Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Colts sign Tavon Wilson and Taylor Stallworth + Biggest training camp storylines

Episode Date: August 14, 2020

On today's episode, Evan is joined by Stephen Reed from Stampede Blue to do some housecleaning on news plus talk Colts training camp.What impact will losing Marvell Tell, Rolan Milligan, and Skai Moore to COVID-19 opt outs have on Indy? Especially with Tell, will he now be lost in the shuffle long-term in the secondary?As Indy brings in free agents to replace those three, they did sign two underrated additions. Former Lions safety Tavon Wilson will make this roster and adds much-needed versatility. Meanwhile, Taylor Stallworth could be vying for a roster spot with Tyquan Lewis at defensive tackle.Closing out the show, Evan and Stephen hit on the biggest training camp storylines. Philip Rivers is poised for a monster year with Indy's o-line and weapons, while DeForest Buckner will change the Colts' defense entirely. Is Indy going to be top 10 on both sides of the ball in 2020? Who will win camp battles at linebacker and running back? 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 Sidery and I'm joined by a very special guest on today's show, Steven Rita Stampede-Blue, as we're here to talk through some house cleaning news of the Colts, some news revolving around three guys opting out of the 2020 season for the Colts, also signing a few replacements here on the margins here. Might be helping out this year on the 53-man roster as far as depth goes. Then we're going to hit on training camp storylines,

go over a couple of the big ones here for the Colts as we get closer and closer to the regular season opening here exactly one month away from Colts ball officially kicking off in Jacksonville. Steven, how are you doing today? I'm doing well, Evan. How are you doing today? Doing good, doing good. I appreciate you coming on here because I know we are finally getting back

in the groove here as far as Colts football being around the corner. Football is finally around the corner, it seems like, as the NFL is going away with the NFL season. It seems like right now, who knows about how many fans are going to be in the stands. It seems like it's really up in the air as far as that goes. And the Luke Solis Stadium is going to have 15,000 in there this year. But you've seen some people, like the Washington football team,

say there's going to be no fans this year, same with Philadelphia. So that's up in the air. But let's start off today's show, Stephen, with the news about last week, three players for the Colts that opted out of this year. And two of them I think were going to play a role on special teams. And one player who I think was in a role where if one of the top corners got hurt, he would have saw significant playing time. And he was very much, I think, a really intriguing piece

to the end of this year last year. Marvell Tell, the Colts corner second-year pro, opted out. Roland Milligan, the Colts backup safety, the fourth-string safety, opted out, was a key special teams player too. And then Sky Moore, the backup linebacker, who I think had an outside shot making this team anyways. But those three players opted out. Steven, what was your reaction to that, and how would that impact this Colts roster?

Well, my reaction was good for them for doing the right thing for them and their family, and what they think was right. It's a brave decision by them to step away and to go ahead and opt out. Now, from a selfish fan perspective, it really kind of stinks because Marvell Tell, like you mentioned, was going to be great depth. He was going to probably fight for that cornerback three, cornerback four position on the outside. And so that one really kind of stung because you saw the promise. You saw him really start to pick it up as the season progressed.

Roland Milligan is really underrated in terms of the effects that he had on the field. And the fact that the Colts will generally play a three safety look more often than a lot of people think. And so Milligan, if any of those top three safeties go down, he would have been probably that first man up since right now Julian Blackman is still on the non-football injury list or he's not active in terms of being able to play at this point. And so with regards to this guy more, like you said, he's kind of a fringe guy anyway. So I'm not certain that he would have made this roster or even if he did, he might have been more of a practice squad player but overall I think Tellen Milligan opting out really kind of hurt a position that the Colts weren't really deep in

anyway and they're arguably their weakest position was the defensive backfield and so that makes it a little bit more difficult and then you see Chris Ballard immediately start to make moves to try to shore that up in terms of making the signing. And then also bringing in, I think, five cornerbacks. It was yesterday or today to in for a tryout. So you can tell that that position group itself was really lacking. So that's the one that's really going to hurt is to lose some experienced guys in that defense that really could have contributed in a pinch if necessary. Yeah, with Marvell Tell especially, I was really looking forward to watching his growth entering into year two.

