Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Colts Sign Eric Fisher to 1-Year Deal

Episode Date: May 11, 2021

On today's episode, Evan and Stampede Blue's Stephen Reed go over Monday's breaking news of the Indianapolis Colts signing former Kansas City Chiefs left tackle Eric Fisher to a 1-year, 9.4 million deal. Fisher puts the cherry on top of a magnificent offseason for Indy as the new Anthony Castonzo replacement for 2021.How will Fisher impact the Colts' offensive line, and their 2021 ceiling? If Fisher returns to full health following a torn Achilles, there should be no drop off from Castonzo. Ironically enough, comparing the two from 2018-2020 shows a very similar caliber of player.Overall, how did the Colts do during this offseason? Adding up all of their moves, it now all falls on head coach Frank Reich reviving Carson Wentz back to 2017-2019 form. If this happens, the sky is the limit for the Colts' potential season outcome.You won't want to miss this one, Colts fans, as we go in-depth on Fisher and the whole 2021 offseason as we start to officially look ahead! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello everybody, welcome back to the latest episode of Locked On Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Today's always your host, Evan Cedri, joined by Stephen Reed of Stampede Blue here on Monday night. To recap today's biggest news, which was the Colts reeling in their big fish at left tackle. Eric Fischer, the former Chiefs left tackle, signed a one-year $9.4 million deal with the Indianapolis Colts today. Huge one for the Colts, Stephen. I mean, getting Eric Fisher on board.

Of course, he did tear his Achilles in the AFC title game in late January, so he's going to have a rehab still for his Achilles injury. But a guy who's, I think, fully healthy, considered a top-ten left tackle in the NFL, to get him on board for this year and possibly beyond that to be replaced for Anthony Costanzo. Once Fisher's fully healthy, and it seems like the Colts are very confident in signing him to almost a $10 million deal for one year,

that he's going to be back here pretty soon once the regular season starts and probably produce at a similar level to Anthony Costanzo, Colts fans should be over the moon about this, too, because Eric Fisher on the left side of the offensive line, him and Quentin Nelson and Ryan Kelly, along with Mark Lewinsky and Braden Smith, the whole offensive line of the Colts now have in place. Carson Wentz has to be giddy right now. Yeah, absolutely. Especially given the talent that Fisher brings to

the left tackle position. Talent, experience, athleticism. He has that prototypical left tackle that Chris Ballard really likes. He's got long arms. He's got a really good short shuttle time. He's good in the running game. He's consistent. And that's really what you want. Obviously, the big question mark is when will he be healthy? When will he be able to play? The Colts seem to be putting him at like a late September, October return. I've heard, you know, every person is different when they recover from an injury. So some people are able to come back and come back a lot faster. I think Terrell Suggs recovered from an Achilles injury in like five,

six months and was able to be full go. Other people take longer. Hopefully Eric Fisher is going to be on the shorter side of this, and the Colts are going to get him back, hopefully by the time the regular season starts, but if not, they have a competent backup in Sam Tevey, which has been Chris Ballard's mantra this entire time, is don't overlook what Sam Tevey brings to the table. So it looks like they're probably going to be starting Tevey for the first part of the season.

And then Eric Fisher is going to come in and as everybody needs to remember, we now have 17 games in this season. So it's a little bit longer. So I'd much rather have a healthy Eric Fisher. That's a hundred percent there. And for the, the 10 plus games plus the playoffs, then,

you know, have to go and force him back and potentially risk re-injuring that Achilles. Yeah. That's the big thing here, especially because I was listening to Pat McAfee earlier today on his show. And I think we all know who his cold sources.

We, I think we all should know at this point, which is it's Chris Ballard, the Colts GM. He's on that show many times and McAfee always references his cold source after news breaks. And I think if you listen to Pat by now, you know, it's Chris Ballard, the Colts GM. He's on that show many times, and McAfee always references his Colts source after news breaks. And I think if you listen to Pat by now, you know it's Chris Ballard as a source there.

