Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - GOOD CALL: Why Indianapolis Colts Retaining Shane Steichen Was the RIGHT MOVE

Episode Date: January 22, 2026

The Indianapolis Colts elected not to hit the reset button this offseason, keeping HC Shane Steichen and GM Chris Ballard. While Ballard seems unfireable, keeping Steichen was the right move. The guys... go into the pros and cons of having Steichen as HC.The 2026 NFL Draft Player Spotlight also continues with Cincinnati LB Jake Golday. EVERYDAYER CLUBIf 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 Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-nfl/ Follow Jake's written work on roundtable.io/sports/nfl/colts/ and Zach's on si.com/nfl/colts/, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, and @LockedOnColts! Today's episode is sponsored by PrizePicks. Download the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!TurboTaxFor a limited time, you can have your taxes done by a local TurboTax expert for just $150 — all in, if a TurboTax expert didn’t file for you last year. Just file by February 28. Visit http://TurboTax.com/local to book your appointment today. DripDropRight now, DripDrop is offering podcast listeners 20% off your first order. Go to http://dripdrop.com and use promo code lockedonnfl.Ultimate QBUltimate QB is totally free to play, has no ads, and works 100% offline — perfect for when you want to sneak in a quick game or two on the go. Just head over to http://ULTIMATE-QB.COM.FanDuelToday's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. FanDuel is officially in Playoff Mode. Every game day during the NFL playoffs, FanDuel is giving customers even more ways to get in on the action. Visit Fanduel.com to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable free bets that expire 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)PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use code LOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.RobinhoodTrade Every Play with Robinhood. Now available across the U.S. Download the Robinhood app now to begin.Futures and cleared swaps trading involve significant risk and are not appropriate for everyone. Event contracts are offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC., a registered futures commission merchant and swap firmIndeedListeners of this show get a $75 Sponsored Job Credit to help give your job the premium placement it deserves at http://Indeed.com/lockedonnfl. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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Starting point is 00:00:01 The Indianapolis Colts elected to bring back Shane Steichen despite a third of the NFL firing their head coach this offseason. Was it the right call? 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. Welcome to Locked on Colts, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, now the number one sports podcast network around. Today's episode is sponsored by PrizePix. Download the PricePix app today. and use code locked on NFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.
Starting point is 00:00:44 Hello, everyone. My name is Zach Hicks, your resident Phil Nerd, Horseshoe Huddled.com, and I'm joined, as always, by Jake Arthur. The boots on the ground over round table sports. Today, we are going to dive into Shane Steichen, and we're kind of going to smash together a couple topics with this, where one, it's like a year in review of Shane Steichen, but also within the context of a third of the NFL fired their head coach this all season. And kind of the pros of keeping Shane Steichen, the cons of keeping Shane Stike in, kind of what the case for and against him was this offseason. And just overall our thoughts on him as a head coach after three years at the helm with the Coles.
Starting point is 00:01:21 And then to close out the show, Jake is going to introduce his draft prospect spotlight player. We are finally going to move a little bit away from Indiana for one episode. So Jake does have a draft. Yeah, not very far. But Jake does have a spotlight preview player. here for this 2026 draft. But let's talk Shane Steichen, Jake, you know, not the best record through three seasons, 25 and 26 with no playoffs under his belt.
Starting point is 00:01:47 So a lot of people would say, look, you are what your record says. Like, so should there be any case for Shane Steichen past that? But I do think that there is merit in what he's been able to do on the offensive side of the football with the Colts the last couple years, especially when you consider who he's had a quarterback from rookie Richardson to and Gardner, Minchu that first season. to Richardson and Flacco that second season. And then this past year with Daniel Jones, Philip Rivers, and Riley Leonard,
Starting point is 00:02:15 the Colts had been, what, a top 15 offense each and every one of those years? And this past year, they were top 10 across the board with a quarterback like Daniel Jones, where, you know, people were laughing at Daniel Jones all off season about the Colts even considering starting him. And they're able to have a top 10 offense with him leading the way for most of the year and a 44-year-old quarterback off the couch and Riley Leonard, who was the sixth round, rookie so I do think there's a lot of merit and how good of an offensive coach he is even if he has us pulling our hair out sometimes like he is one of the better offensive coaches in football
Starting point is 00:02:48 yeah I would agree with that it's we we've seen a lot of really good from him like that's not to say there aren't plenty of things like you mentioned it to pull our hair out but we have seen what it can look like without like the Colts really didn't have a lot of like superstar power in the first half of the year, but they were getting superstar productivity out of their offense. Now, they have Jonathan Taylor, of course, but like they were putting up four, 450 yards, like routinely against teams, uh, blowing the doors off of teams, even against good defenses. They were competing really, really well.
