Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - COLTS SQUAD SHOW: Richardson RETURNS | AR/Colts May Be Stuck With Each Other - Could He Be QB2?

Episode Date: May 6, 2026

The Colts turned down Anthony Richardson's fifth-year option, but with seemingly no trade suitors, could he be back for a fourth year? The Squad discusses what a QB2 battle could look like between Richardson and incumbent Riley Leonard, a middling post-draft Power Ranking for Indy from the national pundits, and takes a look at the remaining free agent list for veteran help at key positions. 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 Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel.Right now new customers can bet just five dollars and get one-hundred and fifty dollars in bonus bets if your first bet wins. Visit https://FANDUEL.COMto get started — Play Your Game. Indeed Listeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/podcast. Rugiet Get 15% off your treatment → https://rugiet.com/lockedonnfl Rugiet. Performance medicine for men. 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 your host, Derek Shultz, and it turns out no NFL teams want to trade for me either. I'm Jake Arthur, and the Anthony Richardson saga is the gift that keeps on giving. I'm Alan Pinkett, former Euler, and is AR QB2? 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 South. Circle City the way only the locked on podcast network can. It's time to squad up. The Colt Squado starts now. Welcome to the Colts Squad show. I'm Derek Shultz, long time indie sports talker and columnist for the Indianapolis Business Journal. I'm joined by the Notre Dame

legend himself, long time NFL running back as well and Alan Pinkin, along with one half of the dynamic locked on Colts duo, Jake Arthur, your first listen every day. And Jake's mustache is going to try to fill in for Zach Hicks today. We'll see how that ends up going. Is that guy taking a much needed rush? You know, with the draft stuff, with the day job stuff, Zach's got a lot on his plate. So we're more than happy to go 75% full on the squad show tonight.

One thing that we weren't planning on. We weren't planning on still talking about Anthony Richardson on May 5th, but here we are talking about Anthony Richardson on May 5th. So that continues in the squad show tonight. We'll lead things off with the latest on Richardson. It was a very busy week for Richardson news. the option decline, which I don't think came as a surprise, the return to workouts, which maybe did, considering that he spent the previous couple of weeks in Jacksonville, and then the dwindling

trade possibilities with the Packers now adding a veteran backup. So we'll talk about that in segment number one of the show. In segment two, Alan mentioned it in the cold open. Should Richardson be QB2? Should that be an open competition? Do you want to see that? It feels like Colts fans are kind of split on whether they just want to get rid of Richardson or give him another chance to be, at the very release the backup in Indianapolis. We'll discuss that in segment number two. In non-Ritchinson news, we will discuss a Colts post-draft power ranking that I saw this morning that I thought was interesting because I think it projects out to what we'll see in August as we get close to the season on sort of the wishy-washy national perspective of this Colts team, not that that doesn't also exist locally

as well. And then finally, we'll take a look at the free agent list. You know, we've spent so much time talking about the draft. There are still some free agents that are waited for a phone call that are out there. It's not a very heavy list. But who's still out there for the Colts to sign will end tonight's show in discussing that. But guys, we're leading Richardson again because Jake, like I mentioned, this was a busy news week for him. Declining the fifth year option, that was a no-brainer, right? I mean, that was going to be $20 million plus dollars. And the deadline came and passed with the Colts making that decision. But when the Packers signed Tyrod Taylor on Monday and then Richardson returned to workouts,

you know, when you started kind of adding things up and you start looking around like, who's going to trade for this guy? And if he's going to come back to workouts, then maybe this is going to happen again. I don't know. It felt like some in Colts world maybe talking themselves back into Richardson being part of this team once again. Yeah. I mean, if you just kind of follow the context clues, I mean, number one, the fifth year option, like you mentioned, that was a foregone conclusion that that wasn't going to be done.

Like it's nice to add an extra year of security to another team if they're going to take him on. But $22 million, I think it was for 2027. That's, you know, no one wants to pay that, obviously. So you look at it with, you know, the Packers being the main team that was tied to Anthony throughout this whole thing. Like, since he actually hit the trade block, them going out and getting a QB2 takes yet another team off the board. And like after the draft, there was already another couple teams that did it. You know, you look at Arizona and they add, of course, I can't think of his name right now, but the kid from Miami.

So you pretty much wipe that off the board because he could be in contention to start because they already had Jacoby Resett and Gardner Minchew. You know, the chiefs go out and get Garrett Nussmeyer as well. And then so I'm looking at it. It's like Miami, maybe the jets. It's like the options are. dwindling. And so now he returns to the team after. And it's not like he reported on time and that there was never any sort of issue. He spent the first couple weeks away on his own training down in

Jacksonville while everybody else was up here in Indy. So like there clearly was some desire to be away from the team or just do his own thing. And so now you look at it and it's like, all right, it feels like unless some other team faces an emergency later on, that there's just not many options out there for him. And he's back with the team. And I mean, technically they do need another capable quarterback with Daniel Jones out, you know,

until he gets back. So it's like, is Anthony just with the team in 2026? Is that where we have come to? Because I just don't think the Colts want to outright release him. I don't think they'll, want to trade him for pennies. I think they would just be willing to let this thing ride and, you know,

maybe get a comp pick out of the whole thing come 2028. You know what I mean? For whatever good that we'll do, that's their compensation they'll get for just letting him walk for free, so to speak. But yeah, it's, I can't believe we've kind of gotten back to this point. But again, when you, when you set a hard bar for what you're willing to accept in a trade for a guy you spend a top five pick on, that's going to happen. I don't know how far they've gotten with actual trade offers.