And Pat mentioned that he texted his quote-unquote source about this after the Fisher signing was official, and he mentioned that they're not going to rush him back. Hopefully he's back once the regular season starts, but they're going to take their time with this. It's obviously a huge injury. A guy left tackle who's going to be planting a lot with his leg so they're not going to really rush him back so I've been hinting at this and Steven you have as well like it seems like the most likely

scenario here is to let Fisher gel with this cohesive offensive line bring him along slowly and then put him on the pup list I imagine to start the season for the first six weeks and once that happens he comes back around late September, early October, like you mentioned there. And with signing Sam Tevey, he's had over 40 games of starting experience with left tackle. Even Julian Davenport, who's going to be a swing tackle as well, will hold in there too. Those guys can battle it out for that left tackle spot.

But it sounds like internally they're all in on Sam Tevey as that guy for a short-term band-aid. But looking at Fisher's numbers here for a second, just since 2018 comparing head to head with Anthony Costanzo I found this really interesting according to PF that pro football focus Costanzo played 2,569 snaps from 2018 to 2020 Eric Fisher played 2,558 so Costanzo only played 11 more snaps than Fisher over that span and they were pretty identical across the board I mean you have to factor in two Costanzo play next to Quentin Nelson

over those three years. Eric Fisher did not have that same quality at all next to him. But Costanzo had a 77.5 PFF grade, seven sacks allowed, eight penalties. Eric Fisher, on the other hand, 72.6 PFF grade, eight sacks allowed, and 12 penalties. So pretty much the exact same player there. And if Fisher does come back to full health, and he's playing next to Quentin Nelson and Ryan Kelly, seems like a a position here where there's not gonna be much

drop off from what we've seen from costanzo since 2018 yeah it's probably gonna be an upgrade um if fisher comes back fully healthy because like you said they they've been pretty similar um across this entire time um dating back to the past three years. So when you think about it and you know that Anthony Costanzo has played next to an all pro, a three time first team, all pro left guard. And Eric Fisher has not done that. And you look back at the Buffalo game this past year in the playoffs and how they were able to make um um Valdir look like an adequate starter after coming literally like

a week or two of practice and coming off the street and he was fine playing next to Quentin Nelson so I have high hopes for Eric Fisher if he's able to come back healthy. And I do think that this is a risk. It seems like Frank Reich was the one that allegedly was kind of pushed it over the edge between the Charles Leno Jr. or Eric Fisher debate. And it seemed like Frank Reich, according to Zach Kiefer over at The Athletic, that he was the one that kind of pushed it over the edge and said that, you know, let's get our guy. And Chris Ballard went and did that.

And so, and I think that his contract, Eric Fisher's contract, if you look at the other contracts in the same range, like Riley Reif signed, the other guys have signed, it been in that seven to ten million dollar range for these left tackles that have been cut um the way they them signing him for like a what 9.4 million dollar contract this year makes me think that they're expecting him to be back to play the majority of this season um because otherwise you're probably not giving him that kind of contract. Or again, we don't know the details of the contract yet, but if it's not heavily, you know, active game bonus or active game incentive laden, then it makes you wonder, you know, it makes you wonder when they expect him to be back.

Because if it's incentive ladladen based on active games, then they expect him to be back later. If it is just a base salary, you probably expect him to be back a little sooner. Yeah, that's the big question with Fisher is when he's going to be back. You have to imagine at this point that most games, I must try like four or five or six. Hopefully the time table we've heard from guys around the league

could be mid-August or late August, early September. If that's the case, that means they're going to be right back for the season opener. And that would be huge for this Colts team if they don't have to play Tevi at all. I know Tevi really is a downgrade, but he's a serviceable. Like I mentioned, he's played over 40 games in the NFL as a starting left tackle.

So he could at least be serviceable next to Quentin Nelson for a month or so, if need be. But you look at Eric Fisher, he fits the athletic profile too. Obviously the Achilles is a big question. We'll have to see how much explosiveness he'll be back. But they weren't worried about Dio Odengbo with his Achilles, but obviously he's nine years younger than Eric Fisher. Fisher just turned 30 a couple months ago.

