Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: AD Mitchell, Jelani Woods Making 'A Ton of Plays' in OTAs

Starting point is 00:00:01 Colts OTAs are a wrap, and we saw some pretty interesting things at practice over the last two weeks. 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, thanks for tuning in and making us your, your team every day. All right. Thanks for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:36 And today's show is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off of your first purchase. Terms apply. What up, everydayers? This is Jake Arthur from HorseshoeHuddle.com, a member of the Indianapolis Colts media. And today we are talking OTAs. The team just wrapped up their two weeks of it.

Starting point is 00:00:59 They held two open sessions of practice to the media, one last week, one this week. They're going to get started with their veteran mandatory minicamp next week. After that, they're going to have several weeks off until training camp starts. So this is truly a ramp up period before their break. So I'll go ahead and kind of go over some of the injuries and main team storylines that are worth noting. We'll move on to Anthony Richardson in the offense. And then of course, some young guys who were making plays on the defensive side of the ball. So first I wanted to talk to you guys about one thing that really has stuck out to me is it really is put in perspective how many guys

Starting point is 00:01:43 were banged up last year, considering they're all back at practice now. We all know the Colts got a ton of flack, including from us, for running back the exact same team. But it doesn't feel like the same team because they have so many guys who almost count as new because they're back from injury. So you're looking at quarterback Anthony Richardson, running backs Jonathan Taylor and Evan Hull, tight ends Jelani Woods and Drew Ogletree, defensive end Titus Leo, cornerbacks Juju Brents and Dallas Flowers, and safety Daniel Scott.

Starting point is 00:02:18 And most of those guys are expected to be pretty heavy contributors. And the worst of them, special teams guys. You know what I mean? So these are, for the most part, pretty important players to get back in the lineups. Guys who have missed time, who have been out pretty much the whole time, right tackle Braden Smith. He's still coming back from a knee surgery in the offseason.

Starting point is 00:02:40 Wide receiver Ashton Doolin, who tore his ACL last summer. We haven't heard exactly when he's going to be back, but the timeline would say that he should be back during training camp. We'll probably get more on that. Probably be a good question to ask Shane Steichen next week during a mandatory minicamp. Cornerback Chris Lamans has been in a boot on his left foot. And then linebacker Sagun Ulubi, We don't know what's going on with him, but if he continues to be out next week,

Starting point is 00:03:08 we might ask about that and see what's going on with him. Those guys have not practiced during the two open media sessions that we have been a part of, but they have been on site observing their teammates working out. So there's at least that. Michael Pittman Jr. He was of course, there last week, but he took a scary hit during that practice. Richardson threw a ball out to the right side,

Starting point is 00:03:32 and Pittman and Jalen Jones collided, just kind of banged knees. It was scary because Pittman was just crumpled on the ground, laying down for a few minutes with everybody around him. They turned off the music there. It was silent. We could hear a pin drop. He did eventually walk off on his own, walk back into the facility. Afterwards, Shane Steichen said, like, he'll be fine.

Starting point is 00:03:55 They just banged knees and then added some more clarity on that after Thursday's practice. Steichen said, Pittman is in a good spot. We're just resting him. Could he go out there and practice right now? Yeah, probably. But we're just going to be smart with him though.

Starting point is 00:04:10 So I wouldn't expect to see Pittman until training camp. There's really no reason to get him out there for this mandatory mini camp next week. Would it be great to have more reps with him and Anthony Richardson? Sure. But they're probably going to do that during the break. And Pittman has literally zero to prove to anybody. So there's not much benefit in putting him out there when he's not 100%. There were a couple guys who missed some time just for personal reasons.

Starting point is 00:04:40 Jonathan Taylor was practicing last week, but he was not there this week. Steichen said he was just out for personal reasons, but nothing big. Dio Adengbo, same story. He was there last week, but not this week. He was at a wedding right now. Tight end Moe Alley-Cox, he was there last week, not there this week. We didn't ask about that, though. When you only have a limited time with him, you don't want to run through the whole list of guys who were or were not there.

