Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - COLTS SQUAD SHOW: Backups BRUTAL | Few Positives in Blowout Loss to Falcons, QB battle update, more!

Episode Date: August 22, 2026

The Colts' backups were absolutely brutal in a blowout loss to the Falcons, but there were a few positive individual performances to discuss. The Squad sifts through four awful quarters to find those standouts, gives an update on the extremely underwhelming QB2 battle, and discusses the fragility of this roster overall as it pertains to the team's hopes for success this upcoming season. Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:  🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/  📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQ  Give the squad a follow on X/Twitter @Schultz975, @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @allenpinkett, @colts_hit, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOn_SI, as well as on TikTok and Instagram!  Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More  🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/lockedoncolts  Everydayer Club  If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COM to play Daily Dingers and make your free pick on who’s hitting a homer this MLB season.   KALSHI For a limited time,Download the Kalshi app and use code [LOCKEDON] to get $10 when you trade $10. Square Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at https://square.com/go/lockedonnfl! #squarepod Gametime Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Welcome to the Colts Squad Show. I'm Derek Shultz, and the Colts give me my Saturday afternoon back. Yeah, I'm Zach Hicks, and that was one of those lifeless performances I've seen in the preseason before. And I'm Alan Pinkett, former Oil. We need to get down on our knees right now and pray for the starters health. Colts Nation, rise up. It's the Colts Squad, everything Indianapolis Colts every week. Covering all the big hits and game-changing plays from the Surveillance. City the way only the locked on podcast network can. It's time to squad up. The Colt Squad Joe starts now.

Welcome to the Colts Squad show. Today's show brought you by CalShe for a limited time. Download the Calci app and use code locked on to get $10 when you trade $10. I'm Derek Schultz, long time indie sports talker. I'm joined by a nerd name legend and longtime NFL running back in Alan Pinkett, along with Lockdown Colts daily host Zach Hicks. Jake Arthur is tied up with post game duties. over at Lucas Loyal Stadium following just a brutal football game,

a 34-6 loss by the Colts to the Falcons that frankly didn't even feel that close. Did it feel like a 28-point loss, felt like an 82-point loss? We got a lot to sift through this afternoon, including just recapping a craptacular, for lack of a better term, overall performance from the Colts reserves, just offense, defense, team-wide. It was sloppy. It was bad. missed angles, missed assignments.

There was just a lot of bad from the Colts in that game. We'll talk about it in segment number one. We will get into our standout performers. This isn't a very lengthy list, but there were some individuals who perform well, including one who we've praised before so far this preseason. And another one who Alan Pinkett's got a lot of his eggs in that basket. We'll talk about him too.

If you guys are longtime listeners and watchers, the Colts Squad Show. I think you know who I'm talking about. And also we'll go on the other side, like, who is actually played poorly enough in the preseason to work themselves closer to the cut line or even jumping over the cut line. We'll lean a little bit more on Zach Hicks when it comes to that in segment number two. In segment three, the quarterback two battle, I mean, if we even want to call it that, it feels like a race to the bottom. Both of those guys, in fairness to Ryan Leonard and Anthony Richardson, the offensive line was so bad that maybe you give them a little little bit of the break, but still, you know, Leonard, very

overwhelming. Anthony Richardson just kind of scattershot in his reps. We'll talk about that in segment number three. And then segment number four, just kind of the, the 100,000 foot view, right? Like, what does this all mean? Yeah, it's a preseason game. There are a lot of players playing in this game that probably aren't going to be playing for the Colts, God willing, coming up here in September, October, November, and December. But just we already had concerns about roster depth and roster fragility overall are those more pronounced now by kind of what we've seen so far in this preseason and through training camp. And we'll talk about that to round out today's show.

But Zach, let's just kind of start overall thoughts. We knew going into this game that, you know, preseason game two has sort of become what preseason game four used to be when it was a four game schedule, or it was kind of like the throwaway game, or was a bunch of the guys that I think you make the joke, you know, they're going to be playing it. They're going to be at Home Depot, you know, coming up in a couple of weeks, right? So guys that probably aren't going to make the team. That said, a really listless performance. And the one thing that I'm kind of big on is you got to be able to at least control what you can control.

No one can control their talent level or development level, right? I mean, at this point for some of these guys, but the penalties, just killer. You know, the Colts committing some on kickoff returns and things like that that just put them behind the eight ball, just a really miserable afternoon over there at Lucas Oil Stadium. Yeah, at least when it comes to the preseason, like if you're going to get your butt kicked, at least do it in like fun fashion, you know, at least let it be like you're trading some scores here and there, you're making some highlight plays. Like Alan always says about like practices in the offseason, right? It's like you want to make that one standout play. Like even if you have some

negative moments or you have some bad fits and stuff like that, at least make something like flashy and something fun. There was nothing from that when it came to the Colts in this game. It was just a dreadful, boring listless performance where most of the team just felt like they didn't show up. And look, that's going to cost a lot of these guys their jobs, right? This was like your final showing to see if you really deserve to be on the team because next week, the Colts are going to treat it like a game week. They're going to come out and have their starters play, I mean, outside of like Daniel Jones, but they'll have their starters play like the whole like first quarter or maybe a couple of drives in that first quarter.

And then it'll be like the guys who are probably making the team will get some run after that. So for these guys who are like third and fourth and fifth strings, this was your final chance to really show that you had anything to give. And I thought like a lot of guys look dreadful in this game. So it's just not what you want to see. It certainly is a little bit reflective on the general manager for sure for like, why is the state of the roster this way? Why are guys just getting blown off the football and just not putting their best foot forward and missing tackles left and right? how come the offensive line depth is so bad that we can't even complete a pass without our quarterbacks getting hit? It's not that you want these guys to be great because their top seven offensive linemen didn't play in this game.

So I understand it's going to be a bit of a struggle, but we can't even get the ball out of the quarterback. We can't even get the ball into the quarterback's hand because we can't snap the ball correctly. And Dalton Tucker was the guy who was having issues of that in training camp. He didn't even play center in this game. It was the other guys, Olin Croutts's kid, and Jimmy Morrissey were out there playing center for most of the game, and they could even set the ball street, you know, for half of the game. So, yeah, it was just a dreadful performance from top to bottom. I guess that there is a silver lining.

