Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - COLTS SQUAD SHOW: Fan FAVORITES | Taking A Look Back at Our Favorite (and not so favorite) Colts!

Episode Date: June 19, 2026

Feeling nostalgic from our 10-year throwback earlier in the week, we take another look back at some of our favorite all-time Colts! In segment two, the Squad discusses the other side of the coin with some of our least favorite (or at least most frustrating). Plus, we talk about the minimum expectations for this year's Colts and which Colt you would take on a World Cup or NBA Finals team. 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, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOn_SI, as well 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 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 Schultz. Looking forward tonight to talking favorite all-time Colts, but strangely, I'm equally looking forward to talking about my least favorites, too. And I'm Zach Hicks, and my favorite fun fact to tell everybody is I was a huge Peyton Manning fan as a kid, but only because we shared the same birthday. I'm Jake Arthur. Let's get rude. I'm Alan Pickett, former Euler. And tonight, I reveal my all-time favorite. Colt. Colts Nation rise up.

It's the Colt Squad, everything Indianapolis Colts every week. Covering all the big hits and game changing plays from the Circle City the way only the locked on podcast network can. It's time to squad up. The Colt Squad Joe starts now. Welcome into the Colts Squad Show. Today's episode is brought you by O'Doo. Great organizations win because operations matter and that's why you should get O'Doo.

Try for free today at Odu.com slash locked on. That's ODOO dot com slash locked on. I'm Derek Schultz, longtime indie sports talker and sports columnist for the Indianapolis Business Journal. I'm joined by a Notre Dame legend and longtime NFL running back Alan Pinkett along with the locked on Colts daily hosts, Jake Arthur and Zach Hicks, of course, your first listen every day. And I think for the first time in show history, we've been doing this about a year. We all have hats on. It's hat day here on the show.

It's also all-time favorite cult day. I don't know. I was feeling nostalgic after we had a lot of fun. I hope you guys did as well with the 10-year locked-on anniversary, the Daily Show and Zach and Jake going through their favorite moments. Here on the squad show on Tuesday night, we went through some of our favorite players of the last 10 years of the best, I guess, most impact players of the last 10 years.

And I thought to myself, let's just reach back into the nostalgia bin again, both the good and bad because you can't tell the cult story without the good and bad, right? So we'll go through our all-time favorite cults. I chose Resry Wayne as our YouTube thumbnail today. So I'm sure he's going to get brought up, of course. Some of them are obvious, but I'm sure Zach has some deep cuts because that's what he always does. Jake might as well. And I know from the text right that Alan's got a really deep cut.

So we'll talk about that coming up in segment number one. And also, I want to be sure that I phrase this the right way, our all-time least favorite cults. And I know Jake said, let's get rude. We're going to keep things. We're not going to be mean-spirited or anything like that. but let's face, the Colts have had some guys over the years that every time they've walked on the field, you've cringed a little bit. So we'll talk about those guys coming up here in segment number two. What's your minimum expectation for the 2026 Colts? A little card ahead of the horse

here, but this will be part of the conversation as we get closer and closer to Westfield, right? What are your expectations for this season? What is the bar that you want to see this team meet? We'll have an early discussion about that coming up in segment three. And something else that I just thought would be fun with the World Cup going on. and we just concluded the NBA finals, just for Zach's sake, even though I don't know anything about it, the Stanley Cup final,

the best current Colts that you would draft on any of those teams. You know, we talk about this sometimes, like athletes and what sports translate to what hockey's going to be hard to find, probably, unless we're talking like Tyler Warren or somebody like that, but we'll have some fun with that coming up in segment number four. But guys, let's start all-time favorite cults. It's a happy topic.

I know I put Reggie in the thumbnail, but for you, Zach, I'm assuming you'll be reaching, from kind of the last decade or so as you are relatively new-ish to the party when it comes to the Colts. But who comes to mind for you, at least since when you've been covering them? But even, you know, going back to a kid and being the rabid football fan that you were before you pursued a career in sports media. Yeah, you know, Jake and I were talking about this earlier about like before I started covering the Colts, who were some of my favorite players. And I really couldn't come up with that many.

There were, like I did like the Colts, obviously because, again, I followed them because Peyton Manning and I shared a birthday. And as a kid, that's like, oh my gosh, this is one of the only people in the world who shares his birthday with me. I have to be the biggest fan of the world of this team. So they were always my second team purely because of that. But also, as a kid, I just loved watching NFL safeties. And I wore 21 growing up, but only because of my two favorite players both wore it, Sean Taylor and Bob Sanders. Bob Sanders, by far in a way, my favorite cult of all time. Like, as a kid, I just idolized him watching him just kill people from.

from that safety position. Such a fun player to watch. Absolutely loved him. I also shout out to a couple players who played on both Indy and Washington when I was a kid. Like Marcus Washington was my favorite Washington football player. But obviously I loved him with the Indianapolis Colts as well

because I had to go back and watch some of his stuff to get all excited. So there were certainly a few that I liked as a kid. But if I'm really looking at just these past 10 years or so when I've watched the Colts and followed the Colts, I mean, number one is Quentin Nelson, right? I told you guys a little bit after the show when we finished recording last episode, that it's just so special to be able to follow a player who is going to be a Hall of Famer

and follow him from start to hopefully finish. Hopefully he finishes his career with the Colts. But being able to see him as a rookie, as like a prospect, and then we'll go through the, I almost said the ebbs and flows of his career, but mostly just the high points of his career, right? This is one of the best guard careers we've ever seen at this point. So being able to watch all that, just incredible, man. I've absolutely loved every second of it. So Quentin Nelson is certainly my favorite.

And then Derek, you know me. I just love the fringe roster. I don't even want to say fringe roster guys, but just the guys who do all the dirty work. The little things, like those type of players are my favorite. Because, you know, all these guys when they go to the NFL, they are superstars in high school, in college, right? It's the only time you get a shot in the NFL is being the best player or one of the best players growing up.