Starting point is 00:03:23 Like the Chargers and the Broncos defenses, who were both, you know, top five defenses this year, the Colts in that first half of the year just blew the doors off of them. I mean, I completely agree there. Exactly. Almost 500 yards against Denver. And that's, again, it's like Michael Pittman Jr. is your top targeted receiver for the most part. You had Josh Downs, who was really slow to start. So it's like we haven't, we haven't even seen what this
Starting point is 00:03:48 offense can be. And that's crazy because of how productive it was. But no, I think the fact that he is able to, he's able to kind of milk situations for as much as they're worth, especially from the quarterback position. We saw like Gardner-Minchu probably played the best. best football of his career in 2023. They were nearly in the playoffs. That team, I believe, was like nine straight games to start the year, scoring 20 points, which was the longest in the league. They scored on their first 10 possessions of this year, which was an indie record as well. So between Gardner, Minchu, Daniel Jones, reviving his career and looking like a serviceable quarterback, who's going to now get another huge contract, at least in terms of APY, like,
Starting point is 00:04:35 no one would have thought Daniel Jones was going to get the bag again. And Shane Steichen really meshed well with Daniel Jones to kind of make that happen. Philip Rivers, again, coming out of nowhere at 44 years old and with our physique to be playing pretty well overall. Riley Leonard, a six-round rookie, played pretty good football in two games against good defenses. So what he is able to do from the offensive side of the ball with quarterbacks, ones who actually fit him, because we have now come to see that he can't just, like, spin everything into gold.
Starting point is 00:05:12 He's not necessarily a guy that can whisper to any quarterback, I wouldn't say. But guys who fit him well, he gets the most out of them, I would say. And then just when you look at the offense from this year specifically, it's really pick your poison. They pepper defenses with the pass early on to just cream them with the run game. in the second half, had Jonathan Taylor leading the league in rushing. It was a legit MVP candidate. They spread the ball out so much in the passing game.
Starting point is 00:05:43 And it's like the offense was so effective and such a problem for defenses that week in and week out, it's like, what are you going to try and stop? It doesn't really matter because they're going to be able to do this and this to counter if you try and stop that. So as far as offensively goes, I think he's been a. about as good as you could hope with the personnel that they've had. Yeah, and I would even argue defensively. Like, yes, he was part of the decision making to keep Gus Bradley
Starting point is 00:06:13 around those first two years. But when he finally had his chance to separate from what Gus Bradley was doing on defense and kind of pick the next direction of this defense, much to the chagrin, I'm sure, of Chris Ballard, because the current defense of Colts run is not at all what Chris Ballard likes this style of defense. He likes more of that old Tampa to Seattle cover three style of defense. But Shane Stuyken picked the direction of this defense with Luana Rumo, and this was the best Colts defense they've had in the last three years, despite all the injuries they had on that side of the ball.