Might not have seen a lot of snaps on the field if we didn't see injuries from guys like Rocky Sin or Xavier Rhodes, but was a player at the end of last year, really started to flash. I think a lot of Colts fans had a lot of high hopes for Tell entering in the year two, but of course, he'll be back on the roster as will Roland Milligan and Sky Moore entering into 2020 and 2021. But like we mentioned, I've seen this a couple of times, Stephen, elsewhere. I want to get your thoughts on this too.

I think it's a really good point brought up elsewhere along Colts Twitter. Do you think, I mean, obviously Marbelle Tell had to opt out because of obvious re-insurance. They have not gone into specifics about that. Maybe it's family issues. Maybe it's more just being a health risk for guys. And we've seen many players around the NFL opt out this year with the uncertainty of the NFL, the uncertainty of the coronavirus. But if Marvell, do you think Marvell Tell has a chance to maybe fall in the back burner here as far as being not in the Colts' plans? Because I know he's going to be away from the team for almost a year,

Steven. And I know on a 53-man roster, he can be easily forgotten that way. And obviously the Colts' position at cornerback, you have Rock, you have Kenny Moore locked in as two of your three long-term starters there, but Xavier Rhodes, of course, is a free agent. I mean, if the Colts do see a top corner in next year's draft, let's say, in the first, second round, Marvell took me to a position where I know he had to opt out, but he could really be a player that's on the outside looking in,

entering into year three, really year two for himself without opting out this year if he does step away for this long. Yeah, I think that's the big concern for him in terms of his professional career. As you opt out, you give up an opportunity to really kind of lock on to that spot for the future. Like you said, with Xavier Rhodes being here for one year, on a one-year contract right now, and again,

he could sign an extension later on, you never know. But I could see the Colts going and taking a look at somebody like a Paul Sanedibo out of Stanford next year in the draft in that second round, if he's available, maybe late first round, and try to upgrade that cornerback position, this is a risk for Mo Feltel. And it's a risk for him to play, and it's a risk for him to not play. And so the fact that he went ahead and opted out really kind of says something about his situation and how concerned he was for it.

But yeah, he's, he's taken a chance that he's going to lose his spot and he's not going to get it back. Now, that said, with the lack of depth at the position that the Colts have right now, I think that he's probably going to get that opportunity to try to earn back that spot, to be that cornerback three, cornerback four on the roster. But his opportunity to really kind of seize a starting spot, say if, God forbid, there is an injury to Kenny Moore or to Xavier Rhodes or Rocky Haseen, Tell would have been the guy to step up. And you see this every year where your you know, your frontline player gets injured,

that backup comes in and starts to play and plays really well and really locks down that spot. So even when the, the starter comes back and is, is healthy, you've got a guy that's really in the flow. It's a risk for tell. And I think that that's a valid argument for, for anybody that really kind of doubts his decision because he is, he is taking a chance with his professional career there. Let's hit on the two free-in signings here. Like you mentioned at the top of the show, Stephen,

the Colts did bring in guys who could be looking to replace Marvell Tell for this year, Cordrea Tankersley, the former Dolphins cornerback headlining that group. He's a very intriguing talent. I know Zach Hicks of Stampede Blues tweeted a few videos about him too. I think he's my favorite as far as the five brought in for the Colts this week. But two signings that the Colts actually made earlier this week and last week. Let's start

off with Tavon Wilson, the former Lions starter in Detroit. A safety linebacker hybrid combo. Did very well for himself last year in Detroit though, Stephen. He had 98 tackles for the Lions last year playing that hybrid role. And he also gave you three tackles for loss. They used him in a really intriguing way up in Detroit, Matt Patricia's defense there.

