Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Crossover Special with Locked On Texans

Episode Date: December 4, 2020

On today's episode, Evan Sidery of Locked On Colts is joined by Coty Davis and John Hickman from Locked On Texans to help preview Sunday's battle in Houston between the Colts and Texans. Who's going to come out on top with two teams riding some positive momentum as of late, of course outside of last week's blowout loss for Indy.Starting off in Houston, Deshaun Watson is on fire. How has the Texans' offense changed after Bill O'Brien's departure as Houston has rattled off four of their last five? Is there a chance Romeo Crennel actually keeps his job after this season?Over in Indy, T.Y. Hilton has lost a step but will he regain his mojo in Houston? Also, how has Philip Rivers and DeForest Buckner changed the Colts' on both sides of the football? With Darius Leonard up for a contract extension in 2021, Evan explains why Indy's star linebacker is about to break the bank and become the highest paid at his position.All of this, plus so much more, in a jam-packed crossover episode! Colts vs. Texans, who's going to win this one? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello everybody, welcome back into your latest Locked On NFL crossover special here on the Locked On Podcast Network. I am Evan Sutter, the host of Locked On Colts, joined by Cody Davis and John Hickman of Locked On Texans for a big AFC South battle here on Sunday in Houston. How you guys doing today? Doing well, man. Thanks for having us on. You know, city of Houston is crazy as always.

If it's not the Texans having us running crazy, it's the Rockets with that big trade that just happened a couple minutes ago. Yeah, big NBA news in Houston. And I think selfishly under the radar, I know as a Colts, AFC South and obviously a Colts fan myself, it's a little disappointing to me that Deshaun Watts is not getting as much hype as he is this year just because the Texans are so disappointing this year.

But can you guys just talk? I mean, John, you can start off here and I can go to Cody. What's been your guys' impression of Deshaun Watson this year? Because I feel like at the Texas rate, maybe even close to 500, he might be an MVP candidate at this point. Yeah, without a doubt. You just said it right. Oh, go ahead, John.

I think you said it right. I mean, if he – well, not he, but if the Texans were somewhat closer to playoff contention, then we have to look around the league, and it's very hard to get two MVPs, especially within two or three years from one another. So we know right now Patrick Mahomes is playing out of his mind. We also know what Kyler Murray is doing. We also see the struggles of Lamar Jackson.

Russell Wilson started off hot, but he struggled as of late as well. Deshaun Watson has stringed together, especially since Bill O'Brien has been fired. Games where no matter if Houston goes into in this season without a GM and hit a coach, I wish they are, then Houston's job will still be favorable because of number four. And he's absolutely having one of those years where he's improved in areas that don't come up in the stat sheet. So he's improved in areas like not taking those sacks. He's improving his pocket presence, knowing when to step up, when to run. He's been doing that more frequently, when to get the ball out quicker.

And all of that has a positive effect on this offense. Now, of course, because of what Will Fuller was able to accomplish, and we know why now, then that added to what Houston was doing effectively on offense as well. But Brandon Cooks has looked great at times. Randall Cobb has had his times and his moments. And overall, Deshaun Watson has put this team offensively on his back. And you started this question out exactly how it is.

If they were close to 500 in the playoff contention, then he would definitely be an MVP conversation. Yeah, Cody, I mean, looking at his stats over the last nine games, 22 touchdowns, only two interceptions. And he's on, I think, a 15-touchdown no-interception streak for the last few games as well. He's playing out of his mind right now, Deshaun Watson. What's been your thoughts on Watson this year? Hey, John, he hit it right on the point.

I mean, Deshaun Watson, I will say it like this, and the only thing that John did not say, and it goes back to the trade of DeAndre Hopkins. When that trade happened, of course, I was mad and I was upset but I say the one bright spot of this trade means that we're finally going to see how good Deshaun Watson is truly going to be because DeAndre Hopkins could make anybody look like a good quarterback hell he might make me look like an all-pro receipt all-pro quarterback because how good his hands are in the way he can catch nearly every single ball that comes his way. However, when you take away that security blanket, that security blanket that Deshaun Watson has had over the past three seasons,

now it's like, okay, let's see what you're really made about. And to be honest with you, Deshaun Watson has looked a hell of a lot better playing without DeAndre Hopkins. Now, I'm not sitting here saying that he doesn't need Hopkins, but now we are starting to see the full package of how good Deshaun Watson can be. And at this point, all I can say is I truly wish that the Texans had a winning record, if they did this guy will possibly be second behind Patrick Mahomes and MVP voting and it comes the title MVP most valuable player I'm to the point now no matter if I'm talking about it with basketball or football we got to start reconsidering that you know what is a real most valuable player because yes yes, nine times out of 10, it goes to the best player on the best team. But take a look at the Kansas City Chiefs and take a look at the Houston Texans.