I do know there's been some chatter with at least another team or two about what a trade might look like. But, I mean, shoot, at this point, it looks like he may be here. I mean, the trade deadline will get here by early November. And before we know it, we'll say, how did he not get moved? Well, the quarterback that you were speaking of from Miami was Carson Beck, which I was surprised. That's right. I erase him from my memory. Yeah, well, I tend to do that with players from Miami, but that's my own personal issue. Even though, because there are the ones in my last college football game, they kicked our butt 58 to 7.

So, you know, I can forgive. I just don't forget. But, you know, I tell people a lot of times, the NFL, it's not a nice business to be in, but it is business. So I think AR is still contractually obligated to show up for whatever cults events he has since he has. is still a member of the team. They could probably forgive him. I don't think that this was not a mandatory workout that, you know, when it's mandatory, then they can find you, you know, although I don't know if they've ever done that for, you know, out-of-season camp or, you know, event like this. But he's, you know, it's a difficult position to be.

in, you know, for both parties. But I think what has happened is the entire league knows that they don't want them back. And so the league, the rest of the GMs around the league know that, you know, whatever our worst offer is is what we're going to put up there first to see how bad they want to get rid of, you know, because they, you know, everybody wants to win the deal. And it's going to be hard to win a deal for a quarterback that nobody projects as a starter. And even as a backup, I don't know when people see them as a backup. And I guess the ultimate slap in the face was when Tyra.

Taylor got signed, who I think is a serviceable quarterback, not a starter. And I always say the best position in football is backup quarterback, you know, because you one play away from being the most important person on a team. And you're not expected to come in and light the world on fire. You just need to be able to maintain. Does anyone have confidence that AR can come into any offensive setting and maintain? I'm not saying it to be mean. I'm thinking that's the thought process around the league if a guy who was in

2003, right, was a first round draft pick to fall so far. And so I honestly think that a lot of teams are just waiting for the Colts to release them. And then you'll see a bidding war, you know, because that will be the value. But I think that it is probably good that he just shows up to camp and as hard as it is, go through the motion, you know, get himself in the best shape possible. have a positive attitude because I'm sure some folks would think he would be disgruntled, but show up to work and try to produce some stuff and get something on some type of film that will make somebody think, okay, he may have turned a corner. You know, maybe he's ready to be a true NFL quarterback.

Yeah, to your point, this was all voluntary. It's just, you know, if you're a quarterback, it's, you know, an odd look to not be there. But it's deliberate if you're on the trade block, right? Like Kenny Moore hasn't been there either. You know, I think in order for Anthony to kind of rehab his image and his trade value, at this point, I think he's going to have to, number one, he's going to have to prove that he's capable of playing and that the vision issues is not a

problem because that's just kind of not spoken enough of is like, who wants to trade for a quarterback who doesn't have a hundred, percent of his vision. So he's going to have to get on the field in training camp and the preseason and look like a capable player. And I think he's going to have to look like he could beat backups across the league. You know what I mean? Like, because if we're going to trade for you, we want you to be like whooping these

guys who are not going to be on NFL rosters, you know. And God, if I'm thinking about it, if I'm another team, you know, there's kind of precedent for like you said, Alan, waiting for a guy to be released. And the practice squad has been a really popular thing in the last couple years. Like Daniel Jones, when he got released from the Giants elected to go and sign with the Vikings practice squad, I mean, if they don't want to take the risk of holding a third quarterback or if he would be a team's fourth quarterback or they just outright don't want to hold on to like the $10 million price tag, whatever it is, like,

that he might prefer to have him on their practice squad as crazy as that sounds rather than trading for him and being like the QB2. They're like, he could be our fourth quarterback and just chilling on the practice squad. That may be the most realistic thing. But again, I don't know if the Colts will release him unless Anthony's side asks for a release. The Colts are usually willing to play ball and kind of honor requests. That's why they're allowing this whole trade thing to even be out there. Number one, I think they know they're done with him and they would like him to get a fresh start somewhere.

But I still don't think they wouldn't release him unless he probably were to ask for it. Yeah, it's just wild that this is where we sit with it because, you know, you think about where we were three years ago with the top five pick and all that stuff. But for the people that are harping on this, I mean, Alan, you know that. What Anthony Richardson was three years ago really just isn't even relevant anymore. Like, no one cares. You know, life goes on if you don't show it. And I just think for this to be really a pretty putrid quarterback draft class and teams still have needs and teams take flyers and second chances all the time. I mean, hell, look at all the second chance success stories that we've seen in the NFL.

And for the trade market to just be zero, you know, even if the Colts had a hard line, I mean, I can't imagine their hard line was anything higher than like a fifth round pick or something like that. I mean, even if that's your hard line, that he couldn't even attract something like that, I think says all you need to know about how other teams feel him, Alan. No, no doubt. And that's a perfect time to do the trade would have been the draft because it would give him time to learn a new offense. And then by the time training camp showed up, have a realistic chance of competing for a job. But no one was even willing to bring him in at this stage. You know, so I think what is probably going to happen is number one, he either get released or number two, another quarterback gets hurt around the league and it's a dire need to have a backup quarterback.

