Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Anthony Richardson, Josh Downs Set for Immediate Impact

Episode Date: May 5, 2023

Indianapolis Colts quarterback Anthony Richardson could have an immediate impact in his rookie season for the team. Wide receiver Josh Downs also has a chance to compete early in his career. Which oth...er 2023 rookies will have an immediate impact with the team?Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOColts?sid=YouTube📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFLFollow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOnFN!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Out of the 12 rookies that the Colts drafted last week, and they've got to get pretty quick production from some of them, right? 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. What's up, everybody? Happy Cinco de Mayo to you. Thanks for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts,
Starting point is 00:00:45 part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. I am Jake Arthur. This beautiful soul here is Zach Hicks. I'm your resident credentialed media member of Locked On Colts, horseshoehuddle.com, and Zach is the most dangerous film guy in the game. So nice to meet you for the first timers here. On today's show, we're going to discuss the Colts rookies, you know, 12 man draft group, potentially a bunch more undrafted guys coming in as well.
Starting point is 00:01:16 Who among the bunch might be the quickest contributors for the Colts? We're also going to parlay that into what are realistic expectations for the Colts this year. We're used to saying, you know, they could be a playoff contender if, but they're going young now. And then we are going to finish off talking about the Colts' latest installment of their series with the next pick, which might be the last one of the offseason. I don't know, but it was a good one. It was like 30 minutes long. But we'll go ahead and start out here talking about some of the rookies who can contribute quickly.
Starting point is 00:01:48 Zach, any discussion about Colts rookies or the Colts at all right now really begins and ends with quarterback Anthony Richardson. Whether or not he starts from day one, I think he's still going to have a role from day one. I think they're going to at least figure out a package of plays to give him because every single thing they've said from Shane Steichen to Chris Ballard to Jim Irsay, while they want to temper expectations, they don't want to say he's going to be the man right away. It sounds like they're going to prepare to try and get him ready to start from day one because they've said, you know, you grow and you learn by playing. So they're not going to force it. If he's ready, he'll play. But it sounds like initially they want to get him out there right away. Yeah. Yeah. And it's, it's a really fascinating thing to look at because, you know, we all thought when the Gardner Minshew contract or when the
Starting point is 00:02:39 Gardner Minshew signing happened, you know, we were like, oh, like this is a guy who could start for them, who probably could start for them no matter who they take as the rookie quarterback and then when you saw the contract you're like oh that's more of a backup like a low backup contract like that's not even like if you think Gardner Minshew could start for you you're giving him 10 million a year you know you're giving him a good chunk of money but it's like a one year like four million up to four million dollar contract like that's a that's a a low end backup caliber deal. So you had to assume, you know, whatever rookie they're bringing in, they're probably going to get out there early. And it's so interesting that it's Anthony Richardson, because that's the guy that most people had pegged as the one who's going to
Starting point is 00:03:17 sit. But for me personally, I think Anthony Richardson should play early and often, you know, you want to get them out there that you learn on the job and Shane Steichen another just really interesting part of this is Shane Steichen was part of a rookie quarterback with the Chargers and Justin Herbert and they started Tyrod Taylor super early over him you know for a couple weeks there Tyrod Taylor was the starting quarterback until he went down with an injury and then Justin Herbert the raw quarterback that wasn't ready to play came in there and was lighting the league on fire. He did not look anything like a raw quarterback. Now, Justin Herbert, I think, is a little bit further ahead than where Richardson was as prospects.