If you were to take Patrick Mahomes away from that team and take Deshaun Watson away from the Houston Texans, I get it. The Kansas City Chiefs will not be this unstoppable force, but if you substitute any type of the quarterback in that system, I'm pretty sure the Chiefs are still going to be at least a playoff team. Look how bad the Houston Texans have been struggling. Substitute any quarterback, and I'm pretty sure they're going to be 10 times worse than what they are now. Yeah, and that's the big thing, honestly, with Deshaun Watson. You see the progression this year. He went out with DeAndre Hopkins. He's really gone up his way, and even John mentioned it, as you did, Cody, just the progressions and overall maturity as a quarterback

has really taken on another level this year after his extension. Only 25 years old, so he's just now hitting his prime. So, Texas are going to have a quarterback, a superstar quarterback for the next 10, 15 years, and let me ask you this, Cody and John, of course, you can go after as well. I heard this hypothetical on a podcast before. I just want to get your guys' thoughts on this as well. I imagine you guys talked about this before too. Obviously, you let go of Bill O'Brien about a month into the season. We all know how Bill O'Brien was as a GM and a coach.

Didn't really get much value back at all in a lot of trades. And obviously, the play calling at points is pretty subpar. But would you rather have Bill O'Brien with DeAndre Hopkins still or would you just rather do the full reboot they've done now and let go of Hopkins and letting go of Bill O'Brien at the same time? I think they made the right decision. And, Cody, I'm going to let you go ahead shortly. But I think they made the right decision because where were we really getting

with Bill O'Brien? We saw the result. You either make the playoff by winning your division and you lose in the first round or you may lose in the division role, but you're never going to the AFC Conference game. And Houston has yet to smell that. So when you take a look at everything that has transpired under Bill O'Brien and then the real boiling point of the trade and the effects of that trade. David Johnson not playing well. 0-4 start, the lack of creativity on offense, the moves that really hindered your defense

to where they're having an historically bad year, then yes, I would rather the presence and hands of Bill O'Brien gone from Houston altogether. For me personally, it's kind of hard to say because at the end of the day, what a lot of people don't realize is not that Bill O'Brien got fired due to his coaching ability. He actually got fired due to his poor personnel decisions. And, you know, him as a head coach, it was kind of split here in Houston. You know, I was actually on the fence of saying that O'Brien is a pretty solid coach

because if you take a look at his tenure here in Houston, he actually always had this team competing for the playoffs. And the only time that they did not make the playoffs was that one year when everybody was hurt I mean J.J. Watt was hurt Deshaun Watson had Torres ACL everybody was hurt I mean hell he took this team to the playoff with Brock Osweiler as your quarterback but if he never had the title of general manager, I do believe he would still be here as head coach. I do believe the players that the Houston Texans actually let go, like just not Justin Reed, like Eric Reed and Eric Reed. What's his name? Like DJ Reader and Tayshaun Gibson.

Those guys were nine times out of 10 would still be here. So it's not like it was his coaching. It was him as a general manager. And I'm pretty sure when you go back and take a look at our last season with him, he basically had this team, possibly the best has ever been under his tenure here. And if it wasn't for blowing that 24-0 lead against the Kansas City Chiefs, of course, you and I would be talking about a totally different conversation. So once again, it wasn't his coaching. It was just him as a general manager. And wherever he is right now, and if you run across his podcast, he has to understand that you cannot let your personal belief and your personal feelings get into the way of a generational talent like DeAndre Hopkins. Unless they do something just crazy and out of line,

there's no way he should have made that move. Looking at the Texans over the last month, outside of that game against Cleveland where they only scored seven points, they would be on a four-game winning streak after this Colts game they've won through the last four games. What's changed? Either one of you can go first here. What's changed as far as the Texans?