Again, like when it came to the offensive line, the top seven offensive line on the team didn't play. The top running back didn't play. The top quarterback didn't play. The top, like, six receivers on the team didn't play. Top five or six receivers didn't play. Tight-in, the top four guys didn't play. Like, is it even fair to go out there without Will Mallory?

The Colts on-off splits with Will Mallory this preseason are probably fascinating. They're probably averaging like 10 yards of play with Will Mallory and like two yards of play without him in this preseason. So, you know, that maybe your silver lining is just like not really anybody of note played on offense. And on defense, again, like the guys of note who played are going to be like essentially like game day inactives like your Caden Curry's and George Gumbs. I don't expect them to play much this year. So yeah, we'll see. I mean, there certainly are some negatives takeaway. We'll talk about that later on in the show.

but you want to see more energy from guys who were fighting for their lives, and they just didn't show it in this game. But that's why they're probably not going to be on NFL teams here in a couple days or a couple weeks because they just weren't able to take advantage of this opportunity for themselves. So, Derek, I learned something new in your open that in the old days, the second preseason game was the throwaway game. And it got me to thinking, that's why Green Bay started me in the second preseason game. in my last year because it was the throwaway game.

Here I am thinking, okay, I'm going up to depth chart. What, eight year in the league? And, you know, they got some other folks and they started me. That's because it was a throwaway game. But anyway, I'll preface my remarks by saying this. It's so much easier to dump on a team when they do bad than it is to praise them when they do good. But the Colts gave us plenty, plenty of stuff to dump on them about.

And, you know, being a former player and knowing that the starters aren't out, you know, should be an opportunity for these younger kids to go out and shine, to play like your life depends on it. I expected a lot more urgency out of some players. And I understand you can't do it by yourself. You know, it takes all 11 guys in one unit for something to happen. And if one guy blows an assignment, it can blow up the whole play or blow up the entire defense. But it just, like I said, when we came on, we need to pray for the health of the starters that they don't get hurt because some of the backups you have.

behind right now, you don't have a lot of confidence in. And that's a bad spot to be in. And, you know, I'm trying to give you a player perspective why something like that happens. But sometimes, you know, a certain vibe can come over a team where nobody gives a darn. And I don't think that's what happened, but you hope that you have leaders around that can inspire you to play better. But in this situation, I would hope that each guy knows they can look at the numbers now. What do they have? Like over 90 guys in camp right now? They got to cut to 53.

All right? And if you're not playing first or second team right now, you know, what do you have to lose? when you go out and just go make a play, you know, and do something that's going to make you shine. But, yeah, this was, this was kind of pitiful. And the 34 that Atlanta put up, you know, they did, you know, call off the dogs with two minutes left and they were down about a goal line and decided that, you know, we did enough to this team. We'll show them some pity. And I did rate down, I guess, one statistic, because I'm not the big statistics guy, but the one statistic that's kind of stuck out to me is the defense's first stop came at 706 in the second quarter.

So, I mean, it was just Atlanta looked like a Super Bowl team almost the way they were moving the ball. and, you know, both running and passing. And like I said, it just made me hope that, oh, these starters got to stay healthy. Yeah, I mean, you know. I think that was going to be the case regardless this year for the Colts, right? Yeah. We always knew the season was going to come down to Mooney and Sauce and Buckner and Jones and Taylor and Pierce, like all these guys being pretty healthy this year.

And that was the big concern, obviously, right? Because a lot of those guys were dealing with big injuries or coming off major injuries because the depth of this roster is not very good. And I think we can, I mean, if people want to come away with that conclusion from this game, I'm perfectly fine with that because there have been a lot of issues with, like, the depth on this team in recent years. So, yeah, I understand being concerned about that. But this year was always going to come down to the health of those top players regardless.

And maybe this just makes it even more of a pressing matter for this Colts team, though, because the drop off is pretty steep. Yeah, and there are some things like, you know, mentioned the offensive line depth, and I'm getting twice. tweets about it. The offensive line depth sucks. Offensive line depth sucks across the board. Everybody's offensive line depth sucks. So there are some areas where you're just like, look, look, look, if you don't have your top seven offensive linemen, it's probably going to look a little bit like it looked today, right? But the rest of it, too, when you combine all of that

and just to be outclassed by another team who kind of is doing the same thing, right? I think that's where it's a little bit disheartening. But, Alan, you talk about stats and things like that, and I'm not going to do a deep dive on box score when it comes to a preseason game, especially the second preseason game, but the one that really stuck out to me, you know, Atlanta 10 of 19 on third and fourth, Colts one of 11. I mean, it just, it just felt like every drive was a three and out, pretty much. That's how it felt because that's the way that it looked. They were in third and longs constantly and they couldn't get anything done or when they did

get something done and you're like, all right, first down, here comes the penalty flag and then it's coming on back. and then, you know, they dig themselves a deeper hole. And so, you know, there's just, it's one of those games where after this post-game show, and I want all you guys watching, I want you guys to keep watching, right? Let's never talk about this game again, right? It's one of those sort of games for the cults. But I want to put a pin in what you said, Zach, because I do think, you know, when we get to

the end of the show in segment four, kind of, like I said, 100,000-foot view, I want to kind of talk about, you know, takeaways from the long run. about what this means and kind of going into some of those themes that we've discussed on this show about what happens when you couple together a bunch of drafts that aren't very good and what happens to the depth of your team and it ends up showing you don't always see it right away but it just kind of builds year after year after year and then you're in that position where you're like oh crap you know these guys that we should have developed this special team's player or this guy that's our third line but you know whatever else and you just don't have that because you swung and missed on on some of those

picks but there are some standout performers to talk about and I do want to do that coming up here in in segment number two but I did want to talk about just let's get the negative out of the way here Zach real quick while we're in the kind of the final minutes of segment number one you know some guys that are maybe playing their way towards the cut line or maybe have even played their way over the cut line that we weren't expecting and and I really wanted to get your take on Bichai Blackman because I think we were under the assumption that he was, you know, this is a guy that started, what, 10, 11, 12 games last year, that that he was going to be safe as part of their cornerback death. But my God, he has just had a miserable preseason so far. Yeah, and he's still getting run only in like the first and second quarter of these games too.

So you would think that they still view him as a guy that's going to be on the roster. But oh, my God, he is in it. He's in his head right now. He is not playing well at all. He's just getting burned left and right. it's not even by like good players either. These are guys who are going to be on the street next week as well. You know, like he's not getting burned by Drake London out there.