Starting point is 00:03:54 But I wonder if Shane Steichen saw that and said, hey, why did I keep this guy on the bench when he's getting better and better every single week when he's actually on the field? And I wonder if that's going to translate over to the Anthony Richardson decision. It does seem like the Colts are really saying, you know what, if he comes out here in camp and looks decent, we're going to get him out there from week one. So I think when you're looking at rookies who are going to contribute quickly, I do think Anthony Richardson falls into that because, you know, they said it best. The way you learn is on the job. And I want to get him on the field as much as possible, especially for a guy who only has 13 career starts to his name. Get him on the field, get more experience under his belt and then see him grow from there. Yeah. And something you and Mark Schofield mentioned in your conversation from yesterday's show, you know, Shane Steichen is going to be hitting the books and the video reels to see, you know, what has Anthony Richardson done best throughout his career going all the way back to when he first started playing football? What,
Starting point is 00:04:49 you know, what can you accentuate in his game to get him ready? So I think the Colts will obviously have a plan. So moving on from the obvious with Richardson, when I'm looking at these rookies, I think the next most obvious guy is wide receiver Josh Downs. What do you think? Yeah, I know he's going to have a massive role from day one. He's just a perfect Shane Steichen wide receiver. You know, he's not the guy who's going to win vertically on every single snap. He does have the ability to win vertically. But when you look at Shane Steichen scheme and his offense, it's so much predicated on spreading defense out wide and then having that quick win wide receiver. And again, before they pick Josh Downs, they didn't have that receiver on the roster. They didn't have that guy who can just get open on any single down or get open whenever
Starting point is 00:05:29 you need them to. Josh Downs is that quick win wide receiver. He's the guy who can line up as the innermost guy on bunch looks. You can sneak him around on mesh concepts. It wouldn't shock me whatsoever if Downs finishes this next season with a good chunk of catches, you know, 50, 60, maybe 70 catches even. I think he's going to get a lot of underneath looks, and he's going to really help Anthony Richardson get better in that short to intermediate area of this game. Yeah, I think, you know, if Gardner Minshew is the guy initially as well,
Starting point is 00:05:58 I think he'll really enjoy throwing to him too, you know, with all that short stuff, you know, a lot of the crossers and just bubbly type stuff. I think that's really going to scream to his game. But something I've really liked so far about Downs, it's not even something I've seen from him. So he's a smaller guy, yes. He's really athletic, which is – that pretty much always translates.
Starting point is 00:06:22 But two guys who spit their careers being technicians and they didn't win because of their athleticism necessarily reggie wayne and steve smith they both rave about this guy yeah and that's those are two guys who know how to evaluate wide receivers and they know what it takes to get open to win in the nfl i'm really intrigued by that steve smith always kind of finds his way to training camp every year. So I kind of want to pick his brain about that. One thing, another thing I'm interested about with the rookies,
Starting point is 00:06:52 they got three huge cornerbacks of the group, you know, Juju Brents, Cam Rush and Jalen Jones. Do you see, did I say it right? I saw you smile. Darius Rush.
Starting point is 00:07:03 His, his teammate, his teammate was Cam. Did I say Cam yeah you said cam rush you combine the two south carolina corners which would be awesome combine those guys and you have a star but i love that you're mentioning the the defensive backs because honestly i think there's an avenue for playing time out of every defensive back they took in this draft class uh juju bres obviously is the highest pick. He's the guy they want to get on the field, the guy that they see sky-high potential in. If you watch the With the Next Pick series,
Starting point is 00:07:31 which we're going to talk about in the last segment here, they were talking about Darius Rush being like, oh yeah, we had like a third-round grade on that guy. And they got him all the way in the fifth. And it's a player who's extremely athletic, really long, experienced SEC corner. Oh, and then if we're talking experienced SEC corners, Jalen Jones, who's only 21, so super young as well, is a guy who I think is going to get gunner snaps early on, a guy who could play at the bottom of the roster. Really excited about
Starting point is 00:07:54 that pick as well. And then Daniel Scott, I've raved about him recently too. This is a supreme athlete who can play free safety. I'm actually really intrigued by him in the slot, kind of doing what Julian Blackman did last year. So maybe being a backup slot as well. I like these defensive backs they took from Juju Brents all the way down to Jalen Jones. I think all four of them have a very, very easy avenue to seeing the field in some way this year. So I'm excited to see all four of those guys compete in camp. And you know what? May the best man win. May the best man win. Get the best guys on the field. And that's Jalen Jones over the other guys. Like, cool, let's get them all out there. But I like all four of these defensive backs, and I think they're all going to have really good camps and really good off seasons.
