Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - DREAMS and NIGHTMARES: Indianapolis Colts' Best and Worst-Case Scenarios in NFL Draft

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Colts don't have a first round pick in this year's draft, so they have got to nail this thing. Today, we're talking about dream and nightmare scenarios. Let's get to it. You are Locked on Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. All right, welcome to Locked on Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. And today's episode is brought you by Fandul. During the tournament, Fandul is offering $300 back in bonus bets every day for 10 days.

Starting point is 00:00:40 Head to fendool.com to get started. What is up, everybody? I am Jake Arthur, your Indianapolis Colts beatwriter from Roundtable Sports. And today we are diving into some nightmare and dream scenarios for the Colts. Again, they have seven picks in this draft, but none of them in the first round. What can go very right for them and what can go tragically wrong? they do have some significant needs going into the draft. They have yet to fully address through free agency.

Starting point is 00:01:09 Ideally, some of these positions you would want to build for the future and not have to rely on free agency. So you want to nail them in the draft and not have to go sign a guy or two afterward from the market. That's 32 years old and going to probably be a little more expensive. So again, you want to nail this thing in the draft. We're going to discuss first some dream scenarios for them. So let's go over their needs real quick. We know they need linebacker, edge rusher, O line depth, wide receiver. There's some more modest needs as well, but those ones are really kind of screaming at the moment.

Starting point is 00:01:42 So this first dream scenario, there is a group of five plus players that the Colts would like to draft available at 47, which allows them to trade down a little bit and grab an extra fourth round pick in exchange. So that means they're going to get someone guaranteed from this group of players that they like, and they're going to add a fourth round pick on top of it. That is a dream scenario for the Colts. Something they could do there, you know, obviously edge or linebacker, I think, should be the top priority with those first two picks. Most likely edge rusher, just because it starts to kind of fall off a cliff.

Starting point is 00:02:20 The further you get away from it and the further you put it off, the edge rusher group really kind of hits a cliff. So maybe like Gabe Accus from Illinois. If you can go down, I'm going to wind up using throughout the rest of the draft cycle, probably like the Packers, for an example. You go from 47 to 52 with them. You pick up an extra fourth round pick. Now you're sitting at 52 and you're able to grab perhaps a new starting edge rusher and Gabe

Starting point is 00:02:48 Accus or at the very least a guy who is going to heavily contribute as a rookie. Because it is kind of hard when you get outside of the first. round to find an edge rusher that's going to be playing consistently and starting and being one of your leaders on the defensive line. It's pretty hard to find. So it's kind of slim pickings there. This next one, after picking an edge rusher in round two, either Josiah Trotter or Kai Lewis is available for them in round three. So that means the Colts get one of these really good edges with their first pick, Gabe Accus, Zion Young, you know, Malachi Lawrence. They get one of those guys and then on top of it they address their linebacker need in the next round

Starting point is 00:03:30 with Josiah Trotter or Kyle Lewis. You know both Zach and I have been trumpeting for these guys for a while. Kyle Lewis is my guy. Trotter is Zach's. Both really big playmakers, explosive guys. Different types of players, though. Lewis is almost like a tweener where you could put him at strong safety, dime linebacker, Will linebacker. Trotter is just like a classic linebacker. I think eventually he'll be a guy that can be in every down starting Mike linebacker. You could start him out at Will right away, I think. He would be an instant starter. But that means the Colts would get a really, really good edge that can contribute right

Starting point is 00:04:10 away, right off the bat. And then a starter at linebacker as well. I think that's probably the absolute best case scenario for them through their first two picks. But then you still have this big need of receiver. Well, in this instance, in round four with your third pick, Deshawn stribling out of Ole Miss is available for you. That's another guy we've been talking a lot about.

Starting point is 00:04:32 You get someone who's a big body guy around 6-3, over 200 pounds, speed before and after the catch, yards after catch can make plays downfield. Very sure-handed. I think this would be another shot at the Colts with what they had with A.D. Mitchell. Now, A.D. Mitchell, his abilities were on like another level. he was a killer athlete. Stribling is as well. For my money, I don't really understand why stribling isn't more highly regarded,

Starting point is 00:05:00 and he's not like a lock to be in the top 50 or 60, you know, with the first two rounds. But his stock indicates he could actually be there in the fourth round. Again, I do not know. But the Colts, I think if he was available to them in the fourth round and they hadn't addressed receiver yet, it would almost be foolish for them not to do so. Again, big-bodied, explosive. guy. He's not just a straight line linear athlete either. He can move around a bit. Again, yards after the catch. This is a guy of perfect addition to their room to throw in there with Alec Pierce and

Starting point is 00:05:35 Josh Downs, Tyler Warren at tight end. That would be an absolute dream for them. And then by the end of the draft, the last dream scenario I have is that they are able to add three defensive linemen. I think they almost need to be obnoxious about adding to the trenches the rest of this offseason. And this, let's say you get two edge rushers, one of the guys we talked about early. And then, like, in the middle round, someone like Max Llewellyn, Vincent Anthony that we've talked about, Tray Moore, someone like that, you get two edges. And then you're able to add a defensive tackle at some point as well, probably a mid to late round guy. You're looking at Bryson Eason from Tennessee, Landon Robinson from Navy, someone like that. But I think if you can get three defensive linemen in here, you're going to build an outstanding competition.

