Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - COLTS SQUAD SHOW: Several Rookies SHINE | Reacting to the Colts' Preseason Opener - Good and Bad!

Episode Date: August 14, 2026

Despite an unfulfilling tie against a rival, there was plenty to like (and a few things to hate) from the Colts' preseason opener!  The Squad convenes for their first postgame show of 2026 to talk about several standout rookie performances - including one from a hometown kid, as well as the ongoing QB2 battle, a possible flip in the kicking competition, and who disappointed in Game No. 1.  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 as on TikTok and Instagram!  Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More  🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/lockedoncolts  Everydayer Club  If you never miss an episode, it’s time to make it official. Join the Locked On Everydayer Club and get ad-free audio, access to our members-only Discord, and more — all built for our most loyal fans. Click here to learn more and join your team’s community: https://lockedonpodcasts.com/everydayerclub  Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors! FanDuel Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COMto play Daily Dingers and make your free pick on who’s hitting a homer this MLB season. KALSHI For a limited time,Download the Kalshi app and use code [LOCKEDON] to get $10 when you trade $10. Square Get up to $200 off Square hardware when you sign up at https://square.com/go/lockedonnfl! #squarepod Gametime Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONfor $20 off your first purchase. 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. 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) #colts #indianapoliscolts #coltsnews #coltsnation #fortheshoe 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, and I think ties are stupid even in the preseason. And I'm Zach Hicks, and luckily the Colts didn't tie tonight with a 20 to 13 win over the New England Patriots in week one of the preseason. I'm Jake Arthur, and I'm sensing that Zach Hicks still doesn't agree with the Seth McGowan fumble. I don't know that any of us do. Colts Nation rise up. It's the Colts Squad, everything Indianapolis Colts every week. Covering all the big hits and game change. changing plays from the Circle City the way only the locked on podcast network can. It's time to squad up. The Colt Squadjo starts now.

Welcome to the Colts Squad show. Tonight show brought you by Kalshi for a limited time. Download the Kalshi app and use code locked on to get $10 when you trade at $10. I'm Derek Schultz, long time indie sports talker. I'm joined by your first listen every day, the beloved Lockdown Colts duo of Jake Arthur and Zach Higg. We are super duper excited. Our first post game recap show of 2026, fellas, has been seven months.

And I know you guys at home have been chomping at the bit as well to get talking about Colts football, even preseason football, even tied preseason football. And we're going to do exactly that over the next hour to start tonight's show. More of just kind of a free flowing conversation. First impressions, standouts, takeaways from preseason game one. Because again, like I said, it's been a long time with no football on this. And now we finally have at least something tangible to react to with tonight's 1313 game in New England. In segment number two, we'll talk about this rookie class. There were some real standouts tonight.

The two day three edge players both perform very well in Curry and Gums. I thought I thought Betcher was really good at linebacker. We'll talk about all of that coming up here in segment two. You knew we were going to get to this. I just didn't want to lead with it because we've spent so much time on the QB2 battle. But obviously there was a lot of interesting stuff to do. talk about and to dissect as far as Anthony Richardson's performance versus Riley Leonard's performance at backup quarterback.

So we'll talk about that coming up here in segment number three. And then we'll say the negative stuff for the last. You know, I mentioned the good and bad in the title frame. There was a lot of good tonight, I think. There was some bad too and some performances that either had us going, meh, or, and we'll talk about all of that coming up in segment four to round out the show. But, Zach, let's just kind of start just off the cuff. Look, I know that you're upset about the fumble call so we can kind of get that out of the way too.

But I mean, I said in the intro, I felt like it was more good than bad tonight from the Colts. If you looked at the box score and you saw the turnovers and some of that, you'd be like, whoa, what are you talking about here? But I just think some of the flashes individually that we saw gave me a lot of encouragement here in game number one. Yeah, and it's nice to get into the first preseason game and get that win early on, especially behind a really nice rushing touchdown by your young running back too. like Derek, I'm not going to acknowledge that as not being a touchdown.

I'm sorry. It's just, honestly, it's the worst football. It's the worst refereeing moment I've seen since that Rams and Saints, like, playoff game years ago. It legitimately is one of the worst calls. Like, I'm so happy they got this out of the way in the preseason. I'm not going to go too far into this because it,

but like, it literally can't be, like it can be anything but a fumble in that situation. It can't be a fumble. I have no clue how it's a fumble. But I digress. Overall, yeah, I do think it was.

a perfectly good showing from the colds. Really rough start in terms of, like, Richardson's fumble, the Owen drop, and we'll talk about that later, but the Owen dropped to being an interception. Definitely not the way you want to start the game, but I do think they bounce back well. Some young guys really showed out as well, and notably, you know, Caden Curry and George Gums were just all over the football field in this one. I thought the offensive linemen who have a shot at making the team or are going to make the team, aside from maybe Blake Freeland, which we'll talk about the final segment,

and all looked pretty good in this one, like Dalton Tucker, I thought looked good at Center. Jalen Farmer was awesome at right guard. Like he was kicking butt the entire game. So Luke Tunuta as well at right tackle, I thought looked really good. So I think there is a lot of positive to take out of this game. And again, a big part of it is the rookie class and some of the younger guys that they brought in as well.

So, yeah, I liked what I saw for the most part. I don't think I really had my mind changed on many players. And I'll kind of throw it to you with that here. Jake where like I think any player that I came into this game thinking was a roster lock, I don't think anything really changed much in this one, even though we'll talk about a couple of them in the final segment, because even the guys who struggled on offense or defense, like they showed out on special teams. So I think they've reserved their spots still with the special teams there. Yeah, I didn't really feel a strong pull for any like roster spots to be,

have been one or lost tonight. But I just, some of my resounding themes, like redemption. You know, what we kind of lose in all the Anthony Richardson stuff is the fact that he didn't really play last year. He's not been great this summer overall, but came out and had a pretty solid performance. And then he bounced back from a really rough start. And then Spencer Schrader outperformed Blake Groupie tonight. And now Groupies kick attempt was from 61 yards.