He chipped in a sack as well. A longtime starter in Detroit, too, over the last four years has been a stalwart there. And before that in New England, his first three years of his career, he was a key special teams contributor and grew into a role bigger in Detroit. What do you think of Tavon Wilson? Because I think he could really step in and maybe be an upgrade over that role on Milligan Clayton gathers type role that we saw last year sort of as a box hybrid yeah I think you're right and I was really excited about that signing and bringing him in and giving him an opportunity to play it's one of the interesting parts about

this year and this offseason specifically is you got a lot of guys that really are high quality that that could come in and be a spot starter for you that are still available in free agency and so Chris Ballard jumped on the opportunity to get him when when he had it once once Roland Milligan decided to opt out you heard that that chris but i think it was within like a day or two chris ballard like you started to hear rumors and so then then he got signed and they started to go on um but yeah in detroit what they used him more was like you said an in the box safety kind of like a will linebacker to a point. And so he's a guy that really will fill in that Roland Milligan role as that third safety, fourth safety, is willing to play special teams.

And so it's one of those glue guys that really kind of shores up the back end of the roster. And who knows, he could be an upgrade over Roland Milligan. One thing that I really liked about Milligan was his youth and that he had kind of grown up in the system. And so that, that was a positive for me. You know, now we've got a guy that's going to be going through and he's played in new England. He's played in Detroit and now he's coming here to Indianapolis. So he's, he's a little bit older, but at the same time, he's a quality player. And to get a guy like that, this late in free agency, who can come in and you're pretty confident he can make the roster, that's a big deal,

and that's a huge get for Chris Ballard and this Colts team. Let's tell them the second signing here before we dive into our training camp storyline, Stephen. The former New Orleans Saints defense lineman, I know the Colts have already had success under Chris Ballard, plucking up some backup Saints defense linemen. Al-Khudi Mohammed was a former New Orleans Saint. He's really developed I know the Colts have already had success under Chris Bauer, plucking up some backup Saints defense alignment. Al-Khudi Mohammed was a foreign New Orleans Saint. He's really developed well in this Colts system. The Colts signed Taylor Stallworth, a second, third-year pro,

out of the Saints system. He hasn't really done much in New Orleans his first two years there. He only played 8% of the snaps last year, but in 2018 played 31% defensive snaps at defense tackle for the Saints as a rookie. I come back to this saying, obviously, it's depth. Chris Spout always loves adding the trenches here, Stephen. But I keep coming back to – I haven't seen much of Star Wars film,

to be honest, but I keep wondering about a player like Tyquan Lewis. They drafted Rob Windsor. I think he has a really good chance to make this team. He's sort of against Tyquan Lewis in that spot. And now it's another player in Taylor Star Wars who sort of plays that Tyquan Lewis type of role at defense tackle. Who knows if Tyquan Lewis plays outside maybe has more of a chance here but what do you think about the Stallworth signing and also how this could really impact a player like

Tyquan Lewis who's already on the outside looking in so to say yeah I think this signing is depth on depth to me the defensive line and the defensive tackle position specifically may be one of the deeper positions on the Colts roster as a whole. When you break it down, you've got DeForest Buckner-Grover, Stewart Sheldon Day, Danico Autry. You've got Rob Windsor. You've got now Tyquan Lewis in there that's vying for a spot. And now Taylor Stallworth, who's coming in. And that position, I know I missed some people in there too.

And that's the crazy part is all those guys, all six of those guys can play. And so this just seems to me like he's just, Chris Ballard is just adding more competition to this, this position. I don't know. And I don't really think that that Taylor Stallworth is going to, going to make this roster. I do agree with you though,

about the fringe possibility of Tyquan Lewis. He's been pretty much, it's hard to say that he's been a disappointment he's just been incomplete if you're grading him because he hasn't really played and so you've you've got these he's got a golden opportunity with jabal sheared walking away that that he or the colts not resigning jabal sheared to come in and play that defensive end role that that shift defensive end role that bigger defensive end and I really in my gut feeling Danico Autry is going to take that position and then you know especially listen to Brian Baker when he did some of his interviews with the media talking about

Danico Autry and having him start to learn the defensive end position a little bit more because he's been inside so it makes me think that the Colts are looking to move to Nico Autry out there and there's only so many positions available that the so many roster spots available that the Colts can put to the defensive tackle defensive line and I feel like Taequann Lewis is going to be he he'll be one of those surprise cuts I think just because he hasn't shown it and with the preseason not being there this year he's not going to have an opportunity to really show against other competition that he deserves to make it and with they're just pads i think on monday and so these next 14 days these next 20 days for taekwon lewis is basically going to make or break whether he