He's getting toasted by, you know, I don't even know the names of the receivers that are beating it. You know, I think Matt Collins beat him last week. That's like the best receiver that's beat him in the preseason. You just can't be in that headspace as a corner. You know, you have to have a level of arrogance to you. And he's got so much, like he's just in his head so bad. He's got so many penalties right now.

and when he's not holding or tackling a receiver, he's giving up a long catch. So I just don't know what you do with that right now. I feel fine about the top four quarter. Cam Taylor Britt was one of the standouts in this game at Slot Corner. Like his run fits were awesome from the slot corner position. But after the top four, every other guy has been pretty dreadful, except for Jalen Jones, who's been good in the preseason,

but he can't get on the field before, like, at a halfway point of the third quarter. So, I mean, he's playing out there against me and Allen, essentially, in these games. so I don't know like I don't know like how the Colts actually feel about him. So yeah, Mackay Blackman, man, I mean, you are doing everything you can to test that roster security. I feel like if he just didn't show, if he just would have said his foot hurt going to these last two games, he'd be safe on the roster. But because he's going out there and playing like this, I don't know if he's safe right now because he's been so bad out there on the field.

And I'll tell you, I'll throw this in. You know, I've been on teams where a corner has struggled. and as a teammate, you just try to lift him up as much as possible. But I also understand the fan perspective. You know, the fan perspective is get his ass out of there. You know, because they ain't doing nothing but hurting the team. You know, but I know. It was at that point in a preseason game.

Yeah. It was like, oh, we have to get him out there so we can actually evaluate other players because you're not evaluating anything because he's getting beat so bad. I mean, he committed two penalties on one play. they had to turn one of them down. Like, we're not going to take the whole thing, but we'll take the DPI instead. It's just, you know, I thought the pass interference flag on the,

I think it was a fourth down play. Yeah. Was it wasn't that late. Yeah, a little tick tacky, right? But still, you know, Alan, you know this is a former player, right? When it rains, it pours. And it just felt like it's pouring right now for Mackay Blackman, unfortunately.

Let's shift to the positive. There's always some good, in bad performances, but we may have had to dig a little deeper for the good in that 34 to 6 loss. We'll discuss when the cold squad show returns next. This portion of the cold squad show brought you by five hour energy. There are certain flavors that instantly feel like summer. And for a lot of people, those classic red, white, and blue freezer pops are right at the top of the list. Sweet cherry, lime, blue raspberry, it's one of those nostalgic summer flavors everybody recognizes.

Now five hour energies bring that flavor combination into the new firework, freeze five hour energy shot blending sweet cherry zesty lime and electric blue raspberry into one refreshing shot inspired by those iconic summer freezer pops i think you guys call them bomb pops out here we call them firecrackers back east i i didn't grow up in indiana but my folks were from here so when my grandparents were still living we would spend every summer out here with our cousins and family uncles aunts and all of that where fireworks were actually legal which was nice because We didn't have that in Connecticut. And I just really miss those backyard barbecues with Roman candles and chasing lightning bugs and five-hour energies, nostalgic freezer pop flavor.

It just kind of hits me right in the fields. That cherry, the lime, the blueberry raspberry combo really tastes like summer and conjures up some of those fun childhood memories out here in the Midwest. Ignite your taste buds with the flavor of summer. Get a firework freeze five-hour energy shot today. For more information, visit five-hour energy. And we're back, locked on Colts show, squad show, postgame show, recapping. We're not really doing much recapping of it. It's a game that everybody would like to forget.

The Colts lose to the Falcons 34 to 6, but talking about some of the individual performers, which is what we always do when it comes to the preseason games. But wanted to remind you before we jump into some of the good from this afternoon's game, don't forget about the Everydayer Club, which is always good and never bad. Don't forget to check out the Everydayer Club for ad-free episodes and access to your chat with Jake, Zach, and other listeners of Lockedon Colts. Tap the link in the show notes or go to locked on podcast.com slash every day or club. We're here with Zach Hicks, Locked on Colts co-host, Jake Arthur with some post-game duties at Lucas Loyal Stadium as we speak.

He's probably trying to get the hell out of there, too, just like everybody else did early. And then our friend Alan Pinkett's a long time NFL running back as we talk Colts again after preseason game number two. So some good individual performances. And I had mentioned, you know, two guys that I kind of wanted to start with here. one that we've talked about already because he was great in preseason game number one. And he's really been one of the nice surprises of camp. George Gums Jr. I think again just felt like he was all over the field.

And I don't know what the box score said. I don't remember, you know, quarterback hits, things like that. But I just think, you know, eye test wise, he looked good to me. Zach, I'll ask you about how you felt about George Gums Jr. And then Alan, your guy, Dionne Burks had a couple of plays. Even they got called back. Unfortunately, had a really nice return to start the game. Got called back.

I think he had another catch that was called back for offensive line hold or something like that. But still, like I noticed Dionne Burks, whereas I felt like I haven't noticed Dion Brooks a lot so far in this preseason and through training camp. But, Zach, let's start with Gumbs. I mean, I don't want to put too much cart in front of the horse here, but this really is a prospect that excites me right now, just with the fact that he feels like he's much more farther along than I think anyone could have hoped. Yeah, I think with him, the pass rush is going to be a work in progress. we could kind of see that in a game like this where a lot of the pass rushes did look very ineffective on the outside. He's so athletic and so twitchy, but he just doesn't know what he's

doing right now as a pass rusher. But the reason why I liked him a lot as a prospect is because you're betting on a guy who has those traits, but he's so, like, energetic and so, like, all over the place and powerful, and he can play against the run fairly well for his size, too. Like, you don't want him, you know, having to roll inside and have to take on a guard one on one, but he can break the blocks of tight ends pretty easily, track down running backs. He can play on the backside of plays and run them down. I think that there is some utility in a player like him. I think we're going to see him on the field a little bit this season with what he's shown in

the offseason here. So I thought George Gums Jr. played pretty well. Other guys who stood out for me, Coleman Owen, I think as a return guy, is just he's easily the best punt returner. I know he's the only one we're seeing in the games here, but he's looked really good, returning punts. and I want to find a way to get him on this roster because who else is returning punts if it's not him? Because he's the only guy who's done it, really, this whole offseason here.

