Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Colts release Roosevelt Nix + Who could be surprise roster cuts?

Episode Date: September 1, 2020

On today's episode, Evan is joined by Stampede Blue's Stephen Reed to analyze the latest news from the Colts.Starting off the show, fullback Roosevelt Nix was released. It seems like Frank Reich didn't need a fullback in his offense, especially with the plethora of depth at running back. Is Jordan Wilkins now a lock to make the roster?We then go over storylines at multiple positions. How do the trenches on both sides look? Have Tyquan Lewis and Robert Windsor made Sheldon Day expendable? How will Trey Burton's injury impact the tight end group?All of this, plus so much more, as we go in-depth on Indy's latest roster developments. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, everybody. Welcome back into your latest episode of Locked on Colts, part of the Locked on Podcast Network. Today's guest is Evan Cedrian, joined by Stephen Reed of Stampede Blue today. We are back on the five-day-per-week grind here in Locked on Colts. The season's just around the corner, Stephen. What's it like to feel like, even though we talked a couple weeks ago,

it's really closing in now. We're less than two weeks away from the Colts opener in Jacksonville. It's exciting to finally have football to look forward to. It's great. It's been such a tough time during this entire pandemic and not having a lot of live sports, and then now finally getting to a point where it seems like everybody in the NFL is taking care of themselves and taking care of their business.

It's where you don't see a lot of positive tests, and then they're all doing what they're supposed to do, which is what you like to see, and it makes you really excited about about the season coming forward yeah absolutely and 13 days away as we're recording this steven from the colts home opener or from the colts road opener in jacksonville their first game of the year and the jaguars they released leonard fournette today so the jaguars are definitely in the tank for trevor lawrence race already they are probably a team that might win three or less games this year, it looks like, with the way their roster's really going about

and the way they're really building that team. Also, Trey Yonick and Gawkway. Earlier this week to Minnesota, the Colts will see in week two as well. But let's dive into some training camp storylines first off. But we wanted to hit on the biggest one, at least of today's news, and really over the last few weeks, Roosevelt Nix, even though he was kind of under the radar signing a veteran minimum contract that Nix signed with the

Colts late in the offseason, fullback. We all kind of knew in the beginning that he kind of was going to add a new element to the Colts' rushing attack. Kind of what we saw at Wisconsin with Jonathan Taylor when he was in college, a lot of heavy I-formation schemes, but in Frank Reich's system, Stephen, never

really saw much of a fullback usage before, but Roosevelt Nix was cut today by the Colts. It kind of gives us an idea, I think, Stephen, that the Colts are leaning towards keeping either four tight ends, and I think it really locks in possibly Jordan Wilkins staying on as a fourth running back too. Yeah, I think so. And with Roosevelt-Nicks, one thing I want to mention is he wasn't really

brought in to be a running back. So I think Jordan Wilkins' spot was pretty much – yeah, okay, it could have been questionable. But over the most part, I think that those top four guys, Marlon Mack, Jonathan Taylor, Naeem Hines, and Jordan Wilkins, were all going to make that roster. I think the biggest key in them wanting to move on from Roosevelt Knicks was getting Mo'Aali Cox back healthy,

finding out that Trey Burton wasn't going to miss a lot of time. And then you've got the sign that Andrew Volair was the waiver claim or the signing that they had just recently. If anybody watches Hard Knocks, he was on week one where he came out and was at the very end said, hey, I think this is a bunch of junk to, to put it politely that you're cutting me right now. They got picked up, I think by the Panthers and then ended up coming here to the Colts.

And so I think that you're probably going to see them keep four tight ends with the cutting of Roosevelt Knicks. Like you said, though, it wasn't, it wasn't super surprising given Frank Reich's system and given how well the offensive line opens up holes without the need of a fullback. And so Frank Reich's system is all about mismatches, and this gives him another opportunity without having to rely on a fullback to take advantage of mismatches. Now, I know Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers use a fullback you

know liberally and they are able to use that but you know Kyle Ustrack is a different different animal than what Roosevelt Nix is and so it was a surprise because he was a bigger name signing I guess um or one of the signings that they had in free agency I guess any any signing that Chris Ballard has from the outside is kind of a big name signing because he doesn't sign too many outside free agents. But to have him come in and then have him get cut, it wasn't necessarily surprising