So it's kind of tough to make that. But Schrader made that. He made two field goals down the stretch to get the Colts to the tie, which was great because the guy's not even been kicking 70% in the offseason. So to have him perform like he did, I thought was really good. We'll get to it more, but I'm very pleasantly surprised by the rookie edge guys because I've been on record multiple times saying I assume it's essentially an unofficial redshirt year for them, except for Curry, you know, he could probably carve out a special team's

role. But the way that those guys were out there was great. I feel super duper better about the linebacker group than I did last year this time. Literally, top the bottom, I think there is something to be excited about with every guy. Now, they're not going to keep everybody. But there is very positive things I could say about every single linebacker on the death chart right now. So I thought the defense had a really good performance overall. Now, did they face a bunch of studs? No, but like I thought it really went well overall, aided by New England's kicker missing three field goals,

which certainly will. Yeah, maybe they'll give Spencer Trader a call if it ends up being traitor losing or whoever the Colts kicking job loser might be because that was an ugly performance tonight. But, I mean, Jake, to your point, sometimes ripping it up and starting over, I know it can be a scary thing, but the Colts essentially did that at linebacker. And I'm not going to make any broad proclamations after a preseason game.

But you can see like the upside at the very least with that unit. You know, the other issue that I had with, you know, somebody like Jermaine Pratt or Zayor, Zayor Frank, we know what I mean? Whereas I think you can maybe talk yourself into what the future could look like for some of these players, not just the fact that, you know, we're maybe a little bit more pleasantly surprised,

that they're ready to contribute right away, but what that means for them going forward. Yeah, no, for sure. It's really good to see all these young players. And like Jake has been saying here, the linebacker room, I came into this pretty optimistic about the linebackers that were going to play in this game.

My one big question mark, though, was Jalen Carlis, who kind of just looked like a guy in the practices that I saw. I know Jake has barely mentioned him all off season, but he made a couple really nice plays out there. Had a great pass breakup on a third down where he was in man coverage. I think it was against Raritan as well, like the rookie phenom tight end out of Notre Dame that Pat's fans are all in love with.

Really nice pass break up there, exploded through the line for a tackle for a loss. And then you go to Bryce Betcher, had multiple tackles for a loss in this one. It was really flying around. Austin Ajikai had a really good showing as well. And then Akeem Davis Gather didn't play and C.J. Allen didn't play, but we're expecting good things from them too. So it does seem more intriguing at linebacker this year. Now, hopefully these guys can stay healthy because it seemed intriguing going in the last. year too and then some health issues popped up, notably with Carlis and some of these other young

players. But I do like what I saw from the linebackers and just how some of the defenders were flying around, especially in the front seven. You know, it wasn't like perfect up in the front seven by any means, and we'll talk about that later. But I do think seeing some of those young guys flying around was really nice to see. But Jake, I want to throw this to you. I mean, there was one superstar playing in this game that played probably too late into this one. I saw him out there as as late as like early fourth quarter. Will Mallory, I mean, he is just way too good to be playing in that kind of game. I mean, he looked like a man amongst boys out there.

And we just, I mean, I have to throw it to you, Jay, because this is the guy that you cry about, well, you want him in there as much as possible. And he just cannot get out there in the regular season. Like, it is time, man. Get him some snaps in the regular season. That's what I've been saying. But first, let's give me a round of applause,

because this was a great night for me. Drew Aller bawled out for the steel. Oh, Drew Allen. I'll get that out of here. You got Bryce Becher balling out, Will Mallory. I was proud. I'm proud of Colts Twitter. I saw all night everybody saying,

enough is enough. Find a way to get this guy on the field during the regular season. And I agree. You have two blocking tight ends. You can't make, and like you have historically struggled to find mismatches on offense with a certain guy. You're telling me you can't find a purpose.

for Will Mallory because he can't block. Who cares? Jimmy Graham couldn't block and he was one of the greatest titans of his generation. Figure it out. Shane Stike and you're an offensive whiz kid, I have faith you can figure it out. Again, I don't care if he can't block and that everyone knows it's a past play when he's out there.

Put him out, like throw it to him. The guy's catching it. He almost always does. And like he was a stud out there tonight. And it's nothing new. he does this in practice every summer. When he seldom gets a target during the regular season,

he often comes down with it. And it's usually like some sort of acrobatic catch. Like, Will Mallory can ball? Like, I'm not saying he's a star, but he's more useful than what he's been relegated to through three years so far. Yeah, it makes me excited for Tyler Warren, too, because I just think Stike and what he could do with somebody like Mallory, what he can do with Tyler Warren.

and we obviously saw a lot of that in his rookie year. But sticking with the offense, the running backs, you know, I think we thought going into training camp that this was going to be something that we were laser focused on and maybe a battle that went all the way to the final day. But Zach and I were even talking about it, Jake, when you were out of the room, but we'll have both of you guys kind of chime in on this. It feels, I don't want to say clear cut because I think the third spot is still up for grabs. but to me, I think we're further kind of solidifying the concrete around Seth McGowan as RB2.

Yeah, no, for sure. Seth McGowan is RB2. Anderson Castle, the practice squad guy of the year, maybe he gets up for a game or something like that. But Anderson Castle was really fun to watch tonight, although I do think he's more of just a reserve guy on the practice squad. But yeah, Seth McGowan, I thought, looked really good out there. I know his overall yards per carry aren't going to be like anything flashy. I think it was like 3.4 yards per carry. but a lot of that was like we're running up the middle on third and one or running up the middle on these short yard things.

We're running on the one yard line at the goal line. Like you're not going to have a high yards per carry when that makes up like half of your overall attempts. But his first run of the game where he broke off for like 11 yards, I thought was everything that you really want him to show, right? Just that explosion through the line. Just get that one foot in the ground and get up field and get that long run. I was kind of sold on that one play right there. So I want to see a little bit more of him for sure. But I thought he looked good.

I thought Ulysses Bentley looked good, especially on that one catch. And I guess the video review worked for that play. I don't know. They got him marked short of the goal line. But Ulysses Bentley had a really nice play as well. And then, again, Anderson Castle was fun. Like he's our practice squad guy for sure this year. Yeah, the running back situation, I feel like that's going to be the one

where I get really disappointed with what we see versus what the cold see. because I do think they want to give DJ Giddens a chance. Yeah, which sure, like there's some merit to that, but he's got to be available. He's missed about a week now with the hamstring. And I'm sorry, but even when he's been out there, he has not, he's just not drawn the eyes that the other guys have. And like, I know it's not realistic for like Anderson Castle and Ulysses Bentley and everyone to rank above this fifth round pick they had last year.

But there's zero question that Seth McGowan has outplayed. him this summer. Everything that McGowan does is exactly what they've been saying they want in a compliment to Jonathan Taylor. And he does like he has now done it in a game setting as well. And Zach, I mean, you'll you'll go back and watch as well. But in the limited past protection reps that I noticed, there, there weren't opportunities for him to like stick in there for like longer than a second or two. But I noticed he identified blitzers coming. Like he at least picked guys up in past protection, which is a big thing that we weren't. to see. And then he had kickoff return as well, which looked pretty good. It came back a bit.