Starting point is 00:06:44 Now, I know the bar wasn't super high. You're just trying to get better than what Gus Bradley's defenses were. But the direction of picking Luanna Rimo and having that on the defense side of the ball is the credit to Shane Stuyken for, again, wanting more like a diverse identity on that side of the football. So I do think he brings a lot of good things to the table, especially again, offensive. He's one of the best play callers in football, in my opinion. Maybe it's not as good as like a Kyle Shanahan where he can make it work against anybody with anybody on offense. But I think when you get into that like six to ten range when it comes to play calling,
Starting point is 00:07:18 I think he's certainly in that conversation. I think he's certainly in there for my book there. I think he's a good play caller. Their short yard of stuff has always been very good. They've been getting better in the red zone, I think, as well. So, yeah, Shane Steak and I think is an offensive coach that you want. to have and that's what kind of makes the conversation of like when we all wanted to blow things up this off season and don't get me wrong i was i'm still fully on board of sacrificing shane stike
Starting point is 00:07:44 and get rid of chris ballard like i'm all for that but it does make it difficult because it's hard to win like consistently get close to winning in this NFL without having that offensive play caller at head coach you know we've seen teams kind of go through these ebbs and flows when they don't have that offensive play caller at head coach where the most consistent teams that are always there, the 49ers, the Rams, the chiefs, a lot of it's because they have that play caller and head coach and they don't have that turnover from year to year where they lose that play caller. So when you find a guy that you think is capable, it is hard to let that guy go, even if the results aren't perfect.
Starting point is 00:08:23 Now, that's not me trying to fully defend him and saying he's some great head coach, but I understand the thought process with that. one more aspect I do think is noteworthy with Shane Steichen is they do have a lot of these little things in games and maybe fans don't really fully appreciate this as much as a nerd like me does, but they do these little things in games
Starting point is 00:08:41 to steal yards and steal points and steal opportunities from opponents. I'm thinking like for instance in that week 18 game against Houston where they do the fake punt and then they hurry up on the ball with the fake punt team out there and burn a time out from or was it a timeout
Starting point is 00:08:57 or they know they got the penalty on Houston Yeah, 12 men on the field. Yeah. We've seen situations with quick subs where he's stolen timeouts from opponents as well that mattered late in games. So I think there are some really interesting aspects of his coaching in game that aren't all negative. I know the Colts are two and seven and one score games this year. So we'll get to some of the game management in a second. But I do think there are little things he does in game to steal points, steal opportunities,
Starting point is 00:09:22 and steal timeouts from opponents, which don't make his game management that bad. I think every coach is bad with game management. Shane Steichen, it just amplified because they were two and seven at one score games. But he does little things in the games to steal timeouts and steal points from opponents, which I really appreciate. Yeah, and I appreciate the fact that he's aggressive because just having a timid head coach who doesn't ever want to go for it on fourth, always is taking the field goal, always doing this stuff, like punting on the opponent's side of the field.
Starting point is 00:09:52 Like, I don't want that from a decision maker. Like, I want the head coach to want to go for it. Like, you don't have much to lose. He's sharp, like what you talk about with the little wrinkles with finding hidden yardage and points of things like that. But he's also aggressive. And then just the message he sends in the building, I think he's the kind of coach that players can respect because they know he's all ball and they know what to expect from him day in
Starting point is 00:10:18 and day out. That doesn't mean he's 100% great at communicating, which we'll get to. But I think players can easily respect a guy like him. Yeah, no, 100%. he's graded well the last couple years in that NFLPA survey in terms of like players respecting him as a coach. So I do think he's well liked. I think he's a good offensive mind and there are a lot of good aspects with Shane Stuyken.
Starting point is 00:10:38 But coming up, we're going to dive into some of the cons, some of the negatives. And I mean, it starts right there with that record, right, Jake, 25 and 26, and especially the record against Houston and Jacksonville. That's where all this kind of starts with Shane Stuyken. What if sports were traded like markets? Now you can put your sports IQ to work in real time with Robin Hood. prediction markets. It's not you against the house. It's you participating in a live market. You could buy or sell your positions live all game long. Use your sports knowledge in the
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Starting point is 00:13:16 Locked on Everydayer Club Discord server, which includes a group chat for just for our listeners of our shows. Go to Lockdowncults. com to join or even gift a subscription. We are back talking Shane Steichen, kind of doing a year in review,
Starting point is 00:13:29 but also doing the pros and cons. of him as a coach of this Indianapolis Colts team. We talked about the positives in the first segment, mainly being it's hard to get rid of an offensive mind that can get top 10 offense out of Daniel Jones and the top 15 offense out of Gardner-Minchu. We've seen other offensive minds try it, and they've struggled quite a bit.