if you kind of knew what the Colts were wanting to do. Yeah, and that's a good point to bring up there just because the versatility, Nick's really didn't bring you much offensively. He was more of a special teams guy and that's what we heard all throughout camp there, is that they didn't really run much of the fullback stuff with Nix in camp, and when Nix had opportunities, he didn't really do much with it outside of special teams work, and obviously Nix is older. He's getting a little

banged up over the last couple years, too. He only played two games last year for the Steelers, so could be the end nearing for Roosevelt Nix. Definitely the Colts, and we'll have to see if he lands elsewhere throughout this NFL season with COVID-19 going on. I imagine he might get another look elsewhere. But I wanted to hit as well, Stephen, on other storylines of training camp so far because, of course, Roosevelt-Nicks getting cut, that's one of the freedom signings that did not work out for the Colts, at least right now. I also wanted to hit on just the overall impact from what we've seen from players

on this team throughout camp and from all indications so far, Stephen, it's been a great camp for multiple players here. Who has stood out to you most when reading kind of the bylines and seeing guys who stood out the most to you? I think the number one that she's at the top of the list is Taequann Lewis. And I, you hear about Taequann Lewis and Al-Qaedid Mohammed. Both of them have had great camps thus far. And I think a lot of that goes to the coaching change.

Bringing in Brian Baker, if you listen to Al-Kadim Muhammad, had a press conference the other day and answered some questions. And he just kept heading back to Baker and how much of a change it is. And I think you're going to see just – I'm really excited for the Colts defensive line this year because of the coaching that they have there and the talent that they have there. And Baker seems like he's a guy that's going to be able to get

the most out of everybody. And you're seeing guys really put in the work. So Taekwon is my surprise camp because two, three weeks ago when we talked, I said, hey, look, he might be a surprise cut if he didn't put in the work this offseason and doesn't really hone himself to this. I could see him being a surprise cut. And sure enough, he went and worked hard this offseason

and has taken to the coaching. And you see just – you don't see it because we're not even allowed in but you hear it from everybody talking about how well taekwondoists has played so that would be my my number one big guy on in terms of how well or kind of like a big camp storyline on guys that have outperformed and also i throw in their wide receiver, Desmond Patman, for the six-round wide receiver that people thought might be a fringe roster guy and they might try to stash him on the practice squad. Everything you hear about him is he just makes plays. He just does the dirty work.

He's willing on special teams. He's a guy that is – he's kind of like a bigger more talented version I guess is Zach Paschal in a way and I really like Zach Paschal and not not taking anything away from him but he's just a bigger version of that and so I'd be interested to see you know where, where he lands on this roster, if he's able to make it, because I think that wide receiver five, wide receiver six, depending on how many they keep, that's going to be a big question. Yeah, I'm glad you brought Patman too, because he's really been turning heads so far. Nick Sirianni, Frank Reich, I mentioned that he's

really done well for himself in camp and his big body too. He's sort of the second big wide receiver the Colts have outside Michael Pittman. Patman, I think he's even more chiseled than Pittman is. Pittman's 6'4", 225. Patman, I believe, is around the same weight, but I think Patman carries his weight a little bit better right now, at least at this stage, than Pittman does. And it just goes to show you, I think there's versatility

with using Patman on special teams. You can use Patman on maybe four wideout sets and maybe get him in there for rundowns. There's a lot of things I think Patman could offer you that maybe we didn't expect early on in camp. And that goes to show you, Steve, I wanted to ask you this and kind of tying it into the point about roster cuts. Looking at this wide receiver position, if the Colts do keep five or six, personally

for me, Steve, I don't know about you, but I have them keeping six. I have Hilton, Pittman, Campbell, Paschal as the locks. Then I have Desmond Patman as my fifth receiver, then Ashton Doolin for special teams purposes being sort of the new Chris Milton as the sixth receiver being kept. Do you think there's a chance that Chris Bauer goes back to the trade well once more again? Because they have debt the wide receiver once more just to go around. Maybe they try to ship Darius Fountain or Marcus Johnson for a sixth,

seventh round pick. We saw it in the Harrison last year. Yeah. You know, I wouldn't be surprised by that, to see him do that. One thing I want to mention about Desmond Patman is when he was drafted, one of the things that I said coming out was he's that big body type wide receiver. And I thought that they might try to transition him to kind of play more that Eric Ebron role at the tight end position because he's a big body.