West Weeks had a hold on it. Yeah. Yeah. So it came back. But like everything I saw from McGowan and I and I pretty much verified what he's been doing in practice already. Yeah. No, for sure. And before I throw back to Derek, I did want to, because this is just Jake and I's brand in the offseason. So I have to throw this in here. Special teams update for the non-kicker stuff, though, special teams like coverage stuff. The guys who really stood out to me, Coleman Owen, I thought, as a punt returner, a kick returner, had a really good night. Had that 30-yard punt return, I think, after the fumble on the goal line. How many times can I mention that, obviously, in this episode, had the 30-yard punt returner that got them back in prime position to potentially

score again. I thought he had a good night. Jonathan Edwards had a great gunner rep. I mean, it looked like a National Dueling Gunner Rep later in the game. King Curry had a tackle on kick coverage late in the game, I thought was really good. Jonathan Owens had a really nice tackle on kick coverage as well. And then Cam Taylor Britt had a really nice punk coverage tackle. So I think we're starting to see the core of the special teams coverage guys really take shape. I think curry and gums are going to be a big part of it. But like Jonathan Edwards, Jonathan Owens, Cam Taylor Britt, and we'll see if Coleman Owen can make this team as well.

But I thought those guys really took a big step forward as special teamers. And honestly, in preseason games, that probably helps you make a roster more so than anything you on offense or defense because you're not you're not going to be playing offense or defense if you're that low on the roster. So making sure that you're one of like the four to five guys that Brian Mason can pick to play. And hopefully Brian Mason's okay. Apparently suffered a really bad injury at the end of the game. So we'll have to keep moderate on that. But if you can be like those four or five guys that Brian Mason handpicks for the roster, that's your easiest way on the team. Yeah. And I know we're talking about bottom roster guys, but man, I love watching Coleman Owen. I mean, the guy can just,

he can really play. And we'll talk. about him more in segment three. So does that. Yeah. We'll talk about him more with the quarterback. We have a debate coming, I'm sure, with that one. A raw player, we thought was going to have a red shirt year who looked ready tonight. A young linebacker solidified his camp performance and a hometown kid who looked like JJ Watt.

We're going to talk about all of the standout rookies from tonight when the cold squad show returns next. This portion of the cold squad show brought you by our friends at Kalshi before the season even kicks off. everyone's making predictions. Who wins the division? Who makes the playoffs? Who's lifting the trophy at season's end? On Calci, America's number one prediction market platform, you can trade those predictions in a live market. Will the Colts qualify for the playoffs this season? Right now, Indianapolis is trading at 38%, meaning that a $100-hour trade would pay out over $252 if they clinch a playoff spot. That's not all when they have that it comes to predictions, though.

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It's sure been that way lately with the offensive line for the Colts, which we never seem to have to worry much about because the starters have mainly ranged from solidest spectacular over the past few years. Yeah, the Colts are still short on key playmakers on that side of the ball, but it's nice to have kind of a set it and forget it type feeling with that unit. The same can go for your organization. Spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all of your boxes. Less stress, less time, more results. When you need the right result to cut through the chaos,

this is a job for 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 podcast. Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now 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. Welcome back to the locked on cold squad show. I'm Derek Schultz. I promise that I'm still here. I noticed my camera on the way out. And we're just going to, this is like Broadway. We're just going to act like nothing's wrong. Everything's going to be fine. I will exit and come back in and get back on camera here in just a second. But first, I want to remind you about the Everyday Air Club. Don't forget to check out the Everydayer Club for ad-free episodes and access to to group chat with Jake, Zach, and other listeners of Lockdown Colts. Tap the link in the show notes or go to locked-on podcast.com slash Everydayer Club. So guys, let's talk about this rookie class. And I know that we mentioned a couple of them to begin the show here in Bryce Becher. And but really, I wanted to

start with the two day three edges, Zach, because I think they really stole the show. I mean, Kate and Curry, I know I made the joke about JJ Watt. Look, he was a monster in that second half. And George Gumbs, you know, very raw. So we thought, okay, you know, this is a guy that's going to have to learn as he goes. And again, caveat for everything that we say tonight, it's just one preseason game, but he looks like a guy that just is sort of getting it here early and maybe can make a contribution for this team on the field. But, you know, for two guys that I think were essentially day three flyers, I think you had to come away and press with what they did tonight in New England.

Yeah, for sure. They're both pretty raw players in just different ways where George Gumbs is so athletic, so explosive, and you just want to see him put it all together. We're Caden Curry. It's more so, like, where is he going to fit in the NFL? Like, he's got the skill, obviously, but can he win with the shorter arms and where is he going to fit in terms of inside or outside as a rusher? But yeah, I thought they both did some good things.

I mean, George Gumbs, just, again, the Energizer Bunny is how you would describe George Gums. Like, it is a million miles per hour 24-7. Like, he is going to be flying all over the field. had a really nice speed dip rush late in the game, where him and Curry both converged on the quarterback for a pressure that led to a bad throw. I thought that was the highlight of the game for him. So I liked what I saw from Gums,

but Caden Curry, I really want to talk about him because he was a guy when I, during the pre-draft process, when I watched a lot of his inside rushes, like rushing from like the three tech position in college, I saw something there. That's when it really clicked for me with Caden Curry as a prospect where it was like, look, I don't love him as a prospect. I think that the arms are short. It's a little bit nerve-wracking for me because they're so historically short.

But when he rushed inside a three-tech in college, it looked different. It looked a lot different. And tonight we kind of saw that where when he was out at edge, he only really won with winning inside and winning with stunts. But when he rushed inside, oh, my gosh, he was killing those third-string guards. Like those third-string guards could not do a thing against him. And he's a guy who's played a lot of football too, right? So he had the wear-with-all to get his hands up and knock down

some pass. I think he had like two to three pass breakups in this game as well. So a smart player that was just devastating to guards on the inside. I think he finished the game. And I'm sure Jake has the stats or he will have the stats, but finished the game with like three QB hits, a sack and like two to three pass breakups in this one. He was all over the football field and a really great showing for the young player. And also the special teams tackle as well, which I think, again, goes further than anything you show on defense. So Caden Curry kind of showed why Chris Ballard's been raving about him every time he talks about his rookie class.

