome back everybody we are in the midst of our top six of our series on the top 12 most important Colts players yesterday we did seven. through 12. Today we are getting through six through five. If you're just joining us, we came in with left tackle, Baron Hart Ryman at number six and wide receiver, Alec Pierce, at number five. Before we move on to numbers four and three, don't forget to check out the Every Dare Club for ad-free audio episodes and access to a group chat with

Starting point is 00:12:16 other listeners of the show as well as Zach and myself. Just tap the link in our show notes or go to lockdowncultz.com to join in on the fun. All right, Zach, so this next guy, he's coming in at number four, but hopefully, you know, he goes up even higher because of what the Colts gave up to get him. And that is Sauce Gardner, who the Colts traded two first round picks and A.D. Mitchell to go get from the New York Jets last year. So Sauce Gardner number four. Yeah, you need that return on investment this year. I thought we saw some good things from him when he first came over in that trade. And like you've mentioned a lot, Jake, is that like it was a big turnaround for him, right? Like all those, all the travel immediately after the trade, getting acclimated

Starting point is 00:12:57 to the new team. Like he did have the buy week, but then soon after the buy week was the injury, which limited him the rest of the season. And the Colts just weren't really able to get a full look at their new number one corner. So now it's time to get that absolute return on investment. You know, it costs a lot because the contract was very favorable. And because this was a player who was multiple time all pro, and he needs to show it this year for the Colts.

Starting point is 00:13:20 I mean, he's still very young. There's still a lot of growth in his game that can certainly happen. I think he's what, 24. Well, there's a debate on it. He's either 24 or 25 or maybe 23. Who knows, right? James Boyd has been trying to uncover it this whole offseason. But regardless of what his official age is, Sauce Gardner has been a good player in this league. I thought he showed some good things with the Colts. I think he's a good fit for what Lou Anorimo wants. And he should be a productive player for the Colts this year. But in terms of wins or losses this year, you know, I don't think too many outside corners really make or break team success. But when you are investing so much, much in this player. When you're investing so much in him because you viewed him as like this missing piece for what you were looking for, he needs to be that level of impact player. So I know interceptions have never really been his big forte in the NFL. And quite frankly,

Starting point is 00:14:09 I don't think he needs to come away with like eight interceptions for this to be worthwhile for the colds. Just lock down your side of the field, be a productive player over there, make offenses have to look the other way and force it into traffic over the middle where you have guys like Bynum and Halsey and hopefully C.J. Allen as well. So I think that they can get really good return on Gardner. It's just he needs to be healthy and he's a show what he was able to show in Little Burks last year with the Colts and also what he showed early in his tenure with the Jets because, you know, there was that one down season in 2024. I believe it was. He seemed to bounce back last year. But again,

Starting point is 00:14:45 injuries kind of muddied the picture a little bit. So if they can get him at full form or they can get him at the form he showed for most of last year, I think it's well worth it for the Colts. but yeah, sauce gardener, very important player. You got to get that return on investment this year, and he needs to be that superstar that you traded for. Yeah, as you mentioned, I was kind of willing to discount what happened last year. Like, he already, so his first game with the Colts, you know, in just a couple days, has to travel to Germany,

Starting point is 00:15:13 and he already played in England with the Jets earlier that year. And his first two games with the Colts were both overtime games in which he played the whole thing. So his leg just gave out after that. So I'm willing to move past that, but now he's healthy. You do need to see exactly the guy that you were hoping to get. And yeah, the interceptions have never been a big thing. Do you still expect to see a few? Yes.

Starting point is 00:15:36 But the point is the amount of man coverage that Lou Aniruma wants to play, and when he wants to play it, you really need sauce to do his part because we know this is going to have to be a pass rush by committee kind of deal, unless Laiatu Latsu just freaks out and has a huge year, you need to give those pass rushers that extra little half second to get to the quarterback. That's going to be big. Whatever blitzes you want to do,

Starting point is 00:16:02 like however weird you want to get it with Lou with the front seven, he just kind of him shutting down that side of the field facilitates a whole lot. And then so as long as the Colts don't have some big, huge hole relative to sauce gardener's presence. And as long as the team is winning, I think everyone will think the trade is worth it. Because that's kind of where you're at now.

Starting point is 00:16:29 When the Colts made this trade, they were in a different place and everyone had different plans than where we're at now. So again, as long as the team is winning, he's playing well and is healthy, and you can see a clear impact from just his presence. I think people will be willing to look past the fact that he costs two first round picks.

Starting point is 00:16:48 Yeah, just win, right? That's the most important thing for the Colts this year and obviously going forward. Next up on our list coming into number three is the superstar running back, Jonathan Taylor, who returned to form last year, had a Jonathan Taylor type of season when it seemed like those could have been days of the past, right? Like he had a couple injury-prone season. Injury-plagued seasons is what I should say, not injury-prone. It's always a scary thing to say when it comes to running backs.