He can move. He can make plays in the red zone. And so that was one of those things there. I thought that he might be a big slot option. And depending on how this roster plays out, I'll be interested to see how many tight ends they keep versus wide receivers. Getting back to your question, my six wide receivers, I also believe they're going to keep six wide receivers.

Obviously, the four locks that you mentioned, Hilton, Campbell, Paschal and Pittman. I also had, had them keeping Patman, but I had Darius Fountain on there as, as my six, just because he's seemingly played very, very well in camp thus far. He had a great camp last year before that, that ankle, ankle situation. And I think the Colts would be with, with Patman able to play special teams as teams as well as Zach Paschal can play special teams, and depending on the other roster positions,

because that's your biggest thing right now at the bottom of the roster is grabbing those guys that can also play special teams for you. And so you look at that and you say, all right, you know, these guys, you've got good guys. I wouldn't be, be against them. Keep an Ashton Doolin. I think that he played great on special teams. Another guy, Marcus Johnson. I could honestly, like you said, I could see Chris Ballard making those trades and trading, you know, six, seventh round pick for Marcus Johnson or Dries Fountain or an Ashton

Doolin. I imagine one or two of those guys, he's going to try to whip around and keep on that practice squad, which I think if you're going to try to risk one, you're probably trying to risk Ashton Doolin out of that group or Dries Fountain. And you're probably you know if you're doing keep cut trade um you're probably you know keeping Ashton Dooler and Drees Fountain cutting Marcus Johnson or trading him um you know it's it's a tough situation at the bottom of the wider receiver position but like you said it's a good position to be in for the Colts and just goes to

show how well Chris Ballard has drafted and how how well he's brought in guys that were undrafted. And they're able to make plays and really show out on this roster. RockAuto.com is the best place to go right now, Colts, to save money on your car. Whether it be a fuel pump assembly, getting a new tire, or you want to just help out and get a more efficient car in whatever way possible, Rock Auto is the place to go. They're a family-owned business starting auto product customers online for 20 plus years. And if you go to rockauto.com right now, they'll help you save on so much from hundreds of manufacturers on multiple parts in your car. They're anything from engine control modules and brake parts to tail-less motor oil and

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when you can get it even cheaper at RockAuto? Go to RockAuto.com right now and see all the parts we offer for your car. And also write Locked On, L-O-C-K-A-D-O-N, and then how's your ballast box? And then locked on Colt sent you over there. Again, that's locked on, and then how's your ballast box? So now that locked on Colt sent you over to Rock Auto. One more time for you, L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N, and Rock Auto's how's your ballast box? Yeah, and like you mentioned, I'm just going to show you the overhaul that Ballard's done outside of T.Y. Hill.

And, of course, he's a stalwart of that position, but adding in everyone else is a Ballard player, Pittman, Campbell, Paschal, Patman, Doolin, Fountain, Johnson. All these guys were brought aboard under the Ballard-Reich era. I'm just going to show you how much they value that wideout position and how they can keep by our six guys and really not be any sort of issue because we've seen before, I mean, maybe you're on the right point there, Stephen, because how badly they were injured in that position last year.

Maybe they stashed two of those guys in the practice squad and see if that makes it work because knowing the position, there's probably at least one or two injuries there throughout the year. You're going to have to be having at least a couple insurance policies on tap there. But speaking of injuries, I want to hit on Trey Burton with you because he was one of the stars we're going to hit on today throughout camp, and it seemed like before his calf injury, and luckily it's not like an Andrew Luck situation, Stephen, that it's going to be like a season ender.