So I love it when guys are able to. who find their way in the NFL despite having to take on like a lesser role. So guys like Ashton Doolin, like Moe-A-Cox, like those players will forever be my favorites. Like those guys who just find their niche in the NFL and make it work. So, I mean, like Doolin obviously has been my favorite that I've covered Washington for a long time. Or that I've covered an indie for a long time. But Moly Cox, I mean, it's always this funny story with Moly Cox. I grew a big basketball fan, like a VCU basketball fan.

and being able to cover him, like watch him as a kid, being a big fan of his, and then cover him in indie, that's always been a cool experience for sure. But just the long story short, Bob Sanders, obviously, as a kid, and then Doolin and Moley Cox had been my two favorites for different reasons. But I always love talking to players, too, and getting to know them. Guys like Jonathan Williams and Zaire Franklin over the years, I really enjoy communication with those guys. But a lot of fun Colts players to talk about for sure.

Yeah, I've got the benefit. fit of the Colts being my childhood team. So my roll-it-ex here is, I think, probably pretty fast. I also got to put a disclaimer in there. Quarterbacks don't count because, of course, everyone loves the quarterback, right? Like, Peyton Manning, growing up, that has to be your guy.

Andrew Luck, you know, for his first years. So so as to not cheat, I won't put quarterbacks in there. Bob Sanders obviously was a guy who was appointment television every week. But also at the same time, we kind of had to get used to watching the

Colts without him because he spent unfortunately too much time on the sideline. I was still an unbelievable player, won the defensive player the year the year after the Super Bowl, if I'm not mistaken. So he was unreal. But my two all-time favorite Colts outside of Bob Sanders as well, I would say always was Reggie Wayne and Cato June, which is cool because now I get to see those guys as their assistant coaches with the Colts and guys I've grown up loving to watch play. get to talk to now. So I never take that for granted. I think that's incredibly special. But Reggie Wayne was always just unreal. Like Marvin Harrison was the elite of the elite when it comes to receivers in his day. But Reggie Wayne just always had a special place in my heart

watching him, you know, just he he was a different receiver from Marvin. was a guy who really, he wasn't like the incredible athlete, but just a really crafty guy, one with toughness, really good route running, and just his hands, he made these unbelievable catches in big moments as well. And then Cato June was just like kind of the, first off it was like the aesthetics of it all.

You know, he wore the blue half sleeves and the blue gloves with the black ankle tape and everything. Like Cato June just looked cool as hell. But then he got to be like a really good player as well, made a Pro Bowl. He had the season with the Colts where he had like five picks with a few touchdowns as well. And then, of course, those guys won a Super Bowl with the Colts against the Bears. So nothing cooler you could do than that.

But yeah, those guys were always awesome. And then I always liked really niche guys as well. Like Melvin Bullet, Derek, if you remember, Melvin Bullitt was a big one for me. Yeah, he was a player there. Dominique Rhodes, always underappreciated, but everyone's got to love Dominique Rhodes. And I think one of my favorite deep cuts, this guy always gets swept under the rug. He had that one huge year. James Mungro.

Okay. Running back James Mungro. You know, Dominic Rhodes was hurt, I believe. Eddrin was hurt. This guy came in and had a couple huge games when the Colts needed it most. So that was a good deep cut for me, James Mungro. He was someone I always went back to and checked out like, what's he doing? up, you know, what's he doing in the later portions of his career?

But he's kind of a quick flash in the pan with the Colts, but I think a lot of people appreciated him for that brief moment in the sun. So my turn, I guess. Well, since I'm the oldest one here, and the Colts are relatively new in terms of watching an earnest. But I like the Bob's. Sanders picked. It was always a pleasure to watch him. You know, just be so feisty. And, you know, a guy who is my height making plays, you know, was always something very impressive. But I'm going to go

way back. And, you know, you, Zach, I hear about how you, you loved Peyton Manning, not only because of his proficient play, but his birthday was the same day as yours. But my all-time favorite cult was a guy named Bert Jones, who played in Baltimore. And growing up in the DMV, you know, I was fortunate to see two teams play, the Washington team and the Baltimore Colts.

And in fact, I went to a Monday night. game. I can't remember what year it was. But in that old, ugly stadium that Baltimore had, and I actually sat behind this big-ass pole where I had to peek around the corner to watch Baltimore plays the Washington team. And at that time, I was probably more of a Baltimore fan because of Bert Jones. And I mean, he was. He was a, he was. was a stud, and I didn't know anything about his stats. I was just enamored with this guy, had tremendous grit, had, you know, just great playmaking ability, was a leader.

I mean, how could you not fall in love with this guy? But then I took a minute to, you know, look up his stats and figured out he was the NFL MVP in 1976. Yeah. And I didn't know he was. was a first round drafted, but he was the second overall player taken when he was drafted in 1973. And I want to say it was somewhere around 1976, 1975, when I started playing football. So, you know, you fall in love with these guys, but he was just one guy who just always, always.

And I know how you guys don't like to put quarterbacks in because quarterbacks are everybody's favorites. But I actually started out my football playing days at the age of eight as a quarterback. And figured out that that probably wasn't my position when I was in the Touch Football League. And I saw a guy open down field and I reared back to throw. And the ball went straight up in the air. it didn't get anywhere near the receiver. But yeah, I was kind of akin to quarterbacks. But Bert Jones is the one who stands out for me.

Alan, I kind of have a quick theory real quick. I think the relationship of Johnny Unitas to Bert Jones is eerily similar to Peyton Manning to Andrew Luck and the fates of all those players as well. Do you get any of that? So, like, obviously, Bert Jones was supposed to be the heir apparent to Unitas but was always really banged up and it never really took hold out it was supposed to. Same thing with Andrew Luck. Luck was supposed to be the next Peyton Manning, but injuries,

of course, derailed what was supposed to be this Hall of Fame career. As someone who watched that era, like, is that accurate at all or is that just something I'm thinking of in my head? No, that's very accurate, you know, and it's sort of like the progression from Marvin Harrison to Reggie Wayne to T.Y. Hilton, there's a lot. level of excellence that you get from a certain player. And when it's time for that next player to step up, you know, they had that same kind of game.