He's looked really good doing so, so I think you certainly need to find a way to get him on the roster. Let's see, what else? Tim Smith had some good moments. He couldn't tackle anybody, but he was getting through the line at least. So Tim Smith, I mean, he probably had like six attempts at making tackles and came up with like two of them. But he was at least disrupting guys and getting in the backfield. And like we talked about in the first segment, like you at least want to see guys flash, and he did flash a little bit in those moments. Probably another guy that Allen likes is Anderson Castle had a really fun game out there.

And again, when you put it in perspective of this offensive line couldn't block anybody, having a running back play as well as Castle did. And this one I thought was very notable. You know, he was running through contact really well, ran over a safety at one point in this game too, had a really nice play where he cut back to the outside after setting up a defender to the inside. so Castle, I thought, looked good. Seth McGowan looked really good, too. Like, he had, like, two really nice pass blocking pickups that I thought were, like, the best thing I've seen

from a Colts running back this offseason. And then you had a couple nice runs from him as well. So I think there were some good in there. And also, I mean, you just have to throw in Dionne Burks, finally, like, really breaking through and showing why the Colts drafted him, right? Because it seemed like he was lagging behind someone like a Coleman Owen or even, like, Lequan Treadwell, who was running with the first team all offseason.

And Dionne Burks, every time he got out there with the first team, was getting thrown out for not lining up correctly by Shane Steichen in practice. So getting him out there with Leonard, a little bit with Richardson as well, seeing him make some catches. He had that one big return early. He had a gunner rep late in the game, too, where he forced the guy to the short side of the field, and then he got wrapped up by, I think, Juanier Thomas after that.

I thought he did a really nice job as a gunner, too. So Dionne Burke's, like, finally making his mark. It felt like, like we were waiting for him to do this, and I think he really helped himself. in this game where, you know, most guys didn't help themselves. Like in a game where pretty much everyone hurt themselves, Dionne Burks did some good that potentially might have helped themselves. So I do think that was a big takeaway for me was how well Alan's guy played in this game.

That is my guy. And I was glad to see him get some run because even going down to watch practice, wasn't seeing a lot of them. You know, so it was good to see him get his hands on the ball and be used in different situations. I think he can feel good coming out of this game, knowing that he's probably going to be on the final 53. We always say as players, the more you can do, more valuable you'll be. So if he can be a gunner and can return kicks as well as come in and catch a couple passes, you know, maybe he threatens Laquan Treadwell's tenure here, but I guess the Colts said they wanted to get younger and faster,

and they do that if Dionne Burks is in. A couple other guys, it's going to sound like an echo, but Castle did stand out to me. I just admire just the grit and the hardness he runs with. the nice forward body lean, and he doesn't get knocked back. He always has his pads forward, good pad level, and just gets positive yards. I guess what, he was eight for 41 today, which, you know, from a defense that really limited to Colts in their production. And Seth McGowan, I'm going to cheer for him because he wears number 20, you know.

He's a great number. Yeah, but he looks more and more like the person that can compliment Jonathan Taylor. You know, none of the backs in there are going to take his place or disrupt the number of carries that he's going to get. But you just don't want when he goes out of the game for there to be too big of a step down. You want somebody that can, you know, maintain. And I think Seth McGowan gives them an opportunity to do that. And then on defense, I kind of like Bryce Betcher. I just felt like he was around the ball a lot, you know.

And, you know, anytime you get around the ball, usually something good can happen. But what did jump off the screen was George Gumbs and his athleticism. and he's so raw right now. But the athleticism is a thing that's making him really sort of, you know, spurred out there and be visible. And, you know, when you get to the regular season, you know, just being athletic is not going to be good enough, you know, because now you're paying against some of the highest paid people in the league

and some of these offensive tackles that are used to dealing with athletic people. But he's flashing right now. And I think he's a guy that'll be a nice change of pace and add to the depth. And it looked like to me that the pass rush was just a little bit better. It looks like they were getting close. But this Cooper Rush, you know, is not, you know, some dude off the street. You know, he's played enough games where he knows he's got that clock in his head to know, okay, ball needs to come out.

So he wasn't threatened at all. But that's my assessment of the good. Yeah, so I'm going to just go through some guys who I think I've hurt themselves, not only just in this game, but I think in the preseason in general so far. And then you guys can kind of react after that. I think the most notable name, though, that has just underwhelmed or wellmed at best, maybe, is Jalen to him a lowout. Like, we just have not seen anything from him through these two preseason games.

And he is not going against starters at all in these two. preseason games. He's gone against backup tackles in both games, and I think the run defense has just been dreadful, to say the least. I think the pass rushing has been just, I mean, to be, like, blunt, like ineffective, I guess from him. And we've seen more from Curry and Gums. Now, Currie and Gums are going against even worse talent than he has because they're coming in after him, and they're playing against, like, third and fourth stringers. So that does need to come into effect, but like, like Clemens is playing on the other side during his snaps, and Clemens looks better. Not saying Clemens looks good either, but like, it looks better than Jaylen Toa and

low out this all season. It's been bad. The back of nose tackles, the two veterans that Chris got signed, Derek Nottie and Jerry Tilleri, I just, I cannot wait for cut down day. I know I've been so brutally blunt about these two players since day one, but like on Tyler Goodson's long touchdown run, Jerry Tillerie was like basically pushed all the way to Avon or whatever. Like, he was not on the field in that, on that play. Like, he was run out of the picture on that play. Like, what are you doing here? The center was able to reach CJ Allen with ease,

and then it was a one-on-one with the safety after that. It's just dreadful. Like, it just cannot happen, especially for a guy who's been in the NFL as long as he had, you're going against backups, and you can't even just hold your ground a little bit. So that, I think all, like, cornerbacks five through nine of all hurt themselves,

like tremendously this offseason in the games, from Edwards to Blackman. talked about Carter. And then, I mean, again, Jalen Jones has played well. He's just not getting any run with anybody notable. So it's a little bit concerning for him.

Riley Leonard, though, look, he's not going to get cut because Shane Steichen likes him, but, ooh, the two preseason games have been rough. He has looked shaky, not confident. And look, I know this offensive line has just been awful,

but he has not looked good at all. And there just because, again, I'm just on a roll right now. Get Blake Freeland out of here, man, at left tackle. Look, again, I know there's maybe, there is maybe 40 adequate offensive tackles in the league, right? Like, it is probably the most talent-depraved position in all of sports is offensive tackle, right? If you don't have a decent one, you're going to have a really bad one. But like Blake Freeland, man, like, through two precinct games, we can't even evaluate these quarterbacks because he's just getting beat every single play.