But it seems he's going to be out probably for the season opener, maybe throughout the month of September. How big of a blow is that for the Colts offensive? Burton is out for the first, let's say, two to four weeks of the season. And also, if Burton, we've heard throughout camp so far with Burton, too, that he really was becoming a security blanket for Eftel Rivers. Yeah, I think that the good thing is that it happened now versus happening in season. So I don't think it's going to have as much of an effect

because you're getting Mo'Ali Cox back. You've got Jack Doyle. You've got Andrew Valera. You keep them as you were grumbled if you keep them. And you've got some big wide receivers that can slide down and play this lot as well. I do think it's, it's fortunate that it's only going to be a two to four weaker and it's going to be a short term injury.

And it's not something like what happened with Andrew Luck where it lingered and but I think the biggest benefit you're going to get is once he comes back because teams aren't going to be able to really game plan for him and be able to have that film on so once you get back and now he gets back in week five six seven somewhere around there then it's not as big of a deal if If he comes back a little bit later than that for the Baltimore game, Baltimore is not going to be able to game plan for him as well if that's the situation. But regardless, I think it's kind of,

if you're going to get hurt, it's kind of a blessing that it happens now. So then Frank Reich and Xeriani have two weeks to game plan for Jacksonville upcoming. It gives Trey Burton a chance to get some rest and really heal that without feeling pushed to get back while you're trying to do it in season because there is some stress on guys to get back when you're in season. And he's going to feel stressed.

He's going to feel stressed to get himself healthy right now, but he's got some time. And the Colts training staff is going to do everything they can to get him healthy and get him out there. But he said he was, he was showing out during training camp. You, you heard, you know, all the beat writers talk about how great he was and how natural that connection was with Phillip Rivers. And so you're, you're of course sad to see him go down with any kind of injury,

but you're also excited to see what comes of it when he comes back. Yeah, and it seems like, too, at this point with the Burton injury, they're probably going to keep four tight ends in the roster. Probably Andrew Valera is going to be that four tight end. They claimed it off the Chargers. He's only 25 years old, too. He's a very elite athlete per spark measure. So it's sort of a Ballard-type transaction.

It makes a lot of sense there. And why not roll a dice to what happens with Valera if he does get some snaps in the first month or so of the season and once Trey Burton is back I think he's going to be a very versatile chess piece as Colts offense here and one more point on Burton before we move on Stephen is a interesting comment from Nick Sirianni last week about I believe a reporter asked about the difference the similarities and differences between Eric Ebron and Trey Burton and Sirianni pretty openly said that Burton was a better route runner a better catch.

He didn't outright say better catching of the football, but he really kind of alluded to it that way. And overall, just being a more nuanced route runner, a more high IQ player too, has been able to get his routes up and just accept raw athleticism. It seems like to me that Burton might even be a better fit in the system than Eric Ebron was, and he might set up for a big year once he is back. Yeah, I agree.

I think that Trey Burton, it's not necessarily hard to have better hands than Eric Ebron, and I defended Eric Ebron to a point, and then you just get to the point where you're like, all right, come on, man. But, yeah, if Nick Cerrone is sitting there saying that Trey Burton is a better route runner, he's got better hands, and I think you look at the tape, and that really kind of goes to show you, you know, he really does have, you know, run better routes, have better hands.

And he's got familiarity with Frank Reich. Trey Burton's biggest years were when they were in Philadelphia together. It led to him getting that huge payday in Chicago. And, you know, of course, he's going to take the opportunity to come back to a getting that huge payday in Chicago and you know of course he's going to take the opportunity to come back to a system that that's going to allow him to excel and remember you're playing in a dome it's a lot easier to catch catch balls in a dome than it is outside in the cold in the wind of Chicago or outside in the cold of Philadelphia and so he's coming into a kind of a perfect situation knowing you've got Philip

Rivers, who really focuses on tight ends a lot and fight tight ends, check downs, things like that. So it's really a perfect situation for Trey Burton. And if you're looking for fantasy, fantasy gold during the late parts of your draft or on the waiver wire, once he starts to come back healthy, go ahead and snatch him up, unless you're playing in a league against me and then don't do that yeah hey burn i think is going to be a really fun player to watch this colt offense for sure and he might even be like sirianni alludes to and like we're talking about now steven even a better fit all around for this colt offense at the time position heading into 2020 but i want to have a really intriguing storyline too we've been following a lot with throughout camp and one where I doubt this happens.