Because in the first part of the year, look at're gonna have a top five pick without having their own pick themselves due to Laramie Tunsil trade just what's what's happened the last month or so in Houston where they kind of got on a roll here um I would have to say that it's just the trust that Romeo Connell and his coaching staff had still in his players, there's another thing about Bill O'Brien. He always seemed like he had some kind of leash on his players. Now we're starting to see Deshaun Watson go out there and call more audibles. We're starting to see the offense get a little bit more fancy because you have a guy like Deshaun Watson. Yeah, you have a guy like Deshaun Watson and you have, you know, multiple weapons out there on the field where you have multiple weapons before Will Fuller got suspended.

But it's like now the players are starting to have more trust. And Justin Reed and Deshaun Watson actually talked about this last week during their media availability. The fact that when they go out there and they're now listening to one coach, one person, other than listening to multiple people on the sideline. And I believe it was Deshaun Watson that said it feels good to go out there on the field and perform without anybody interfering with the original play call. John, what do you think about just the Texans so far? Is this as simple as Deshaun Watson catching fire and maybe getting out of that rough part of the schedule there? I mean, I can't imagine a team had a rougher stretched open season

than the Texans did with the opponents they played. Yeah, you know, ESPN ranked Houston's schedule, if I can remember correctly, I had it in front of me a few weeks ago, but not anymore. But if I can remember correctly, ESPN ranked Houston's schedule the toughest to start off with in the last 15 years. And so you start off with the Super Bowl champs, then you go to the Baltimore Ravens, you throw in the Steelers,

the Vikings, who they've gotten on the roll as of late as well. It was very difficult. But the thing about it is a couple of those games were very winnable for Houston, especially when you look at the Vikings and the Pittsburgh Steelers game. But Deshaun has completely caught fire. But as Cody mentioned, everybody just trusts one another. Everybody's on the same page. They know the strengths and weaknesses of what the next man can do

because, remember, Houston did an overhaul in very important areas, so like at the receiver position, the interior defensive line position, the secondary position. They're missing guys either due to the free agency, trades, or injuries. We haven't seen Gary Yonconley, who was very good for us last year, when we traded for him over from Oakland. DeAndre Hopkins gone, DJ Rita's gone, and other players as well. So they were missing players in key positions with no offseason, right?

We look at some of the teams that we started off playing, the Kansas City Chiefs returned almost everybody. The Baltimore Ravens, you know, at the time we thought they had gotten better because of their free agency and adding to their defense. We see how great the Pittsburgh Steelers are. And the Minnesota Vikings is just one of those teams that can play very well on one game and very bad the next. So they're always one of those teetering teams. And we know how great the Tennessee Titans are. So with Houston missing all of those players early on,

there was no trust. They had a very difficult time with understanding the personnel with one another. Now, 10, 11 games in, they just know one another more. They know this team. They know a little bit more of the makeup of this team. They're still trying to create an identity outside of Deshaun Watson, but as an overall, they're just doing better with understanding

where they want to go collectively as a unit. John, I'll have you go here first. Romeo Cornell has done an awesome job, I guess, as I mentioned the last month plus taking over after Bill O'Brien. And looking at the schedule for the last five weeks of the season. Obviously, they play the Colts twice in a three-week stretch, but between that, the Bears are floundering, the Bengals without Joe Burrow,

the Titans might not have be playing any starters in Week 17 if they clinched the AFC South before then, which is a possibility after they beat the Colts on Sunday. I mean, how big is momentum going to be if the Texans keep winning these games and if Romeo Kernel has a legit shot being the head coach, would you rather go outside and look for guys like Eric Biennemi or elsewhere? I'm still looking and I'm checking my options.

When I look at what Houston is right now, they're single, right? Just got out of a bad relationship. You know, you want to go date. You want to date. You want to see who's out there. You want to court somebody maybe. You want to explore your options. You want to go to a bar and look around and just have a good time.