You develop that same expectation. And so not old enough to remember a lot of Johnny Unitas games, although the first Super Bowl I watched was the Cowboys versus the Colts. So I do remember that. Earl Morrill was the quarterback. in that game, right? Yeah, yeah. Real moral.

Wow. What a poll. The greatest back up in the history of the sport, right? What is what we say, right? Derek, before we got out of this segment, though, what are your favorites that you guys? So I have a couple of obvious ones. I think there's an obvious category like Edge to me is just obvious. The Benny Hana line is one of my favorite lines in Colts history.

They had a preseason game in Japan, and he made a joke the closest he wants to get to Japan is Benny Hana. That's not the only reason. I love Edge. I love Edge because I thought he was the most underrated player in the NFL, and I'm glad that he got his long overdue Hall call. I love T.Y. Hilton. But if we're going deep cuts, I'm mad that Jake stole mine.

I love Dom Rhodes. I thought he should have been Super Bowl 41 MVP. He made one of my favorite Colts plays ever in a game that completely got lost in 2008. They went to Pittsburgh and beat the St. He ended up winning the Super Bowl, and they had a little outpass to Rhodes for the game winning touchdown where he rumbled down the field. It's one of my favorite plays ever during a nine game Colts winning street

end that season. Ray Buchanan, somebody somehow mentioned him in the comments and I'm shocked. Big play Ray, who I think is more known as an Atlanta Falcon because that's where his career really took off. But I want to say he had three or four pick sixes in like his second or third year. Deep cut and this is the Allen era, Clarence Verdan, known more as a return guy for four career return touchdowns was also a receiver as well. He scored in the Halloween game against the Broncos. And a little more new age and Jake will know this name. A guy that I always thought was underrated and a key part of the Colts defense who was

overshadowed by better players. Rahim Brock was really good here. Yeah. You know, just a rock solid player and a great dude. I always enjoyed talking in the locker room and all of that too. But, you know, outshown by Frini and Mathis and rightfully so, a lot of guys were right. But man, if we were just talking about like even bit players, I think we could just kind of rattle them off all day. That feels like a fun bar room conversation. We'll shift some of our,

the conversation to some of our least favorite cults. And no, I promise we will not spend the entire segment on Hank Basket. That's next when the Colt Squad show returns. This portion of the Colt Squad show brought to you by Indeed, a workplace chaos can show up fast. The problem is that finding the right candidate can take a lot more time than most businesses can afford. That's where Indeed, sponsored jobs comes in. Indeed, sponsored jobs helps you reach candidates who actually fit what you're looking for based on skills, experience,

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and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. And we're back on the Lockdown Colts Squad show. Thanks so much for making us a part of your Thursday alongside former NFLer, Alan Pinkett,

and the Locked on Colts Daily Dues. of Zach Hicks and Jake Arthur. I'm Derek Schultz. So we just spent some time talking about all-time favorite cults. That's always fun. I still think we're going to have some fun with this one, even though this is kind of the other side of the coin. And I want to say some of these guys,

like Hank Basket, who I matter, I mentioned, right? Like, kind of one of those just like bad luck Brian all-time biffs for him. There were umpteen other reasons that the Colts lost that Super Bowl. He sort of became the fall guy because it happened right after half time and then the Saints seized control the game and didn't look back from there. But there were a lot of other, I think, cults that you even still bring up their name in Indianapolis and fans are like, not that guy. Zach, especially the last 10 years, I mean, I think we can kind of rattle them off.

But who comes to mind for you in that category? Oh, gosh, let's see. See, the thing is I kind of, again, I came in after the era of like certain, like, enemies that we have to hate on. But one I always remember and one I was completely on. board with and this won't be a shocker vanderjack the kicker right obviously yeah he was i was telling jake earlier he was one of the big like reasons why i hated the kicker position i was watching all these great colts teams as a kid and not really as a fan but more so just appreciating like Peyton manning and everything they were doing with the team and then here would come out this kicker who just

stunk absolutely stunk and then he was talking like wasn't there like that big uh back and forth in him in Peyton Manning or something where he was like talking about like you're a kicker like what are you talking about right you can't even make anything why are you talking so much so yeah I I disliked vanderjacked and especially whenever like I would watch the games be like he this guy can't make a kick and then on madden he'd be like the highest rate of kicker and it would just annoy me even more um so yeah I was not a fan of vanderjacked whatsoever one of my least favorites of all time but going into the the era that I've covered the colts and you know the stipulation is like like I'm not even remotely talking about like personalities or anything like that.

This is purely about just my enjoyment of watching them on the field or not. I think the running gag we've had on Locked on Colts for years is Taven Brian, right? I think I have to say Taven Brian here purely because of the running gag, although it was more because the Colts put him at one tech when he was like 280 pounds. Like there's no reason that he was put in that position, but it did make me miserable watching that on film. I would actually throw in a weird one here. I hated watching Gardner Minchua at quarterback. I hated it so much because here's the thing.