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I agree with you. I think Tyquan Lewis is one of the players to watch in training camp this year. Of course, it's going to be a lot different environment. It's at the West 56 facility for the Indianapolis Colts. No obvious public training camp this year back in Grant Park in Westfield. Let's dive into the training camp storylines here, Stephen, because I think the first and most biggest one, we went over the news there with COVID-19, Marvell Telly and that group of opting out, going to the

Tavon Wilson-Taylor Star Wars signings. But what do you think of Phillip Rivers as we get closer and closer this season? We've heard rave reviews so far out of West 56 about Phillip Rivers, whether it be from the players, the coaching staff, as being sort of a pseudo coach out there and really doing well as far as it goes for his receivers, two learning guys, Pippen Jr. Paris Campbell T.Y. Hilton as we get closer and closer to September 13th Stephen what's your expectations and hopes for Phillip Rivers in 2020? I have huge hopes for Phillip Rivers and I don't mean to to be like just a super fanatic on this, but I think that he can be in that year in 2018 when he was an MVP candidate.

I think he can get back to that relatively easily based on the weapons that he has around him. This is the best offensive team Phillip Rivers has ever played with. And I don't feel like I'm over-exaggerating that. This is by far the best offensive line that he's ever played with. And I don't feel like I'm over-exaggerating that. This is by far the best offensive line that he's ever played with. The running back position for the Colts is just so deep. You've got four guys that you feel confident at any point giving the ball to them. And you're like, all right, I'm good. I'm good with that. You've got wide receivers that

are all over the place in terms of T.Y. Hilton and Paris Campbell, where you have to know where they are. Zach Paschal does everything you ask him to. Michael Pittman Jr. is going to be a beast going up and getting balls, and he's such just a technician and a great overall wide receiver. Phillip Rivers is going to have an opportunity to really put this offense over the top. And this offense is going to give him an opportunity to really excel. Part of that is, like I said, the offensive line and running backs. So teams aren't going to be able to, he's going to bring up the running game for the Colts because teams are no longer going to be able to stack the box like they did against

Jacoby Brissett. And that no matter what, you have to respect Phillip Rivers and he's going to open up the passing game because Phillip Rivers is going to let it fly. Like that guy is a risk taker. He's going to throw the ball down the field. And when you've got right receivers like Paris Campbell, who runs in that 4-2-4-3 range, you've got T.Y. Hilton, that's still a burner. You feel pretty confident that your guy's going to go get that ball. And so I look at this and I say, I'm really pumped up about Phillip Rivers. And I think that he's going to be that piece that bumps it over the top. You hear all these storylines from players talking about how intense philip rivers is how much he just loves the game and then you add in the fact that he is a veteran he's got familiarity with the system and so the colts are going to hit the

ground running which i think is a kind of a un undelved into storyline to start the year is that teams that have veterans and that have consistency are going to really kind of jump off from the start from week one to week two to week three because most times you've got those preseason games to kind of like work your way in but this year you don't have that so those teams that have that consistency and and have that familiarity they're more likely to hit the ground running and the Colts opening against Jacksonville is just an even better situation for the Colts because even though it's on the road even though it's at Jacksonville you're still going up and up against the Jacksonville Jaguars team that's

young and experienced and not that talented. And so you've got a team that's really got an opportunity here to put it over the top. And I think Phillip Rivers in this system with these players is just such a great match. I think a few underrated storylines, too, about Phillip Rivers we're going to hit on for just the next few minutes, Stephen. And the first one we'll hit on with you, compared to players like Tom Brady going in Bruce Arian's system, Cam Newton obviously going to Bill Belichick, others around the NFL as far as quarterback movement this year,

there's a lot of it. But Phillip Rivers has played for Frank Reich and Nick Sirian in the past. They've read about him before, and they're reading about him already at West 56th Street. And even Phillip Rivers says he knows his offense. There's just a few little things as far as terminology goes, and he should probably already have that down by now, being in Indianapolis for the last month plus