And here they come. Colts, what do you need for AR? We'll give it to you. And then he goes that way. but it's not a, I said it wrong. It's not a good, it's not a nice business to be in. It's, it's a business. But the Colts treat you pretty nice, Jake, like you said. I mean, if he's not going to ask for his release, maybe they'll keep him around. But, you know, I honestly, I don't,

I don't know if that's what Anthony wants. And I'm not really sure people, there are some people in the building that I know don't want that. So, you know, it's kind of weighing, you know, what are you willing to do here? What's the best thing for the team, Moving forward, you just bite the bullet and end up making a change. But if they don't, could Anthony Richardson win the Colts QB2 job?

Should that job be open for him to win? We're going to discuss both of those things when the Colt Squad Show returns next. This portion of the Colt Squad Show brought you by Fandul. The NBA playoffs are here and every possession matters. If you're looking to get even closer to the action, Fan Duel has a great offer to get you started. Right now, new customers can bet $5 and get $150, in bonus bets if your first bet wins. That's right. Turn five bucks into 150 in bonus bets just for getting started.

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Head to fandle.com to get started. Fan duel, play your game. And we're back on the Lockdown Colt Squad Show. Thanks so much for joining us alongside former NFLer Alan Pinkett and Jake Arthur of Locked on Colts. I'm Derek Schultz. Zach Hicks will rejoin us coming up later on this week, taking a much needed breather with his busy schedule. We're talking Anthony Richardson, which again, we weren't expecting to talk about here

in early May, but with the news over the last couple of days and weeks, which I know Jake has covered on the daily show, your first listen every day in Locked on Colts. We thought to bring it back up again to kick off our Locked on squad shows for this week. The quarterback two jobs, so look,

we know that Daniel Jones, and I understand the health and all of that. There's the caveat if he's healthy. Daniel Jones is your QB1. So this isn't like last year. Remember when we first launched this locked on Colts show, I remember our first couple of shows where, hey, Richardson or Jones? There's no question. That's not a thing. That's not going to be a thing. But Riley Leonard, who apparently, you know, maybe it was by default, but at the very least, impressed the Colts enough to get a shot to start in a week 18 game last year against Houston and also came in for Jones when he first suffered the injury against Jacksonville before they ended up, you know, of course, going to Uncle Phil Rivers.

He's slated to be quarterback too. I don't know if that's set in stone necessarily. But Jake, there's been talk about, okay, if Richardson is back, which is still a hypothetical because I don't think that a cut, a straight cut is off the table. But if he's back for the offseason program, if he's back in camp, do the Colts give him a chance to win that job? Do they open that job up? Or do they just make him a very expensive QB3? What do you think that they would ultimately,

in that hypothetical situation, what do you think ultimately they would end up doing? Well, I mean, I do think they have the option to excuse him, just like with the understanding of, hey, you're on the trade block. Like, if we just want to be a part, like that's cool, we'll still have your rights, whatever, until a trade comes about.

That's a thing. But if he's going to be there, you got to bring some use to the table. You have to have some sort of utility. So for me, yeah, let him compete for QB2. I mean, I'm saying this as a guy who really thinks Riley Leonard can be a quality, at least backup player in this league. Is Anthony Richardson not probably the better option still at QB2?

We're kind of acting like because of him being on the trade block that he's this totally useless player, not like us in general, but like I think a lot of people do. Like just because he is not met expectations doesn't mean he's not a dangerous player and like a capable back. Like there are still some special things he does. The arm talent, obviously, the ability to escape sacks. I think he, whatever the clutch gene is, I think he has it where like if it's later in the fourth quarter and you need a score, you need to come back. I think he is able to kind of, you know, use the lizard brain portion of himself to will a team to come back. We've seen him do that at least a few times before throughout his young career. So, like, I think he should at least get the shot to be QB2.

That doesn't mean it should be handed to him because, like, Riley Leonard, I think could be a legit backup quarterback. Like, I would like it to at least be an even matchup. I would just be curious as to if Shane Stuyken would be willing to let that happen. Because if I'm Shane, I'm like, why are we wasting time with this? You know, like, if this guy's on the trade block and you might not be here, like this is that quarterback we're talking about. Like, why am I wasting time investing potential snaps into this guy when I know Riley Leonard is going to be here?

So that's kind of another way to look at it from the team perspective. But yeah, like if they're going to let him be around and everything, I think get some use out of him, other than just like scout team quarterback. Like he's not he's not the worst player that they have, obviously. But again, like Riley Leonard, I think could put up a legit competition against Richardson. They do both have the ability to escape sacks. They've got a good enough arm to push the ball down field. Obviously, Richardson's arm is unbelievable doing certain things. but like what Leonard showed us in those two games of extended action last year,

I was truly impressed by it. So, yeah, I mean, I think it would be a good competition, but it should be a competition still nonetheless. So I'm going to use a little bit of an analogy. Jake, you've watched the team practice before. And a lot of times when you're in practice and an injury occurs, you know, everybody sits there for, for like two seconds.

And then the coach says, let's move everything up 15, 20 yards so we can keep practice going. Yeah. You know, and let that injured person stay back there and somebody else tend to them. I think that's how the Colts feel about Anthony Richardson. They've turned the page. You know, they've moved the whole group to another part of the field. And the issue I think that exists is, you know, he can have all the talent in the world. But does Shane Stuyken trust him, especially after that play in preseason where he got his finger broken?

That was the fortunate thing. He only broke his finger. Didn't get knocked to hell out because that was one of those basic. and I was so impressed when when Zach told me, hey, it was scat protection. I'm like, damn, he knows me scat protection. So when it's scat protection, you know the ball's supposed to come out.