I think it's maybe like a 1% chance it happens, but I just think it's so interesting to me, Stephen, that Jacob Eason's been the fourth-string quarterback throughout the entire training camp, that Chad Kelly's gotten more snaps than him. Jacob Eason, the two scrimmage games, they had Luke Solis stay in the U, didn't go in until after the first hour and a half,

two hours of the scrimmage. He only got about four or five snaps in each one of those. Are you at all worried that Jacob Eason might not be doing so well behind the scenes or maybe that's just they're preserving him? I have no clue what to say there, Stephen, because it just confuses me why Chad Swag Kelly's getting the third string reps over Jacob Eason unless something's up there. Yeah, I'm not necessarily concerned about it.

The talent is obviously there from Jacob Eason. Even in the limited amount of snaps that you saw, you'd hear beat reporters talk about how just fantastic some of his throws were. And that you just can't teach that kind of talent, that kind of ball placement, that kind of arm talent um and so i think this is more like just a rookie going to camp and knowing that he's not going to be the first or second guy right like those two positions are locked for the colts with with philip rivers and jacoby brissett so you're going to give him a chance to run and it might be a an opportunity for them to build his confidence um because with quarterbacks confidence is a lot to do with it. And so you put them up against four string guys, you get them, get them a couple of throws kind of like coaches will game plan some easy

throws for quarterbacks to start a game, to start to build that confidence. You want to really kind of build, build Jacob Eason's confidence. I don't think there's any way that Jacob Eason gets cut and gets put to waivers. And everything you hear from, from guys talks about how Jacob Eason's really putting in the work.

I that's everything I've heard. At least I don't know if maybe you've heard something different than that, but everything I've heard has been pretty positive. You know, every once in a while, you hear about a throw getting away from him. But in terms of comparing him to Chad Kelly it's really apples versus oranges Chad Kelly is just not really an NFL caliber quarterback it's just probably more familiarity with the system than anything else but I think that they will try to stash Chad Kelly on the practice squad that's a good point to bring up there Steven because I think the practice squad with Chad Kelly is probably the most likely thing

and obviously a scenario that's probably very, very unlikely to happen here. Who knows with COVID-19, maybe it does. But if Phillip Rivers and Jacoby Rivers are both out, if you do stash Chad Kelly, maybe Chad Kelly is your pseudo third-string quarterback you bring up to the practice squad. So you're 100% sure Jacob Eason doesn't take a snap in 2020, 2021, because you really just want to take a whole year off and just mentally learn the system. Do you think that's a real possibility there? Really, Kelly could be on the private squad, but also be kind of that third string guy if need be? Yeah, I honestly do. I think he'll

probably be more of a taxi squad guy. I do think that if given the opportunity, they'll go ahead and put Jacob Beeson out there just because he gives them a better opportunity to win than Chad Kelly. And you got to know that if something happens with Phillip Rivers or Jacoby Brissett and it's COVID related, then they're going to have to go through the process. And Chad Kelly is, I've heard rumors that the different teams are going to go in and actually have that practice squad quarterback that's going to be completely separate from the other quarterback room. So then they've at least got one guy that if the other, one of those other three quarterbacks are exposed to COVID,

then you've got one guy that you know can come in and play. I could see that being Chad Kelly in that situation, but I do think that he'll be, he'll be the one that gets bumped up pretty quickly. If something happens to Phillip Rivers or Jacoby Brissett. Whether he gets snaps over Jacob Eason or not, I'm not sure. I think at that point you're really kind of struggling anyway. So maybe you do throw Chad Kelly in to see what he can do

and just build up the Chad Kelly hype train because it's just going like a locomotive right now just down the tracks in Colts Nation. I still don't understand it. Yeah. Luckily, Jacob Eason on board there sort of is maybe the talk of a potential future franchise quarterback instead of Chad Kelly, because I agree with you, Stephen.