Starting point is 00:05:05 But if Mo is not there next week, we'll probably figure out what's going on there. Something else worth noting. I'm kind of a nerd when it comes to like keeping my own personal death chart and lineup for the Colts. So especially around this time, I like to start to formulate that a bit. It's a bit premature because there's so much rotating of personnel that's done that it's really hard to get a gauge on what the team is thinking. It's kind of telling which guys get reps first.

Starting point is 00:05:39 Like if you rotate through five reps, who was the first people in there, that's kind of telling. But again, there's different packages and personnel groupings and things like that. So it's hard to really know. So for the most part, I don't want to make any judgments yet. There are some specifics I'll get into when we start talking individually about offense and defense. But for the most part, I'm not ready to declare starters or like significant roles yet

Starting point is 00:06:05 other than players who are it's obvious what their role is overall during otas you know this this was the start of getting on field practice work seven on sevens 11 on 11s the colts had really good participation there were only a few guys who were out and it seemed like it is voluntary of course but you like to see everybody there um guys who were out and it seemed like it is voluntary, of course, but you like to see everybody there. Guys who are out for, you know, just personal stuff, you know, life happens just like any of us with our day jobs. Like if there's something we need to go do, maybe we get PTO or take the day off.

Starting point is 00:06:39 It's exactly what this seems to be. It's nothing really worth writing home about. But Steichen was really pleased with with what he saw from the guys um he said you know this is a good time of year to get camaraderie going build some team chemistry you get some some guys talking trash back and forth which he's a big fan of so uh otas is a wrap um really good work put in overall by the team here in a minute we will go ahead and talk about anthony richardson and him being back on the field and how all that looked passion drive and patience the formula for winning championships is also what keeps your ride or die

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Starting point is 00:08:07 or espn or any of the hot take shows on your tv all day long and you just need a break from all the yelling and just the the opinions that it doesn't seem like any rational person can really agree with we'll make the switch to locked on sports today it's a free 24 7 sports streaming channel program for you every day to bring the biggest stories without all that screaming. Again, Locked On Sports today, also known as Lost, brings you the can't miss analysis, opinions, and news streaming 24-7 on YouTube or the free Amazon Fire TV channels app. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. All right, every day or so, let's talk offense. Let's talk Anthony Richardson.

Starting point is 00:08:52 Hope is back alive, everybody. So, of course, from all of our experience observing the Colts, when a quarterback season is lost to a shoulder injury, things can be pretty unchill even going into the next season. It wouldn't have been the biggest shock in the world if Richardson wasn't even ready to be on the field yet. But alas, he has done all the on-field stuff. He is there really without limitation. I mean, he's not 100% back physically to where he was before the injury, but he's getting back to it. He still could throw the ball like 60 plus yards right now. He'll get back to where he was, perhaps even better than what he was because of how much specific work is going on into his passing and his body and all that.

Starting point is 00:09:41 But yeah, plenty of reason for optimism. Does he look like he's in midseason form? No, not yet. Maybe a little rusty. You know, he's got to get some work down with timing and stuff with his pass catchers. But he also doesn't look like a guy who had season-ending shoulder surgery last year. So that's good. Plenty of velocity and zip on his balls.

Starting point is 00:10:07 Even something that was noteworthy was he had a shovel pass that like, it was, it just was rocketed right in there now, not like irresponsibly, but it was like, wow, that was really crisp, really fast. Like that play was, was nice. And I mean, that's, that's just little stuff, but you know, when you got a guy whose arm is damaged and he's rehabbing and it's just not all the way back, like it would it would make sense if he wasn't there. But Richardson's arm strength now, even though it's not 100 percent, is still better than a lot of people. So arm looks good during 11 on 11. I had him charted at eight of 11 during the two practices that I watched. He had some big plays, had a couple of chunk plays that were in stride to Jelani Woods and A.D. Mitchell.