The question here is the Colts really betting on Fisher to come back and being near himself. And I think it's a fair bet to make. As we talked before last week after the draft, I think we've known after they didn't draft a left tackle in the first two rounds that Chris Ballard had Sutton cooking in his back pocket, and Eric Fisher made a lot of sense of the connections there. Ballard was in Kansas City as their director of player personnel

when they drafted Eric Fisher number one overall Central Michigan in 2013. You bring him on board here with that connection. You have Quentin Nelson on that next time at left guard. I feel like the transition for Fisher could be – like you don't have to be an elite left tackle. You can just be like a serviceable one. If you're elite, that's even a cherry on top. Like if you're near anti-Costanza production, that's awesome.

That's going to be making the Colts off the line look great. But upside here with Eric Fisher compared to Charles Leno, the debate we had last week, Stephen, it's pretty immense. Like the difference between peak Charles Leno and peak Eric Fisher, I don't think it's really a debate because we've never seen Leno be a top 10 left tackle in the NFL, a multi-time pro bowler. I think if Fisher does come back at full health, this is a player that Colts fans should remember. It looks,

it's really, really good. I mean, you really helped gel at Chiefs off to the line together when they're at full health the last couple of years before the injuries really hit them. But you have to think honestly, if all goes well with Fisher in 2021, this might be a multi-year partnership. Yeah. I thought it was interesting that they, it was only a one-year deal for 9.4 million dollars i kind of thought that and we talked about this last week i kind of thought it'd be a two-year

deal because it would give them a little bit of a buffer uh in terms of trying to find that long-term answer at the left tackle position now if you know fisher is able to come back and he is fully healthy the colts can obviously extend him for a year or two, even three. Honestly, nowadays left tackles are able to play until they're 35 if they want to, and especially these ones that have that athletic profile and the length that Fisher does. I think that, again, I was just a little bit surprised that they didn't sign him for a multi-year deal,

even if it was going to be a little bit more costly to didn't sign him for a multi-year deal, even if it was going to be a little bit more costly to do so, just to give themselves the buffer. But again, they've got that franchise tag in their pocket if they need to use it. I don't think they would, but they've got it there in their pocket if they need to. The important thing for them, though, is they were able to, after the draft, they had options at the left tackle position in free agency, guys that were more of that prototypical left tackle that Chris Ballard had talked about in his post-draft press conference because it became really evident that that tier two of left tackles that you and I talked about, we all of Colts, Twitter, everybody, everybody listens.

We all kind of thought that there were some pretty good left tackle prospects in that. But there were some, but that we always mentioned, we're like, oh yeah, well, they're all good. But none of them really have the arm length that you really want in like a prototypical left tackle. None of them really have like, there were only a handful of guys that really had that. that you really want in a prototypical left tackle. None of them really have.

There were only a handful of guys that really had that. And it sounds like Chris Ballard was pretty set on where he wanted to go with the position. And so he wasn't willing to really kind of give it up to go and get somebody that might be more suited to play the right side and just stick them in at left tackle, just see if they can work well with Quentin Nelson. Going out and getting Fisher or even Charles Leno Jr., if they would take on that direction,

I think gives them a higher upside for their team this year than what it would be if they would have drafted somebody in the second round or in the fourth round or whenever they would have taken a left tackle. I just feel like the value that they got with Quidipe and Deo at Ango were just way too great for them to pass up and reach for a left tackle. Totally agree with you there. And knowing that Fisher was kind of in their back pocket waiting for a call from Chris Bauer, that makes it even better. I mean, looking back on it now, Steve, I think it's fair to say, knowing that the Colts view Eric Fisher as a guy who's going to be able to fully recover from his Achilles injury, you take Quidi Pei at 21 and then sign Eric Fisher to free agency

every single time where Christian Derrissaw and bring it back Justin Houston, don't you? Yeah, I think they probably look to – yeah, if Quidi Pei wasn't staring them in the face at 21, I think they would have probably gone Christian Derrissaw. They probably would have reached out to Justin Houston and possibly bring him back. It would make sense just to give him that kind of presence there. I think the important thing with the Colts is that they had multiple options for themselves. No matter which way they went, they had a fallback plan.