For him not to identify that, how do you as a coach trust him? So as much ability as he has in the world, if he can't execute some of those things, you know, some of those cerebral things in a game. How the hell is he going to be able to quarterback? So I think that they are accommodating him, you know, in hopes of maybe building up some value for him.

So another team will come in and give more of a trade value to him. But I think this team has definitely moved on. I think Riley Leonard is your true QB2. And I think, you know, for a Shane Steichen system, he doesn't need so much an athletic quarterback. He needs a quarterback that can get the ball out, that can make a read and get the ball out. I don't know if Riley Leonard has proved that to be that person yet,

but with a year under his belt, you know, he's going to be much better this year than he was last year, especially having had some game action to be able to see what NFL speed truly is because the speed of the game changes from preseason to regular season to playoffs. And for those that can have the game slow down for them, those are the ones that have success. So I think that Riley Leonard enters as a solid number two. But now he's going to be a smarter quarterback. He's going to be a more experienced quarterback. And Shane trusts him.

And so as a unit, they have to go with their number one and number two. And they will accommodate Anthony Richardson. But, I mean, would you want me? on this show if I told you I don't want to be on this damn show put me on the Bears show you know would you want me on this show

you know that can potentially be a cancer I don't think it will be because AR's not that type of guy you know but it can still be a distraction when you need all this focus to not go 8 and 9

again you know so I think like I said, they've moved the group that's practicing up 15 yards so they can go about their business. Yeah, it's weird, guys, because this is going to sound counterintuitive. But I feel like because we're talking about Richardson as the backup instead of the starter, suddenly some of the advantages that he would have in the discussion are neutralized because the best thing that Richardson has going for him is his ceiling, right? but if we're talking about a backup quarterback

that's not going to be part of this team in the future beyond this season, I'm not worried about sealing. What I want with a backup is I don't want volatility. So I want the higher floor over the higher ceiling. So I want my backup to be Charlie Batch. I want my backup to be Frank Reich. I want my backup to be Marcus Mario. You know what I mean?

Like I want to know what I'm getting with my backup because I'm thinking in a pinch, I have to play this guy, not over the course of a season, over the course of a couple of quarters or over the course of maybe a couple of weeks. And the volatility with Richardson makes me extremely hesitant for him to be your backup quarterback because I just have no idea what the heck I'm going to get.

And that's Jake, to me, what's always sort of stuck with me about Richardson, where it's been the ceiling, the ceiling, the ceiling, the ceiling, if we can't raise the floor with him, then the whole thing is a non-starter. Yeah. And I think you hit the nail on the head of just needing to know what you're going to get from a player, even if you're compromising some ability there. I mean, Riley Leonard is not going to have the crazy high highs of an Anthony

Richardson, but, you know, he can bring some of the same elements in terms of, you know, mobility and being able to, like, create some plays out of nowhere. Like, he can give you some of that stuff. And again, his arm is good enough to, like, make the downfield throws that they love to do so much with Anthony. So I'm with you. And if, if, If you're Shane Steichen, like the way Shane operates, I don't think he necessarily has time to, like, be developing quarterbacks from scratch. I think he can accentuate the strengths of young quarterbacks and get the best out of them, if that makes sense.

But a guy like Jalen Hertz and Justin Herbert, they were already wired so differently from Anthony Richardson. They had poise. They had all, they had all this natural makeup of a quarterback already, stuff that Shane could work with and get the most out of. So I think Anthony still needs a guy to like pour a ton of time and resources into him to like get the most out of him. And I just I think that's something that the Colts and Shane Scycheon, I can just don't have the time for anymore, you know. So yeah, I'm with you.

I think at back at like it, why Anthony can certainly offer something that most backups cannot, that's not what you're trying to get out of your backup because your backup. because your backup is only supposed to be in there for what? Like a couple weeks if your starter gets hurt or whatever, you just need to craft a game plan to survive, get Jonathan Taylor 25 carries, and just get out of there, hopefully, with a couple ugly wins.

With Anthony, you don't know if those might be blowout wins or incredibly crushing losses. So, yeah, I think just a lack of volatility, and even if it's boring, just surviving a couple weeks is probably what you're looking for. I would also add that the NFL is,

not a developmental league. There is some patience for certain positions. Offensive line might be one of those. But for most positions, they expect your ass to be ready to play when you come on that field. I don't care if you're a rookie, fifth year, 10th year. You know, this is a game for starters and for stars. And, you know, even I remember in high school, the individual,

period where it was just running backs by themselves, you know, may have been 30 minutes, 45 minutes. In college, it was cut down to maybe 20 minutes, 15 minutes. In the NFL, the individual period where you just with the running backs, five minutes. We got bliss protection to work on. We got route running to work on, timing issues with the offensive line and things to work on. We ain't developing anything. We just trying to get synced together as a team.

You know, so it's not a developmentally. And like I said, I just don't know if the trust factor is there because they tried to develop them in year or two. And, yeah, they tried to develop in year or two and there were issues. And then you miss that blitz. That's the one thing everybody remembers. I think the injuries are honestly still the biggest thing too. Yeah. Let's imagine Anthony's a star and he's living up to his billing when he is on the field,

but he's still injured. It's really tough to keep marching forward with a guy who, man, he's so good. You know, we love having him on the field, but we never know when he's going to be on the field. That's a problem. Oh, yeah. Like I think that'd be a tough pill to swallow for the Colts, even if he was a star. and you don't have to put up with that if he's not your starter. You know what I mean?