Starting point is 00:13:48 So that's probably the biggest case for him. But at the end of the day, Jake, this is a coach who's 25 and 26, no playoffs in three years. He had it. Look, he was part of the decision-making, part of the brain trust that took Anthony Richardson. in the top five, and that didn't work out for the Colts.
Starting point is 00:14:05 Not many coaches survive that. Unless you have like a Super Bowl in your past somewhere, right? Which he, I guess with the Eagles, he almost won't as an assistant. But unless you're like a previous Super Bowl winning head coach, it's hard to survive three years with no results and you struggle to develop a young quarterback. So I think that's kind of where the cons have to start and where they're probably going to to be for most fans. Yeah, I think he gets.
Starting point is 00:14:31 it's a lot of leeway through context of like what's gone wrong each season. He was one of the biggest champions for Anthony Richardson, but they also had to take a quarterback. They didn't necessarily have to take that one, but it's like you taking Richardson or Levis, it's probably not going to work out either way. But yeah, the whole thing was fumbled immensely, especially when you go ahead and figure a factor in that he started right away, when you had a veteran in Gardner, who was kind of brought in to be that that bridge that buffer zone um but yeah so there's that part of it which if i mentioned in anthony richardson i'm just going to go ahead and start off here communication to the public not great uh the amount of mixed messages that come from
Starting point is 00:15:19 shane stike and press conferences in relation to especially anthony richardson and like other players who i guess are injured uh it's it's the the language is very very muddled and it's hardly ever black and white. Earlier in the year, I even got myself in trouble kind of like going off of his language, like, okay, if he says this, this player is actually practicing. And it was that way for two or three weeks until it wasn't. You know what I mean? And then there's all this stuff with Richardson where it's like, yeah, he's just a little banged up. And Richardson's like, I was crawling around my house because I was an excruciating pain. And, you know, so in terms of communication, he's a football guy.
Starting point is 00:16:02 He's a football nerd. And sometimes the politics take a little while to kind of iron out. So when it comes to being like the CEO of the team and sending out the message, you also are the person who speaks with the media the most. So you are kind of the PR firm here. That needs some work for sure. Yeah. And I mean, that's just one small part of it. But yeah, it's the people skills part probably needs a little work.
Starting point is 00:16:31 Well, yeah, and I think that just the messaging to the team and also to, again, we don't know exactly what's being said to the team, but I just go back to that 2024 couple weeks span where we're getting the benching of Anthony Richardson for Joe Flacco. And they're saying Joe Flacco is going to be our starter for the remainder of the season. And then what, two weeks later, they benched Joe Flacco for Anthony Richardson again. And just that kind of, that was like the first thing with Shane Steichen where I was like, he might be a little in over his head if we're doing this. You know, I'm not saying stubbornly make a move and stick with it, but like,
Starting point is 00:17:02 we've got to view this more long term than like instead of just wishy-washy with flipping like that at the quarterback position, even if it was, you know, the right move at the time, even if it was, right, it just has to be a better optically there. The next one is just a lot of fans have been coming for him for game management. I still defend him a little bit with game management because, again, every football game I've watch this year, I've come away thinking that both coaches stink at game management, I think. Like, I've yet to see a good coach with game management. So I think it's just a difficult aspect to do in a game. But when you're two and seven and one score games and they've had some of the
Starting point is 00:17:37 moments that they've had this year, I understand this being a fair criticism. And part of it for me, honestly, I know a lot of fans say he doesn't take the points enough and stuff. For me, it's the fact that he relies on his kickers too much. And I know that's just on brand for me. but I just keep going back to the Denver game and the Seattle game where we're settling for these 60-yard kicks because it's in the range of our kicker but I'm like we can't be leaving it up the chance
Starting point is 00:18:03 and even then the other team like I guess in the Denver game they weren't getting the ball back but like the Seattle game even making the 60-yard kick in Seattle you're still giving the ball back to the other team with 40-something seconds left you know with the way the kickoff rules are now
Starting point is 00:18:17 that's plenty of time so at least if you're going to give the ball back to them make the kick a little bit more manageable So it's kind of things like that. I do think he rely. I think he's too optimistic about his kickers and his defense at times, where sometimes it's like, look, you're the offensive guru. You've been able to get these top offenses out of, you know,
Starting point is 00:18:36 these quarterbacks that we've been talking about the last couple of years. Go win it with your offense. Make sure it comes down to your offense. Don't let it come down to a 60-something-yard kick with no time left or make it come down to a 60-something-yard kick instead of going for it on fourth and three in Seattle. So, like, I know Rivers wasn't playing some great football, but I'd rather go for it on fourth and three and have a chance to run it down than nothing and potentially take a 40-something yard kick, then kick a 60-yard kick with 47 seconds left to give the ball back to the other team. So, yes, I have my gripes with game management. I don't think it's as huge a deal.