When you have like an undersized quarterback with a really bad arm, or I guess not really bad, like a below average arm, right? An undersized quarterback with a below average arm. You would expect him to do everything to maximize his skill set, right? Like perfect mechanics, just the coach's son, doing all these things. And he was not like he was so laxadaisical back. there he would miss reeds he every throw was off his back foot he had the worst mechanics of any

quarterback i've seen in indy and that includes anthony richardson when it comes to it like it is just dreadful to watch uh he got the job done and he got it made it work with shane stuyken more than what he ever should have but so frustrating to watch and also in the same vein carson wents too carson wince was so frustrating just from oh my gosh is missing so many reads and just like he he he hated throwing to the middle of the field. He hated the middle of the field so much. And it just drove me crazy as someone watching the game. So, yeah,

quarterbacks will always be high on the hate list. I'm sure Jake and Derek will go through some of those like bad year quarterbacks that came in here. Like Curtis Painter, I'm sure we'll get a shout out on here as well. I can't think of too many that really like upset me. We have a comment here, Adonai Mitchell, I think kind of falls into that for me too,

but more so frustration with Adidonai Mitchell, where it was like, you're so talented. Like Adonai Mitchell was so, so talented here in Indy. Like he could get open against anybody, but from just wrong route depth to being off on the same, not on the same page with the quarterback, to drops that were never a thing in college,

but we're a thing in the NFL for some reason, to holding to the dropping the ball on the one yard line. It was like, oh my gosh, Mitchell, come on. Can we figure this out? And then ultimately he was traded away. So those are, probably my most, like, disliked or I guess most frustrating players that I've covered. I'm sure there's a couple more in there as well. I mean, like I think of like Dallas flower

starting a corner, but it feels like most of these are just the Colts putting these guys in bad situation, right? More so than anything else. Like, do I really hate Bo Peake Keys for his one snap with the Colts being like a 60 yard touchdown he gave up? No, he shouldn't have been on the field in general, right? Like, why was he on the field? So, yeah, there's not really many players I hate it's more so like the situation they got put in that they just weren't ready for yeah i think the big issue with mike banderjack is that he actually was mostly good until he wasn't like he was the first kicker he's the first kicker in NFL history to have go a whole season without missing a field goal or an extra point and within that he also had a streak of like 42 consecutive made

field goals like the dude was hot for a while i'm pretty sure like It's a lie. I'm pretty sure you're lying. No, it's, I'm pretty sure you're lying. I actually was the most accurate kicker in NFL history for until Tucker, right? Yeah. Every kicker has that at some point. Oh, for sure. He fell off a cliff.

I feel like the miss against the Steelers changed everything. It was awful. Again, Nick Harper's wife stabs him in the knee like the night before the game and he picks up the fumble and he gets tackled, which is that should have never happened. But then their last, their last gas. was this field goal attempt, which was dead on arrival as soon as it left Vanderjacks foot. Like, that was such a low, that was one of the best Colts team in history right there. And they lose, like, in the divisional round or whatever that was.

They easily win the Super Bowl if they win that game. Yeah, that team was unbelievable. They just kind of, I guess, ran into a team of destiny with the Steelers there. Some players I would add to the list outside of Vanderjack. Antonio Morrison Just an absolute maniac I've met a linebacker He was real interesting

Hank basket is another one I'm trying to Man I feel like I had another one Let's get rude Jake And then he just names the most common ones Come on Antonio Morrison is one no one had mentioned yet We might have to come back to

Quinn Pickcock for getting addicted to video games Like, do we have any deep house on there? No, no, that was around when Halo came out. He's forgiven. Yeah, that's absolutely insane. But yeah, I guess that's, you know, an addiction issue altogether. There was some before my time like Jeff George, you know, our guy, twisted clown here, mentioned Jeff George.

That's a good one because you hate what the potential was because I think what he was like, first overall pick or like super really pick. Arch Leicester as well, who turned to a life of crime. That's a big one. He was an early pick. God. I feel like I had another good one. Ooh, ooh, ooh, okay.

So Kelvin Shepard. So the Colts trade Jerry Hughes to the bills for Kelvin Shepard. Jerry Hughes goes on to be a demigod after that. And Kelvin Shepard is a terrible linebacker for the Colts that they felt necessary to start. and then so the Colts, I mean, Hughes underwhelmed leading into that trade. So like I understand the Colts getting rid of him, but that wound up being such an awful trade for the Colts in the end. Like they got nothing out of that one whatsoever. So that was, I mean, that wasn't Calvin Shepherd's fault.

But yeah, I always resented him for that. I'll be honest with you. Jake and I also talked earlier. Loran Landry was another one that came to mind. That was on my list. It's easier not to like guys when they have a bad attitude. I think that's a big factor in it all. Most of my Loran Landry hate comes from when he was with Washington,

but also I did kind of hate watch him in Indy. And I think he got suspended for PEDs in Indy as well. I think that was with Indy. He got suspended for PEDs, which made sense if you look at him. Like he was so big. Yeah. Totally made sense. But yeah, he was terrible.

He was terrible. Well, for me, number one, it's hard to dislike a guy because I know what it takes to get there. Right. and the amount of commitment and dedication you got to put into making it to that level. So it's kind of hard to dislike a guy. But I was able to come up with one who is no longer a cult, but Zach, you hit it right on the head. It was A.D. Mitchell. And it was just, forgive me for sounding like the grandpa who says, get off my lawn.

But it just seemed like he put more work into talking smith. than working on his craft and tremendous, tremendous talent. And, you know, sometimes, you know, when you spend more time talking smack instead of doing your job, things like the drop ball on the goal line happened. It's just karma, you know. And so the Colts were right to punish him, you know, a lot of teams will try to, will, will try to put up with, you know, some of the stuff players do because the talent is so abundant. But this was a case where, you know, talent be damned.

You know, you're a cancer on this team and you can bring other guys down. And so I could see, you know, every reason in the world to trade him. And there's been a few guys like that. The NFL is one where you can have all the talent in the world, but you better have it upstairs, too, because talent will only get you about two years in the league. If you don't have it upstairs and have a firm commitment about doing this job, you know, everybody that's getting drafted each year is bigger, stronger, and faster.