He's so tall and stiff and just cannot bend whatsoever. He's getting beat inside and outside. Like, we can't evaluate these quarterbacks at all. I mean, gosh, Richardson and Leonard were getting hit on every single dropback. And like, it's one thing to be upset about like, okay, like Jimmy Morrissey can't snap. Jimmy Morrissey was a futures contract guy in February. Whatever, if he can't snap, right? We know he can't snap.

That's why he's available then. Blake Freeland was a fourth round pin. that's on his fourth year with the team. Like there is some level of expectation there, and he can't block 10th string defensive ends. Like, it's just we can't have that out there. And they can't have, I mean, Josh Sills, Josh Sills playing offensive tackle for the first time,

probably since high school at Wright tackle, looked better than him in this game. So, yeah, it's just you can't even get a proper evaluation of the offense because Blake Freeland, your former fourth round pick, can't even just get in the way. I'm way more passionate about offensive line, and that's why I'm going harder on him here. But like, it's just, oh, my gosh.

Again, there was a lot to be upset about. I want to at least vent for the fans here. So I'm assuming in the comments, they're probably agreeing with me here. But there were a couple things where it's like, oh, my gosh, we just cannot have these guys on the field this year. Yeah, I don't think you're going to find many Blake Freeland defenders. Because you're right.

At this point, it's like, okay, what are we doing here with this? This isn't a second year guy or even a third year guy. I know he was hurt last year, so maybe this is the injury too, but like, he wasn't good before the injury. So like, I can't give you the benefit of a doubt there. Yeah, at what point you just call it, right? You mentioned the quarterback, Zach. Where are we in the backup quarterback battle? We'll give our take on how they stack up when the Colt Squad Show returns next.

This portion of the Cold Squad Show brought you by Kalshi before the season even kicks off. Everyone's making predictions. Who wins the division? Who makes the playoffs? Who's lifting the trophy? at season's end. On Cal She, America's number one prediction market platform, you could trade those predictions in a live market where the Colts qualify for the playoffs this season. As of today, and I'm surprised maybe this didn't go down, Indianapolis holding steady at 38%, meaning a $100

trade would pay out over $252 if they clinch a playoff spot. You probably don't want to do this after what you just watched this afternoon, but if you felt like it, you could do this a $100 trade for the Colts to win the whole thing. Sorry, I'm trying not to laugh about it. Win the championship. That would pay out over 4,600 bucks if they raise the Lombardi. That's not all they have when Calci comes to predictions, though. You can trade in other categories like division champion, conference champion.

And of course, like I said, whoever's going to win at all. You could do that right now on Calci. On Calci, you are trading against peers in a live market, meaning there is no house. And as the probability changes, you can buy in and out of your position. trade the draft pick, the game, and more on Cali. Download the Cali app and use code locked on to get $10 when you trade $10. K-A-L-S-H-I. K-L-S-H-I. Calci, trade on anything. 18 and over only. Restrictions and eligibility requirements apply. Event contract trading involves risks. It may not be suitable for all investors. Cali products are not available in all jurisdictions. Prices, values, and available markets may differ from those mentioned. For more information, see calci.com slash regulatory.

And we're back on the locked on cold squad show rolling right along here after Indies 34 to 6 loss to the Falcons earlier this afternoon, Lucas Oil Stadium homo. But I will say, as long as the NFL offseason is, it's always just reassuring. And it feels good to see Lucas Oil Stadium again. Feels good to see him run out in the blue and the beautiful white helmets and the iconic horse. shoe and all of that. I mean, that kind of hits me in the fields. Then the game started and everything else was terrible, but at least the very beginning, that always kind of puts me in a good mood, shows that the season is right around the corner here as we continue to talk Colts and where

they stack up as they head into the 2026 regular season. Let's talk quarterbacks because really for a game that was so heavily reliant on reserves and guys that were not expecting to necessarily be impact players for the 2026 Colts, barring some disastrous circumstances. I think that's where a lot of the attention was. Riley Leonard started this game. So they did the flip-flop. Anthony Richardson started game one,

then went to Leonard, flipped. Leonard played the entire first half. Leonard played, Richardson played the second here. As Zek, you had mentioned, maybe you're grading a little bit on a curve because they were under duress for a lot of that game.

Let's start with Leonard. there's just something. And again, this is like, I test stuff. This is maybe a little bit subjective on my part. He doesn't look as comfortable as he did. You go back and you watch that game against Houston. And it's his first NFL start, right?

And it just felt like he was out there just kind of letting it go. Like you wouldn't, I don't know if you would have been able to tell necessarily just from his body language and from how he approached that game that that was his first start and that he was playing apprehensive. And now it just feels like, I don't want to say happy feet or anything like that, but it just, it feels like a less confident Riley Leonard that we're seeing here. I'm not sure if that's the pressure of knowing the battle that he's in here and the opportunity

that he faces. But just overall, I think I put it on X. Very underwhelming performance, again, from Riley Leonard. And underwhelming may just be kind. I think that actually describes his entire preseason to this point. Yeah, no, for sure. I mean, he got his golden opportunity because I think throughout the training camp practices, it was pretty even between these two quarterbacks.

It was a good back and forth battle, with Leonard probably even getting more of the second team reps throughout all of the training camp practices. So he just really needed to respond to what Richardson showed in that first preseason game with a steady showing today. And he just did not do that, right? And again, there are some compounding variables here,

like how the offensive line didn't even have, I mean, Jalen Farmer and Luke Tenuda played in the first game. They didn't play in this one, right? So that certainly is a factor here. and some other aspects of that. But what you really want to see from your quarterback is just comfortability back there. You want to see him hit that back foot. Even if it's just like focusing in on one read, it's the preseason, right?

Like we're not expecting you to go through all your progressions and make this legendary play, right? Like make sure that you are identifying pre-snap what you're seeing because nobody's really disguising that much in the preseason. Hit your back foot and just release the ball accurately and on time. If receivers don't make a play, they don't make a play, you know? but you don't want to see a quarterback back there getting happy feet, just looking lost in the pocket, throwing balls at players' feet like we saw on a couple occasions.

I mean, there was one play that really stuck out where I think it was like a third and short where he had Coleman Owen wide open on a spot route, and he just threw it at Owen's feet. Like, no pressure on him on that play, no anything. He was just already so rattled that he threw that ball right at Owen's feet. And it's just those are the plays that lose this battle, not getting sacked in the back field after two seconds, because we know that you're not going to have this type of thing in a real game.