and being in the playbook since early March. I think compared to those quarterbacks, like a Tom Brady, like a Cam Newton in New England, Stephen, I think Phillip Rivers has the biggest advantage from the biggest star quarterbacks moving teams this offseason because he's playing under Frank Reich, and he knows his offense. I think he's going to step in from day one and really already know this thing and really have it by and he knows his offense. I think he's going to step in from day one and really already know this thing

and really have it by the back of his hand. Yeah, I think that in terms of the best position for quarterbacks in terms of transitions from team to team, this one is right up there, number one, in terms of familiarity. Phillip Rivers is going to come in and it's going to hit the ground running, like you said. You've got Cam Newton who's going to have to learn try to play within a system which is kind of not his thing um and then you've got tom brady who's going to a

completely different system you know because in new england you had the dink and dunk you had i don't think tom brady for like his top years, he led the league in yards after catch. Like that's his yards per completion was crazy low and they just schemed them all open. Now he's going to Bruce Arian system where they throw the ball over and throw it deep. And yeah, that's going to be different for him. But Tom Brady in terms of the weapons,

maybe has the better weapons in terms of, you know, Chris Godwin, Mike Evans, Gronkowski. You know, he's got some really good weapons down there. So that would be my only hesitation. But in terms of familiarity and making that smooth transition, it's Phillip Rivers all day. And I don't think it's that close. Also with Phillip Rivers, too, I've tweeted this before in the Locked On Colts account

last week that you compare him to Jacoby Brissett in 2018 and Drew Luck as far as time to throw and his release time. I think the Colts offense line should bounce right back to 2018 form Steven. They only allowed 18 sacks in 2018 19. I think they allowed 25 or so this past year but Jacoby Brissett I think had about 7 or 8 on himself

there because he has held the ball too long he missed so many open receivers. He was very hesitant and really I think missed so many good opportunities for those Colts offense. I think later in the year, we saw more and more that Frank Reich was honestly just not wanting to use Jacoby Brissett as a quarterback in the system. And I think Phillip Rivers had the exact same release time as Andrew Luck did in 2018. Jacoby Brissett was, I think, a half second longer than both those guys.

And if Andrew Luck and Phillip Rivers are the exact same as far as release time goes, Steven, this offense and this offensive line should bounce back to 2018 form, right? Yeah, and that's the biggest – that was the biggest – well, there's several big issues with Jacoby Brissett. But that was one of the biggest is that he held the ball in for too long. Phillip Rivers, he makes that decision. He's so familiar with the offense that he makes that decision and he goes. And at this stage in his career, he's seen pretty much everything that a defense is going to throw at him. And so he's going to know exactly where he's

going to go with the ball before the snap. And so that's going to make sure that the offensive line doesn't have to block as long. It's going to decrease sack numbers. And like I said, I think Phillip Rivers had a real opportunity. This is a low-key good bet if you really want to, like, throw a little extra cash on there. Again, not promoting gambling, but Phillip Rivers for MVP, you'd probably get pretty good odds on it right now. Yeah, I'd agree with you. I think on DraftKings it's like a plus 600 or 700 or something like that.

If I was a Colts fan, I would definitely pounce on that right away because I think Phillip Rivers just set up to bounce back to 2018 form where just two years ago he was an MVP candidate, led a charge to a 12-4 season. And on yesterday's episode, Stephen, I mentioned that I think the Colts are in a position to be a double-digit win team with Phillip Rivers. I think they're going to be 12-4. That was my prediction on the show yesterday,

and I think that's going to hold strong. And like you mentioned at the top, before we transition on to our next topic, as far as training camp storylines go, this Colts schedule in the first two months of the year, Steven, I think it's fair to say this team has a good shot going 7-0, eliminating home field advantage with COVID-19. I wonder how it's going to impact things, but you see this roster, you see Phillip Rivers being upgraded, Jacober stuff, I think by a huge margin there. Is it fair to say this Colts team, like you you mentioned could get really hot right away and hit the ground running maybe be seven and oh through the end of october

yeah i think that's legit and when i've made my my scheduled predictions on it i have a hard time having them not go seven and oh to start um just based on the teams that they play and when they play them and where. I sit there and I look and I go, all right, you know, you've got, you know, Jacksonville, Minnesota, the Jets, the Bears, the Browns, the Bengals, the Lions. That's how you start the year. That's your first seven games. You feel really confident as a Colts fan that none of those teams are probably going to beat you. Maybe the Browns. And that's about the only one. And then you, you've run into a little bit tougher section in there in the middle, but yeah, I said,