He looked really good out there, and I hope this continues because he's mostly run with the dev team all offseason. So we haven't really seen him play with the second team at all, play with the third, or play with the first team at all. So I want to see him get a little bit more if he's going to keep showing out like this, but I don't know. To me, this kind of just proved again,

the future for him is probably at 3 Tech because, gosh, looking at him at 3 Tech, like get him up to 270, have him rushing from the inside, and then there might be something there as a 3-Tech rusher. Yeah, I mean, you got Michael Clemens in the short term as your Taekwon Lewis replacement, but shoot, how long is it going to take Caden Curry to get to that point? Because that's your inside outside. You know, you've had some success with guys like that. You know, Margus Hunt has played inside outside. Denigo Autry inside out, Tyquon Lewis. In totality here, six tackles, one sack, two for loss, two pass breakups, three QB hits.

I don't think what is its own individual stat in there, but run stuff like at the line of scrimmage, I thought I had two or three of those as well. So the guy was crazy. Like Derek mentioned, it's preseason, so I'll allow the JJ Watt comparison because anyone is allowed to look like a superstar.

But yeah, like just the wherewithal to get your hands up into passing lanes, he is a football player. Like Chris Ballard is obsessed with him because he's been watching him since high school. but like sometimes that's just true like some guys defy not having elite physical or athletic attributes because they just have such a grand understanding of how to play the game that it just works and curry might be that type of guy i don't know if it means he's going to even wind up being a starter

but he does know how to play the game of the ball which will always give him some sort of utility in the league, even if it's just as a key rotational player. But I found myself pleasantly surprised with him. And I think he's maybe going to be able to have a bigger role this year than I initially thought. He still does have a room full of guys to compete with because, I mean, Michael Clemens, I don't think looks bad. And Clemens and him essentially have the same role.

That inside, outside flexibility with the strong side edge, you know, based stuff um yeah overall i came away really really impressed with curry but the thing is i thought he would be able to have a quicker impact than george gums gums i'm almost blown away by yeah i did not think he would be able to hit the ground running whatsoever i thought he would take a lot of work almost like a bin banagoo who would officially get it you know that's kind of how i thought of gums but the guy has routinely made plays in training camp practices. Like he's a lightning rod. Like he flashes and he jumps off the snap,

runs around everywhere. And you get into a game setting right here. And I thought he looked really, really good as well. He also had a sack, a couple tackles, a tackle for loss. So really,

really promising showing from the young edge rushers because you don't always get that. What did you guys think of Bryce Betcher as well? You know, somebody that I think unlike Gums and Curry, the Colts are asking to come in and play a very large role right away. And it appears at least so far through what we've seen in Westfield and tonight in New England that he's going to be. Obviously, there will be bumps along the way, Zach, but he appears ready to at least be worth that confidence.

Yeah. I mean, there's going to be ups and downs with him for sure, right? Like I think when we go back on the film, there's going to be still a couple of moments in this game where he could have been. a little bit better, but the highs are going to be really high with him because he's very athletic. He's a player that sees the game well. And like we saw on that big tackle for a loss, but it was like, it was like a seven-yard loss on that play.

He shot through the lane and had a really nice run at the running back, really good angle, really good pursuit and got him on the ground. So, yeah, I liked what I saw from Betcher. I liked what I saw from all the linebackers, but Betcher really popped some good tackling power in this game as well. And honestly, I want to go through just kind of the rookie class in general that I thought played pretty well in this game because, like, I already mentioned in the, start. I thought Jalen Farmer had a really good game at right guard, especially in the run game.

I thought he was running over some dudes. They pulled him out in front a couple times, which was really nice to see. So I thought Jalen Farmer played really well. I thought, again, Anderson Castle technically is part of the rookie class, right? Because he's an undrafted rookie that was brought in here. I thought he looked great in this game. Again, practice squad most likely, but I thought he looked really good. So yeah, it was a good showing, I think overall, just from a lot of the rookies they brought in, a lot of the young guys that they got in here into the program. And that's how you build a foundation. The Colts have not had a lot of good draft classes and rookies in the last couple of years.

So if they can maybe find some hits here with Curry and Gums and Farmer, Halsey, I thought had some good moments in this game too. I thought he had a really nice tackle short of the sticks on a third downplay early in the game. I thought he played well. So seeing some really good things from the rookie class so far. And hopefully this continues into the next couple of preseason games and joint practices as well. Yeah, I thought Betcher looked pretty good.

I still, like, one of the things I wanted to watch going into this game was any sort of hierarchy or pecking order for the linebackers. And so, no, Alan didn't play because of injury, but I think Akeem Davis-Gaithr not playing was significant because it pretty much tells us right there he's going to be your start. and Will linebacker. And then so it's kind of up to Bryce Becher and Austin Ajikai, and really Jalen Carlis to figure out where they fall in line, too,

because Hunter Wooler kind of factors into that whole thing. And you know all these guys are going to make the roster. I mean, probably Carlis too. But is there enough snaps and enough situational football to give all these guys? I just, I think it's very interesting. Becher kind of continues to be a positive surprise. I know when we evaluated him before the draft, I liked him, but I was skeptical whether he'd be able to hold up against the run. I kind of thought he'd get held up in the wash a good bit, just kind of brought up into the trenches and kind of disappear.

But he's been able to find way to kind of shoot gaps and sift his way through the trash to get to the ball. So I like what Betcher's doing a good bit. I will say West Weeks is a guy who we have said if an undrafted rookie was going to make the roster, Weeks probably had as good a shot as any. I wasn't overly impressed tonight, especially in comparison to the other linebackers. He had the holding call on the kickoff return, which was a big deal because he's supposed to make it the roster because of special team. So that's a big deal because it wipes out a pretty good return. term by McGowan.

And then on defense, I think he got jukeed out of his shoes on one play as well, if I don't, if I don't, if I recall correctly. I think he was the linebacker in coverage on the receiver on the 19 yard gain on the two minute drill situation. I think it was him in coverage. So not only did he allow a catch, but he also missed the tackle that led to the run after the catch that put them in field goal position where if this was a decent kicker, they would have lost.

Well, they would have still won the game because they were already up by seven. But I don't know why the Patriots were kicking that field goal at the end. But, you know, I digress. Right. But I mean, yeah, that's like as a UDFA, you can't really afford to be making multiple big errors in a single game, especially when you got a guy like Taj Chambers. That's really kind of standing out. Verasuk was invisible from from what I saw. So like that one's probably the ones, whatever.