Starting point is 00:08:37 Yeah, I'll throw a sleeper in there because of special teams, and that's Evan Hull. He sounds more than willing to be a core special teamer and he's he told us he knows that's how he can initially make his mark in the NFL. So that's another guy I'm going to keep my eye on as well. Next we're going to discuss what realistic expectations for the Colts might look like in 2023. But first a word from our pals over at Built. If you're looking for a delicious snack but don't want all the sugar and calories, then you need the best tasting protein bar ever, which is Built. You guys got to try it. If you're like me and you want to make healthier snack choices, but you don't want to
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Starting point is 00:10:33 we've had this week. I had guys like Mark Schofield yesterday and Fran Duffy the day before that. And you know what we're talking about? Everything Anthony Richardson. So make sure if you somehow missed an episode, I know you guys are every dayers, so you guys don't really miss episodes. You guys love to check in on every single day. But if you happen to miss some, go back, listen to those two episodes right there.
Starting point is 00:10:53 Fran Duffy and Mark Schofield were phenomenal, and they are all in on Anthony Richardson in Indianapolis. But transitioning out of that, transitioning out of these rookies and out of the Anthony Richardson thing, because, gosh, we have talked Anthony Richardson to death this week. And that's all we're going to talk about all offseason. Let's talk about the expectations for the Colts this season. Because I think, you know, it's really funny. We had a, Destin and I, Destin Adams, our colleague over at HorseshoeHall.com,
Starting point is 00:11:21 we did a Twitter Spaces before the draft on draft day on thursday and someone said you know hey if we really think this colts team is only one quarterback away you know why not go after lamar jackson or why not go after this and i was like the biggest thing about this offseason even before the anthony richardson selection is the colts finally realized they're not a quarterback away you know they are farther away than just a quarterback, just getting in a Matt Ryan, just getting in a Carson Wentz and everything's fine. They realized they need to go young
Starting point is 00:11:50 and it's not going to be super pretty from day one. And we saw that a lot in what they've said since the Anthony Richardson pick. It's like, look, we're not expecting him to come out here and light the entire league on fire. We're going to play this a little slow. And if there are struggles and warts, we want him and the rest of the team to grow through it. So I think as a collective fans
Starting point is 00:12:09 and analysts, when it comes to the Colts, we need to take a little step back from our expectations. It can't be like the last three or four years where we're all saying the Colts are going to win the division. The Colts should win the division because when they were trying to go quote unquote all in, they weren't doing that. Now they're realizing they need to reset just a little bit. You know, they still have some good veterans, but it is a slight reset. There's a lot of young players on this team. I mean, cornerback Kenny Moore is like the only one over 25 at cornerback on this team.