I typically have the Colts either going somewhere between the 12 and four 13 and three range over the course of a season, just because I don't see with this team and these players that the depth of this roster like this is maybe one of the deepest rosters we've seen in probably 20 years of the Colts and from top to bottom and I know that again people are going to say oh no that's ridiculous they have Super Bowl teams I think this is a legitimate Super Bowl team with the players that they have and with the defensive players they have in the offensive players they have so I'm right there with you with like having them be 12 11 12 13 wins I definitely think they get to double digits

I definitely think that they win the AFC South. And that's kind of where I'm at in terms of the schedule. I agree with you. I think they're going to lead that tier two as far as being right below Kansas City, right below Baltimore. And I really like their chances too in January football. And that leads me into my second storyline of this training camp

here as pads will be put on next week for the Colts. They are currently passing without shells right now. I wanted to hit on the running back position for this Colts team, Marlon Mack, Jonathan Taylor, Frank Reich has been adamant throughout the last few weeks. That's going to be a one, one sort of split between Marlon Mack, Jonathan Taylor here, but I just keep coming back to Jonathan Taylor,

keep seeing the videos of him, see the pictures of him in his Colts Jersey. He's an absolute freak show as far as physical specimen goes. He looks like a Saquon Barkley type, even bigger thanquon honestly when he came out Penn State Steven I think if I was in the Colts position and obviously Jonathan Taylor's gonna have to have a little bit of a adjustment period entering a new system he just arrived with the rookies a couple weeks ago but I really think by week four week six Steven Jonathan Taylor is too good to keep off the field for less than 50 percent 50 percent of the snaps for this Colts running back unit. I think he's going to have a couple monster games this year with Marlon Mack.

But what do you think of that 1-1 duo that Reich says with Mack, with Jonathan Taylor? And who do you see coming out on top in that running back group? Yeah, I think that in terms of the two of them, they both have some great traits. It's funny that you mentioned this Aquon Barkley comparison to Jonathan Taylor because if you look at the measurables from the two of them at the combine, they're almost identical except for Jonathan Taylor's heavier.

And so that's kind of the mind-blowing thing that people don't – they just look at the number of carries that Jonathan Taylor had and they look at the fumbles that he had. They like to try to dismiss him as comparing him to Saquon Barkley he's a really similar style of player to Saquon Barkley in terms of speed and size and just total package as a running back I think if we're we're saying end of year I think Jonathan Taylor probably takes it. I think they're going to work Marlon Mack to start and then kind of work, sprinkle in Jonathan Taylor. And like Frank Reich said, said that they're going to go with the hot hand.

So Marlon Mack's going to be the starter, I think, for the majority of the year. But that doesn't mean that he's going to get the most carries in a game. And so I think you're going to see a lot of games where Marlon Mack's the starter, gets, you know, 10, 10, 12 carries, but then Jonathan Taylor is going to get hot and they're going to give him 15 to 20 carries. And that's kind of where I think that they're probably going to go with it. But again, this running back position is very deep for the Colts and fan Colts fan

should be really excited about the depth that Chris Ballard's put together. Definitely agree to there. I'm going to be really excited to see this duo in action, especially Jonathan Taylor, because I think there's going to be games this year where just we see Taylor's film of Wisconsin. I think he's going to transition right into a huge role with this Colts offense. But let's transition on to another storyline here, Stephen. More and more, I know I've hit on this multiple times on the show throughout the last few months here, but I think when we finally see him in game action, Colts fans are just going to be stunned by the impact he makes on this defense, and