You know, I'll take the L on that one's. But I mean, this is going to be kind of a tight race. you're going to have a lot of linebackers because these guys play so they play such a big role on special teams. Weeks can't really afford to be making that many mistakes. Muteski. One backup quarterback was better than the other tonight, but with the way things started, kind of like for me, it did not look like that was going to be the case. We're going to talk QB2 when the cold squad show returns next.

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Terms apply. Again, creating an account and redeemed code L-O-C-E-D-O-O-N for 20. $20 off. Download the game time app today. Welcome back. Locked on Colts squad show where a reminder, just like it was the preseason tonight for the refs. It's the preseason for the locked on Colts squad show main host. So I'm not going to try not to knock my camera again or have my mute button on and all that. Thanks so much for working through it as we're going to try to get better every single. What was it? Frank Reich, one percent better each day. I'm going to try to do that. Climb that mountain, right? That's what we're doing. Yeah. It feels like one

tonight. Zach Hicks is here. I'm Derek Schultz, Alan Pinkett, out on the assignment. He'll be back with us later on this week for another locked on Colts edition. We're recapping the Colts 13-13 tie officially, much to Zach Shagrin tonight in New England. Let's get to the quarterbacks. We waited this long. I just didn't want to do the thing where we led QB2 right off the bat. We've talked an awful lot on this show about Anthony Richardson and about Riley Leonard and rightfully so, right? That's been kind of the topic to juror. when it comes to the off season. Tonight, man, with the way that it started, Zach, I just thought to myself, not that the interception was all his fault. I don't think that it was, but the fumble, you're like, man, really come on. But then closed pretty strong.

That two-minute drill, it just feels like sometimes when you speed those things up, the light kind of turns on for Richardson. We've always said, don't be a box score watcher with him, but the box score actually looked good tonight for Richardson. 11 to 14 also added the rushing pop as well.

And I think, Jake, you made a great point, too, the fact that he hadn't essentially played in about a year. I think he had to be pretty encouraged by what you saw from Anthony Richardson tonight. And I think clearly, and we are going to talk about Riley Leonard, but I think clearly had the better performance than Leonard did. Yeah, for sure. And, you know, part of it is because he was playing with better players than Riley Leonard.

I mean, Leonard was throwing out there to, I mean, was E.J. something or whatever was the receiver that. could not catch a ball at all number 10 out there. So it is tougher, obviously, with Leonard, but by far and away, Richardson had the better night tonight. And it started pretty rough, right? Because the first throw of the game was to a wide open target in the flat that was just a dirt ball, right?

Rolling to his left, throws it right in the ground. Then the interception happens. And I know I might be in the minority here because people are going after anyone who gives any kind of fault to Richardson, but throwing the ball high on an out route against cover two zone, the best case scenario is your receiver getting killed. The worst case scenario is the receiver missing the catch and it becoming an interception. So while I do give most of the fault there to the receiver, Coleman Owen, because you do have to still find a way to come down with that football, just a bad read and a late ball that was high.

And you're putting your player in a bad position there that led to the interception. So you have that. You have the fumble as well. And it's like, oh, my gosh, this is just going to be a game that. that spirals for Anthony Richardson. But after that fumble, he really bounced back. And even before the fumble, he was starting to get some fire going, like he had some really nice runs,

some read option keepers that he did some great work with. But really that drive right before the halftime where he was going down the field and hitting some big plays down the field. He came really close on one of those Will Mallory throws, though, where he took a little bit too much off of it and was almost another interception. So I still think there are some pacing issues to his, throws. But overall, I mean, when he can just get back into his three-step drop, into his five-step drop, hit that back foot and rip the ball to a corner route, rip the ball to a dig route,

rip it to a high-low concept. He just has the arm talent. He has the skill that he will always have that, right? Like, there are so many flaws in his game, but you can see the talent on display when he's really clicking like he was at the end of the first half in this one. So really good showing from him overall. Like, he bounced back from a tough early part. and kind of did a lot of the things that Jake and I talked about, right? Like, I didn't see him take a bad sack in this one or take a bad hit in this game. There were a couple, again, there were a couple of runs where it's like, get down, dude. It's the preseason.

But overall, I do think it was a good showing from him. And the way that he was able to move the ball in that two-minute drill and get that touchdown, led two touchdown drives in this game, which is really nice to see. So, yeah, I think he had a really good showing in this one. And again, bounce back from a couple of early mistakes to finish it off pretty well. Two touchdown dry. I caught that again. Yeah. But I'm glad you're also pointing it out as a touchdown as well, though, because like, when I saw the play, I was like, cool, touchdown. And then I fumble, okay, late, he crossed the goal line. He was down. It was just bad. Yeah, we haven't talked about that enough, I think, on this episode. So we can, we can just,

yeah, we could just go further into it, I guess. But anyway. I submit a complaint to New York. Like, I would like to. But no, like, I thought there were some really good throws. and I think this is what you kind of want the Anthony Richardson experience to be like without, you know, iron out some of that stuff, like some of the deliberately bad plays, yeah. But like the chunk plays he delivered, he had what, like a couple of them on that one drive to Mallory where he scored two plays later. I thought the throw to Mallory on that corner route where he led them, what led him out to the right sideline. I thought that was an unbelievable throw. Like that was, that was chefs because that was so good.

Yeah, I thought, again, those two-minute drill late game situations, Derek, Riley is kind of the same way. They can't function if there's a plan. Like, they have to fly by the seat of their pants, and that is how they're successful. If I'm Shane Seichen and I'm starting one of those two dudes at quarterback, I'm not even drawing up a first 15. I'm just going off vibes because that's how those guys. I succeed. But I mean, it works, man. Like I was kind of, when I look back at Anthony Statline, I was kind of shocked. Like 11 to 14 is probably the best completion percentage he's ever had. He had over a 10.0 yards per attempt. His pass rating was only like 80, though, which I thought

was kind of weird. But it's because he had the interception. But no sacks either. I thought he was great at escaping pressure. When I mentioned, you want this to be what the Anthony Richardson experienced looks like, I thought he ran the ball really well. And not only just like four or five yard pickups for his scampers out of bounds, like dude was picking up like chunks of 10 yards. He had a 22-yard run, had the short touchdown. So if this is what Anthony Richardson gives you and he does it again like next week against Atlanta in the second half, and does and like takes care of the ball a little bit better

than another team might come calling. Maybe Atlanta. Atlanta is in quarterback trouble. right now. Detroit, who is their preseason opponent in week three, has to figure something out because Teddy Bridgewater retired. And I mean, Josh Dobbs isn't, you know, he's whatever.