And if I'm Houston, knowing that I am the prize, because when you have a quarterback like Deshaun Watson, new coaches and new GMs, they don't really come into a position where you don't have to worry about the main goal getting accomplished. When you took over the Cincinnati Bengals, you still had to draft Jermon Rowe and still pray that he's good. When you look at wherever Trevor Lawrence goes,

which would more than likely be the Jets, you still have to draft him and pray he's good. When you look at wherever Trevor Lawrence go, which would more than likely be the Jets, you still have to draft him and pray he's good. Deshaun is already here. He's already established himself as a top quarterback in this league. So you still want to go out there and see what's out there. And your quarterback has already said, I want this guy. I believe in him and I want him in Houston. Then you really need to look at your quarterback and listen

and go out there and get who he wants. Cody, what do you think about the situation? Would you – if the Texans keep winning some games, would you roll with Romeo Cornell or, like John mentioned, maybe go outside elsewhere and really see the best options in Texas with Sean Watson are probably going to be at the top of the market for any head coach in Kansas City? Well, of course, I would much rather the houston texans go out and get a um head coach that's going to be out on the market

but we actually talked about this a couple couple days ago and i will say this this upcoming off season is the most important off season in texans franchise history because whoever you bring in not only as general manager but as head coach is going to define Deshaun Watson's career as a Houston Texan. And I say this almost every single day. Please do not waste the talent of Deshaun Watson here in Houston. And if you cannot get an Airbnb enemy or Greg Roman or a certified legitimate coach who is not only good at the X and O's in football, but a coach who is used to coaching the Sean Watson skillset, don't rush the process. Then I would say, okay, bring back Romeo Cannell, bring back Tim Kelly, bring back Anthony Weaver,

bring back those three guys, because I don't want to see the Houston Texans just go out and hire a coach just for the sake of it, just because they need a quote-unquote head coach. Please don't do that. If you cannot get any of your top candidates, there's nothing wrong with bringing back those three guys because to be honest with you, yes, the Houston Texans are 4-3 under Romeo Canel right now. But when you take a look at the two, three games that they lost, if they would have got that two-point conversion against the Tennessee Titans, that would have been a W. And when you take a look at the game against the Cleveland Browns,

I mean, it was more so the weather that beat the Texans because they couldn't go out there and attack a team in their passing game. They had to depend on their run game. And we all know the Houston Texans in 2020 do not have no sense of a run game whatsoever. So those are the two reasons why they lost those games. And. So they can easily be six-1 under Romeo Canel. And he has shown the confidence in his players. You take a look at our offensive coordinator, Tim Kelly, our defensive coordinator, Anthony Weaver.

Weaver, he has given his players confidence to the point. We are seeing guys like Lonnie Johnson Jr. go out there and make plays. They are actually making adjustments. We are seeing the Houston Texans become more of a team, the team that we thought we were getting even after the departure of DeAndre Hopkins. That's why I say if you cannot get any of the top coaching candidates this offseason, which I highly doubt it because, yes, there are going to be a lot of openings for head coaches around the league, but the Houston Texans should be able to get any head coach they want with Deshaun Watson on their side. But if you cannot get your top candidate or Deshaun Watson top candidate, do not rush it. Bring those guys back for one more season, and then maybe in 2022,

you can go out and get the coach that you actually want. Yeah, this Texans team has really been fun to watch the last month plus, and it's gonna be really interesting what happens over the last stretch of the year and then into 2021 as well. Cause like you mentioned, Cody, the biggest off season, I think in their history coming up here in a couple months, but that's going to do it for my side of things here. Asking some Texans questions after our break here from a work from our sponsor and hit on the Annapolis Colton and give our predictions back in just a moment. Build Go makes you the best you at whatever you do.

Break through your wall. Whether it's a mental or physical wall, break through it with Go every single day. It's easy to take in one and a half ounce packages and then put in your briefcase from the most focused presentation ever, your gold packet of power through the back nine, or put in your pocket to get through the day.

BuildGo is the best workout gel on the market. It's like five-hour energy with the same crash feeling. Plus it's natural, so it's better for the body. It's like drinking a monster drink with a third of caffeine and better results. They have three delicious flavors as well. Peanut butter honey, chocolate coconut, and chocolate mint. Bilko combines energy gel with collagen protein. Collagen protein is fast-absorbing, so it gets into my system fast.