Like I think at the end of the day, this still is just a problem that needs to be resolved by whatever means necessary parting ways. You're maybe not going to get out of it what you want, but like this, this just needs to happen. Yeah, I agree with that. One last parting shot on Anthony Richardson. And I've seen this floating around and I'm just going to suggest that everybody stop. Can we not do the he has a winning record thing? you want to know another you know another first round pick so Anthony Richardson's eight and seven 15 career starts first round pick I know another first round pick who is eight

and six in his career as a starter does anybody want to bring Tim Tebow back I was going to play out game I was going to throw in the Tim Tebow anybody all you need is one team to love you that's all you need Carson Wentz winning record in 2021 all right let's do it we come back we will move on from Richardson. We'll take a look at an interesting post-draft power ranking for the Colts that probably falls in line with where their season projections will be in August. We'll explain when the Colts Squad Show returns next. This portion of the Colts Squad Show brought you by our friends at Indeed, Workplace Chaos, deadline stacking up, inbox overflowing, and the one position you have to

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Indeed sponsored jobs. And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsor job credit to help your job get the premium status it deserves at Indeed.com slash podcasts. So just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now, support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on Indeed.com slash podcast. Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. This is a job for sponsored jobs. rolling right along here on a Tuesday edition of the Locked on Colts Squad show. 75% fully squatted up as Zach Hicks is not with us on today's show, but we'll be back with us later this week alongside former NFL and Notre Dame legend

who left South Bend as the leading rusher in Irish history, Alan Pinkett. Jake Arthur, who grew up a Notre Dame fan of Locked on Colts, is also here. And my parents who grew up in lovely South Bend, Indiana. I'm Terrence Shultz, even though I'm a Connecticut native. So all of us have the ties, I guess, to Notre Dame, even though this is Locked on Colts. You can go to Lockdown Irish if you want to check out Allen's work on that side of the fence, too. And I swear that we're not, you know, maybe outside of Allen, we're not biased towards Riley

Leonard and the QB2 discussion. I was perusing and that's all I do at this point is peruse these things because I don't think that power rankings or these sort of, you know, arbitrary things that national folks kind of come up with or even if they're locally focused, you know, it's May, right? what a team is in May is not what they are in August, is not what they are in November, is not what they are in January. But ESPN did a post-draft power ranking.

The Colts came in 20th, 32 teams in the NFL for those that needed the reminder, third in the AFC South behind Houston and Jacksonville, side of Indy's lack of splashy moves and they're focused on depth while the team's pass rush is not where it needs to be, all stuff that you guys already know. But, you know, Jake, and we'll talk about some free agents.

Like the Colts roster building isn't done, done, but largely, I mean, you know, the thought that they're going to bring in some sort of impact player, some of that stuff, barring something unforeseen is probably out the window at this point. So do you think that it aligns with kind of what these preseason expectations of the Colts are going to be? I do think that we're going to see them like middling, but towards the second half, the bottom 16, more than the top 16, when we talk about how the pundits are projecting them, just because even though they went out and they brought back Jones and they brought back Pierce,

there are major questions with Jones and his health and whether he's able to sustain the first half of last season, plus the pass rush issues and things like that across the board with some of the other roster holes that the Colts filled or half filled or maybe didn't even fill at all. Yeah, I think we all are optimistic about what the team can be because, like, we've seen them really humming and what it can look like when it's good. But there's a lot of questions they have to answer. Like, first and foremost,

what does Daniel Jones look like coming back from the Achilles? Because, like, if he looks terrible, then that's your answer right there. The Colts are probably going to be one of the lesser teams in the league. You know, you're confident in Jonathan Taylor in the run game and the offensive line should be pretty good. But as far as the past catchers go, you know, you don't have Michael Pittman, Jr. anymore. So who's going to be making those tough kind of chain moving catches over the middle? is it Alec Pierce? Like, are you going to defer to Tyler Warren on that stuff? That's fine. We just need to see that and like what the plan is first. And then defensively, a lot of new faces. You know, there's a lot of change on defense. And I mean, it should be pretty positive change. But we all just are probably pretty beat up from seeing how injured they were last year. And on paper, I think the defense should have been pretty decent before all the injuries happen. a year ago. So again, pretty bullish on what it can look like with Mooney Ward and Sauce Gardner and Justin Wally. You know me. I love AJ Halsey. The C.J. Allen pick is really grown on me.

So like those moves could be really good. You know, you're adding some youth and explosiveness there. But the pass rush, I think, could be an issue, especially if you do have injuries with Saus Gardner and Mooney Ward. Because right now, we know pass rush and coverage kind of worked in tandem. So what the Colts lack in pass rush right now, maybe the Colts having these shut down corners will help, you know, give guys an extra second to get to the quarterback. I mean, that's a terrible way to have to go about it, but that kind of is what it is. But if you're as banged up on the outside as you were last year and you have to kind of abandon

all the man coverage plans you had before. and you have to blitz and manufacture pressure and stuff, that's when things become, they just unravel and everything just falls apart. And it does not look as good as it was. And you're giving up 400 yards. You're giving up 30 points and all this stuff. So I think the Colts deserve a healthy amount of skepticism. But at the same time, I think they also, we can't already throw in the towel.