Starting point is 00:19:11 But, again, if you're two and seven and one score game, something needs to improve over the next season. Yeah, I think my biggest gripes when it comes to game days is, There are times where he gets just stubbornly conservative. I've noticed like at the end of first halves, it's, it's just specifically going for field goals. Even if they're like picking up chunk plays where they could get more, they could take a shot or two at the end zone. It's no, no, we're just going for the field goal. That's it and that's all. And it's like, man, it looks like you weren't prepared for this good of a drive.
Starting point is 00:19:47 And now you're just like, you don't have anything to try. And it's, that's frustrating. And then something you and I have kind of gone back and forth on over the last couple years is whether your phrase is X's and Nodes versus Jimmy's and Joe's or like plays over players, what have you. There are times where I think he takes the ball out of his best player's hands just in order to execute a play that he really believes, which is great. You should have conviction about your play designs and everything. But there's been, God, there's been at least like two or three times where. Everyone is like, where is Jonathan Taylor? And sometimes it lasts whole halves or quarters.
Starting point is 00:20:26 You're like, why are you taking the ball away through your best players? And it's been that way. It's mostly with Taylor for some reason. But we've seen it with big time pass catchers as well. Like the more reliable ones aren't getting the ball necessarily in certain situations. That I think has improved a little bit this year. I had bigger issues with it in 23 and 24. But yeah, those are things that routinely kind of drive me nuts and, you know, lead us into the postgame press conference asking like, all right, so what was the thought here?
Starting point is 00:21:00 And it's the explanation is usually, you know, we liked the play design. We'd been working on it all week. And it worked out fine. And it's like, okay, well, then today when you faced another defense. Yeah. We'll keep arguing, I think, in the future over the players versus plays thing. It's always a fun argument there. But I do completely agree that he gets too conservative at times,
Starting point is 00:21:20 which is so frustrating because he's almost always, like, aggressive when it comes to fourth downs. Yeah. And going forward on fourth down and knowing what to do, but like he does get in these weird habits where it's like, you know, we're going to get conservative. Or there's even times where I'm like, oh, cool, he's running on third and six here because he's planning to go forward on fourth down.