Starting point is 00:17:13 But injury-plagued seasons before just playing in every game last year, remaining healthy for the most part for the first time in years. I know he's talked about it extensively, even last year, about how he incorporated new training methods in there and more stretches into his off-season program to be ready for the long haul as a running back. And it showed. I mean, the touchdown production jumped up again. The overall yardage was there. I know he kind of tailed off down the stretch, but when Philip Rivers came in there, they couldn't go under center. And it really ruined a lot of what they wanted to do running the football. When he was most effective running from under center. So Taylor is still a great running back. I think the big question

Starting point is 00:17:52 is just he's not an old player by any means. Like he's not even in his 30s yet. He's not even really that close to 30 at this point. He's what, 27 right now, 28? Yeah, 27 years old, but there is a lot of mileage on those legs and he has had injuries in the past. So I think the only real question we have with Taylor, aside from pass blocking, I do think that's always going to be a question with him as well. But besides that, it's really just the wear and tear and can he have another fully healthy season for the Colts? Because a big part of why he's number three here is because his wins above replacement, like his production above what the potential replacement is on the roster is probably the biggest on the entire roster right now. You go from a guy who missed

Starting point is 00:18:35 all pro team by one vote last year, right, is what Taylor did, to a couple of guys who maybe wouldn't be rostered on most teams, you know, and Giddens and McGowan and Lincoln Perry or whatever. Like, you know, I love these guys for like training camp bodies, but like I think the drop off from, again, like a guy who was nearly an all pro second team player last year. And if you, you know, first half of the year, he was by far in a way the consensus offensive MVP of the season to seventh rounders, fifth rounders who were scratched for most of the season. So that big disparity, I think, is a big. reason why Taylor, who probably would have been top six regardless, but I think he kind of vaulted into our top three because that potential drop off is massive for the Colts. Yeah, I think he is vital to the success of the Colts this year because he needs to, number

Starting point is 00:19:30 one, he needs to be healthy and productive so that there is a threat beyond Daniel Jones. Because if you're relying on Daniel Jones coming back from the Achilles to carry the team without the threat of a run or, you know, like we've seen sometimes like the offensive line really isn't meshing well and it's causing the run game to have problems or we've seen where Jonathan Taylor doesn't seem to trust the blocking yet or we've seen a weird relationship between Taylor and the line before. If there's any sort of discombobulation when it comes to Taylor and being productive, defenses are going to be able to feast on Daniel Jones. You know what I mean? It just feels like he'll be a sitting duck back.

Starting point is 00:20:09 there. So you need a version of Jonathan Taylor that's like at minimum a 1,300 yard guy. Do you need the absolute superstar that he was in the first half last year? I don't think you need that. That was really nice because he was playing unbelievable and helping lead the offense to just really unmatched highs that they haven't really seen before. But you just need production and the threat of being able to run the ball whenever you want to. And then again, as you said, who's behind him is still a big mystery. Like, I think DJ Giddens and Seth McGowan have looked good this spring, but I mean, I have not been very, I've not spoken very highly of DJ Giddens this off season.

Starting point is 00:20:51 And Seth McGowan's was a seventh rounder, you know, like there was a pretty significant drop-off, if anything were to happen to Taylor. So his value really cannot be overstated. I believe McGowan's too, just a weird fact to throw in here, is only two years younger than Jonathan Taylor, which is. is insane. It's already 25, I think, yeah. Absolutely insane to think about. So hopefully Taylor can stay healthy and roll on this season like he did last year. And the Colts offense can luckily hit or hopefully hit those same highs they did early last year. But coming up,

Starting point is 00:21:22 we have two more players to talk about in this top 12 list. And I believe Jake and I had a consensus on these top two being the two most important Colts players. So we're going to talk about them in just a second. All righty, locked on Colts every dayers. We are back to conclude this top 12 most important Colts players for the 2026 season list. We just talked about numbers three and four, which were Jonathan Taylor and I have to look back, Sauce Gardner, Sauce Gardner. We said a lot of Colts names on here. So Jonathan Taylor and Sauce Gardner were number three and four respectively.