Starting point is 00:10:52 A couple of big acrobatic catches made as well by Mitchell and Kylan Granson. Now, seven on sevens, oddly enough, was a little more competitive with the defense, especially in coverage. Now this is, I mean, part of it's on Richardson and having eyes throughout the field and going through progressions and everything. But the coverage was really tight out there on the guys' running routes. There was two or three times Thursday where there was just nothing open

Starting point is 00:11:21 and Richardson had to hold on to the ball and just either killed the play or dumped it off, whatever. In a normal game situation, he probably would have taken off in that scenario. But, I mean, in practice, you're trying to get as much out of it as you can. So you're going to try and keep the play alive and keep looking downfield. So defense was really competitive, making things interesting. So Richardson, I would say overall, very, very promising. As we all know, I'm sure he's going to get some work in with the guys during the break

Starting point is 00:11:53 and then coming to training camp, hopefully not looking like they've missed a beat. Outside of Richardson, you know, with Taylor missing Thursday's practice, it was pretty clear that Trey Sermon is the next guy up which Zach and I discussed that recently on our running back episode of our positional reviews one thing that was interesting it looked like Evan Hull has the early edge on Tyler Goodson for the passing down back they did both rotate in but Hull was the guy initially that could be one that they just go back and forth and rotate between being the main passing down guy throughout each week of of training camp we just will have to wait and see on that but um hole is certainly the guy who you know they

Starting point is 00:12:37 drafted in the middle rounds last year probably had a decent expectation of him and what his role would be in the offense, but the meniscus injury kind of took his, his season from it before it really began. Cause it happened in week one. So Josh downs very heavily involved, especially Thursday with Michael Pittman jr. Out.

Starting point is 00:12:58 He must've had at least 10 catches between seven on sevens and 11 on 11th. Like Anthony Richardson was finding him early and often constantly. And Downs looked really good doing it. He's a buttery smooth route runner, always seems to make the first guy miss or kind of sneaks his way around to pick up extra, even inches. He's just a really efficient player. so if Pittman has to miss any time for any reason during the season, I would expect to see a pretty huge, uh, dose of Josh downs. Uh, the, the shiny new toy 80 Mitchell has done some really big things on the field.

Starting point is 00:13:37 Um, Shane Steichen has, has spoke really, really highly of him, you know, just the way that he gets off the ball and out of his breaks and he separates and makes big plays happen. Like when the ball goes to Mitchell and it's in the air, you assume that he's going to come down with it as long as it's in his vicinity. We all saw the play from, I think a week or two ago on, you know, the Colts posted on Twitter where he beat Juju Brents deep for a ball from Richardson. He had a really nice play on a corner route over Daryl Baker Jr. on Thursday that I saw from Richardson to him downfield. Richardson found Mitchell again on another big play. I didn't see who was in coverage, but Mitchell jumped up and kind of readjusted in the air and came down with it.

Starting point is 00:14:25 That's a guy who does not drop the ball in college, and so far it's been pretty smooth. He's got really sure hands and is able to make really difficult catches so far in practice. So, so far this has been a really good offseason for Mitchell. I know it's a small sample size, but, I mean, what else can you ask for so far? He's answered the call and he's doing it with Richardson. It's not like he's just been matched up with Flacco with the second team. Mitchell has stepped up, especially with Pittman not being out there. Mitchell's getting

Starting point is 00:14:59 some extra work with the ones and the guys that will really matter for his development long term. Last, looking at tight ends, it's been a pretty healthy group with the exception of wherever Moe Alleycox was on Thursday. Jelani Woods leading the way. He's made at least like three or four big plays that I can recall during practice. They all involve either him being downfield for the most part, making tough catches in traffic, and or making plays where he picks up extra yardage after the catch. So the big play ability that you hope to get out of Jelani Woods has been on display during this OTA session. So that's very, very promising. Zach and I talked about where the heck do all

Starting point is 00:15:48 these blocks fall with the tight end group. It's probably not going to be a defined tight end one, tight end two, tight end three, tight end four. It's going to be a group effort and it's going to be very matchup and role-based. And Drew Ogletree, is he going to step up and like role based and you know drew ogletree is he going to step up and essentially replace what mo alley cox had been doing you know kylan granson is a guy that you move around a lot and you can do a lot of things with uh woods is the one you really hope steps up and becomes your big play main passing threat type of guy and then Mallory, just take another step in your development, man. Be, I guess, a diet version of Jelani Woods. It's just good to have all those guys healthy at this point in the offseason because, you know, this time last year, Woods was already having his hamstring issues. And then when we got into training camp, pretty much everybody except for Kylan Granson