So the only edge you have is to have that serenial. real part of the game where you can master your craft and then just know everything about the opponent and know everything about your scheme that is going to differentiate you from the competition. I have I have a healthy list here. And this is more like not in a mean spirited way. I mean, I put Eric Ebron in a mean spirited way. Well, actually liked as a cult that first year and then I came to dislike him. This is more the I am just so frustrated watching you every time that you're on the field. I mean, Trent Richardson has to be on there, right?

What a frustration that was. Jake might remember this one. Do you remember Jacob Lacey? It felt like every time they put Jacob Lacey out there, yeah, bad stuff would happen. I put essentially anybody on the interior of the offensive line between 2012 and 2014. Mike McGlynn, okay, I have the bad attitude disclaimer.

Mike McGlynn was a jerk. He was terrible. Yeah, he was no good. I'm surprised to hear that. I did not. Then again, I never tried to talk to Mike McGlynn. So I was in covering the team every day. I really like this guy and I thought he had so much potential.

But again, just falls in the frustrating category. I don't know why the light never turned on for Dante Moncrief. I was, you know, least favorite is harsh. I have one here that is this is like my flaming hot Maltoff cocktail. And it's nothing again. against this guy. He's actually a wonderful guy and a tremendous teammate. But the dialogue about him got, I got so angry about it because I'm like, why are you guys saying this and what are you seeing that I'm not seeing? Jacoby Brissette. I ended up not enjoying watching Jacoby Brissette play.

Because I think people were just like, he would come in literally and get like a fourth and one on a sneak and people would be like, see, he should be starting. He's unbelievable. Or that Denver game where he was dog poo all game. And he makes a great throw from the end zone. It ends up being a winning play and then national pundits start talking about him as MVP and I'm like he was doing yeah um I think a lot of it is the fact that you know the the the rawness of the Andrew luck retirement you know the next girlfriend right that's the one when your fiancee leaves you standing at the altar she's the one just watch this is my girl now and I think a lot of Colts fans kind of did that with Berset and it blinded them to the reality that he was fine as a spot starter but you know there's a

reason he's bounced around to 17 teams since then even though good for him right he's still a semi starting caliber player um it feels means to say that but i i just i hated the whole dialogue and and uh all of that around chicobey brissette's he's on my list real real quick if we can add executives to it i would like to throw ryan grigsin in there because this brings another layer back around so he's the one that brought in laurent landry right which sent of my other all-time favorites, which I neglected to mention, Antoine Bethay, out the door. Antoine Bethay should have been a lifetime cult, but Grigsin went out and chose to get Laurent Landry instead, which failed miserably.

So Landry, who's a guy on our list, forced a guy out in Bethay, who should have been on the positives list, while Ryan Grigson could be on everybody's most hated list as well. Yeah, and one more real quick, too, if we're out of here, if we're adding coaches and executives, Jeff Saturday's stint was rough. Jeff Saturday, the coach. So mean, so mean and so incompetent. You can't be mean and incompetent. You can be nice and incompetent or mean and good.

You can't be mean and incompetent. Which is, it's crazy because he's honestly the nicest guy. I think he just got, he was, I think, really surprised at how critical everybody was. And it wasn't like in a mean way. We all liked Jeff Saturday, but it was just like, come on, man. Well, he was mean to everyone in the. buildings like he was just a terror to work with like just a terror should not have that he didn't have that much power i think is that what it is he knew that he had the owner in his corner

right so he feel like he can go in there and do it and we all saw the ultimate result of that unfortunately uh moving on to segment number three what's your bar of expectations for this year's colts what's the bare minimum you want to see from your team we'll talk it out when the cold squad show returns next this portion of the cold squad show brought you by ruggia Throughout the NHL finals, every shift matters. Every moment is intense and everything comes down to execution when the pressure is at its highest. And just like athletes must be ready to perform when the puck drops, a lot of guys want the same sense of readiness and confidence in their own lives too.

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you being here. Fully squatted up, fully had it up on today's show. Looking forward as we've done a lot of looking back this week, but looking forward to August and September, and pretty soon they'll be in Westfield and camp and the preseason will be here and we'll be talking about the 2026 version of the Indianapolis Colts. And while during the offseason, I think we've discussed a little bit of this, right?

You know, in the wake of free agency and the draft and we have a pretty good idea of what this roster and even what this depth chart, and for most of it at the very least, is going to look like. but the expectations for this team. And I think, Zach, just from what I've seen so far, and this is not really surprised, the national expectations seem to be pretty low

as I think most are rather indifferent towards the Colts, right? And that's what happens when you go 8, 9, 9, and 8, 8, 9, you know, and you're kind of languishing in the middle. But even with fans, I don't know, cautiously optimistic, I guess, for the first half of the season. there is also a subset of fans, I think, that just wants to kind of rip the Band-Aid off and get a new regime in here, too, and it's not feeling like this team's going to do anything. But what's the U, as far as, you know, minimum expectations?

What is kind of, where's the bar set for this team at the very least to keep this operation and this brain trust with Shane Stike and Chris Bauer moving forward? Yeah, I mean, I think expectation for me, like, if their quarterback is healthy for all 17 games, which is a massive if, It has not been the case in like a decade with this team. So we'll see. But if their quarterback is healthy for all 17 games or at least like 15 of the games, I think the expectation for this team should be like that 9 to 10 win window. I think, you know, like obviously there's some ebbs and flows in the NFL and injuries will play a big part of it, turn over luck and a lot of things.

So it's hard to project. But this was a good team early last season. I don't see any reason why it can't be a good productive team yet again. they have sauce gardener for a whole season most likely like well again we'll see injury luck is a big part of it but they'll have sauce gardener out there a couple other big pieces and additions uh so i think this can be a pretty good team they just need some things to break their way um so my expectations are you know it's still kind of like middle of the road but i think they can certainly be like a playoff caliber team this year if everything goes right i do think the expectation for the ursay daughters though has to be

it has to be playoffs or bust or at least honestly we talked about the earlier like playoff win or bust like just showing up in the playoffs and losing by 20 is not going to be good enough i think for this uh moving forward so with the general manager in a contract year i think they need like a playoff win to really inspire some confidence i think they're fully capable of doing that it's just they have to stay healthy and they have to win those one score games and win some turnover luck but um if they say healthy i certainly think they can compete with anybody and they can certainly uh score with anybody and i think they can be a good team it's just not staying healthy.