that's DeForest Buckner, because not only the front four, but also Darius Leonard, his secondary two, he's going to have less pressure on them. Already, not even taking a snap of this, Colton seems to be the best three-tech in Colton's franchise history. He's already entering into his prime as a 26-year-old. What do you think of DeForest Buckner learning this Colton defense and the impact he's going to make on India yeah I think that in terms of learning the defense I think it's probably pretty similar to what he ran at San Francisco and so what he did in 49ers I don't think that's

going to be much of a transition for him but in terms of the transition of having the different players behind him, DeForest Buckner has never had a player like Darius Leonard behind him. And Darius Leonard has never had a guy like DeForest Buckner in front of him. And those two are just going to feed off each other and just giving Darius Leonard more space, keeping him clean is he could legitimately get to 200 tackles this year if he stays healthy and I don't think that that's hyperbole at all I just think he's that good and DeForest Buckner is that good to where offensive lines have to account for him versus

before you could try to get a guy like try to to take D'Nico Atreu with one guy and and all that and you didn't feel as as bad about that so you could maybe release somebody to go take D'Nico Atreu with one guy and and all that and you didn't feel as as bad about that so you could maybe release somebody to go after Darius Leonard at least get in his way and kind of muddy the waters in front of him now you can't do that with DeForest Buckner there and like I said DeForest Buckner changes the dynamic of this defense on every level. He increases the ability of the interior defensive line to get a pass rush, which is huge. It's the reason why the New York Giants kept beating the New England Patriots in the Super Bowls all those years is because the New York Giants could get

that interior pressure in Tom Brady's face. And that was it. It's why Pete Manning had issues for years is because they would bring blitz pressures up into his face and it makes quarterbacks uncomfortable you're going to make Bobby Okereke's going to be clean Anthony Walker's going to be cleaner Darius Leonard's going to be cleaner you're going to have all these linebackers being able to fly around and with getting more pressure up the middle you're going to have less time for the quarterback to throw or they're going to be rushed which is going to make more

opportunities for those defensive backs so deforest buckner is one player that could significantly alter the course of this defense and it's not chris ballard sat there from day one and talked about the three technique and the three technique runs this thing three technique drives this defense and he's absolutely right and deforest buckner is arguably a top two top three three technique defensive tackle next to aaron donald and then i'm not sure who you take over deforest buckner at this point in their careers. I agree with you. I think Buckner's already a top three defense tackle in this league and entering into this Colts defense. He's going to be helped so much by Darius Leonard. So

helped so much by guys like Kamoko Ture, Justin Houston on the front four there too. I think this defense is poised for a top 10 year. And if this Colts defense, Steven, jumps into a top 10 defense, we already talked about the offensive Phillip Rivers. I think they're going to be really good this year. The familiarity is there already with Reich and Rivers and this offense with the new playmakers on board. Health permitting, I think they're going to be a top-10 offense too. I think the recipe is kind of coming in place here, Stephen.

If Buckner does make the impact we all expect on this defense, they're going to be top-10 on both sides of the ball here. And that's just hard to deny there. If this Colts team is really top-10 on both sides of the football there there you are built to be a legit title contender you had on this before in the show earlier Steven but I just keep coming back to this as we're talking more and more about it I think this Colts defense and this Colts overall this team this year could be a top five top seven team in the NFL themselves this year I think they're poised for a huge bounce back from 7-9. Yeah, and the crazy thing is, even the 7-9, they were, what, three, four kicks away from being