But there are some teams out there now that could use a QB2, QB3. And if Anthony keeps performing well, like this might finally be what's needed to get his trade moving along. Or do you say to yourself, we only have to pay him 1.2 more million And if he's our QB2, then, you know, I understand the trade request is still out there and the Colts try to, look, I don't think that's going to happen, right? But like, I'm just presenting it, Zach, as a possible situation.

I mean, especially if Leonard Strait stinks, I don't think they're going to bring somebody else in, right? So I'm just presenting that hypothetical. Yeah, I mean, there's no world where they should release him. I think that would be absurd. just because, like, it would be one thing if you were gaining cap relief for it, but you've already paid every bit. Like, you would get that minimum cap relief. And even Richardson at his absolute worst.

Like, Jake, we saw it. Like, Easton Sticks not even a quarter of as talented as Anthony Richardson. Oh, brother. He's not good. Right. That's what I mean. But that's what's out there. It's the Easton Sticks and the Seth Henigans and those type of guys.

And, like, even if Richardson was closing his eyes throwing passes, he's better than those guys because he can run a little bit. it's like you obviously keep him if you can't trade him. So yeah, we'll see. He's still in competition for this QB2 battle. So yeah, I would much rather keep him as QB3 though if he loses that battle, then release him. I think that would be just absurd.

I think, and I've been someone who wants to move on from Richardson, but I think it would just be absolutely absurd to cut him. There's no need to do that. There's no desire to do that. So he should be on the team if he's not traded. Getting to Riley Leonard, though, again, with the stipulation that, I mean, he played behind Blake Freeland so much in this one. Like, even Richardson got a series with Jalen Travis. So to say this was very fair for these two quarterbacks, maybe isn't the right thing because Blake Freeland couldn't block Jake out there tonight.

Hey, I have Bend and Hart. Yeah, yeah. Jake, if you bend, you're not getting back up, buddy. That's fair. Our age. But yeah, like, you know, Freeland was struggling. Jimmy Morrissey was dreadful in this one. Olin Croutts' kid was tough in this game as well.

Like there was just no blocking being done up front. But I think even with that caveat, like I thought Leonard did struggle in this one. He was second guessing a lot of his reads. He was just not really having the pocket presence that you want. Even on that one scramble around where it's like, okay, he did a good job of getting off the first read, moving around the pocket. and then he just kind of ran in circles and slid down and fell down in the back. Like, it's just not a good look.

It just looked chaotic back there with him. He didn't look comfortable at all. He looked just not confident in a lot of his throws. So you want to see a bounce back from Leonard in this next week. It'll be a really big showing for him because he gets thrown up the twos in the next preseason game. And if he can match what we saw from Richardson tonight or surpass what Richardson did, then I do think he's in a good.

chance to win QB2. But if he looks like he did tonight with the second team offense next week, then I think we get into another conversation again where it's like, okay, maybe Richardson should be the QB2. So I think that this is going to be a huge week for Riley Leonard to show what he's made of and kind of get back to what he was doing late last season. Because the Leonard that we saw last year, like in the end of the regular season, was very, very good for obviously a rookie quarterback. That was a day three pick. So you want to see that kind of come back to him rather than what he looked like in this past game. So it's not over for Leonard because, again, he's going to get his shot with the second

team. What you're doing with a third team offense is just always going to be rough out there. But you want to see a better game from him against the Falcons the next week. Yeah, and Jake, and the confidence thing, like, is it just because he's feeling the stakes of it? Like, was there something to the fact that you go to Houston and it's week 18 and it's kind of like, you just kind of let it rip? Like, that's what I really liked about Leonard. and now it just feels like he's second-guessing everything when he's out there, not just in game settings, but even in Westfield.

Yeah, I think they drew up a pretty specific plan for him, like, just use Houston for an example. Like, there was a lot of quick stuff, but they also wanted to be deliberately aggressive, like going to Alec Pierce. Like, there's a pretty clear plan. And like Zach mentioned, like, the pressure was in his face literally from, like, his first snap. Like when he finished the fake handoff, he had someone. right in his face, like on his first snap, going to Will Mallory.

And he's probably a guy that's, like, prone to seeing ghosts or getting the yips when there's consistent pressure. So I think that's probably part of it. Like, I don't really know what he saw on that kind of arm punt on the end of his first drive. You know, like he had pressure in his face again, but, like, the throw was not there to make. You know what I mean? So I don't know.

And that one was weird because it was an aggressive. move to make. So he's, he's, I'm a little confused by him right now. I'll be real with you. So I, like, he's another one I want to go back and watch and just kind of see what he was looking at there. But you are still seeing some of the second guessing, I think. There's an apprehension to, to push things downfield, which probably comes as a result of, of like, his trust factor in some of the guys he's throwing to. Because, I mean, if you're out there throwing to like E.J. Horton, and Raylan Sharp and Ben Nickel. Like I'm not really trusting that either compared to throwing to Alec Pierce and Ashton Doolin.

You know, so there's probably a good bit of that as well. I don't know. He kind of had fixed some of it in the last week in practice because that was one of his biggest issues was just kind of the timid nature that he was approaching practice with. But then he started to push the ball downfield in the last. couple practices before the New England practice. So I don't know. We'll have to keep an eye on how he's doing.

I mean, he gets the start next Saturday. So I think he will probably look a little better because he's playing with a better supporting cast. So this is probably the worst we've seen of Leonard at this point because like not even 50% completions. Yeah. And just to hammer at home, I mentioned the misinformation there on the right sidebar. This is still a battle.

everything that the Colts have said, everything that's been said behind the scenes, all of it. This is still open, like, forget what our feelings are individually about Anthony Richardson or individually about Riley Leonard. We are only going on what, you know, everything else is out there. So, yes, there is some stuff on the internet about how, oh, a release is imminent, a trade is imminent. Maybe that happens at the end of the day. It doesn't count if it's coming from one uninformed guy. Well, I just wanted to, I see it in my feet. I just, you know, we all just wanted to mention it here and just kind of nip that in the bud.

When we come back, a former top 50 pick who was disappointing and a couple of other cults who were, downright disastrous tonight. We're going to end the show with the negatives from tonight when the Colts Squat show returns for a final time next. Matt Derry here from the Lockdown Lions podcast. You know, life insurance is one of those things you don't really think about until you have a reason to. For me, it really hit home when my father passed away. over 20 years ago. You started thinking less about yourself and more about the people who depend on you, making sure they're taking care of no matter what. That's why I like ethos. They make

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Applications may vary. Rates may vary. And we're back on this preseason week one post game edition of Locked on Colts. Thanks for staying up late with us, 1150 Eastern time alongside the Lockedon Colts daily duo of Zach Hicks and Jake Arthur. I'm Derek Schultz. Alan Pinkett will return with us again soon. He's having some power issues.