But those type of plays where you're hitting your back foot, third and three, can you get it to the spot route and you can't do that? You're not going to be a backup quarterback even with that kind of deficiency. So, yeah, I just think that he certainly hurt himself by playing in these preseason games and did not do himself any favors. And, you know, like we'll get to Anthony Richard in the second. I don't think Richardson was like perfect in the preseason, but you certainly saw a lot more from him, even if, again,

and there were still some of that volatility with Richardson. You just saw a lot more from him in these two preseason games than you did from Riley Leonard. Well, I'll tell you the one thing that stood out to me about AR more than Riley was poise in the pocket. You know, it seemed like if a guy was coming at him, he would just step to the side a little bit, try to brush him off, kept his eyes downfield, wasn't necessarily looking to run first. And I don't know if Stuyken is saying to both of these quarterbacks, you know, don't be so quick to run. We got guys coming open, you know, I will attribute their lack of playmaking to the fact that they were under duress most of the time. Yeah.

And, I mean, that does wear on a quarterback, you know, to where, shoot, if a defensive end, just screams they might go down because they know they're getting ready to get hit. So I think that their inability to make a lot of plays was due to that. But I did, it just did seem to me that Anthony Richardson just was, he looked comfortable in the pocket, whether they made the right read or not, but he looked comfortable in the pocket. He held it to the ball a little bit longer. both have good feet and can scramble.

And I think they pick the right times to to scramble most of the time. But as far as being a legitimate QB2, I throw my hands up. I don't know which one is better at this point. I will say with Richardson, at least I think that there is a path to, like again, with the backup quarterback,

your goal is always who can get us the one win if they need to start a game, right? Who can we win a game with? Who can we win? Like, if the quarterback had to come in in like the third quarter, who can get us the win? And I think there's just an easier path

with Richardson because you obviously have the explosive plays, because you have the rushing ability, because you have just all of his natural... I mean, there were several plays in this game too where I still think that his overall feel for where pressure is in the pocket can get better

because there were a couple hits he was like about to take where I don't think he even felt the rusher about to hit him. But he's just so big and powerful that the rusher is. fell off of him because he's just, that's just how he's always been. I mean, the one play that stands out is that like four-yard scramble he had in the fourth quarter where a dude's coming in from behind him is all over him. You're like, okay, here comes another like 10-yard sack. And then all of a sudden,

he's running up the left side and he gets that four-yard gain. Now, he tried to truck a defender, like Anthony, get down into the preseason, man. Get down and slide. But I think just showing that ability. I think that, like, that's the stuff that you can win with when it comes to a backup quarterback. Daniel Jones is still the starter. I'm not trying to say that Richardson should be starting over him, but you can find ways to win with that. Where Leonard, I think the only path you really had is if he showcased that he could run a Daniel Jones level offense with the same poise and accuracy and just finding the right

read. But if he's going to look as chaotic as he has in this preseason, there's no upside there, right? Because at least with Richardson, you can go, like I think Rick Venturi actually said it really well in the broadcast. You can go to kind of this college-y type of offense where, you can go to, you can go to kind of this college-y type of offense. you're in the gun or you're in pistol and every single play, you're doing read options and RPO's and you're just telling Richardson, we're either going to run the ball or you're going

to hit your back foot, look to the out route and just rifle a ball to the out route and the guy's going to get eight yards and we're going to move the ball methodically up the field that way. Right? I think Richardson can do that. Where Leonard, if he's looking chaotic like this, you can't do the same things that you can with Richardson. So I think if you're looking at just the preseason here, Richardson clearly put the better foot forward and should be your backup quarterback.

maybe they saw more in the practices and stuff that says otherwise, but you just can't have an archetype like Daniel Jones, like Riley Leonard is. You can't have that archetype be like fidgety and chaotic back there and unpredictable. You have to be quick with your read. You have to get that ball out of your hands to the right decision maker, right, right player, and have them be able to create after the catch. If you can't get the ball out of your hands, at least Richardson, if he's getting hit in the backfield, can shed a tackle and run, right?

at least he can make the big play down the field. There's more upside there. So I think Richardson overall, if you're going off the two pre-season game, has certainly won the backup job. And I think they're going to name it before this final game because they're going to play some starters in this final game. I don't expect Daniel Jones to play in that game. So ideally you want whoever your backup quarterback is going to be

to be the guy starting that game. So I'm assuming we're going to get a decision here pretty soon. And I would say just off the preseason that Anthony Richardson probably should be the backup quarterback. You know, if you, if you look at, that's the difference between somebody drafted in the first round and somebody drafted in the sixth round. I mean, he's not had the best career, but he has moments of brilliance that lets you know this is why we drafted AR with, what was he the fourth pick, something like that. you know, he has some very, very few moments like that. But Riley Leonard was drafted in the spot where he was supposed to be drafted, you know.

And so there is that talent gap that exists between AR and Riley. But you need more than talent to play quarterback in this league. And so you're just relying on talent alone. not going to win any games. It's weird, guys, because I still feel like, and we're kind of adding it all up, right? I feel like we sort of did this last offseason, too, where you felt like Richardson was the leader,

and then they kind of pulled a rug out. There's part of me that still feels like that Shane Steichen doesn't want to be one bad hit away from having to play Richardson. But at the same time, it also just feels very obvious that if you're in a pinch, the guy that's going to help you win more,

of those two is clearly Richardson. I mean, I would love to be the other way and say, well, you know, Riley Leonard because he has a higher floor and he could do this and he could do that. But the fact that he's been so tentative and really has been kind of lackluster through his play so far this year, I really feel like it's been more about me being down on Leonard than me being up on Richardson.