11-5. That's the crazy thing, is the talent that they had with Jacoby Brissett at quarterback and with Brian Hoyer at quarterback still almost – still won seven games last year and should have won more, should have had at least 10 wins last year. And now you upgraded Jacoby Brissett to Phillip Rivers from Jacoby Brissett and you upgrade your wide receiver position

and you upgrade your, your most important position on your defense. You upgrade your cornerback position with Xavier Rhodes. Like, like this Colts team got a lot better and people are just sleeping on them. And again, I am a fan. Don't get me wrong. But objectively speaking, on paper, this is a much, much better team than last year. And they were three or four kicks away from being a 10-win team, winning the AFC South outright. And so I think having a significant upgrade in quarterback, because Jacoby Reset was like, what, a bottom third quarterback? And Phillip Rivers is a top third quarterback. Quarterbacks really can make this

and again you just got the second best defensive tackle in the game into Forrest Buckner to be that centerpiece to your defense. This is a totally different Colts team and I think fans are going to love it and I think that they're going to have a legitimate opportunity to if they stay healthy to compete in the AFC and possibly compete for the Super Bowl I agree with you I think this Colts team is right up there in this AFC this year and one more as far as storylines go I think the training camp battles here on the surface are gonna be really fun to watch and I really wonder too, how it's going to be for a player like Xavier Rhodes, Rakia Sen. Let's have some camp battles here before we end today's show. And the first one we're having with you is that cornerback. I really wonder now with Marvell Tell being out the depth there,

they're going to add at least one or two guys there. But who do you think is going to be winning out that base package there as they roll out? You're going to have two corners out there, and you're going to, of course, have Kenny Moore out there for all the snaps. He plays at least in base on the outside all the time there. Who do you think is going to win that battle between Xavier Rhodes? He's on a one-year prove-it deal, and he's obviously motivated this year. Or Rocky Hussain, who really started to ascend the last part of the year? I think if we're just comparing Xavier Rhodes and Rocky Hussain,

you're probably going to give the leg up to Rocky Hussain, just based on familiarity in the defense. And the fact that if you watch the end of his season last year, he was really good at the cornerback position. Xavier Rhodes really kind of has to prove it, and he's not going to get an opportunity to show that in the preseason. And so if you're telling me I have to bet now on either Xavier Rhodes or Rocky Haseen I'm going to sway with Rocky Haseen just because he's a commodity that I know that's a strong commodity

and Xavier Rhodes is making that transition from that Minnesota defense to the Colts defense which is a little bit different so I'd feel a little bit more comfortable with Rocky Haseen in this situation. Last one I want to end with you as far as camp battles go there's really not much on the table here I know at YRC where there's some saying Zach Paschal might sneak in and take some snaps from Paris Campbell and Michael Cohen but I think if hope permits I really like the trio starting there and Paschal being a legitimate number four option is gonna be fun to watch there but T.Y. at one Pittman at the outside Harris in the slot and Paschal that's a really fun quartet there but really the main camp battle, I wanted to hang with you

before we close out today's show, Stephen. Bobby Okereke versus Anthony Walker for the mic spot. I keep waffling back and forth each day about it. Who do you think gets the nod there at mic? We'll probably see it as split there with Walker playing a lot of rundowns and Okereke playing a lot of pass downs there. But who do you think gets the nod as far as starting games? Man, that's a great question.

I think by the end of the season, you're probably going to see it as Bobby Okereke gets the majority of the snaps and when they run the two linebacker set. So when you're running nickel, nickel and dime, like I think you're probably going to see Bobby Okereke. I could see them playing more base defense because of the speed of Okereke and Darius Leonard. You're basically having a bigger version of a safety, and they're at a linebacker position. And so I could see them running base defense and running all three.

But if you're going to make me choose between the two, I think that you're probably going to see Bobby Okereke come out in the end, just because of how high the Colts are on him and the fact that Anthony Walker is on the last year of his deal. Now, that being said, Anthony Walker being on the last year of his deal, this is a prove it year for him. Guys tend to play when their paychecks are on the line. And so for me, I'm leaning towards Bobby Okereke, but I could see them definitely splitting, like you said, and it's probably going to be more likely they're going to split snaps more than anything else. Steven, I always enjoy talking with you. We're back in the group here on Locked on Colts. We'll be with you guys five days a week starting next week.

And as we get closer and closer to the Colts ball, you're going to be hearing a lot more from Steven and the rest of our guests we have all throughout this year. Steven, I appreciate the time. You can go follow him on Twitter at NiceReadSteven. Go read his work and listen to his work over at Stampede Blue. Appreciate the time, Steven. Thanks, Evan. Have a great one.