Yeah, I think expectations need to be playoffs, number one. And I think they need to be around 10 wins. I mean, they've been making win now moves. If your ownership, the type of moves that management has been making, I'm expecting results for sure. You give up two first-arm picks for Sauce Gardner. I understand the injuries happen, but a move of that magnitude needs to have results.

And then you go out and shell out huge money, to Daniel Jones and Alec Pierce. So, I mean, those are enormous win now moves. And, you know, you ship out known, you know, locker room, you know, guys like Michael Pittman Jr., Zeyer Franklin, in order to get younger, more explosive, which you did, but those guys need to be able to contribute. So I think Daniel Jones, Alec Pierce, Sauce Gardner, C.J. Allen, AJ Halsey, I think these guys all have to be big pieces of what you do.

And I think it needs to result in you getting to the playoffs. Because otherwise, what are you doing? Especially with the sauce gardener one, it cost you building blocks, you know, two first round picks. One first round pick is one thing. That's enough. But two of them, like, you've got to get something back for this. And the thing is, even if health becomes a problem, sorry, tough, that's just how it went.

You know, like, we cannot keep doing the thing where. it's like, sorry it didn't work out, guys. I know everyone got hurt, but we're going to try again next year. Like, it's just madness. It can you continue down that road? Like, something has to change. And sometimes it's the decision makers, you know?

It sucks to have to do that to people. I understand, but no one can control injuries. But injuries happen to every team. I understand it feels like the Colts are a little more snake bitten for some reason. But something's just got to change. Otherwise, you're going to be 10 years without the playoffs. And it's like, yeah, well, seven of those years, we really had bad injuries. Okay, well, what did you do otherwise to try it and fix it?

Just like reinvest in the best of those players and bring in some marquee guys. Like, no, you have to strip this thing down to the studs at some point if it keeps going down that road. So I think 2026 expectations have to be success in getting to the playoffs. Like Zach said, I don't think just showing up is enough. Like, because if you show up and get blasted, then it's like, okay, great. Like, you're just a little further down the draft order, which, again, you don't have this first round pick. But then afterwards, if you're the daughters, you, fans should be expecting that you take action if this doesn't go well. So there are three things that contribute to winning more games than you lose.

Number one is health. You both have mentioned it. You know, staying healthy is going to be probably the number one factor in them winning losing games. But every team is going to have injuries and stuff. But health is by far number one. The more this team can stay healthy, better it going to be. The second is confidence. And I think back to the teams I played on with the Oilers.

My first year we went four and 12. And, you know, we just sucked. But we figured out that we liked each other. And the only way we were going to be able to stay around each other is if we started winning. And so we actually went to the playoffs five years in a row. And I remember every time I'd come to training. camp. The thought wasn't, oh, let's make the playoffs. The thought was how deep can we go in the playoffs? And I think this team has the makings of being a confident team, especially on offense.

I just think it's one of those teams that will confound a lot of defenses, will frustrate a lot of defensive coordinators, because there's not one guy in a Shane Stuyck and offense that you can just key on or say, okay, we're going to stop this one guy and that's going to shut down their offense. You know, the cults have an excellent arsenal of weapons that they can throw at a team. And I anticipate and expect them to put up them near 40 points a game because they've got the ability to do that. You know, we bounce back to health. Hopefully they're healthy. And the first four games are going to be kind of tough, but I think that you always want to be ascending as you get later in the season.

And I think they have the team that can ascend and get better as the season goes along because the schedule doesn't get easier, but it won't be the juggernaut it is in the first four games. And then the last one is luck. You know, you've got to have a couple lucky bounces. I think last year, the lucky bounce that the Coles got was against the Broncos, where they got that call that allowed them to scoot the ball up and kick the winning field goal. You've got to have a couple, you know, situations where the ball bounces your way in order to, you know, win more games than you lose. But if I would say, well, health is probably number one.

But I've got to tell you, confidence. You can see teams that are confident, and there's just a different air about them, a different way they approach the game, you know, and they're more business-like, and there's not a lot of talking about how good they are. They just go out and do their damn job. And I think the Colts, especially with Daniel Jones,

being in the second year of this offense, how he can light it up. And the one guy I'm probably the most excited about, hoping that he's going to be a fit for this offense. It's the guy that got in the seventh round, this Dionne Burks. But he reminds me so much of a guy I played with name Drew Hill. God rest his soul, you know, he may not be tall, but he's a strong receiver. it would blazing speed.

And he can add so much to this particular offense that I hope that he can come in and make an impact. If he does, this is going to be a hard team to stop. Yeah, I just feel like we're in the, and I fall victim to this too, because you want to see the Colts do well, right? I think we're in the talk yourself into it portion of the offseason here, and that'll continue into August,

and we all do that. That said, I do think that this is going to be, at the very least, a solid football team. The problem is that at some point, it just feels like what's the point if you just keep bumping your head up against the glass ceiling of being the first team or second team that's out of the playoffs? Because there's a frustration that comes from that. Since there's really no difference, I know this is, you know, you say, well, we won double the games that a four-win team did. but at the end of the day, if you miss the playoffs, the same fate awaits you, essentially, right? And so the Colts don't want to, you know,

become kind of what the dolphins became for so many years where you're just kind of languishing in the middle and your seven, eight, nine wins every single year. But so I think to me, the bar's got to be higher than just being okay. It's got to be playoffs or bust. And I just think with the contract situation, with where they sit with Ballard entering year 10

and with Stuyken, who, you know, who I really like, but they've given, a leash too here. You have to show something, you have to do something tangible. And making the playoffs is that. Jake, I think, put it perfectly with the whole,

yeah, but guys, you know, if only we had this, if only we had that, at some point, you know, that's life. It's never going to go perfect. You're never going to be completely lucky. You're never going to be completely healthy. You can't just keep playing that card over and over and over again. What you really have to give this fan base right now is hope.