They obviously went defensive end defensive end for the first time since like 2002 when they went to wait freeney and larry triplet jr uh they you know did that but they they had that option at left tackle forum sitting in their pocket and this goes again to the the way that chris ballard has managed the salary cap the fact that they had the ability to go out and pay $9.4 million for a left tackle, for a top-tier left tackle that was still in the market. Then if you're a team like Pittsburgh or one of these other teams that just really mismanaged their cap, New Orleans, you come out of the draft and you're kind of like bargain hunting there at the bottom of the barrel.

Chris Ballard came out of the draft and still had 22, $23 million in salary cap that he was able to use to, you know, finish filling that hole that they, they really did have on that roster. Cause I wasn't, you know, super comfortable with Sam Tebby,

but at the same time, I'm not going to doubt Chris Ballard. He's been right so many times, especially when it comes to free agent signings and things like that. So yeah, I think the important thing for the Colts is they had a plan no matter which direction they went. If they would have Christian Derusaw, they bring back Justin Houston. They obviously went Putti Pei and Deo Dengbo. And so then they went and reached out to Eric Fisher. And then two days later, Charles Leonard Jr. became available.

So I think the important thing is they had a plan no matter what. Just real quick before we dive into the last part of our show, talking more about just the Colts offseason as a whole now, because this Eric Fisher sign really puts the last big stamp on the Colts 2020 offseason. It's been a big one so far. But Fisher versus Costanzo head-to-head here, their mock draftable profiles.

If you just closed your eyes and you just listen to what I'm reading here, it's literally the exact same person it seems like to me. Costanzo here, really quickly, 6'7", 3'11", 34.5-inch arms, 10.5-inch hands, 5'2", 40, almost a 30-inch vertical jump, and a 4'4 shuttle with 28 reps on the bench press. Go to Eric Fisher, 6'7", 3'0", 6, 34.5-inch arms, 10.5-inch hands, 5.0540, 28.5-inch vertical jump, and a 4'4 shuttle, and a 27 reps on the bench press. This literally, the athletic profile scheme between these two guys

are the exact same. I feel like we kind of know now. I think Bauer has a type there at left tackle. When you see the Costanzo profile and the Fisher profile, not a lot of guys, if any at all, maybe outside of Derusaw, really fit that profile in this class for the draft. Yeah, they really don't. It's funny because I looked up the mock draftable Spiderweb, too, and I saw, like, the number one or one of the top like five comparisons to eric fisher

was anthony costanzo it's like well that that makes sense that it's kind of what we've all kind of seen with it but yeah it's one thing that's really interesting is it's clear that chris ballard really does have a type when it comes to left tackle position he lucked into anthony costanzo and was able to have their starting left tackle for four years and not have to worry about the position but it's pretty clear that he's not going to reach for guys that don't quite feel what he's looking for it's something similar to what we've said with wide receivers or you know defensive backs defensive linemen he's got a tight and he pretty much sticks to that unless they do something just extraordinarily well

that they can't that they just you just can't stop them and it's something that they reiterated in the with the next period series is you know what does this guy do that's unique and that's the that's the outlier that chris beller go for. Otherwise, he's going for guys that fit his box. And Eric, now we know for left tackles, they're looking for guys that are tall, with long arms, that are able to anchor themselves pretty well, and that have good shuttle times. They're looking for those athletic profiles profiles but also with the long arms they're at the left tackle position

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You're online sportsbook experts. Let's dive in, Stephen, into just looking over the 2020 offseason as a whole now because Eric Fisher signed a one-year, almost $10 million deal. Puts really a big finishing touch here. Maybe the Colts go out and get a couple names here and there as it's really cheap depth pieces across the board now. But when you think about back in January, once they lost to Buffalo, like what their needs were to attack this offseason,

we knew it was offensive line depth because that kind of cost them a game or two last year when Costanza went down, as did Braden Smith due to COVID-19 against Pittsburgh. But you see just the offensive line depth is a huge need. They went out and addressed that in a big way before they got Fisher. They got Tevey. They got Davenport. They got Chris Reed.

They drafted Will Freeze in the seventh round. You have Danny Pinter developing. You have Will Holden developing. There's like a nine or ten guys. It's going to be fun to watch the offensive line depth in training camp so you can make the roster in the very end there. But you swap out Phillip Rivers, who was immobile. He was a statue.