It's a little ridiculous sometimes when we see the Chad Kelly hype, where he obviously had a fun preseason last year, but I think Jacob Eason obviously has a lot more talent, arm strength, and everything around compared to Chad Kelly. But let's talk about the offensive line depth for a second. We only have a few more topics in today's show, and offensive line depth is still one of, I think, the issues for this team. But it seems like internally the Colts are very high on little Raven Clark this year,

even though he had a really bad preseason last year. From all the cases, he's had a really good camp so far as the backup right tackle to Braden Smith when he's been sitting out with injury. Danny Pinter's been sort of that Joe Haag interior guy being a center and guard throughout camp. Not much tackle work so far for him. But also, you have guys like Jake Eldredge, Carter O'Donnell,

the undrafted guy out of Canada. What do you think of this offensive line depth so far, Stephen? Because I don't think they're going to have much experience, of course. But for my projections, I'm going to keep it nine guys. I have all four of those guys I just mentioned, Clark, Pinter, Eldred, Kamp, and O'Donnell making the 53-man roster. Just because the lack of experience they have, it's concerning. But also, it seems like from inside at West 56th Street,

LaRaven Clark and Danny Pinter are doing well for themselves. Yeah, you're hearing that you don't hear them complain too much about the offensive line depth, which is questionable, I guess. You're not going to hear them complain about it regardless at this point in the season. Yeah, I could see

them keeping 9 or 10 on the offensive line. Carter O'Donnell is probably my sneaky pick to be that undrafted free agent that makes the roster for the Colts, because I don't think that Blankenship is going to pass McLaughlin at this point after what happened in stadium the other day.

And so, yeah, the offensive line depth is concerning. LaRaven Clark, they keep building him up but every time you see him on the field on the field it you you just kind of scratch your head and say why is why is he out there um you know but as hopefully that starting five stays healthy you never have to deal with that depth at all um but yeah I think that the depth is concerning. You've got guys that can play multiple position, Danny Pinter. I feel comfortable with him going at either guard position or even Clark. I probably feel more comfortable with him at left tackle

than I do at right tackle. Carter O'Donnell is a guy that I think could sneak onto this roster as that last offensive lineman. And you got to look at that backup center spot in Javon Patterson, potentially. Quentin Nelson, for whatever reason, is listed as a center guard on the Colts official website. So that's interesting, I guess. So yeah, hopefully they don't have to worry about the depth and it is what it is. And you just kind of roll with it and hope that they, they can beef it up next year and get a little bit,

a little bit better and get a little bit more quality depth guys there. But on that, there's, there's not a whole lot to say because we haven't heard a lot. The worst thing you hear about is offensive. The only time you really hear about offensive linemen is if the defensive linemen are crushing them. So like when you heard about offensive linemen, you heard about like Hittner and,

and how Taequann Lewis was just eating him up. Like two out of three plays in the scrimmage, like first two plays, he just went right past Hittner and had sacks. So that's the tough part is you haven't really heard a lot about the offensive line, which is kind of good because when you do hear about the offensive line, it's usually bad. Yeah.

And I agree with you there. I'm really curious to see how the Colts go about this offensive line depth. I do hopefully think that the Colts put in a waiver claim outside of the 53-man roster cuts when all those cutdowns happen and try to get a more veteran experience guy on board there. I think they need to have some more experience in the second unit there behind the Colts starting five at the offensive line there.

But let's go to the other side of the trenches for a second, Stephen. Defensive line. You mentioned Tyquan Lewis at the top of the show. He's had an awesome camp so far. He's going to help out so much for this Colts defensive line. He's able to keep this up throughout the regular season. Obviously, it's a big question mark with the way Lewis has played the first of the show. He's had an awesome camp so far. He's going to help out so much for this Colts defensive line. He's able to keep this up throughout the regular season. Obviously it's a big question mark with the way Lewis has played the first couple of years, but from all the cases,

the light finally might have came on for Tyquan Lewis. But Robert Winstead too, the sixth round pick, has done well for himself too. I think there's a really good chance. He now makes the 53-man roster. Kamoko Ture though is the big question because he still hasn't practiced yet. And that leads me to the point of Sheldon Day, who still hasn't practiced yet either, Stephen. The Colts back up one type of Grover Stewart. I still have Sheldon Day making this roster, but just barely at this point, Stephen,

because Winsor and Tyquan Lewis don't sound well for themselves. They're kind of making maybe Day a little bit expendable. But since Kamoko Ture is still on, you kind of just need more bodies in the defensive line there. I have Sheldon Day just barely making it in there. But I do wonder once Day is back, will you even get much reps of wincer and tyco news keep us up keep us up for them and that's the question is when whenever you get injured and you miss time if somebody else takes your snaps they take your snaps and you don't get those opportunities sheldon day signed a one-year deal. So he's an Indianapolis product. So he's one central.