Starting point is 00:12:39 It's safety. I don't think any of them are over 25. So it is a young, young team. And that's what the Colts are trying to do they're trying to build this team up again through youth so when it comes to expectations personally uh you're not going to see me project them to win 10 11 12 games and win the division this year this year is all about Anthony Richardson and the young players on this roster taking a step forward if that results in 15 wins cool if that results in four wins but
Starting point is 00:13:06 you're seeing progress throughout the year also cool i just think we want i want to have this topic in in our show today because we have to temper the expectations just a little bit here and i i know we're going to get the comments about chris ballard being in year seven as a gm here but it is time to avenge to finally just bring those expectations down a little bit and finally start building from the ground up again with the Colts. Yeah. To that point, they're, they're not bereft of talent. Like they do have some veteran guys who can still help you win right here and now, but overall, a lot of their cornerstone pieces are going to be young guys who deserve time to grow. And they're, they're
Starting point is 00:13:43 going to, there's going to be bumps in the road, you know uh so yeah i i think there you we shouldn't be expecting playoffs because to your point like you said even when they were going all in they couldn't even get a wild card spot so like what's gonna change now with all these younger guys to get them over the hump um with that said the the their list of opponents isn't really killer this year. There's a few games on here where I would not expect victories. Bengals, obviously, Ravens, the Saints now with Derek Carr. Other than that, a lot of these games appear to be winnable. I have the Colts projected at about seven to eight wins,
Starting point is 00:14:24 which could even still be rich. I'm not going to say that they're definitely going to nail that, but I expect them to be competitive most weeks. But the reason being, if Anthony Richardson is on the field, whether he's young and inexperienced or not, he brings something to the football field that not every other guy out there does. He's going to be really dangerous. And again, they do have proven veteran talent. Guys like Jonathan Taylor are difference makers. DeForest Buckner, he's a difference maker. You've got guys out there that have won before. They've also lost with those guys. So, you know, they're not, I don't think they're going to win
Starting point is 00:15:01 three games. They're, I definitely don't think they're going to win three games. I definitely don't think they're going to win 10 either, though. So I would expect them to be about that seven to eight win range. Yeah, the biggest things I'll add when it comes to expectations for this team, and again, we have a long offseason ahead of us. The Colts could still add players. They could have injuries, take away some players that we're expecting high things of. So this is obviously a very fluid thing that's kind of on a spectrum right now where we're at when it comes to projecting wins and losses.
Starting point is 00:15:26 But one thing I do want to kind of add to this is the Colts have had quite a bit of turnover from last year. You know, like it's easier to be competitive in the NFL when things are kind of either staying the same or you're adding and definitely getting better. Whereas the Colts, you know, Shane Steichen, we love. We absolutely love Shane Steichen, but we're going into year one of his new offense, year one of his coaching tenure. We don't know how pretty that's going to be from day one. You know, there might be some rough patches.
Starting point is 00:15:55 There's a whole entire new offensive staff that the players have to get used to, that schematically the players have to adjust to. So that's a different thing right there. And then on defense, you know, the defense, which held this team up for their first half of last year, lost two of their best players in Stephon Gilmore and Rodney McLeod. We, you know, we love Nick Cross. We love Juju Brents.
Starting point is 00:16:14 We love Darius Rush. We love Isaiah Rogers. But we don't know if they can provide that impact that those players had last year. And then Bobby Okereke has gone at linebacker as well. So there have been some pretty big departures. At the end of the day, though, I think, again, the main point I want to add with this part of this show and just for the rest of the offseason
Starting point is 00:16:32 isn't that I'm expecting the Colts to come out and win like two games. Like I'm not trying to be pessimistic. I'm not trying to even be down on all the excitement that we have right now. It's just keeping the back of your guys mind that this is a process. You know, this is a process. The Colts were just reapplying band-aids the last three or four years. That's all they were doing. They were just reapplying it, ripping it off and hurting us and then putting it right back on that same band-aid. They weren't even, they were barely changing out the band-aid. Now they're actually tending to the wound. You know, they're finally
Starting point is 00:17:02 tending to it. They're hoping it gets better, but it's going to take some time to heal. Instead of just putting crummy little band-aids on it, this is going to take some time to heal, and it's not going to heal from day one. It'd be great if it does. Maybe they have the miracle cure in Anthony Richardson and Josh Downs and Darius Rush and Juju Brents, and these guys are all superstars, but these are young players. Young players take some time to adjust
Starting point is 00:17:24 and take some time to adjust and take some time to be what they're ultimately going to be. So if you're going into the season expecting the Colts to be the best team in the division, I'm not saying that's not going to happen. It's just breathe a little bit. I love the excitement, guys. I love it so much. Keep that excitement going because even if they win four or five games this year, as long as these guys are showing progression and the youth is really stepping up, that's a good thing. That is a good thing. We're trying to get this on the right track instead of, again,
Starting point is 00:17:53 just reapplying crummy Band-Aids to this wound. We're finally starting to fix it and clean it up. And I think these young guys are the path to doing that. It's just year one, it might be some rough patches that we have to work through. So don't get yourself too, I'm just trying to temper the expectation. I'm not trying to dull the excitement. I just want to temper the expectations just a little bit and realistically project what this team will do this next year. Yeah. And I think the key is what you nailed on, you know, just because there won't be a bunch of wins, we want to look for progress.