Plus, it's easy on the stomach. Bilko is loaded with good stuff to ignite my work as well. With beta-alanine B3 honey and a kick of caffeine. Bilko then kicks me in the overdrive to keep me strong throughout the day with b6 and b12 which are 10 000 percent your daily percentages collagen promotes joint soft tissue hair and skin health this stuff literally makes you look better visit bilko.com use promo code locked l-o-c-k-e-d and get 20% in your next order of bilko again use promo code locked l-o-c-k-e-d for 20% off their next order of BiltGo. Again, use promo code LOCKED, L-O-C-K-E-D, for 20% off at BiltGo.com. Colts fans, let's go. Welcome back in, Locked On Texans and Locked On Colts listeners and fans out there.

We really appreciate the love that you guys show us. It's a nationwide thing kind of sweeping through the nation if you listen to music or podcast, the wrap of the year. So if you are listening to the Locked On Texas and Colts faithfully, tweet us and give us our ranking on your wrap-up podcast list. I'd be very interested to see where you have the Texans and Colts placed on that list. We're talking about the Colts, right? We're talking about a team that is much better than last year, Evan and Coach Finn. They plugged in Phillip Rivers, who has played significantly better

than Jacoby Brissett. Jacoby Brissett is still a part of their team and what they want to do. Scored two touchdowns in the last game, if I remember correctly. But overall, they are in playoff contention. And, you know, I think defensively is where the Colts are really making their mark. And Phillip Rivers is able to come in games and do what he needs to do in order for them to get the dub. What's been the best or the most difference between this team from last year to now and how they're getting those wins yeah you hit the nail on the

head there john just about philip rivers the upgrade from jacoby bursette the accuracy is so much better and bursette was a lot more hesitant to make those throws down the field more hesitant to take those deep shots. And Rivers definitely is that, as you guys know all these years watching him. He's a true gunslinger. He knows how to really maneuver around and make the throws, even when he doesn't have that much time. Luckily with the Colts, though, only nine sacks so far this year.

Leads the NFL in that stat. So if you get Rivers' time, he's really going to pick you apart. And it's shown, I think, to second-best completion percentage of his career so far, reuniting with Frank Wright. But the defense is the big thing here this Colts team is really relying on the defense to win them games Rivers of course is 39 years old so it's not a big surprise there but acquiring DeForest Buckner was I think the big trade-off in this Colts team from an average one to an above average one possibly an elite one if they were to add a couple more pieces on offense next year because the way Buckner and Darius Leonard complement each other is just awesome to watch.

You have Buckner cleaning everything up inside. You have Leonard roaming free all the time. But Buckner, even though he only has two and a half sacks this year, and they desperately missed him on Sunday due to COVID-19, it's still up in the air if he's going to play on Sunday or not. But having Buckner out there with this defense takes him to a whole nother level. He's one of the best defense tackles in the NFL. He really opens everything up for defense tackles in the NFL.

He really opens everything up for all three levels of the defense. And Matt Iberflues as well, the defensive coordinator, has made it a point to be more exotic this year in our looks as being a bland cover two team. With Buckner on board, Julian Blackman as well, the rookie back there, our defensive rookie of the year candidate at safety, doing a lot more exotic looks out there. That's why Iberflues is kind of getting some buzz as a head coaching candidate around the league just because he's really mixed things up now.

But I would definitely say that Forrest Buckner is the big reason why Phillip Burrows, of course, is up there going from Jacoby Bursette as well, that quarterback upgrade. But I would definitely say trading that first-round pick for Forrest Buckner was worth it 10 times out of 10 for this Colts team because the way they've taken that leap on defense is a lot thanks to Buckner. Evans, as you know, the Texans lost their top corner this past week in Bradley Roby. And on Sunday, we have to go up against T.Y. Hilton, a guy who has literally

killed the Houston Texans over the past couple of years. But so far, it seems like this year he has taken a step or two back. If I'm not mistaken, he had just scored his first touchdown this past week. So, Evans, from what you have seen, how much do you believe injuries and age has finally started to take a toll on Hilton? I think it definitely has, guys. I mean, just looking at his production so far this year, like you mentioned on Sunday, he had 81 yards and a touchdown. That was his season high in yards so far this year, 81 yards. And that's definitely not the old T.Y. Hilton we're used to.