Starting point is 00:16:43 was getting hurt. So fingers crossed that this group can stay healthy and the Colts can figure out what to do with them and who fits best and what roles. Because the tight end group, it's got a lot of talent and historically Shane Steichen has done a lot of really productive things with tight ends. So you're almost getting robbed of offensive versatility and productivity. If this very talented high ceiling tight end group doesn't stay healthy. So again, fingers crossed that that is not the case coming up. If any side of the ball has one OTAs, it's the defense. All right. So I think it's very, this kind of follows a script every year, but the defense I feel always kind of has a leg up, especially early in these things like

Starting point is 00:17:36 training camp. I feel like at least for the first handful of practices, defenses usually have the leg up because the offense is trying to figure things out. They've already started install, but you're trying to iron things out and see what works best. It's all about trying things and not necessarily being a finished product yet. So the defense just has to like show up and do their job while the offense is trying to do all these things, figuring it out. Like the defense is trying to do that too, but it's just easier set up for the defense now the Colts defense through OTAs has had a lot of energy and a lot of physicality probably being more physical than they they should be I mean Zyre Franklin straight up tackled Mo Alley Cox on a play last week during seven on sevens and you've just seen some guys probably being a little more physical than

Starting point is 00:18:26 they need to be. But that's this defense, you know, they like to they like to talk smack, they like to hit, they don't want to hurt their own teammates. But you know, they want to season them for the regular season and let them know that they're there. But now you expect nothing else from them. So hopefully that leads to a more productive group, a more well-rounded group, because they obviously gave up a lot of points in the past. The past coverage was not really where it needed to be last year. Looking at a couple young players who made some big plays, Jalen, rookie linebacker Jalen Carlize and second-year safety Daniel Scott

Starting point is 00:19:02 both had interceptions last week. Carlize intercepted Flacco, just kind of hopped in front of the intended receiver. That was a short play. And then Daniel Scott was kind of just there at the right place, right time. Richardson threw a pass low and behind Mo'Ally Cox, and Scott was there to intercept it. Now, that's two players that the coaching staff is really high on. Wouldn't be surprised if Carlisle has a role in this defense early on in his career and during the season. Probably going to be more of a special teams player, but I do think they'd like to get

Starting point is 00:19:37 him on the field at some point soon. Daniel Scott, if the battle between Nick Cross and Rodney Thomas is just a disaster and the Colts do not feel comfortable with what they have next to Julian Blackman, I would not be surprised to see Daniel Scott enter the discussion for, okay, do we try and get Daniel Scott in there to see what he can do next to Blackman? Because at the very least, Scott is a super experienced high football IQ player now physically he may not offer what um what Thomas and Cross do overall as athletes uh but at a certain point you just have to bite the bullet and say we just need someone who's not a liability in the secondary and Blackman's not a liability, but he doesn't have the cleanest bill of health throughout his career. So if what you're doing is throwing out an adequate athlete who has a high football IQ and good instincts, and maybe you're taking a dip on athleticism and potential, I think you can live with that. Going on next, the corner, again, with the secondary, you know, we discussed safety.

Starting point is 00:20:52 Nick Cross versus Rodney Thomas. So I think Nick Cross has the early upper hand. He seems to be the first guy out there at free safety. And I think that makes all the sense in the world. You know, Thomas has had two years, kind of had a standout rookie year, led the team with four picks, but kind of took a step back in year two, was benched near the end of the season. Nick Cross, meanwhile, earned more playing time as the season went on, was a starter the last couple of weeks. So with Cross, he's always kind

Starting point is 00:21:24 of been a guy who you could say raw, just like needs more experience, needs more playing time to reach his potential. If it was me, if I'm Ron Miles, Gus Bradley, and I'm figuring out, you know, how we come to the conclusion of who is our free safety, I'm just throwing Cross out there and giving him the vast majority of the snaps at free safety throughout training camp. Because you already know what you have in Ronnie Thomas for the most part. Maybe him as a normal player somewhere in between his rookie year and his second year. Doesn't matter.