Starting point is 00:21:40 And then he'll opt to kick like a 53-yard field goal on fourth and three. And I'm like, then why did you run it? Like, just throw it then. If you're already going to kick the long field goal, So, yeah, there are some things that kind of drive me up a wall with the conservativeness and the aggressiveness. But overall, you know, I think there is a good argument for and against Shane Steichen coming back this year. I will say one probably, and this is probably a topic for another day, maybe one of the better arguments for keeping him going this next season is look what's happening with the Cleveland and Arizona job searches and who they might end up getting because they are just striking out on everybody. and like Jim Schwartz it looks like
Starting point is 00:22:17 he's going to get the Cleveland job or is the front runner there like so like look I'm always of the opinion that like never never don't like make a change because you're scared of downgrading but in a market like this where there were 10 openings and there weren't that many
Starting point is 00:22:33 candidates like good candidates out there and you could get stuck with Jim Schwartz as your head coach maybe maybe waiting a year is not the worst call but let us know in the comment section below but to close off today's show guys coming up in just a second, Jake is going to unveil his spotlight player of the 2026 draft for today's episode. And he's going back to a place where the Colts have had a lot of luck in recent seasons at Cincinnati University. If you've ever hired someone who looked good on paper
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Starting point is 00:25:23 26 NFL draft coming up here in just a few months. We're trying to give you guys some player profiles here. So you guys can be ready for the Colts day two picks and day three picks because they don't have a day one pick this year, at least as of right now. So we're going to be talking about a player from Cincinnati. And I'll give you the floor here in this. second, Jake, but the Colts have had a lot of luck from Cincinnati in recent years. Alec Pierce and Sauce Gardner, most notably are from Cincinnati, but also Brian Mason was there
Starting point is 00:25:52 at the same time as those two. So the Bearcats, you know, if we're going to add another Bearcat, Jake, we might be getting one of our better producers on the roster. For sure. And I was hoping there was some crossover between this guy here and Brian Mason. Their fortune was not, but it is Cincinnati linebacker Jake Golda. So we're obviously going to be leaning into more top 50, top 100 guys, since the Colts don't have a first round pick. But this guy in terms of Ascension kind of has Carson Schwessinger written all over him to me. Right now, he's viewed as a round two pick for the most part. But if he goes and works out well and interviews well, then you could see him go as early as low
Starting point is 00:26:34 round one. I've seen projections kind of all over the place for him. But Gold Day, there's really not much not to like, especially with the Colts who need pretty much a lineback of facelift. Huge frame, 6-4-240. He's going to be 23 years old as a rookie, so a little on the older side, but you're not looking at the 24, 25-year-old guys
Starting point is 00:26:55 who've been in their six, seven years. Just real quick, Jake, the Colts did take a lot of seniors last year. Remember, that was a big thing for Ballard last draft, so that might be a new thing going forward, is drafted. It fits. But, yeah, I mean, he's at least not the, you and me talk about 20s.
Starting point is 00:27:11 24, 25-year-old guys all the time. You'd love to avoid it. But, you know, his frame is somewhat comparable to Jermaine Pratt. But he can also kind of add some more. You look at him and he's not gangly, but like you see the room to add more muscle on there. He's pretty much a true will linebacker. I don't think I saw him lined up at Mike whatsoever. And again, although we all think the Colts need like a complete overhaul at linebacker,
Starting point is 00:27:37 that doesn't mean they're going to get rid of Zyre Franklin. They, you know, they save about $5 million if they move on, but that doesn't mean they will. If they don't, I mean, regardless, Golda fits, but if they don't, then they will need someone like Golda next to Franklin. He is ranging at 6-4-240. Those guys can often be stiff. He is not. He is very, I'm trying to find the right adjectives for him, but he's very fluid. Like he can move horizontally, vertically, like he has got it all.
Starting point is 00:28:12 He can attack downhill. But he can also get to places quickly out in space, out in coverage. And obviously we talked a lot about how the Colts were super vulnerable from the linebacker position over the middle of the field. He's a guy who gets there quickly and he understands what he is seeing. But for me, he just, he kind of checks a lot of the boxes that I like in linebackers. He's not passive. I don't really like linebackers that let things come to them.
Starting point is 00:28:39 I want him to go make things happen. He's got a background from central Arkansas as he's got some edge in his past. And that has maybe curtailed his development at linebacker a little bit now that he is a linebacker with Cincinnati. But he's still kind of learning on the go there, but he is a more advanced guy blitting at this point. Now he's very determined and confident when he sees. And since he's kind of played in the trenches a little bit, he's pretty good at hand fighting and countering and getting off blocks. He's also another thing I really like about linebackers.
Starting point is 00:29:14 When you're in the middle, you know, there's an inside run. A lot of these guys let themselves get taken out. He does what I call collapses down on the ball carrier. He will take him and the blocker and just run into the gap and fall, you know, fall down to end the run. He is the type of guy who is aggressive and does what it takes to make the play pretty much every time. Sure tackler.
Starting point is 00:29:38 There's just, there's not much not to like. Awesome. And while I'm going to say my little spiel here, Jake, I'm going to have you think of a pro comp for them. We want to have pro comps. Okay. So think of your vibe. It doesn't have to be perfect.