He really has been a non-focal point of the offense, been a lot more Michael Pittman Jr., their rookie, got a lot of tight end usage as well. And Hilton's definitely lost a step or two as far as performance goes. He's not really making those deep, deep shots anymore. He's not really getting a lot of separation. And it's having a lot of Colts fans wonder if they're going to re-sign him or not just because he's taken such a deep, steep dive off as far as performance

and athleticism goes. I still would be shocked if they let him go in free-eights this year, but I think he's definitely going to take a significant pay cut to stay at the Colts because he's definitely a player now who's in the steep part of his career on a decline. And I would be shocked, honestly, if T.Y. plays another two years in the NFL at this point because he really just has taken such a steep fallback without Andrew Luck we even saw in 2019 too with Jacoby a quarterback I know Jacoby's not the best quarterback out there but even still he was not getting that separation last year and he still wasn't really making a lot

of things happen it was a lot more just short stuff a lot of slants a lot of drags not really any deep shots so definitely I think Houston fans are going to be really bringing a sigh of relief at this point because this version of T.Y. Houghton is definitely not the old one they're used to. Hey, Evan. Yeah. Can you do me a favor? Yeah, what's up? Can you guys – Kia, can you guys let us hold on to Ed Dots, if you don't mind?

Hey. Let us hold on to Ed Dodds, if you don't mind. We need a GM here in Houston, and I think Ed Dodds is the perfect candidate for the role, man. I don't doubt you there. Ed Dodds has been awesome for the Colts. He's helped rebuild this team. He's really gone out of his way. He's Chris Bowd's right-hand man. And honestly, if Dodds were to take a job,

I mean, I've heard him all around the NFL, whether it be Houston, the Giants, they fired Dave Gettleman, a couple other openings as well. I think Dodds could be take a job, I mean, I've heard him all around the NFL, whether it be Houston, the Giants, they fired Dave Gettleman, a couple other openings as well. I think Dodds could be a really hot name out there. Honestly, I think he's right for a GM job. He has all the makings for it. Just the question is, does he want to take it or not? Because he had a couple openings last year.

He actually got offered the Browns GM job, but he said no to it because it wasn't the right fit for him. He just wasn't ready, he said, to really be off the Colts staff. We learned from Chris Ballard. Those guys are best buds, and I think he wants to see this vision through this Colts team. They came so close before the Andrew Luck injury to be a school contender last year.

Phillip Berge would make that one two-year push with him as well to see what happens. But, I mean, Deshaun Watson would be the great equalizer there. I mean, if you have him on board to get Ed Dodds, I wouldn't be shocked, honestly, if you get Ed Dodds on board there, Johnny, probably get Matt Eberfluss, your head coach. I think that's not a bad option as well. But as we talked about before, his great defensive schemes, we've seen before in the playoffs against Houston, he really is a great mastermind on defense. So I mean, I'm all aboard

the Ed Dodds train. If Houston were to get him, I think that is the best case scenario for them, for sure. Hey, Evans, last question before we go into our predictions. Darius Leonard, you know, he's never really been a big sack guy, but he was always one of the, you know, up-and-coming linebackers over in his first two years in the league. But in his third season, is it so much so he is starting to decline a little bit? Is this like a – would you consider this a down year for Leonard?

Because, you know, I haven't seen much of Leonard this season as much as I did his first two years in the league. Yeah, it's a fair assessment there. He really hasn't made a lot of splash plays this year. He's had a couple games where he's really flashed, been the old maniac we're used to for the Colts. But it's really been just a lot of above average to average play, not really elite play out of Darius Leonard, which has been surprising.

He, of course, is going to be probably the highest paid linebacker in NFL this time next year, as of for a contract extension. But I'm not too worried about Darius. He's only 25. I think he's still on the way up. I think having Buckner on this team has taken some of the spotlight off of him because the way that Forrest Buckner has changed things up front for them, and he's just an absolute game wrecker up there.