We've had terrible storms here all over the state of Indiana and Alan having to deal with that this week. So our thoughts are with him right now. We talked about a lot of the positives. Again, this was a game full of really nice individual performances, including from Anthony Richardson, who we just mentioned. But there was some bad tonight. And I'm not just talking about bottom roster guys,

like what's his name, Zach, the number 10 receiver. that you mentioned. We're just going to call him, what's his name? I want to say it's E.J. Horton, right? It is. E.J. Horton, Jr. from Purdue, Derek. I like E.J. What's his name? But I know, maybe I shouldn't do that, right?

What my day job is? But that, you know, you have, oh, what's his name? You have those guys who are playing in the fourth quarter of those games, of these games and have, don't have much of a chance to make the roster, right? But I'm really disheartened when I see guys that I are going to make the roster and that you hope actually are going to impact the roster, disappoint. And Zach, it's not that he was bad tonight.

I don't think he was bad. But, man, when you have Caden Curry and George Gums have the games that they had, and then Jalen Tuamuolow comes out there and it's just kind of, eh, it just kind of continues to be like, you know, the meme where they're poking him with the stick. Do something. Like, I just feel like I want to see that from him at some point here. I want him to flash somewhere. Yeah, that was, that wasn't the best show.

from him. Like, I don't think it was terrible. Like, there were a couple times where it's like, he got good depth into the pocket. And I was like, okay, like he's getting some movement. But the thing is, he was going against the Patriots fourth-stirring offensive tackle, right? Even Caleb Lomu, their first-round pick was on the other side. And Michael Clemens had some good moments against him on the other side. And George Gumbs had some good moments against him. With Tumolo, like, again, he was going, I don't even know who their left tackle was that he was going against. And it just wasn't inspiring. And you look at all the other guys who were going to be roster regulars this year.

on the defensive line. Like, again, Curry, Gums, Clemens, they all flashed tonight. Atatomi Wada, Bore was his typical dominant self in the preseason. Colby Wooden had some good moments. It's like every guy who's going to make the team had really good moments to write home about in the defensive line, except for their second round pick from last season. And again, it's not like he was going against, like, Will Campbell at left tackle. He was going against a four-string guy.

So very concerning showing from him, especially when, a game where, again, like we thought going into the year that he would be competing for starting snaps. Well, Argonchi didn't play tonight because he solidified as the starter, and two and him while I was out there just kind of unimpressive. So certainly the most concerning aspect of this game, the most notable aspect of this one. If we're talking about people who disappointed that we had to talk about the two cornerbacks that are probably going to be a cornerback five and six on the team this year, Jonathan Edwards and Mackay Blackman. I mean, Edwards had the game from hell on defense. was just in his head the entire time. And given, he was going against a former like 33rd overall pick,

I think in Kyle Williams. So like that was a pretty solid player he was going against. But, oh my gosh, he was getting just toasted the entire game by him. Uh, really awful showing. So now I'm convinced, I'm like, you know what? That's my gunner, baby. That's not my cornerback anymore. Like, he might have to just be the gunner this year. But Mackay Blackman, I think, certainly, uh, his roster spot might be more in flux because I don't think he's going to have as big as special teams role. So if you're going to have performances like this where you're getting multiple pass interferences and you're in like your one series of work, a bit rough of a showing out there.

So they definitely struggled. When it comes to some other players that struggled, like offensive line, I thought there were a handful of play. Blake Freeland was unplayable tonight. Like against third string defense events. Like we just got to stop this experiment at this point. Like give Nolan Rucci the rest of. of the work there with the third team the rest of the way or the second and third team um luke tanuda

apparently left this game early so that could be horrible for the next game uh so anthony richardson might get crushed in that in the next game um but yeah free land i i don't want to see on the football field anymore uh i i i already mentioned like jimmy morsey was really really rough in this one too josh sills was terrible at left guard like it was just oh so awful to watch um oh and then i i again i had to do every single show like this derrick noddy and Jerry Tillerie, what's the point in having these? I mean, oh my gosh, every time there was a third down, and I know that this is preseason, so you're not really like scheming up the way you would

in the regular season. But, I mean, there was like third and six, third and seven, third and eight. I'm seeing Derek Nottie rushing the passer. And I'm like, what are we doing? Like, look, he's not getting, like, you could leave him unblocked in the A gap on third and eight. And he's not getting to the quarterback on a three step drop from under center. Like, he's not getting there.

That's too far of a distance for him. So I don't understand why he's on the field on those plays. Like the pocket's not going to. And then in the running game, like, Nottie was getting driven on the ball, like five yards. Like, it was terrible. Like, what are we doing with him on this team? So, yeah, there were certainly some negatives. I could probably find some.

I mean, like a lot of the receivers, I think with a third team were pretty rough out there as well. So certainly some negatives in this one. But in terms of guys who are going to make this team or might make. make this team, I think, like, Edwards and Blackman on defense really struggled to him a lot. I didn't impress. Noddy and Tillery, again, don't put them on the team, Ballard. Like, just make sure they're not on this football team. And then Blake Freeland on offense, like, if he's a swing tackle, we got to pray for some

health this year because, oh, my gosh. Yeah, I think unfortunate with Edwards, I had fooled myself into thinking, like, the ball awareness had come around, which is so weird because, like, he's, been finding the ball in practice, but then he goes out there and it's like, dog, turn your head around. Like, don't just play the receiver. Like, he's almost acting as if all these receivers are doing like prime Chris Carter and Jerry Rice stuff where they're like not showing their hands until the last second or like not. Like these aren't, these aren't savant receivers you're facing. Like, you can look at stuff besides them. Like, you can look at their.

eyes look at their hands you can see that they're tracking the ball like turn your head around he's rarely not in position like he's usually in a spot where he can make a play on the ball if he just puts his hand up or something you know what i mean yeah like he has left so many pbUs on the table since last year just not knowing where the ball is so yeah that was brutal mackay blackman two penalties on the opening drive which resulted in a field goal and probably would have been a three or four and out otherwise that's tough i do think this this coaching staff is going to be much stricter on penalties this year at least that's the tone that tony sperano junior has set um you know we asked about them there was like a two-minute situation in practice

the other day where jalen travis jumped false start and they took him off the field and that's a starting offensive lineman and we asked about it afterwards and he was like, yeah, I mean, pre-snap penalties are inexcusable anytime, but in a critical situation like that as well. So I just think in general, this coaching staff, if they see a guy making multiple mistakes, the same mistake in a same drive, that's going to cost them playing time, especially when you have a little bit of depth of the position. You can get Cam Taylor Britt in there.