Very good quarterback. But at age 38, 39, he was not going to push them over, I think, a ceiling we already saw in 2020, which was the wild card and really pushing the Bills to the edge there. You get Carson Wentz, who's more mobile. He has a relationship with Frank Reich. He has the MVP-type upside. If he can tap into that somehow and rekindle that with Frank Reich,

this Colts team has a really amazing ceiling long-term here. So swap out Rivers for a more mobile quarterback in Carson Wentz. You get Quiddie Paye, who we both have been singing the praises of for the last few months on the podcast. You get him, luckily, at number 21 overall in this year's draft, who comes in day one, replaces Justin Houston. I think adds a lot more juice off the edge there. He should throw next to Forrest Buckner.

You get Eric Fisher, who's on the same level as Andy Costanza after he retired. You re-sign T.Y. Hilton, Xavier Rhodes, Marlon Mack, and more to add more depth to this team, and it keeps some of that explosive piece on offense as well. And Xavier Rhodes is such an important piece to that defensive backdoor now with how he played last year in the Mattie Berthoud's zone-heavy defense. You get Kylan Granson to replace Trey Burton as your move tight end.

I think it's an upgrade with the athletic profile that Granson provides. And then Deo Odengbo, obviously he's not going to be playing much this year, but long-term, he's your more explosive Danico Autry, where I think he should be in a really good position to thrive in India as well. And in the meantime, you have Taekwon Lewis, who actually had a better PFF grade than Danico Autry last year, filling in that role in the meantime. Across the board, Stephen, I think the Colts improved

or at least got the same level of talent than what was lost this past offseason. That really goes to show, in my opinion, that Chris Braddink hit this 2021 offseason out of the park. Yeah, man. It's something that has been interesting because Chris Ballard, every offseason, talks about position groups that he really wants to improve. And this past year, he talked about the depth in the offensive line, and he definitely wants to improve. And this past year, he talked about the depth in the offensive line.

He definitely really addressed that. Talked about, you know, edge rusher, get up to pastor. He definitely addressed that. And what I think is interesting is, you know, we talk a lot about Justin Houston,

Nick Autry, and then being big losses. I'm, I'm, I'm on the fence about that because both of those guys just seem to disappear at times. And so I think the Colts have gotten much better at the defensive end position and at the pass rush position with Quidipe and Isaac Rochelle and Dio D'Angelo.

And so I feel like they've actually gotten a lot better there. And I think the depth of the offensive line has gotten a lot better, you know, with the, you know, hopefully Paris Campbell is going to be able to come back to full strength. And then if he's not, they've got some really sneaky guys on this roster that I think could be, you know, pretty good players for them. Like, you know, the Tyler Vaughn's out of USC, the, the rookie that undrafted for agent, like the dude is slippery in cover, like when he's out running routes, he's hard to find.

You know, Desmond Patman, they expect to make a big, big push this year. I think this roster is one of the more talented ones on paper in the AFC as a whole. And that's including Kansas city. I think the Colts have a significantly better defense than Kansas city does. I think the Colts are better at the offensive line. Like the one big factor is, you know, Patrick Mahomes there in Kansas city. I find the same thing with Buffalo, like Buffalo and the Colts, their defenses are pretty similar in terms of how they'd match up. I think the Colts have a better offensive line. And then Josh Allen is a difference maker. The question for the Colts this entire season is going to come

down to, can Carson Wentz produce? And if he can, then the Colts are probably looking at a top two seed, top three seed in the AFC and a potential Super Bowl run. And if Carson Wentz isn't very good, then the whole team's probably going to suffer and they're probably going to be looking at possibly winning the division just because the talent on the roster is so good. So if Carson Wentz is just average,

I think the Colts probably still are in competition winning the AFC South. Because just the roster as a whole and the moves that Chris Ballard has made has been just great for the entire team as a whole. Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up because it's a good segue into the Carson Wentz discussion because you look at this offense on paper right now, offensive line first off, Eric Fisher, Quentin Nelson, Ryan Kelly, Mark Lewinsky,

Brian Smith, and the aforementioned bet behind them. Go to tight end, Jack Doyle, Molly Cox, Kylan Grant says their new move tight end who could be moved around the offense. T.Y. Hilton, Michael Pittman Jr., Paris Campbell, and Zach Paschal is a really good four at wide receiver. And I think if Paris is healthy, Michael Pittman Jr. I think is going to be a WR1 this year and get a lot of targets. I think maybe close to 100 targets this year, in my opinion. And T.Y.'s probably going to be taking more of a backseat. He could be used more as a vertical possession threat when need be.