It's been a long time here in Indianapolis since people have had hope that this team was going to be something. And I think this year could set the foundation for helping fans hope again. And if not, then they're going to have to rip it up, start over, and hope behind the new regime. So I'm fascinated to see how it plays out. I think the Colts are one of the most interesting teams in the league, just because I feel like this time it's really real. Like a lot is on the line and jobs are on the line and all of that. but we'll see how it ends up playing out. And we're certainly going to be talking about it here on locked on Colts.

We come back on the final segment of the squad show. What Colt would you take to bring home the World Cup? Catch an alley-up from Jalen Brunson. Blast a winning cold past Carter Hart. We're going to talk about that when the Colt Squad Show returns for a final time next. This portion of the Colts Squad Show brought you by Odu. Running a business shouldn't feel like you're trying to connect a bunch of systems that were never designed to work together. One app for accounting, another for inventory, another.

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And that hasn't always happened with general managers and head coaches here or even across the league. Whether it be the quarterback situation with Anthony Richardson or the philosophy and just building the roster and the blueprint for how the Colts are going to play, both of those leaders need to be on the same page. That alignment is critical to a winning strategy for business, just like it is for football. Great organizations win because operations matter. and that's why you should get O-D-D-O-D-D-com slash Locked-on. That's O-D-O-O-O-O-com slash locked-on. Back for a final time here on the Locked-on Colts Squad Show.

Really appreciate you guys being here. So I'm sure, like all of you, you're not just football fans, even if the Colts are your number one and football is your number one. You're probably sports fans too, and the World Cup is happening. My buddy is having a watch party at 3 p.m. And I told them, hey, man, I've got a real job. job and don't you have a real job? I don't know about the 3 p.m. watch party on Friday, but that's when the Americans are back in action in the World Cup. The Stanley Cup final just got finished up and

at least 25% of the squad show was watching some of that. I'll be honest, I had to look up what was it, Carter Shaw. Carter Hart. Yeah. Carter Hart. Yeah, okay. Crazy you looked him up. That's, don't look up too much of Carter Hart. Oh, really? Okay. See? Don't look up much more. I should have, I should have consulted you before I even did the show. I was just like, who was the losing team's goalie in the Stanley Cup final. Yeah, I mean, luckily for a lot of us, he was dreadful in the Stanley Cup final. It was a very good, you know, really good like, what's the word? Karma, I guess is what you should call it.

So we'll take that for sure. On a softer note, I think most people like or at least appreciate Jalen Brunson, so I used him in there too. But, you know, just being an elite level athlete, obviously an NFL player trying to hit a fastball from Jacob Azaros. or, you know, any of this stuff, right? It's hard to translate. But some of these guys played high-level sports.

I mean, I always go back, and this is from Allen's era, the fact that Dave Winfield was drafted by every sport, you know, like stuff like that. It's just like, how is that even possible that you can do that? So if you're looking at this Colts roster, does anybody strike you as a fit for any of these other sports? And you think to yourself, man, this guy, I know people think that, and I've seen him hoop,

Anthony Richardson can really hoop. So maybe you throw him into the mix there with the NBA finals. Anthony is an athlete with inside game. Anthony's not much of a shooter. That's a big problem for his game. Look, if we had to bring up one for basketball, we always have to talk about Moe-Ecox. Like this was, he was a legit college basketball player.

Like he, like they had a big chant at VCU back in the day called Mo says no because he was a big shot blocker. Now he was like Kenneth Fareed, but, you know, six foot four instead of, of six foot eight, which is why he's in the NFL instead of in the NBA. But very, very much like Kenneth Fareed out there, very, very fun player. And again, I was so pumped when he got signed by the Coleskals, like, oh, one of my favorite basketball players. But I think basketball is the easiest one to grab guys for because most of these guys played basketball before growing up, like Alec Pierce, I think with his vertical,

could be a great basketball player. Carson Tout, obviously, was playing basketball last year. maybe not at the NBA level. But yeah, a lot of these guys have basketball background. I think it gets real interesting when we get to soccer and when we get to hockey because starting with soccer, the first guy who came to my mind for soccer, and you guys can weigh in on this too. But Josh Downs, I think, I don't know if he's ever played soccer in his life, but his

footwork, I think he would make an outstanding soccer player. I think he would be an absolutely incredible soccer player. So that was the first guy that came to mind there. When it comes to hockey, I don't know if any of these guys can skate, man. Like, I'm going through it right now. The O-Linemen are big hockey fans, I will say. Fans, some of the-fans. But a lot of them are like big boys from the Big Ten.

Like they might have some sort of skating background, some hockey in there. Is anyone from like Minnesota or Wisconsin? The only guy who could give off the- is Bordolini. Bordellini gives the vibe that he, but I doubt they could ever find skates big enough. Well, see, Gonzalez and Quentin Nelson are from that like New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York type of area. That's big hockey stuff, though.

Yeah, for hockey, you know what, I'll put my money on Bryce Betcher, multi-sport athlete. I'm sure he could pick up another one, right, in hockey. So I don't know for hockey, but my bets for the other two, a big Mo, obviously in basketball. he was awesome. And then I just have to go with Josh Downs for sure. Like Josh Downs and soccer just gives off soccer vibes. I think he'd be great at soccer. Like if they look, after he's done football, go play for the U.S. team.

You know, I think he'd be great there. So yeah, like Zach mentioned, there's a lot of basketball cross-pollination with this Colts team. Jalen to a moloow is actually an excellent basketball player. Jalen Travis has a big-time basketball background as well. obviously Moe Alley Cox, Carson Tout. I've heard Daniel Jones is really good at basketball as well. Riley Leonard played basketball. Alec Pierce was actually a pretty accomplished volleyball player coming into the pros as well.