You can get Jonathan Edwards in there. I think that will probably be something that will come back to bite Blackman because Blackman is not he's not immune to these kind of mistakes. It's freak stuff, but like he fell down those two times last year that led to enormous game. One of them was a 90-yard touchdown. Like at a certain point, you're just a guy that is mistake prone and you have to buck it or like re-earn the trust.

So yeah, I thought that was a pretty big issue. I didn't really have many issues with a lot of I found a lot of optimism in this game overall. Zach, I will mention one interior offensive line. And you didn't mention that was bad was Gino Vandemark, which is kind of a dark horse guy to watch. I think the Colts really like him. And he did pretty solid. I think I saw him out there at left guard a time or two. And they had some solid runs off of his left side.

So I know the segments about guys who didn't do well. but when else are we going to get a chance to really like compliment as you know van der mark you know yeah yeah and one thing i do want to just mention again with guys like edwards and all these other guys like edwards is going to make this team jonathan edwards will be on this he is going to be their number one gunner this season uh the ideal situation is he's not playing defense much this year at all right because you have sauce because you have mooney because you have cam taylor brit now right Like there shouldn't be a situation where Edwards is out there for, he was out there for like 300 something snaps last season.

Like he is probably going to be your gunner this season and maybe one day he can figure it out as a corner. But if not, he's going to be your gunner. So it's perfectly fine for him to struggle in the preseason because gunner is an important role. So I'm not too worried about that. Like, again, I want him to be better. But like, you know, not terribly worried because he's going to have his role there.

But for some of these other players, again, like the, like the Notties and the Tilleries and the Blake Freelands, like you've got to show it on your side of the football or you're not making this team. So I think those are the guys that should really be worried right now after the games that they had. But yeah, overall, I didn't have too many, like, horrible negatives for guys who, like, are going to make.

I mean, I guess Blake Groupie having a miss kick, but it was a 61-yarder. And Brian Mason even told us the other day, like, when it comes to, when it comes to like Groupie, for instance, his leg is not naturally as strong as Shrader. he has to like every aspect of the process perfect for him to make it from 61 where we see with schrader like he's got such a natural leg that he's just explodes with the football and he that would have been good from like 66 in that in that game there so very different situations but yeah

overall I think it was a pretty good game over I think my biggest concern really is just jalen two and lowell you know and just I'm also just kind of concerned about like do they have guys who can win with speed off the edge because like the only guys I really think that I can win around the corner right now with this with this edge room is a lot too kind of kind of lot too you know he has to be perfect with this cross chop George Gums which he's still trying to figure stuff out in Arden key because I don't think Clemens or Curry or who am I missing with the edge room there oh and Tumaloa I don't think those guys are winning to the edge because they're just they're big bruising guys and curry and Clemens have to run through a guy or run inside

to get pressure. So I'm pretty concerned about that with the edge room, but that's been our concern all offseason, right? It's the edge room. A preseason game wasn't going to fix that. But even though I think Gums and Curry had good games, I'm still concerned about the ability for this edge room to win with speed on the outside. You know what?

We're at time here, Zach, but I was actually really intrigued. Do you want to expand a little bit more on Lake Groupie's muscles in his leg? Do we want to talk about trajectory of the ball and things like that? He kicked it at like a 49% angle. We want to have that at like 46% if we wanted to make a kick from there. Brian Mason, once he recovers, we'll tell us all about it, I'm sure. I was just like, you were like voluntarily diving into some kicker there. I like it.

Okay. I'll hide this at the hour mark just because it is. I hate the position of kicker and I hate, but I do like watching the process of kick, like the process of everything because that's just how I am as a person. Right. So like when we're watching the kickers kick in camp, Jay's getting ready to like write down if they made it or not. And I'm staring like, oh, bad snap, bad hold.

This is going to miss or whatever. And then seeing if the kicker can somehow still muscle it through on that, I do like that aspect of it. I just hate it from like a sports fan perspective of the kicking aspect of football. But that's hidden in the hour mark. No one's here anymore. It's perfectly fine. No one's going to hear that.

All new club season. All new Zach. Let me kick this to you guys real quick. No pun intended. So we obviously know that like, like this summer it's not even been close like groupie's kicking about 90% and schrader's like 66 or 67% it's like it's not close let's say schrader goes like six of seven or it's like seven of seven in the preseason including a couple 50 yarders and groupie goes the other way and he's like three of seven

or four of seven does that sway your opinion as much or like does that just become agonizing at that point because one guy owned the preseason and one guy owned the summer basically. Well, at that point, you're just, you're trading off one of them. I don't know which one you're trading because I'm happy. I'm not making the decision at that point because it's a kicker. Like, who knows if you're going to make the right decision. But, I mean, that would be the best case, like not the best case, but one of the better case scenarios, right, that they're not giving you a reason to cut either one of them.

So it would be a tough call. We would default to our guy, Brian Mason on that for sure. Yeah, with most physicians, I want to do this. but I think actually with kicker, I would lean towards whoever had the better game reps than the ones that didn't practice. And he would also, it would also be the case of what have you done for me lately

because if you've got a kicker that's kind of fallen off a cliff, you don't know if that's like the career cliff they're falling off of. So kickers are just weird. They're hard to, they are hard to follow in where their career is actually going to take them just if it's a small blip. their game work. They're totally done for their career. Yeah. Reminder, we're not that far removed from what the record setting, franchise record

setting, go ahead kick from Blake Gruby in the rain in Seattle late last season. Right. So we can be like, oh, he missed a 61 yarder tonight. But like, he's made it in the clutch not too long ago. So it's a tough call. Whatever they decide, hopefully that kicker just doesn't ever miss. That'll be the big call. That'll be the big thing this year. I just want to say it's 12.6 a.m. and we've gone five minutes on kickers, and there are still 300 of you in the room right now. They want to hear the kicker talk, obviously.

We have to give the people what they want. Thanks so much for kicking it with us here on the latest edition of the Colts Squad show. We are your place for post-game Colts reaction. Our Colts squad shows will follow each and every Colts game this entire season, including the preseason, and that will also include a midweek show as well on Wednesday. So don't forget to keep it locked on Jake and Zach. In the meantime, every day on Locked on Colts, your first list in every day.

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