And you add in the running back trio of Jonathan Taylor, Naeem Hines, and Marlon Mack. I expect big years from Taylor and Pittman. Paris V stays healthy. He's going to add a new element to this offense. Everything's set up on paper, Stephen. And you add in the Frank Reich element too. He's a very good play caller. And with all these guys in the offense,

I think Frank Reich's going to have a field day this year. It's going to be more so like the 2018 offense with Andrew Luck than it has the last couple years with Jacoby Brissett and Phillip Rivers. But if Carson Wentz can be back to a top-10 quarterback, Stephen, I have no qualms in saying this should be like a 13-4 type of team this year. Like, I think 12 to 13 wins, maybe more than that. If Carson Wentz can get back to the old version of Carson Wentz from 2017 to 2019, who was a top-ten quarterback in the NFL,

and he gets to that MVP title we saw in 2017, Frank, right before he left for Indianapolis, this team has such an immense ceiling because on defense, too, you go across there, you have Quiddie Paye, DeForest Buckner on the defensive line, Grover Stewart, and you have Darius Leonard, of course, and Bobby Okereke, a linebacker, Xavier Rhodes, Julian Blackman, and Curry Willis in the secondary. I think

a lot less pressure could be on Rocky to send this year with that aforementioned adding a pass rush on board that would take off some of the pressure in the defensive backfield. It really is on Carson Wentz's shoulders. This team, on paper, looks very special in these few events. If Carson Wentz can bounce back, oh my, this could be a really fun year. It should be a really fun

year because I have ultimate faith in Carson Wentz. If you just saw that second episode of What's Next pick, I think it was titled Deep Conviction. Carson Wentz, you saw the stress and anxiety and everything just kind of melt off of him on camera with how comfortable he felt with Frank Reich and with this system and just being in Indianapolis and being back in the Midwest, a place that being out, like when you grow up in the Midwest and you move someplace else, it's a culture shock for you. And so to be thrown from North Dakota, where he's the prodigal son of North Dakota, he's

the best player that's ever come out of the state, probably. And then go to the state school, and then you go to thrown in the fire into Philadelphia. Like that's just, that's tough on anybody. And then now he gets an opportunity to play with his favorite coach that he's ever had. And then you get to come to Indianapolis where the media market, I love all of the beat writers and I think they're fantastic, but they're not nearly as difficult to deal with as the guys in Philadelphia. You're going to get a fan base that's going to embrace you no matter what. So I just feel like Carson Wentz is going to be so much better than what he was last year.

And when you look at it, I think Carson Wentz, every year except for last year, he had a top 10 offensive line. And quite honestly, if you give me Carson Wentz from 2017 to 2019 the Colts are like you said 13 and 4 you know anywhere between 12 to 14 wins is possible for the Colts and I think that that wins the AFC South this next year because I don't see Tennessee continuing to get lucky because that's for the past couple of years. That's what Tennessee is doing is they've pulled out a bunch of really lucky wins. And so I just see the Colts really taking a stranglehold on this division for

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That's a great tasting snack to tide your earth throughout the day, all that's super healthy for you as well. Order today and get whatever flavor you like over on Bilt Bar. Again, go to BiltBar.com and use promo code LOCKED15 and you'll get 15% off your next order of Bilt Bars. Again, use promo code LOCKED15, L-O-C-K-E-D-1-5 for 15% off at BiltBar.com. Last question here, Steve, before we close out the show. Appreciate the time as always, man. Just looking at this Colts team and their offseason, just one more time on paper, like, how would you describe this offseason? Because like we just mentioned over the last couple minutes,

Chris Bauer really has addressed every single need and really spearheaded it head on. We saw last year, we had that one big question with offensive line depth that really Bauer, I think, ignored on accident last year with not getting enough depth behind their starters. I think he had overconfidence in that starting unit to keep playing consecutive games. I think they had 22confidence in that starting unit to keep playing consecutive games together. I think they had 22 straight games they started together,

and then injuries kind of piled up this year. But now they have the depth behind them. You have Kirsten Wentz on board now back with Frank Reich. I think it's fair. I did think he'd give this Colts offseason a grade, Stephen, now with the Eric Fisher sign to add on top here. I think it's fair to say, I mean, obviously you have to see what happens on the field in the regular season, but on paper, Stephen, I think it's fair to say this is an A offseason.