Starting point is 00:06:22 going into training camp because defensive tackle and I mean they made some moves on edge as well But defensive line has been the group they paid the most attention to this off season So if you're throwing like 10 new guys in there and just letting the survival of the fittest and letting the guys the best guys come out of it You're going to have a pretty strong defensive line I think Which certainly makes up for the kind of underwhelming offseason they've had to this point when it comes to edge rusher all right so guys that is the dream scenarios, but that means, unfortunately, we got to talk about some potential nightmares coming up. The tournament is here, one of the best times of the year. Brackets, buzzer beaters, upsets, it's nonstop action from tip to final cutdown. And right now, Fandall

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Starting point is 00:07:51 All right, welcome back, everybody. We are talking dreams and nightmares for the Colts in the draft. We just discussed the dream scenarios, which really goes to show they need to get some true value in the front seven within their first couple picks and then hopefully get lucky at receiver later on. Let's talk about this stuff that can go very, very wrong. So I think they absolutely need to get a really good edge rush from this draft. They got to do it within their first couple picks because, again, the options really die off after that. that and you could go and get a veteran in free agency, Janavian clownie, Joey Bosa. Like, I know a lot of people say that,

Starting point is 00:08:29 but like that just feels like such a letdown to me. It feels like settling because you weren't able to land something better earlier in free agency or in the draft. So some of this could be out of their hands. So this first nightmare is that the best fitting edge defenders are gone by 47. So no Zion Young, no Gabe Accus, no Malachi Lawrence, and that they would have to settle for someone who may be a decent edge rusher still, but maybe wasn't as perfect of a fit as these other guys.

Starting point is 00:08:59 And probably don't have the draft status as the other guys as well, meaning you might have to trade down in this scenario or even wait until the third round. At that point, you're looking at guys like R. Mason Thomas from Oklahoma, who's nice, but undersized and didn't really test all that well. I don't know how the Colts are going to, how intrigued they are going to be by that. Deny Dennis Sutton from Penn State. Again, kind of a third round guy. Derek Moore as well from Michigan.

Starting point is 00:09:26 A guy with some strength, but not much juice yet as a pass rush where he's more of a run defender right now. Ramello Hype from Texas Tech. That's a guy that's just like a fastball at the moment. I don't know how well he fits other than just being like a pass rushing will linebacker or just like a stand-up designated pass-rrrrrrisher. I don't know what you want to do with him if you're the Colts, but he is certainly an option. He's someone they don't have.

Starting point is 00:09:49 or you could take a gamble and roll the dice on a guy like J. Sean Barham, who is someone that Zach has talked a bit about recently. He's out of Michigan, had previously played offball linebacker, but they moved him to edge rusher, started to do some more pass rushing stuff, and he looked really intriguing doing it. But like an R.Ville Reese from Ohio State, he's going to have to learn how to do this full time, which is, although they have physical traits,

Starting point is 00:10:18 a guy like Barham is not, you know, he's not really high up on the priority list when it comes to when he's going to get drafted. He's probably a round three, round four guy. Arvel Reese is obviously an alien and he's unbelievable. So like you are going to be able to hang your hat more on his traits and have more confidence there. But Barham has been a very Diet Coke version of that, I would say. But yeah, you don't want to have to settle on the next wave of guys that you could have had. You really want instant impact out of your edge rush or pick that you're getting because

Starting point is 00:10:53 let's face it, as we all know, the Colts have not really hit gold with their edge rusher picks before, so you might as well pick the guys who are most translatable to the NFL. The next nightmare scenario, they don't find a Mike linebacker such as Anthony Hill, Jr., Jacob Rodriguez, Jake Golda, Josiah Trotter. I threw Kyle Lewis in there earlier as like an option. he is strictly like a will linebacker if he's going to be a linebacker. He's just in there strictly for playmaker's sake and like he's just a damn good player.

Starting point is 00:11:27 Like if you get him and he's not your Mike linebacker, you can live with moving Akeem Davis Gather in there. Ideally you keep Akeem Davis Gather at Will and then find another Mike. But there's not a lot of like really intriguing ones who I think you could plop right in there and they could start from day one. But Anthony Hill Jr., Jacob Rodriguez, Jake Golda and Josiah Trotter are guys, I think. If you needed to, you could start him at Mike right away.

Starting point is 00:11:53 Trotter might need a little more time to cook, but I think he is someone whose traits and instincts, at least you could live with the lumps he's going to take early on. But otherwise, you're going to have to just get like a will linebacker who you can start out there and kick Akeem Davis Gather inside to Mike, which is probably not the best utilization of his skill set. So you're probably not getting as much bang for your buck for the dollars to spend on him, which wasn't much, but that's a guy you're counting on to start.