Starting point is 00:21:55 Now we're getting into the top two, and I don't think that we had much debate with this one, Jake. A certain position is just locked in the number one no matter what. So who was the highest ranked non-this position? it was defensive end Laotu Latu, right? And I think he actually came in number two for me last year as well when I did this similar ranking, but I think it's even more so this year, right? Because there's this major shuffle up front on the defensive line with new guys

Starting point is 00:22:24 coming in, replacing the old guard like Quiti Pei, Samson Ebukam, Neville Gallimore is out of here as well. Tyquon Lewis is out of here. Like they have made some wholesale changes up front. And with that, you're losing some of the known. production that you had. You're losing some of the chemistry that you had up front. And on top of that, your other star pass rusher, DeForest Buckner, we don't know what the effectiveness is going to be from him this year. So this kind of all leads to the onus being on LATU to perform like that top

Starting point is 00:22:53 15 pick that he was drafted to be to perform like a pro bowl to, I mean, you would love an all pro performance from him this year, but at least a pro bowl level from him this season, right? Like, you want to see the sacks take another jump this year. And I'm not trying to to say that he's been bad in his NFL career. We just talked about him on the squad show the other night and how he's been a pretty productive NFL player and he's shown good growth through two years. But that next step in his development is so vital to the cold success this season

Starting point is 00:23:22 because you can scheme up pressure all you want. You can bring six and just be as creative as you want. But the most effective way to win in the NFL is winning with four rushers, with winning with four guys up front. Why do the Houston Texans, consistently have a top 10 defense every year, a top five defense every year, because they have two guys that can consistently help them win with four, 24-7, like 24-7 every day of the week, right?

Starting point is 00:23:49 I'm not saying the Colts can have that kind of impact, but one step to getting there is having layout too lot to take that next step, that next jump. That's why I have him at number two. And I think that, I mean, aside from the quarterback position, he is the most important player on the Colts for success in 2026. Yeah, I mean, when you look at what wins, in the NFL, like one of the cliches is throwing the ball and rushing the passer.

Starting point is 00:24:15 And, you know, that's obviously why we've got these guys as our last two selections here. With Latu, we said there was a lot writing on him last year. And that was with a bunch of veterans that had already been in the building for a while. And now they're filling his compliment on the other side with a total, I don't want to say mystery, but if it's Tuamolo, that's a huge leap of faith. If it's Arden Key, that is too, because that's a guy who isn't supposed to be starting for you, at least not full time. So it's on Latsu to have this big leap.

Starting point is 00:24:50 And I know the Colts feel he's just been a hair away from being a guy that's like a double-digit sack guy. So the thing with him has always been finishing, being stronger, being able to drive through blockers, you know, better and make it look better. better against tackles rather than, you know, tight ends and running backs and, you know, the extra blockers and he's the tight end. If you block him with a tight end, it's going to be a sack. He's running back after him and it's in its toast. But yeah, you want to, you want to see ethical sacks. You know what I mean. You know exactly what I mean, like contextualize strong, you know, getting to the quarterback. But I think overall he's a playmaker as well, which he's kind of a guy that

Starting point is 00:25:31 gives you bonus value. Like the interceptions is not a fluke. What do he has? Did he have three? Three last year, yeah. That's crazy. Yeah, one of them was on a tip ball from Grover where that one, if you want to say it was a flu. Chiefs, Chiefs, Dolphins and one other one. Raiders. Raiders was the one where Grover knocked it up in the air.

Starting point is 00:25:50 Dolphins, he was in hook zone coverage and jumped the route. And then the Chiefs game was an RPO read where he got in the way of the passing lane on the RPO slant and took that football away. So, I mean, yeah, two high quality interceptions in there. And one, I mean, just being in the right place. He was in zone coverage on that one. So, yeah, he is a playmaker for sure. It's just, I want to see a little bit more consistency, getting to the quarterback against tackles.

Starting point is 00:26:17 But he's taking good steps. Like the book is not written on him completely right now. Like there are good steps. It's just let's finish it now this year. Yeah. I was going to say that's part of it too, because just getting to the quarterback as well, I feel he's also the kind of guy that goes to swap for the ball.

Starting point is 00:26:33 Some guys, they just get to the quarterback. and that's in that's all and that's great. Like you're getting a sack, but Latu looks for the ball. So he's the guy who is going to create turnovers for you as well, as long as he could just get there. The interceptions, like, I don't care if he never has another interception again in its career.

Starting point is 00:26:51 He's an edge. He's not really supposed to have him. Who cares? But like, just get to the quarterback and separate him from the ball, especially like late in games, fourth quarters, because, again, how often have we seen the Colts kind of crumble down the stretch late in games as well? So Latu has to be just hugely valuable to them.

Starting point is 00:27:09 I think he took an important step last year, but it's time to take that next one. He needs to get like a dozen sacks next year. Yeah, he needs to be a Pro Bowl player for the Colts this next season if they want to make the playoffs. I just don't see a way they make the playoffs without him becoming that guy. To wrap it up, though, in a little anti-climactic with the very obvious number one on this list. But Daniel Jones, now this answer would be quarterback regardless of who the quarterback,

Starting point is 00:27:34 is, but I think especially with Jones after what we saw happened when he went down with his injury last year. I mean, I know that people say that he was falling off before the injury. I don't necessarily think that was the case. There were some rougher games in there, but I thought he battled well against Atlanta. And also he had like the second best performance against Houston's defense among any quarterback last year. Like quarterbacks all got killed against Houston and he had the Colts within striking distance in that game on a broken leg. So I thought he was still playing fairly well before the end. The Colts point differential last year was up around like close to 100 for most of the year when he was in there as a starter.