Starting point is 00:18:27 They need to be competitive. We know what ugly football looks like now. Like the Colts, the Colts have displayed some football that I've really just not really seen before, like lifeless, unprepared, no motivation football. Like as long as that's in the rear view mirror and it looks like these young guys are starting to get it a little bit, that's what you're looking for. And, you know, they're, we can't say they suck or they're busts after,
Starting point is 00:18:54 you know, a few games or whatever. I know it can be tough to be patient with these guys, but no, what you're looking for is progress, not necessarily W's yet. Exactly. Exactly. So coming up guys, we're going to talk about the Colts with the next pick series the latest installment I think it's gonna be the last installment of this year but it was jam-packed with some great nuggets and some really fun stuff
Starting point is 00:19:15 so Jake and I are going to talk about that here in just a second all right Jake so contrary to what some believe over at the athletic the Col Colts room was extremely excited about the selection of Anthony Richardson. We won't name that writer there at the athletic. We have a lot of respectable colleagues over at that site, so we don't want to drag it too much, but yeah, no, the Indianapolis Colts organization was pumped to get Anthony Richardson. I think the biggest thing for me from with the next pick series is this this and this was brought up by some other people so i can't take full credit for it but look at chris ballard's body language when it was announced that the cardinals
Starting point is 00:19:53 had traded yeah at three he was uh-huh oh he he slumped down and honestly personally me too when i saw the message come up that the that the cardinals were trading and then like me as well, and just like I'm sure a lot of you guys, when you saw the Texans coming up, it was, oh my gosh, we got him. And you saw Ed Dodd say that. You saw Morocco Brown get excited. You saw Chris Ballard jump up out of his seat and run over to the card. This team is excited about Anthony Richardson, and they played it a little risky, but they got their guy.
Starting point is 00:20:24 Yeah, that was the first takeaway for me as well. It doesn't almost annoy you a little bit though. They, they said, you know, we're going to stay pat at four because we were pretty sure we're going to get them. But then you hear the Arizona traded it. And it looked like someone stabbed Chris there for just a split second. And they said it was Houston on the clock and he slaps the table and he's like, all right, let's go. It's like, you guys were going to let someone
Starting point is 00:20:47 steal your lunch money. Yeah, I will say this. Their intel, they obviously have more intel than even I have. Yeah, of course. But from my intel, there was only one team that'd be coming up there from what I understand.
Starting point is 00:21:03 It would have been the Vikings and that would have been- vikings and that would not have been able they would not have been able to do that it would have been it would have had to have been the godfather offer times 10 to to get all the way up there so i think the colts did kind of know like yes we could say they're playing it risky but i think they did have a very very good feeling that it was not going to be a team looking for Richardson to trade the three. But I'm sure, you know, in your mind, you could say that you're 99.99% sure that the Vikings can't get up there. But then when you hear that trade call and you don't know who the other team is, you're like, did they do it?