Like, I still have optimism about what they can't look like because there's a lot of the same ingredients there. Some big questions that, again, I'm, you know, I'm hesitant to, you know, say they're going to be like some playoff team or anything. But I do think the ingredients are there because there's a lot of the same stuff there still this year that, you know, helps them to get off to such a good start last year. Well, Derek, you said 20th, right? That was their ranking 20th and 20th does seem low. but I'm sure it's 20th because they didn't have a first round pick. And the benefit of having a first round pick is a lot of these teams that did have a first round pick automatically made their team better.

You know, how many times have you heard or seen a player in the second round, especially late second round, make your team better? I'm sure it's happened. But I think that's where the power ranking comes from. And I'd be interested to know where was San Francisco's power ranking because they trade it out of the first round. So that's, to me, it's showing a lot of confidence in the current players that they have to go out of the first round. Because usually that first round player is going to make your team better. It's going to be a splash.

It's going to create excitement. And it's kind of hard to get excited over the cult's draft because they were really drafting out of need. But, you know, if you have the knowledge that a Jake Arthur or Zach has, you know it was a pretty good draft. But, you know, in a league full of stars, they still don't have that star edge player. And that's a concern. And you could do it by committee, you know, but when you have that elite person on the edge, it can change an offense's game plan. I know that I've got to go back so many years, but one of the most terrifying guys to have to play against was Bruce Smith, because he just totally wrecked your game plan. If you can't throw the football, then what the hell else are you going to do? And I'm sure Lawrence Taylor back in my day wrecked a lot of people's game plan. And, you know, a lot of times they don't necessarily have to get the sack. But all the, you know, massinations and machinations and things you got to do to protect from them that dominating the game can really alter an offense's plan.

And, I mean, I've seen coaches that are just worried, worried like crazy because they're not going to be able to put together enough of a game plan, you know, to defend against that guy. So I think 20 is probably based on the subjective ranking that the pundits are going to do probably probably seems about right. But again, it's because you don't have a splash first round talent that is automatically day one going to make your team better. You know, recently there was a show we talked about the stars needing to be the stars. If they do that, I think they're better than 20th. You know, if Law 2 is a stud, if Sauce Gardner is a stud, you know, Jonathan Taylor, if Daniel Jones gives you quality ball, because, like, I'm going to give him a little bit of a leash. Like, I'm not expecting him to be prime Aaron Rogers while, you know, coming back from the

Achilles. But if he's playing quality ball, and again, John, the Taylor's running the hell out of the ball. Alec Pierce looks like a worthwhile investment. And, like, Tyler Warren, I'm not worried about whatsoever. But, like, if you're, if the guys you're counting on to step up and be stars are doing that, then I think the Colts, you know, will be one of the top two teams in the division throughout until the other shoe drops, essentially, because I do think they'll be in kind of a tough division,

which dictates a lot of their future anyways. Like the Texans have made some good moves, the Jaguars, I don't know. It's so hard for me to ever buy into the Jaguars. I don't know that the Colts will sweep the Titans again. Maybe they'll split this time, because the Titans have gotten a little better. But, I mean, they're in a tougher division than I think they were last year.

Yeah, I agree. And there is maybe a little bit, I think what the Colts are trading with, like, let's say, I mean, we're talking a lot of floor and ceilings, like ceiling level players. They're getting some more, you know, raising the floor because as much as they lost Zaire Franklin and Michael Pittman, Jr. And some of the mainstays of this team, as long as they're healthy, I think you still expect reasonable to very good production out of some of those players you just named, Jake, with Taylor and, you know, Pierce taking another step. and if Jones can come back and be anything close to what he was, like you can really find ways to talk yourself into this team, not to mention, you know, sauce being sauce and Latu making a leap,

because this is going to be probably maybe the most important year of anybody on the Colts is this 2026 for Laiatu, Latu. And then, you know, the flip side is none of it comes together, right? The pass rush room stays mediocre. The Colts have to deal with a bunch of injuries on top of it. Jones doesn't recover from the Achilles. kind of all hell breaks loose and then maybe we're talking about a regime change and all of that. So you've got kind of both sides of the coin there.

But I agree that I'm comforted by the fact that we've seen some proof of concept, maybe not as much as, you know, I haven't talked to myself into it the way that the ownership group has about the first eight, nine weeks of last season. But that was at the very least a little bit of proof of concept of what this team could be. moving forward or at least the vision of what they could be. And it's just about, you know, doing that over the course of the season and not letting all hell break loose. And I know injuries and there were some things that were outside of their control that were part of that.

But it'll be, yeah, we'll see, right? That's what you always say with power rankings, I know that's a cop out for a show like this or for sports talk radio. Well, we'll see. Well, yeah, of course we'll see. But in May, it was interesting to look at some of these post-draft power rankings and and just kind of see where the national pundits had sort of slotted all the teams. When we come back for the final segment today of Locked on Colts, we'll take a look at the remaining free agent list. There's not a lot left in the cupboard,

but there are some items in there. What can the Colts still grab? We'll talk about it next. Back for a final time on the Locked on Colts Squad show. Appreciate you guys being here alongside Jake Arthur and Alan Pinkett. I'm Derek Schultz. Zach Hicks taking a bit of his siesta as he deserves with his day job and all the draft stuff kind of piling up

as Zach will be with us here on a future show as he makes his return. You can still listen to Zach and Jake, of course, every single day. Locked on Colts, your first listen every day. And we appreciate you every dayers. I want to give you guys a shout out too, especially ones that are involved in the Everydayer Club.