Starting point is 00:29:49 A little bit of a vibe here that you're going for while I get my little spiel. But I do like a player like this fit on the Colts defense because the Colts have two distinct different linebacker positions. One is the Mike, the off ball. Think like an Aiden Fisher from Indiana. We have to always have the Indiana tie in. Yeah, I have to.
Starting point is 00:30:05 but they think like an Aden Fisher type player. That's smart, savvy, good coverage guy that you want to have at Mike, and then you want to have just that rabid dog on a leash essentially with the other one, a guy who's going to attack downhill. When you go to these underlooks, you're going to have them playing some edge. And the Colts also had a very high six-man pressure rate last year. So they like to bring linebackers on these diverse pressures on third down. So you have a player like this where, again, you can let him just be the aggressive
Starting point is 00:30:31 playmaker that you want him to be, a guy who can be your tackle for a lot, loss type of machine on defense. I think that would be a really good idea to get a young player like that and then maybe go like more of a veteran route for the other linebacker position if you move off of both Franklin and Pratt. We know Franklin's here. He's going to be that other position. But at least getting a young fast player that can make plays in the backfield, I think that would be a great fit for this Colts defense. And I like the edge background as well with how the Colts use their penny fronts and under fronts and these different looks to get linebackers off the edge. But who do you have is like a,
Starting point is 00:31:05 you know, just a rough pro-comp for now, Jake. It doesn't have to be perfect as of right now. Yeah. So it's tough. You look, you could you could say Jehad Campbell from last year, not to that degree. I'm all in, you got, you sold me. That's why we do pro-cons. I'm sold.
Starting point is 00:31:24 They do a lot of the same, a lot of things pretty similarly. I mean, they rush off the edge very well. They have that edge background. But they moved so well out in space in the middle of field and coverage too. But again, I'm a fan of an aggressive attacking linebacker as well. So a guy who gets off of blocks, you don't see him just rendered completely useless because that's another thing I hate to see in linebackers as well. Like try and find some way to get free and make the play and at least stay involved
Starting point is 00:31:54 and stay alive to some degree. And he does that. I think he would be an instant fan favorite here, especially from the Midwest, from Cincinnati. You know, people in Indy love that stuff. for sure jake i need your next comps to be from like early 2010s guys that we grew up scouting and stuff okay like that when you'd go like crazy with that stuff in the future you know see being a well linebacker yeah being a will linebacker changes stuff because i used to be in love with mike linebackers right right the year i mean darius leonard was a will but like the year that him
Starting point is 00:32:26 and skymore came out i was like oof that that was as good as it gets you should have dropped to fred warner comp on this guy would have been great that's what you should i didn't i didn't i didn't Like, Fred Warner wasn't too much on my radar. I'll admit that. But like a guy like Denzel Paraman loved him. Holy crap that I loved Denzel Paraman. And Ruben Foster is my number one all-time favorite linebacker prospect. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:32:50 Find me in a Landon Roberts next time. Okay, Jake, I need like a 260-pound bowling ball who can't turn and only flies downhill and kills everything inside. That's what you need to bring me. But no, I think that Jake Golda here is. It's a very interesting player. And I just realized you picked the guy with your same first name. So that's probably part of why you... But see, I don't like other guys named Jake, though.
Starting point is 00:33:12 So like that means he's exceptional. There we go. There we go. We love it, guys. We love it. Well, thanks again to all of you for tuning in today to Locked on Colts. We back tomorrow for the Daily Show and tonight on the Locked on Colts squad show. So make sure you're subscribe and follow Locked on Colts so you get all the latest episodes.
Starting point is 00:33:29 And if you don't already, make sure you're following out Lockdown Colts at Jake Arthur NFL and at Zach Kicks to all on. social media. And if you never miss an episode, the Everydayer Club is built for you. Get Lockdown Colts ad free plus members only Discord access and much more. Head to LockdownColts.supercast.com to join the club. Thank you guys again for listening today and we'll be back tonight with the Colts Squad Show.

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