Starting point is 00:21:36 Did they send Justin Jefferson? Did they say, you know, like, like, what are they offering? And then when you hear it's the texans again just like i was when i was watching it from home i was like oh my gosh it was pure elation excitement and then obviously when they put the pick in to be anthony richardson that whole draft room erupted man yeah this this organization uh i 100 believe the colts and chris ballard and now we can see it from behind the scenes but they had to have been sold on him for over a month plus you know like for a month plus or whatever to be that excited about getting him uh and to trust their intel that much that he was going to be there at four for them yeah
Starting point is 00:22:14 Chris had said that he was confident and comfortable with making the pick up to a month before he'd been telling Ed Dodds you know that was the guy shooting morocco brown back in august was was texting chris stuff from florida practice saying you know the the stuff i've seen on the practice field is crazy august 2021 by the way oh yeah no like i knew it was before he was a starter is what i heard wow okay no like morocco was on him for a long time yeah so the Colts had been interested for quite some time and really beyond Richardson because of course everyone's gonna love when you get your preferred franchise quarterback but it looks like a lot of these guys they were pretty pumped to get like it looked like Chris ran up to the draft board on a few of those like
Starting point is 00:23:00 Freeland Downs like uh there was I think it was um leo at the end they were really confident in as well so 12 guys and it looks like the colts couldn't have been happier to get the dozen guys that they got yeah yeah and i love i love this series for how it highlights the scouts i absolutely love it for that chad henry getting a lot of run in there for the josh downs pick and then the titus leo pick towards the end you know chad henry being a lot of run in there for the josh downs pick and then the titus leo pick towards the end you know chad henry being able to get that screen time basically and he's one of the hardest workers and in all of uh football like he he's a grinder you could see it last year with alec pierce picks you get this year the josh downs pick how excited he was uh chris magaha was on
Starting point is 00:23:41 there talking a little bit anthony coughoughlin did a lot of stuff with, I think it was the Jalen Jones pick where they were like, yeah, we have a scout in here who was really fighting for you. So, you know, this is why you're an indie. So come thank him, you know, basically like that. So that's my biggest takeaway from the, with the next pick series. Like, again, we'll talk more about the Anthony Richard selection and just how great it was to see his reaction, the Colts reaction Steichen obviously loving that we'll talk about that here in a second but I love that this series highlights the scouts because a lot of organizations do not highlight their scouts you know the scouts are just names and pictures on a website and that's all they are but for the Colts these guys get spotlight these guys get to talk about players that they've been fighting for and the Colts are
Starting point is 00:24:24 not shy about saying you know who was behind each pick and and stuff like we've seen it with Isaiah Rogers in the past Mike DeRese was was the big reason for it you know we see we see this a lot because the with the next pick series so that's my biggest takeaway every year is I just love how they highlight the scouts and and obviously guys like Morocco Brown and Ed Dodds as well yeah you're right like at the end of the draft every year, when they bring in the scouts to talk to us in the media room, the communication staff literally says, you know, this is Chad Henry. He had Andrew Ogletree and Alec Pierce, like from last year, for example.
Starting point is 00:24:56 So we can know, you know, you're the guy behind it. We're going to ask you all about these guys. So it is awesome. I'm going to give a shout out to Mike Lacey as well, though the Midwestwestern scout during the pro day circuit he was we all had our eye on him i i saw him at a couple pro days and everyone had their eyes on him to see which colts representatives are here and it was mike lacy a lot of the time so he didn't have any of his guys but uh he he contributed to our all our draft content more than uh more than he knows uh but now this
Starting point is 00:25:27 i'm so glad they've kept this series up for this is your three or four now i think and it's uh it's really invaluable like it's won them emmys i'm pretty sure um i know the video department there is awesome they've won emmys if this one has if this series hasn't won it it's definitely at least been uh nominated for him so it's it's definitely at least been nominated for him. So it's an awesome thing. It's a great glimpse for the fans. You get to see the raw emotion from some of these draft picks. Like Chris Ballard was saying Josh Downs' phone call was like probably the best one he's ever had.