So Alec could have that nice beach volleyball, that beach volleyball flare if he were to get into the Olympics. Who else we come here? Obviously, Bryce Becher, you know, big, big time. baseball and football, but Ashton Dooling kind of strikes me as a guy you could probably drop into most sports and he could do it. You know what I mean? Like just give you at least a good strong baseline of like hand-eye coordination and execution. Like maybe wouldn't be a star and anything but maybe football. But I have a feeling Ashton Dooland could play just about anything. So this is a tough one for me. But the guy I came up with, I actually came up with

two. The first one is Clinton Nelson. I could see him on skates just because he's a guy that goes 100 miles an hour, but he still has some finesse with his game, and he's very heady how he plays. So I could see him wrestling. I could see him in baseball just because of his attitude, tearing the cover

off the ball when he swung and hit it. You know, And so Clinton Nelson, I can't say anything about soccer. You know, maybe as a goalie, and people would fear approaching the net because he would not only come out and get the ball, he might knock out the guy who tried to kick the ball in the net. So, Quentin Nelson is my first. The second one, I'm just enamored with his size and his athleticism. and I'm sure to translate to other sports to Forrest Buckner. Oh, my God. You know, to be, and when you look at him, height, weight, he's trimline, he's muscular.

He's just a great athlete. And, you know, the skills he has in football and quite cerebral too, because you don't make it this many years in the game without being smart. But I think that could translate to other sports. I'm just enamored with his body type and his size and athleticism. And, you know, there's always, you know, that magic height in sports is 6'4. You know, 6'4 you can play any sport and probably dominate. You know, for me, I'd have to stand on, you know, three,

dictionaries to be six four. Well, Buckner's six foot seven, though, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah, but six four is that magic height. But that's why I say I'm so enamored with his size and his athleticism because he's not clunky at all. Right. I mean, he is smooth and powerful.

And I'm sure that could translate. I'm sure he could be a hell of a basketball player if he devoted time to it because of his athleticism. And think about him down being down. in the paint. Nobody's getting a rebound if he's down there. Yeah. One thing I will say, too, just to make, you know, there's a light segment here. I think Blake Groupie thinks he can be great at all these sports. So I think we should give him a shot at all of them. You know, Blake Ruby's got the confidence of a thousand men. So Twisted Clown mentioned Big Q as a sport fisher.

I don't know about Q doing that. I think I've seen him do some sea work there fishing, but Blake Groupie actually was in a fishing competition during the all season. See, he could do it all. He knows he can do it all in his head at least. Speaking of the kickers, Spencer Schrader, I think, played soccer at Westfield. Now, that's high school soccer. That doesn't mean he can play in the World Cup. But I think some of those kickers have, didn't Matt Gay have a soccer background?

Was he a college soccer player? I thought Matt Gay might have played high level soccer back when he was here, too. I love the idea of throwing Tyler Warren on skates and just having them wrecked guys, like that dude from the Mighty Ducks. what was it Fulton or one of those ones that had like the 300 mile per hour slap shot like yeah for sure yeah Fulton read I think was his name which was an awesome just a great hockey name too

but yeah I think Tyler Warren would be great at that you can't tell me that Alec Pierce couldn't go into an open gym and just catch lobs um his brother Kaden is about to play at Purdue was a high level player at Princeton those guys I'm sure played one on one because their brothers right like I'm sure Alex Pierce with the way he's able to high point a football could get out on a basketball court and hold his own. I think the interesting thing about basketball,

and Alan, maybe you can speak to this. I feel like every NFL player thinks they can, who? Except me. Most NFL players, yeah. Did you have any other sports that you were really good at? Did you play any other? I mean, I would assume in the 70s and 80s, I mean, you weren't limited to one sport back in that era, right?

So did you have others that you excelled at? Yeah, I was actually a track guy and tracked probably did more from my football than any other sport. I did play basketball, but I figured out after my sophomore year that, you know, no left hand dribble, average jump shot, short. Basketball probably wasn't in my future. So I used the winter season to weight lift. And that really accelerated my football play. but I had a track coach, man, he worked our butts off. You know, in fact, when all the schools in our district were done with practice,

we were halfway through a practice. So when I got to college and was getting home at 8 o'clock to start homework, I was already used to it because the track coach I had, we stayed out there till 8 o'clock. and you know Hartung was his name loved that guy but I think yeah

I ran track and track was a workday for me because I threw the shot in the disc a high jump, long jump, triple jump I ran the 100, 200 and the quarter hated the quarter hated it, hated it but track was a workday for me So I was just, I benefited fully.

I was probably a track guy that ended up doing a little bit better in football. Yeah, I always heard that about wrestling, helping with footwork and things like that. For the guys, like the big burlies, right, the linemen that also wrestled in like high school or even college, that helping. The Colts actually do have a couple guys who are really accomplished track guys. Jonathan Taylor was one. Raylan Sharp, one of their UDFA receivers, very accomplished junior Olympics. sprinter as well. Okay. So they do have some big time track, guys.

Thanks so much for joining us, as always, on this latest edition of the Colt Squad Show. Now that we're really into the only quiet period of the Colts offseason, we will be reducing our frequency on the squad show to once a week. I know you guys are devastated in the comments, but we're still going to be here every single week for you. I think we're going to settle back into Wednesdays like we did during the season, but we're still kind of solidifying that schedule. So stay tuned here on the squad show. But just know we'll have you at least once per week. week. As always, that Colts news cycle, it never truly goes silent. So keep it locked on Jake and Zach every day here on Locked on Colts. Be sure to follow at Lockdown Colts on socials and check out our other great content on YouTube and TikTok. And we'll see you soon right here on the squad show.