I think a lot of people are talking about Buckner now instead of Darius Leonard, but I still take Darius Leonard over every linebacker in NFL at this point. I think he's probably poised for a huge bounce back here next year. He also struggled with injuries this year. He had a hamstring injury, groin injury against the Chicago Bears. He sat out a couple weeks as well. So I'm not too worried about Darius Leonard. I think him and Buckner are going to be on this team together for another 10 plus years with the Colts but compared

to years past his first couple years Leonard definitely is not up to the old maniac he's used to but I have full confidence in Darius Leonard moving forward. Really quick let me just say this you mentioned there's the possibility of him becoming the highest paid linebacker in that the fact that he's up for a contract extension do you think the production he's showcased um I want to say not just this year but if you base off of this year alone and you go into next season would you say he has done enough to become the highest paid linebacker in the year or do you think that the Indianapolis Colts should shave a couple dollars on that contract because he hasn't shown yet that he's worth being the highest paid linebacker. I still would definitely give him the

highest paid contract if that's what he wants I think that's what he's going to get just because it's the way I know you mentioned more so this year compared to the last couple years but even still in a couple games this year Leonard has shown just how much a freak he is athletically I mean we saw in the playoffs in 2018 just the way that he was able just to shadow Deshaun Watson the whole game and really make him not a focal point in the offense as far as rushing the ball goes. And Houston doesn't want to do that as much anymore

compared to years past. But the way that he moves around is just pretty incredible for a linebacker. He moves like a safety compared to a linebacker. So just the freakish athleticism, the traits that he has, a lot of the production he should earn his first three years I would definitely make Leonard a 18 20 plus million dollar per year guy and really not worry about it not sweat about it just because the way he's able to maneuver around is just so special well now we're going to go into our predictions Evan John when it's all said and done on Sunday, who are you taking? Hey, I might shock you guys here because usually I'm not one to go against

the Colts in my predictions. But just with the way Deshaun Watson's played the last month, the way this Colts defense has looked really inconsistent for the last month as well. The offense really can have some bugaboos here and there. Anthony Costanzo as well, the Colts left tackle, the most indispensable player, has a spring MCL. He's going to be out on Sunday as well.

So a backup left tackle in the Raven Clark will be going to JJ Watt. With the way Watson's playing, I really can't bet against him right now, which might surprise some of my listeners. But I'm going to go 27-24, Texans win this one. Wow, you got more faith than us over here in Houston because I don't know if you know, the league just suspended two of our main key guys in Will Fuller and Bradley Roby. And yeah, we didn't have faith before and we don't have faith now.

So I'm going to say the Texans are going to put up a fight, but it's not going to be enough due to those suspensions. I really do think that suspension is going to weigh heavy on this team in this game because there's a lot of moving pieces a lot of people don't know. I mean, I spoke to Romeo Canel and I asked him who's going to be your primary corner, you know, not just this game for the rest of the season. And he just flat out told me he didn't know. Of course, you know, he gave the typical, you know, we're going to, you know, see which guys play really well in practice and we're going to see which guys play really well in practice, and we're going to move some guys up. But he really didn't have any answers, and I'm not too confident.

The answer he gave me didn't sound very pleasing. So I'm going to say only because Deshaun Watson has been playing life, likes out is the fact that it's the only reason why I got the Houston Texans, you know, keeping this as a close game. I'm going to say Indianapolis Colts 30, Houston Texans 27. Yeah, I think honestly that's a good prediction. I mean, either way, I think it's going to be super close. And having Buckner, I think DeForest Buckner is where we still don't know

just yet if he's going to be cleared for protocol due to COVID-19. I think this is his game, too. I feel even more confident in my Texans prediction. But, John, what do you think? I'm going to go with the Indianapolis Colts. I think when you lose your number one target and then you lose your player who stops the number one target on the opposite side of the ball, you just –

you're going to have a difficult day. And throwing in guys on the fly just isn't going to work. We know how bad Phillip Gaines has been, and we know how much T.Y. Hilton has killed Houston. So I'm going with Indianapolis. I don't really have a score. I don't want have a score. I don't want to – if I give a score, it could be 18-28 Indy because Deshaun has been playing so good,

and I think the connection between him and Brandon Cooks will work out. But I would pick that score, 18-28 to Indy. But I'm definitely picking the Colts. Well, hey, this is fun, guys. I know this is our first one we're going to have. We're going to be back together here in a couple weeks to talk about the Texans-Colts once more, but for those out there who want to subscribe to Locked On

Texan, go ahead and do so on our stream platform and listen to it. And for the Texas fans out there, make sure to subscribe to Locked On Colts if you want your AFC South and I'll send your rival team up north as well.