Starting point is 00:21:57 But if you want more productivity out of there, or you just need to know what Nick Cross is, you throw him out there and just give him the lion's share of the snaps at free safety throughout camp. Because with that, you let Cross and Blackman learn how to play together. You get their communication down and you get Cross the reps that he has desperately needed to become more comfortable and instinctive as a player. Because the more experience you have the less you have to think and what you're doing out there just comes more natural to you and that's probably something that cross needs now is he going to be some high-end pro player maybe not

Starting point is 00:22:35 but if he can give you average play to even even above average play I think you just have to throw him out there and figure it out. Because, I mean, at least at the end of it, if you've done that, you know whether or not you can move forward with him. And maybe the answer is not on the team right now. Maybe it's not Rodney Thomas or Nick Cross. Maybe you have to make it Julian Blackman back at free safety and Ronnie Harrison is out there, or you bring in someone else like a Quandre Diggs or Justin Simmons, but you have to know whether Nick Cross is going to be that guy or not. So if it was me again, it's not, they don't pay me for that, but I would, I would have Nick Cross heavily, heavily involved with the first team at free safety just to figure it out. So in front of the safeties at cornerback,

Starting point is 00:23:27 I think it's pretty solid that Juju Brents and Kenny Moore are your top two cornerbacks. When they go into multi-package sets, though, where Kenny kicks inside to the slot, it's going to be Dallas Flowers versus Jalen Jones. I think they're going to battle it out all summer for that third corner role, that outside boundary corner role, because at this point, I don't think there's any mystery that Juju Brents and K-Moore are starters, but they're going to let Flowers and Jones just battle it out and see how it goes for that

Starting point is 00:23:58 other outside cornerback spot. Don't really know who has the upper hand on this one. Of all the position battles that I think I know what's going on, I do not have a leader in the clubhouse for that one. So I know they like both players a lot. I think they love Jalen Jones. But so far, Dallas Flowers has been given an equal opportunity from what I've seen to compete for that spot. So we'll see how it goes throughout camp. All right. So again, reminder, the Colts mandatory mini camp will be next week, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. I'll be out there for that, bringing you content from the practice field, interviews with players and

Starting point is 00:24:37 coaches. The training camp schedule, I think, should be announced sometime in the coming weeks normally camp starts near the end of july the last week week and a half of july so keep an eye on that so you got these three days of practice next week and then you're looking at about seven weeks or so that uh that the team will have off uh they'll get their work in you know anthony richardson will have his throwing sessions with his guys he did that last year as a rookie but you just kind of hope for for health through all that and that nothing nothing itchy happens like what tends to happen with the cold steams this has been eerily drama free which knock on all the wood that is terrific to see and hear from a media perspective I can take boring as long as it

Starting point is 00:25:27 means we don't have some some toxic drama to report on so i'm all good with that so bring all that to you next week uh remember that locked on has launched the first ever national sports 24 7 streaming channel on youtube and now it's also available on the Amazon fire TV app and lockdown sports. Today's here for you. 24 seven covering the top sports stories of the day with the local experts of locked on. Plus our national shows covering every league find locked on sports today. Now available on the free fire TV channels app.

Starting point is 00:25:59 And of course, if you don't already follow at lockdown Colts at Jake Arthur, NFL and at Zach HX2 on Twitter, also be sure to subscribe on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts. We would love your five-star ratings and reviews as well. I got Locked on Colts on Instagram and the TikTok machine recently. So please go follow those accounts if you don't already. I've been posting content to that every day. So it's well worth it. And with that, we'll see you guys next week when Zach and

Starting point is 00:26:31 I continue our positional preview up next. It is the interior offensive line.

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: AD Mitchell, Jelani Woods Making 'A Ton of Plays' in OTAs

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