I think the Colts, if Carson Wentz bounces back, that's obviously the huge domino in the room that has to fall still, but if Carson Wentz bounces back, this Colts team I think has an A offseason, absolutely. Yeah, Evan, that's kind of where I'm at with it. And if you were going to tell me to to pick one word for this offseason I'd say steady because you know Chris Ballard's been calm he's been steady this entire process he hasn't pushed things he's just kind of let things you know fall in their place and then take an advantage um he did that in the draft getting quitty pay which everybody yourself and I mean if I went back and re-listened to our podcast and, boy, the excitement in our voice.

It was crazy. And you could tell with the next pick, the Colts were excited. I mean, you saw Chris Ballard bang the desk with how excited he was that Quidipe was there and the Giants went with Kadarius Toney because we all thought that the Giants were going to take Quidipe. So Chris Ballard this entire offseason he's been steady he's been calm he hasn't pushed things he hasn't rushed it um he's just been Chris Ballard and he's you know the number one rated drafting GM and I think you're going to find a lot of a lot of those websites that come out with those immediate grades after the draft that have the

Colts as like the lowest graded position because they said, oh, well, they didn't address the left tackle position. It was such a major position of need for them that they just don't understand the philosophy that Chris Ballard uses and their approach to the draft. And I think that in two years, all those people are probably going to be eating crow because you're going to have just two dominant defensive ends, I think, in Quidipe and Deo Adango. You're going to have some solid contributors there

with Kylan Granson as that F-tight end and Sean Davis there as that enforcer, that third safety that the Colts really wanted. And they were hoping Malik Hooker would be that last year, but he obviously got injured as well. And so I would grade this offseason as an A, especially after they got this Eric Fisher signing done.

He's done everything that he said he wanted to do. He addressed the depth of the offensive line. He addressed the pass rush, which is clearly their biggest need from going into this offseason. And he's added youth. I think they've got like maybe three or four players total over the age of 30. On the roster, they're still super, super young. Yeah, they've got four players right now over the age of 30. It's T.Y. Hilton, Jack Doyle, Xavier Rhodes, and T.J. Carey. That's the list. That's all. Everybody else is under 30. So the Colts just have, you know, just great depth.

They've got great youth. They're bringing it up the way Chris Ballard wanted through the draft. They're building through the draft. They're signing their own players. I think this has been just a great offseason for the Colts. And I know that sometimes I can be considered a homer because I am such a fan of the team. But they really did address all the needs that they wanted to address. And the big question mark is going to be Carson Wentz. If he returns to 2017 to 2019 form, this is an absolute A-plus of an offseason. If he, for whatever reason, reverts back to 2020 and his confidence

and his entire persona, his whole psyche is broken, then it's going to probably be a B offseason for me, just because you can't do anything without a quarterback. They still have made some great moves in other positions, but the quarterback's going to be set in the back. But I still think Carson Wentz is going to bounce back and he's going to return to form. Steven, always enjoy having you on.

We're going to be having you, I imagine, probably back on later this week because less than 48 hours from now, the NFL schedule comes out. We're going to be very interested to see what happens here, when the Colts have that schedule released, what the schedule's going to look like, because this is a tough schedule for this Colts team. But with everything that's on paper, and today's news signing

Eric Fisher to a one-year $9.4 million deal to replace Anthony Costanzo as our new left tackle in 2021, it looks really, really good. So Colts fans, go ahead and follow Steve if you're not already on Twitter at NiceReadSteve and go listen to his podcast as always over on Stampede Blue. Steve, I appreciate the time tonight.

Thanks, Evan. Have a good one.