Don't forget to check out the Everydayer Club for ad-free episodes and access to a group chat with Jake, Zach and other listeners of Locked on Colts. Tap the link in the show notes or go to Lockedonpod.com. dot com slash everydayer club locked on podcast.com slash everydayer club so I was also looking at I had a lot of time on my hands today I guess at the NFL free agent lists and you know that there are some guys on here that you know obviously the Colts aren't going to be interested in Aaron Rogers right so there's

some guys on here that you kind of automatically take off the board but it's it's sort of what you think where it's it's either guys that are going through you know in some cases disciplinary issues, age issues, coming off of injuries. You know, there's a, it's like going to the used car lot a little bit, Jake, right? Where, you know, you're going through and you're looking at some of these cars. You're like, oh, this looks nice. And then you look at the Carfax report and it's had three accidents and, you know, seven owners and things like that.

And you're like, I don't know if I want this. That's kind of how it felt like for me. You know, one name that I've heard people throw out there, Judevion Clowny, who, you know, kind of came off the couch and did pretty well last year. you know, him being an option. But, I mean, when you start kind of digging through here, Kyle Van Nuoy, San Redick, you know, Colts need to upgrade that edge two spot. And if you're thinking that they're going to go a veteran route,

there are a couple of veterans on here, but they're, you know, for lack of a better term, they're awful veterinary, if you will. Yeah, without a doubt. I mean, I'm not, I'm already not like a big free agent guy. and I kind of had to, you know, you have to find a way to talk yourself into some of these because some of these guys do, I guess, represent an upgrade for the Colts right now because right now they can either start Laatu Latu and Jalen Tuamalo, who played 215 snaps last year's a rookie and showed nothing that gives you confidence that he could be a starter this year.

Yeah, I mean, I don't want to say he can't do that this summer. but from what we've seen, that's a pretty significant reach. Or you could just make it your two best edge players, Latu and Arden Key. Arden Key should be probably your third edge rusher, your top rotational guy. He's not really a physical edge setter either. So you're just going to have two pass rushing ends rather than a guy that's like your strong side base end. So you're kind of looking for someone that represents that. Do you think Joey Bosa does that?

I don't know. That's another guy that spends a ton of the time on the sideline injured. Cameron Jordan is almost 37 years old. Like I think he came off an okay year last year compared to like what the Colts had. So, and but like, God, I'm still, I'm apprehensive about someone that age. If you're looking at a reasonable age, AJ Eponessa is only 27. That's a strong side guy. You maybe don't want him starting, but I'd rather probably have him starting over to him a low out. But I believe he was going to go somewhere and they dinged his physical.

So that's a guy whose medicals may not check out very well. Von Miller is just as old as Cameron. He's older than Cameron Jordan. Apologies. So yeah. And what's he given you the last few years? Clowny is probably my top guy, I guess. If you're looking for strong side, he's old to it, 33.

But he had a productive year for the Cowboys last year. Other than that, if you're looking at guys who could be on the strong side, Cleveland Farrell can do it. Derek Barnett can do it. Your tour gross motops can do it. I don't think DeNico Autry wants to come back here. Like your options are old and eh, basically, at edge. But at the end of the day, they're upgrades and you have the money to do it.

So it's like, do you just do it to make your group better? Like it's not what you want, but it's better than what you have. I would concur. It sort of reminds me of, hopefully I won't get his name wrong, but when Jared Allen went from the Vikings to the Bears, and there was a lot of hoopla, but by the time he got to the Bears, he really wasn't that Jared Allen met the Vikings had. And I would just say, if you are a quality, bona fide game wrecking edge player, at this point, you're not even available to any other team.

Exactly. So you're hoping to catch lightning in a bottle. And there's always the possibility that, you know, one of these players that you had mentioned, you know, takes a bath in the fountain of youth or has such a huge chip on their shoulder that, you know, the team they were with isn't believing in them anymore. And so they play like, you know, you should have believed in me. I'm going to show you that revenge thing. It doesn't take you far, but it helps in terms of motivation. But at this point, you're probably going to have, you know, edge rushing by committee.

And different guys have to pick their spots. And again, hope that LATU does progress like you think he can progress. I happen to think that he is, I guess, due for a big year. When I think about, you know, my progression in the league, The first year it was kind of new. Maybe had a couple, you know, bright moments. Come back second year. As a veteran, learned a lot more.

But then year three, for some reason, that game does slow down for you. Now you're a definite pro. Now you know how to watch film. Now you've got an idea of how the people in your division are going to try to block you. You know, and so you spend all off season. It's like, okay, I know how this left tackle likes to punch with this hand. I'm coming up with a move just to work his ass the next time we play. You know, so you learn the tricks of the trade by the time you're a third year pro.

And so I expect Latu to take a big step. But, you know, that's what the Colts are expecting, too. So if they can have committee on one side and have Latu and his third year excellence, then they should decide. But I also think because you got sauce and Mooney back there that you don't necessarily have to have all pros on the edge. Yeah, I think the thing with the edge guys, especially like Latu last year, is he'll get to the backfield. It's just a matter of how quickly he does. does it. It's just not quite the speed of what you would want, but if you've got these man cover corners doing their jobs, buying you that extra second, well, the close calls turn into

sacks, you know. So, God, if everyone could stay healthy, then that really works in the Colts favor. That's just, that's always the, the biggest, yeah, but with them is health. Like, at what year have they ever been able to stay healthy? when you're counting on some of the key players, Derek. Like, it's been, you know, you talk about they're almost cursed in that way, you know. But we'll see. Yeah, the other thing I say, you can't discount the push up the middle either. I mean, you can create some havoc in the middle.