And so you really hope that he makes this roster, but he could be a surprise cut and he could be a guy that they cut and they try given the lax rules on the practice squad this year and the extended practice squad, he might be a guy that they, they put over on the practice squad um and go ahead and move him over there with teray i think they might they might start teray off on ir um or keep him on the pop plus i don't know which one he can go on right now um and have him miss those first six games of the season so it really opens up that extra defensive line spot for you.

But yeah, it's the battle with the defensive line. Like I said, at the top of the show, that's, I think is the deepest position because you can seriously go through the defensive line and say, all right, we've got 10 guys, 10, 12 guys that you feel confident in. And, and now you're going, well, I've got to cut one or two of them. Who am I going to cut? Yeah, that's the big thing here, Stephen, because you see guys like Ture, obviously he's making the roster,

but Winsor, yeah, Sheldon Day, Danico Autry now is going to be sort of a hybrid and defense tackle. Al-Qudi Mohammed's had a great camp with the Colts. I also bring up guys like, obviously, Justin Houston, Forrest Buckner, Grover Stewart, the Star Wars up front for this Colts defensive line. I'm really excited to see all those guys find action this year because I think Buckner, mentioned all throughout the offseason so far, Steven, he's going to make such a big impact on this whole entire unit

that they could make a huge leap this year in terms of production. But last topic with you, I wanted to close out, and we already had him in the kicker situation. I think we both agree that Chase McLaughlin will get this kicking job over Rodrigo Blankenship. But the one point on the news front we haven't touched on just yet, I wanted to say for the final part of the show, Julian Blackman, the Colts' third-round pick, free safety,

was activated from the pup list today, the NFI list. And he's practicing, actually. He had his first practice today for the Colts. I imagine he won't play in the opener. I imagine he won't play in the first weeks of the season. But I think it's very impressive how Blackman's already back after nine months away from tearing an ACL. I imagine the Colts will slow pace a little bit too, Stephen. But having Julian Blackman there as an insurance policy right away and then later in the season,

probably in October, get him more and more snaps in an NFL game. The Colts now are signing Tavon Wilson. They have legitimately five safeties now with Hooker, Willis, George Odom, Tavon Wilson, and Julian Blackman. They by far, I think, have the deepest safety room in the NFL. Wow, that's a big statement. I don't necessarily disagree with you. Yeah, they've got a lot of youth and a lot of talent so that's that's gonna be my question

is is how well like how is Malik Hooker really gonna gonna step up on it and how will Julian Blackman play when he gets there I love Kyrie Willis and how he plays Tavon Wilson he's been steady for years and years and years and so you've got an idea of where they're at i think they've got they're sneaky deep at the safety position um and given the fact that they play a lot of three safety sets um that that's really good for them because they're going to have once Honestly, when you think about it, you've got Blackman, Hooker, and Kyrie Willis all on the field at the same time. And I feel really confident with the Colts in that because Blackman can do anything. He can play coverage. He can go up and hit you know the fact that he was able to make it back in nine months and they feel confidence to go ahead and activate him now rather than just to keep him on top and keep him out for the first six weeks of the season

tells you they kind of expect him to be back pretty early in the season and so that's a big step for him and as a this group is is sneaky deep but not a lot of people will know about that because they don't have any of those big-name flashy guys. They've just got guys that go and do work, which is exactly what Matthew Rufus wants on his defense. Steven, I appreciate the time as always. You guys can go follow him on Twitter at NiceReachSteven. He's going to be on with us weekly throughout the season.

So, Steven, I'm excited to have you on throughout this interesting cold season where it's not going to be a lot of fans in the stands. COVID-19 is also impacting it. But this cold season is going to be a lot of fun to watch. I appreciate it, man. Yeah, thanks, Evan. Have a good one.