I just think there are some baseline level skills that Richardson brings to the table that are more valuable than what Leonard brings to the table if he's going to play like this. And that's kind of where my concern comes in. Yeah, a big part of the way I'm trying to reevaluate how I do things this offseason because I certainly had the blinders on last offseason when it came to Richardson versus Jones. I wanted it to be Richardson and I basically looked for confirmation bias every chance I could. And I feel like that was a mistake I made last offseason by proclaiming Richardson is the better

offseason quarterback. And that's why I got like really shocked, obviously, like when Jones was named the starter and then Jones had a great start to the year. So this year I wanted to be more fair with it. And I think in the in the pre, in the practices I saw, like it was pretty even. Leonard probably had a slight edge there. But I can't just ignore what I've seen in the preseason here where Richardson has been the better court. Like it's not like last preseason where Jones was the better quarterback, but we were kind of, again, we wanted it to be Richardson, wanted it to be him because of the upside. And even Richardson wasn't like horrible in the preseason. It just wasn't as good as Jones was. So this year, I'm just going to call a spade of spate, you know, call it what I see it. And

Richardson has been the better quarterback. It's not that Richardson's been like incredibly perfect in the preseason. He's had a bad fumble. He's had, you know, some stretches where he wasn't. I mean, today it was what, three of nine. I know one of them was a really bad drop and a couple miscommunications, but he wasn't perfect by any means. But it was still much better than what we saw of Leonard who just looks all lost out there playing quarterback. Yeah, it's not been good. That's for sure. When we come back in segment number four, we'll talk about what today's performance

means and the preseason just in general from getting a close look at the Colts depth or lack thereof what it means about their roster construction here heading into the 2026 regular season when the games actually count. That's next when the Colts Squad Show returns for a final time. And we're back on the locked on Colts Squad Show, Alan Pinkin, Zach Hickston. Eric Schultz, Jake Arthur, taking care of business at Lucas Loyal Stadium. We'll also have him return for our midweek show coming up here on Wednesday. So we are your home for Colts post game reaction.

And we've got like 300 something comments. We got 200 plus people in the room. You guys are the best. Thanks for being here. After a 34-6 loss for God's sake, there's just a brutal football game. And here you guys are talking Colts and hanging with us. So we really, really appreciate it. And we wanted to go ahead and mention that.

Let's talk about kind of a parting thought here and what this all means. Because at the end of the day, again, preseason throwaway game, a lot of guys out there, especially in the second half, likely aren't going to make this team. And if they are going to make this team, they're going to factor very little into the actual results of the 2026 season. But I do think that, you know, what you saw today just sort of shows how thin the Colts are. Now, as Zach, you had mentioned when we talk about offensive line depth and when we talk about some of these other backup spots that there are only so many good quarterbacks, there are only so many capable offensive linemen. You know, it's very difficult to be an NFL player, even if you're

the third spring tight end. That doesn't mean that generally speaking, you're going to be out there and performing at a very high level when push comes to shove. But I just, I thought about, you know, I saw this tweet from Mark Dykton. He's the producer for Kevin Bowen and James Boyd's show on the fan, who's a buddy of mine and a great dude, really good producers, great show too. And he said something about,

you know, a praying or, you know, on my knees and praying for Daniel Jones to be healthy. And I responded to his tweet and I said, I'm praying on my hands and knees for the Colts entire starting offense and defense to be healthy because this is the product that you get afterwards. And I just think that the,

the core issue, we're 10 years into this thing. This is year 10 for Chris Bauer. And to me, the core issue with his teams has been the fact that when the circumstances are perfect, they can be very good. The problem is in the NFL and Alan, you know this as a former player. The circumstances are very rarely perfect. Crap goes wrong. And when crap has gone wrong for the Colts,

I'm not just talking from an injury standpoint. I'm just talking from an adversity standpoint. What we've seen, Zach, is that this team crumbles. When the chips are down, this team falls apart. They've done it time and time again. They did it late in 2021. They did it early in 2022.

They did it at the end of the 2024 season. They did it at the end of last year. You know, I know they got dealt a tough hand, but they fell apart. They dissolved. And I think that's, I'm not hanging that all on Chris Bauer, but I think part of that too is the fact that,

you know, once you take out some of these guys at the very tippy top of the roster, and you minus Pierce or you minus Jones or you minus, you know, quentin Nelson, and some of the top offensive linemen, this whole thing turns to Ash very quickly. And that's just kind of concerning for me, knowing that at some point this season, the Colts are going to be in a position where a guy like Mackay Blackman is going to have

to be out there and be relied upon. And that's a difficult pill to swallow. Yeah, it is. I completely understand that take there. And obviously the frustrations over the years with Chris Ballard's teams, but I don't know if like a beatdown loss to the Falcons and preseason game two really does much to that take for me? I think it's just kind of like that take would have been there. They could have won 30. It's more of a general take. Yeah, right, right. Like they could have won this game 34 to 6 and you

could have said all that and I've been like, yeah, you're right. I don't know why we're talking about this after our 34 to 6 win, but like whatever. Like, yeah, I agree. But yeah, no, I do agree with you. And I do think a lot of it has been over the years, I think there's been this level of complacency with Ballard in terms of like when he drafts a guy or when he finds a guy who shows some couple of moments, even if that guy regresses or his play just degrades over time, he still gives that player the benefit of the doubt. I mean, again, we're seeing fourth year Blake Freeland out there. We're seeing like 10th year Daniel Scott, it feels like out there. Like Daniel Scott is getting all this run for years with this Colts team.

And he's never been able to crack the roster, but we're still throwing him out there every single preseason. And sometimes the guys that you draft and the guys you invest in aren't good enough, and you've got to have that quick trigger to release. Because here's the thing. When it comes to players 45 through 90, right, they're all interchangeable. Like it's a brutal thing to say with the NFL, right? But as Alan and I always say on this show, like, we love the sentimentality of football, but also it's a business at the end of the day.

And the cheap talent on your roster needs to be overhauled a lot because those are the guys that you can overhauled. Hall, right, at the bottom of your roster. So if a guy's not cutting it, change him out for somebody else and keep doing it. Like, you can't have this sentimentality towards guys who just aren't showing it. So, yeah, like, Derek, I understand some of your complaints where it's like, we're going to see a guy like Mackay Blackman. Because the Coltrade a six-round pick for him, they'll probably still make this team. But should he? I mean, probably not, right? Like, even if, like, maybe all the behind closed doors practices have been amazing for him. I mean, he has just been dreadful this pre-season.