You know, make them have to double team somebody else or make the back have to go chip on somebody else. Or, you know, make them have to keep a tight and then. So on the other side of the ball, you've got somebody running free. You know, so they got some work to do, but if you can have those two in the defensive backfield covering like they need to be covering, that could cover up a lot of problems, potential problems. Colts may have in terms of a pass rush. Yeah, and also, you know, we're looking at this on May 5th, right? Whereas after initial roster cuts in August or, you know, before the. the cut down happens.

You could see some people become available that we're not expected to be available. And then, you know, that's a much shorter timeline when you're just grabbing somebody in the season starts in four or five weeks or whatever it is. But that's always an option too. But, you know, I know we've focused a lot on edge, Jake. Is there anywhere else where you could see them adding a veteran player or a free agent play, maybe another ride receiver or another position that sticks out to you? Yeah, receiver is the other kind of glaring one. think, but you're looking for a very specific fit.

Like a lot of the guys that really stick out, they just don't, they can't run anymore. They don't get the separation like they used to, you know, maybe they can be possession types or, you know, I don't know, they'll pick up first downs for you, but like a guy like Joanne Jennings to me, like a good solid possession type receiver, but a little bit too much like what you were getting with Pittman. Debo Samuel's interesting because he offers something that not everybody else does. Like he's that yards after catch specialist, very tough to bring down with the ball in his hands. Like he's a little different.

He's not the fastest guy, but he's got proven yak ability. Tyreek Hill, that's, you know, by all means absolutely not. Stefan Biggs, kind of the same issue. As much as I was, I've always loved Keenan Allen. I don't really think he's got the juice much anymore. Brandon Cooks is interesting for me, though, Derek. I think Brandon Cooks has anything left. It's still that speed.

I mean, look at how the season ended with the bills last year. It was that deep play where Cooks did or did not make that catch, but he beat his guy downfield. So, like, at the very least, what Cooks could still do is he's got some speed. He could still get some separation. He has always been a rental player. You know, he's kind of just a mercenary. this point of his crew. He's 32, almost 36. And then I'm looking, if I'm looking at anyone else,

you can kind of run a little bit. Noah Brown, the former commander, if he's still on the open market, I think he is. Gabe Davis could run a little bit as well. I just think you're looking for someone who could separate at least the slightest and has some ability downfield. Basically, more Nick Westbrook Aquina types. But there's no one out there that moves the needle much, than maybe a Debo Samuel among guys that actually fit in Cooks, I would say. Yeah, I think what you sacrifice with the reliability you make up for with maybe some bigger playability than what you had with Michael Pittman Jr. and cooks, Alan, which I think the Colts were probably, I mean, that was always the complaint with

Pittman Jr., right? He was a great, reliable, productive player, but he wasn't necessarily a dynamic one. Right. Y'all, y'all forgetting the player that Chris Ballard says he loves. I see it as a comeback year for Laquan Treadwell. Oh, yeah. Chris Ballard says he loves Laquan. And who knows, has Ashton Doolin really showed us all he can show us?

You know, is it a time for him to take that step? You know, let's take a look at what you have. And, you know, I'm more in favor of, you know, a veteran that's done it. That can get me first downs, maybe not necessarily big play touchdowns. Because everyone's infatuated with speed. But if speed was all you needed, then the track team would be playing receiver. You know, but a lot of times there's so much more than that. bring on Laquan Treadwell.

It'll be what year 11 for him? Yeah, I think gear 11 year top. But you know what? He stood out as a special teamer last year. And I love Ashton. I love Ashton doing for what he is. What I don't want is to, you know, I have a really, you know,

reliable, nice Honda Civic. It's always there for me. But it's 13 years old. I'm not going to take it down on 38th Street and drag race it on Saturday night. you know what I mean because he can't do that so to not make no one's supposed to do that yeah I don't want my Ashton Doolin to be anything more than what Ashton Doolin is right now I think that's that's perfectly fine but see if you never let Ashton Doolan blossom then you never find out if he's

actually a Zach Pascall oh okay yeah there's a deep cut there is that yeah you might he did show some stuff in his bag he might be that he may be that hemie in that civic maybe The thing is he's got some downfield ability, some yards, like some speeds, yards after catch, and he can make some plays downfield. Like, I think it's, he's interesting enough to give him a little extra leash to see what he can do. But I'm not like putting all my eggs in that basket. You know what I mean? But I want to see what else he could do if given the opportunity.

Yeah. And because every time you give him an opportunity, it feels like it goes well. He's just kind of one of those players where, you know, every time you ask him to step up, he does. So I meant all of this in a loving way to Ashton Dool in case Ashdened. On the off chance that he watches Locked on Colts. Just wanted to make that clear. Thanks so much for joining us on this latest edition of the Colts Squad Show. We'll be back with you on Thursday night, hopefully fully squatted up. 9.30 p.m. as our offseason Tuesday, Thursday, cadence continues. So continue to set your calendars. As always, the Colts news cycle never

ends. So keep it locked on Jake and Zach every day on Locked on Colts. Be sure to follow at at Lockdown Colts on socials and check out our other great content. on YouTube and TikTok, and we'll see you next time right here on the squad show.