Starting point is 00:28:11 Even when they dropped a couple games, they were losing by like one score. So it was still like 60, you know, before he went out with an injury. And then we saw the entire team collapse down the stretch. They suffered their first multi-score losses down the stretch. They lost out without him. So clearly he's a very important player for wins and losses. I know they played some really tough teams down the stretch. so maybe they could have squeaked out a win against a bad team without them.

Starting point is 00:28:36 But still, at the end of the day, this is a quarterback-driven league. I think quarterback is probably the most important position, not only in football, but in all of sports in terms of wins and losses. And having your starting quarterback healthy and able is the most important thing in this sport. So Daniel Jones comes in at number one. No surprise. I think, you know, unless you just absolutely hate him and think he's the worst quarterback ever, that's the only reason you wouldn't put him at number one.

Starting point is 00:29:01 And then even then, you should just put the backup at number one, because quarterback is that position. So Daniel Jones, we saw the results last year without him. He's going to be the most important piece. Coming off that Achilles injury, if he's healthy, the Colts have a chance. If he's not, we're probably looking at everyone getting fired after the year. Yeah, I think just his relationship with Shane Steichen, like, I think most people would agree. Shane Steichen is a strong play caller.

Starting point is 00:29:27 And so they have good chemistry. And then so when you have a good play caller that has a quarterback that he can trust and will execute what he wants to do. I think that's very, very important. But I also think Jones showed a lot of stones in certain games, too, man. Like he made some big throws late in games. Like I think about Denver, he made some big plays. Atlanta, he had the run.

Starting point is 00:29:49 I think it was in overtime when he had the run where he busted his mouth open. He had a. It was right before. So the Atlanta game to give the context, it was like a third and 18 with like 40 seconds left. And the Colts were out of field goal range. and he scrambled to get into a fourth and two. You know, the Colts called four-verts. Yeah, they called four-verts on that play.

Starting point is 00:30:10 I mean, and he scrambled to get up to a fourth and two, and then he threw that 50-50 to Tyler Warren that got the first down. They kicked the field goal, go to overtime, make some great throws in overtime against Atlanta. Like Atlanta was not a great game for him overall. I thought that he didn't see pressure well in that game, and it was not one of his better games, but the way he finished that game kind of won me over a little.

Starting point is 00:30:32 bit. That was what you want to see from your quarterback because you're not going to have your best stuff all 17 games. You sometimes need to grind out wins. And the way that he was able to grind out that win for the Colts, I was really impressed. And again, as someone who was a noted Daniel Jones hater last offseason, it took a lot to impress me. And I thought that was one of the most impressive things I saw from him. And it kind of is what sold me on him as at least a good quarterback in this system. Yeah, no, there was really not much I saw last year. I didn't think under the right circumstances the Colts can win with him for sure. The only game where I was like, oh, this dude just had a clunker was Pittsburgh.

Starting point is 00:31:12 And that was all the whole team. Yeah, the whole team. But like he turned the ball over what, like six times? Like sometimes just not your day. You know what I mean? But other than that, like I thought he played really good football overall. It wasn't always 60 minutes. But like the Chiefs was a good one.

Starting point is 00:31:30 He had the broken leg. but I think he played very well for most of that game until the third quarter or fourth quarter when Shane kind of took it out of their hands a little bit. But overall, I thought I was really encouraged by what they can be with him, hopefully healthy 17 games, which has evaded him throughout his career. So that's another reason why he's so healthy is because, again, the health, we know what it looks like without him. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:31:55 So Daniel Jones easily, number one, on the most important goals. They're paying him to be the most important player. year he needs to be healthy he needs to be able he needs to be capable all season long so daniel jones are number one player we're going to put the full list in the show notes and also make some graphics for you guys to make sure you are on the lookout for that but thank you all for tuning in today to locked on colts we'll be back yet again next week so make sure you subscribe and follow locked on colts so you get all of your latest episodes and if you don't already make sure you're following at locked on colts at jac arthur nifl and at zach hicks to all on socials

Starting point is 00:32:28 if you never miss an episode the everydayer club is built for you get us ad free Plus members only Discord access and much more. Head to LockdownColts.com to join the club. Thank you all for tuning in. And we'll catch you guys again back here next week.

Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - 2026 TOP 12: Most IMPORTANT Indianapolis Colts Players, Nos. 1-6

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.