Starting point is 00:25:57 You got to see Juju Brents over there just in Westfield, like 20 minutes away from the facility, basically getting picked. So that's I love this series every year. Man, Josh Downs was amped up. Josh Downs was so amped up. And you could have put a football in his hand right there and he would have run through everybody at his draft party. Like there was something with that that phone call. He was like, look, I'm going to you're going to not regret that you took me and stuff like
Starting point is 00:26:24 that. Like I was I was pumped up seeing that Josh Downs one but I do want to refocus the conversation a little bit to Shane Steichen Anthony Richardson and kind of you know get back to our store our starting quarterback here get back to our franchise quarterback where I think this series really shined a light on how high Shane Steichen was on Anthony Richardson throughout this process you saw every interaction between the guys where Shane Steichen was like, we got our guy. Tapping him on the back, being like, we got our guy.
Starting point is 00:26:50 Chris Ballard even said, I think during one of his one-on-ones in the video, saying like, yeah, Shane would pull me in his office once a week, being like, look what he's doing here. Look what he's doing here. If anyone had any doubt where Shane steichen fell on these quarterback prospects just watch the with the next pick series because shane steichen was elated to get anthony richardson he was showing chris ballard highlights every day he was pumped when they got him uh saying that's my guy and let's go and let's get rolling so you know again you you you send this money out you go
Starting point is 00:27:21 hire shane steichen because what he can do with a young quarterback. And now you're giving him the one that he wanted in this class. And you got him at four. So just I love the series and I just love how he was able to highlight, again, Shane Steichen. I really think he was Shane Steichen's QB1 from everything that we could see behind the scenes. Or at least the QB1 of the guys I thought they were going to be available. So I was really happy to see that because, you know, I'm super high on Shane Steichen. I love seeing everything with him and just, yeah, seeing, seeing those interactions between him and Anthony Richardson, like he got his guy, he got his guy.
Starting point is 00:27:55 Oh yeah. We've seen how important it can be when a quarterback and head coach are in lockstep. Like we're unfortunately got robbed of it only one season, but Andrew Luck and Frank Reich were tight and we saw how well that went. And if Richardson was Steichen's QB1, we already know he has a plan, but that means he's had something cooking for a long time, I'm sure. Yeah, I really think this whole staff, just the way they're talking about Richardson.
Starting point is 00:28:20 And then, again, looking at the background of these staffs, Jim Bob Cooter helped work with Jalen Hurts there in Philly for a year. Cam Turner obviously worked with Kyler Murray and then the two Giants guys, Tony Sperano and I think it's Deontay Smith or Dante Smith. Deandre. Deandre. Deandre Smith. There you go. Thank you. They worked with Daniel Jones there in New York. So all these guys who have worked with mobile quarterbacks were probably looking at this draft and being like, I know which one I want. You know, I know which guy and you could see it in that series, you know, with the next pick.
Starting point is 00:28:50 So, yeah, really excited to see all that. Really excited to see behind the scenes and just how all in this organization is on Anthony Richardson. And again, to kind of push back a little bit on the athletic article, the Colts are very all in on Anthony Richardson. There was not a doubt in that draft room on who their guy was but every day is make sure you come back with us next week the Indianapolis Colts rookies will will finally be reporting in the building uh this weekend for rookie minicamp so make sure uh you give us a follow give us a look so we can give you the lowdown of how it all went down I mean Jake you'll be there a couple days next week right
Starting point is 00:29:23 yeah absolutely it's uh so today you guys are listening Friday so we have media availability lowdown of how it all went down. I mean, Jake, you'll be there a couple of days next week, right? Yeah, absolutely. It's so today you guys are listening Friday. So we have media availability Friday and Saturday with the rookies. Perfect. Perfect. So yeah, Jake will be there. Make sure you're following at Jake Arthur NFL for sure. Also at Locked on Colts and at Zach Hicks too on Twitter.
Starting point is 00:29:43 Also subscribe to the Locked on Colts podcast on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. We'd love your guys ratings and reviews and we'll see you guys bright and early on Monday morning.

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