Starting point is 00:12:25 Or if you could get a mic, but they're going to be someone who's probably not as good, like a middle round guy. At that point, you're looking at Deonti Lawson from Alabama, Bryce Betcher from Oregon, who I like, but I don't think the Colts would be super interested in. Caleb, alarms, or at a TCU, Aiden Fisher, Kishon, Elliott, guys like that. Like they're fine, but they're not, you know, they don't offer the upside that these other aforementioned guys do.

Starting point is 00:12:52 Next nightmare scenario, the Colts go with some combo of edge and receiver in rounds two and three. And then that means that the linebacker group that is left not very good, which means the Colts are going to have to kind of kick the can down the road and go find a linebacker and free agency, which again is fine, but you want to find somebody who's more of a long-term option. And you go out there now and you get Bobby O'Caricay, perhaps, Jermaine Pratt, maybe, you know, a couple other guys who might have some value. But for me, this linebacker group in this draft is too good to waste it.

Starting point is 00:13:27 I think the Colts are very, very confident that they can find linebackers anywhere in the draft, which, to their credit, they've done a great job doing that so far throughout Chris Ballard's tenure. But you don't want to be overconfident because then, I mean, you're losing out on a couple guys you really like. I know there was guys they liked in the second round last year that it didn't, you know, it didn't come to fruition that they were able to get them. You don't want to do that again. So ideally for me, I am almost obsessed with the idea of the Colts getting a young stud linebacker out of this draft. I think it would be a huge letdown if it passes them by. And then this last one, this is a nightmare for fans, I think.

Starting point is 00:14:08 The Colts take any of a quarterback, tight end, or a corner before round. round five. Now they're going to, I think, add more draft picks. So it will lessen the sting, you know, if they spend one of their seven picks on these guys. But quarterback, if they're going to do it, wait until the sixth or later to do it. You know, they've already been kind of sniffing around a couple of these guys from my understanding. So Garrett and Usmeyer, I think they're going to have a 30 visit with. He's been getting third, fourth round buzz. Cade Clubnick out of Clemson, And that's probably a guy you could get around the fifth, sixth or seventh round. But, yeah, I do have a feeling they're doing their due diligence on some more of these

Starting point is 00:14:50 quarterbacks, but just please don't do it that early. Tight end as well. You guys are going to see when the indie draft guide comes out. Like, I was in charge of writing up the tight ends and ranking the titans and everything. I love some of these guys, but I do not want the Colts to do it in this draft. just because the financial commitments they made to Drew Ogletree and Mo Alley Cox, those guys are locked in for this year. The Colts are going to have to eat money if they let go of either of those guys.

Starting point is 00:15:20 So if the Colts do draft a tight end, they're just going to have to sit there as the fourth guy who's never active on game days or they're going to have to try and sneak them on the practice squad, it would be a red shirt season for this kid. And right now they need instant impact players. And then I mentioned cornerback as well. It's the group that they feed and feed and feed. Rightfully so because the group was crazy injured last year.

Starting point is 00:15:46 So I wouldn't blame them if they took a corner just because I think they're probably, they're probably just paranoid about the position at this point. But it's far from their biggest need at the moment. I think you could probably do that later on. Or if you're going to do it, grab a guy who's got like some flexi, ability between slot, safety, like one of these really intriguing guys that you can move around, like a Vijay Payne from Kansas State. That's someone who has played safety, but he's got really, really enticing traits. And if the Colts wanted to turn him long term into a boundary corner,

Starting point is 00:16:27 which I think Chris Ballard has tried to do a couple times before with other guys that hasn't worked. But Vijay Payne is a guy who I think it could work. Well, now you have, I don't want to call it a redshirt ear because I think he could. get on the field in some certain situations, like especially dime and special teams, but that guy obviously would need a season to acclimate to being a boundary corner. Something like that would be fine. Again, he would have some utility at safety as well. So I think for fans, I want to hear your guys' dreams and nightmare scenarios as well. I think your nightmare scenarios are probably to be pretty interesting. So make sure you leave those in the comments. With that, thank you for

Starting point is 00:17:05 tuning in today to Locked on Colts. We're going to be back tonight for the Colts squad show. You might have noticed we did not go live last night. We all had a lot of irons in the fire. So tonight is going to be way better for all of us. We'll be back with you at 9.30 p.m. Eastern. Make sure you subscribe to our show so that you get all of our latest episodes. If you don't already, follow at Locked on Colts at Jake Arthur, NFL, and at Zach Hicks, too, on social media.

Starting point is 00:17:28 Don't forget to check out the Everydayer Club for ad-free episodes and access to a group chat with Zach, me. bunch of other listeners of the show. I love the conversation. That's all what's going on in there. Tap the link in our show notes or go to locked on colds.supercast.com to join. And with that, thanks again for watching and we will be with you later tonight.

Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - DREAMS and NIGHTMARES: Indianapolis Colts' Best and Worst-Case Scenarios in NFL Draft

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