season. I mean, same Blake Freeland, right? Blake Freeland might make this team because they don't have any healthy tackles, but what is he shown to make this team? But maybe because we spent a fourth round pick on him four years ago that he's going to make the team. So I understand that type of frustration with Chris Ballard because I can sit here and say like whatever, you know, like, because if it were me running the team, like Freeland and Blackman, all these guys would be on the roster by the end of the post, by the end of the preseason here. So who cares that they're getting burn left and right, but if there is this viability they could be on the team, then I understand the frustration of fans because it's like, oh, this isn't just a guy out there getting beat in the

preseason. This is a guy who might have to play in the regular season. And if it's looking like this against eight-string guys, what's it going to look like in a regular season game against potentially Aaron Donald coming back? You know, like these type of guys that are going to be out there. So, yeah, I understand the frustration there. And it certainly does go towards the bigger picture that you mentioned there too, Derek, but I think that's more of my concern with Ballard is he's always had this sentimentality where it's like, because I invested this capital on you, because I did this, and I do think it's sometimes have hurt them too with roster construction where they sometimes keep a guy who hasn't deserved it. Like, for instance, two guys I'm really looking at, I know going

on a spiel here, but like DJ Giddens and Anthony Gould, right? What have those two guys done to make a roster this off season, right? Gidens coming off a really bad rookie season, has not been healthy at all through training camp. And guys like Bentley and Castle have been showing out. And even if you don't want to keep Bentley or Castle, right, like go get a waiver claim running back. Go sign a veteran running back because you need more stability there. But are they going to just keep giving get-ins these chances just because you took them in the fifth round? And same with Anthony Gould, right? He's been hurt. And guys like Coleman Owen and even Dionne Burks have probably shown more. But do you keep him just because you have kept them?

Like that's my concern with this team is. And the same goes for like the Freelins and the Buckeye Blackmins too. So it's just a sport where you can't be sentimental, and I think Ballard has always been a little bit too sentimental. You have to have a little bit more of the business sense where it's like, look, you don't get much time to develop in this league. And he thinks as a scout where it's like, don't worry about year four, this guy's going to be good. And look, I like Jonathan Edwards, too. I think there's potential with his traits. But you're an undrafted for agent. If you're showing this in year two, you don't get another chance in this league. So as much as I would hope long-term Edwards can become a good corner,

I probably wouldn't keep him with how he's played this preseason. And I say that with all the love in the world to that guy. I want him to be good. But you just like the NFL is not a developmental league. You have to show it or you're gone. And I think sometimes the Colts have just waited too long for some of these players. And it kind of sometimes shows them the product like this where you're getting curbs stomped by the Falcons backups who maybe they've been a little bit more ruthless

with the guys they've cut and brought in. Well, I always like to say the NFL is a good business, but it's not. Not a nice business. And you can't really have any feelings when it comes to cutting guys. I mean, you're either an asset or a liability. And I think a lot of this goes back to being able to draft well, which falls squarely on Ballard's shoulders. Because look, if you're going to have a team with a lot of stars,

that means they're on their third or fourth contract, which they become expensive. and when you get expensive guys on your roster, you need for your backups to be bonafide. You need for your first and second year players to be making plays or developing in such a way that they'll be able to get a third or fourth contract. And right now, you don't have that.

I mean, I go back to would you call the picks when Anthony Richardson came in a boom or a bust? And then I hate to say it, but a lot of what's happening with this team is because you have no Adani Mitchell, you know, because you have no first round pick this year. And so how you structure your team, you need for your young guys to flash. Zach, I hear you tell me all the time about this. You need to win with your draft picks because otherwise your depth, your depth, Your depth just looks bad. And today was a lesson in why you need to develop these young players.

Not that it's a developmental league, but you need to score with the players that you draft. I can say that after two season games, I think they won with an AJ Halsey. I think they won with the George Gumbs. I guess it remains to be seen, you know, but there's some other draft picks. You won with a Tyler Warren, you know, that's how you build a team. You've got to have a good mix of veteran talent and youth that can, you know, all mesh together to become a powerful team. And that's not, unfortunately, where the cults are now.

When all the starters come back, you know, we're going to see a totally different team. And the thing I would caution people about is the schedule. It's not the friendliest in the first four to six games. You know, if the fans can be patient, there may be some losses in those first six that you feel bad about. But if this team is as talented as we think, they'll have a surge mid-season and late season and hopefully have a shot at making a nice playoff run because the talent is there.

But the health needs to be in place. And we've got to see some more from some of the guys that aren't starters. Yeah. And one thing I'll say to close it out before I throw back to you here, Derek, is just I think whatever you thought of this team coming in to the preseason, I don't really think any big picture changes should happen. So if you're like a lot of people in our comments, you're so frustrated and done with Chris Ballard and Shane Stike in,

you think it was billed on a house of cards last year, all their success early in the season. Yeah, I mean, you're probably going to think that if they would have won by 50 in this game, you probably would have thought the same thing, right? Because it doesn't really matter what's happened in this game. So I don't really think anything in this preseason or off season is changing much of our takeaways. It's just we've got to see what it looks like when week one comes along. We've got to see what Jones and the offense looks like.

We've got to see what Sauce and Buckner and the defense looks like and we'll go from there. But as of right now, I certainly have my concerns with this team. But it's going to be a very different product, at least when you have like your top players playing. But if you don't believe in that, well, you have good historical things to go off of, right? Like Derek is kind of saying, like you kind of have some historical precedent to not believe in this thing. So all I can really say is we'll see, which I wish I had some crazy proclamation about where this Colts team is going to be this year. But it's kind of more so like I guess we'll see come September. Yeah, I mean, I continue to think the top level of this roster out, to your point,

is very good. I mean, I think very highly of Daniel Jones. I think very highly of sauce Gardner who's still young and I don't think is cooked or whatever else. I think there's a chance that Laotu Latu hits. Alec Pierce, I think has a ton of potential to be a wide receiver one. But I continue to believe that the very top of that roster is all going to have to have like Herculean level efforts this season for the Colts to do what this fan base wants them to do, which is, you know, make the playoffs and make some noise in the playoffs because you look at the rest of this group once you get past that top level. And to me, it's just a, it's a very mediocre group after that top group. And that's what gives me some concern.

But we'll save those thoughts for season previews and things like that. Thanks for joining us on this latest edition of the Colts Squad Show. We are your home for postgame Colts reaction all season long. Our Colts squad shows will follow each and every Colts game this season, including the preseason finale next Saturday, including a midweek show as well on Wednesdays at 930s to set your calendars. Don't forget to keep it locked on Jake and Zach every day on Locked on Colts for the best Colts coverage all season long. Be sure to follow at Lockdown Colts on socials and add in at Colts underscore hit for our new squad edition and Will Star Lipper as well. Don't forget to check out our other great content on YouTube and TikTok and we'll see you next time right here on the squad show.