Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Anthony Richardson, Laiatu Latu Still Have a Lot to Prove This Season

Starting point is 00:00:00 We've got a loaded Q&A episode for you guys today, talking all about Anthony Richardson, Laatu Laatu, the future of the team, and a lot more. 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 first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network,

Starting point is 00:00:36 your team every day. And today's show is brought to you by FanDuel. Place your first $5 bet and you'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed. Just visit FanDuel.com to get started. What's up everybody? This is Jake Arthur and Zach Hicks at HorseshoeHuddle.com and we're just going to cut to the chase today. We got a loaded Q&A episode. You guys bombed the mentions when we put out the call for questions, so we got to cut the fluff and just get right to it. So we're going to look specifically into like the offense and Anthony Richardson, the defense and a lot of layout to law to and then some really quick hitters, just some kind of lightning round questions as well. So, Zach, let's go ahead and go with Josh Boke here.

Starting point is 00:01:18 Becky, I followed you for years on Twitter. I should probably know how to say your last name. But this is a great one right off the bat. I'm curious what you think Anthony Richardson needs to do from here on to consider this a successful development season. The team feels like it's in a position to take a step next year, but what they need to see from Anthony, what do they need to see to really commit to the all-in strategy that fans seem to want. Yeah, so the biggest thing of this really is just health, man. It really is health. And I hate having to continually talk about this with Anthony Richardson.

Starting point is 00:01:51 But again, we're six games into this season. He's played in three-ish of them, a little over three of the games after only playing in four last year. Like, we just need to see more out of him. We need to see him on the football field, but let's say he does play the rest of the season uninjured the rest of the year goes out there against the dolphins this week and then plays the rest of the year. What you really need to see from him is just positive progression in those areas that he

Starting point is 00:02:18 has struggled in. So we need to cut down the turnovers the rest of the season, the turnovers that weren't an issue really last year have really reared their ugly head this season, especially with the overthrows, just cutting down the overthrows in general. And then showing, like, it doesn't have to be a Jordan Love second half of 2023 type of ascendance, you know, into this upper echelon of quarterback play, but it needs to be positive steps.

Starting point is 00:02:42 Like, again, his end of the year stats don't need to be 30 touchdowns and 10 picks and be something crazy, but you want to see him taking those positive steps and see like, Hey, maybe over the last month of the season, Richardson really hit his stride and was ready to go. And you know, the offense was really clicking, get the offense really rolling under him. It just needs to be those positive steps. So I don't know like what the, the breaking point needs to be for the Colts to don't know like what the the breaking point needs to be for the Colts to say like okay we have our guy let's go all in under him next year but I do think it needs to be a little bit more than what we've seen so far like the flashes have been

Starting point is 00:03:14 good some of the advanced stats for Richardson have been fine not great but fine and I do think there are some positive things to lean on but if if this year finishes with what, like the information that we have now, like say the rest of the year goes the way that the year started for Richardson, I don't know if that's enough to go all in around him because he still seems a bit far away. So it needs to be better than what it's at right now. I don't know how far that needs to go, but you want to see positive steps forward down the end, down the last half of the year here, uh, towards making that decision to say, okay, cool. We can really lean into these last couple of years of his rookie contract and go all in from here. But yeah, it definitely needs to be a step forward, but I don't

Starting point is 00:03:54 think it needs to be this massive jump into superstardom form. It just needs to be a couple steps forward from what it is right now. Totally agree. So I think with, with health, what gets in the way of that, of evaluating him is you don't get a big sample size and you just cling to the really good stuff or, you know, some of the stuff that you didn't like. And so you can't, it's, it becomes impossible to say definitive things about him when you're evaluating him. And that's not just us. That's from the team perspective as well. So just health, staying out there,

Starting point is 00:04:29 stringing together performances and not making the same mistakes twice because he, he deserves grace to be a young, essentially rookie player and make mistakes. Just don't make them over and over and over. And here's the thing too. Like we keep saying like, he's essentially a rookie quarterback quarterback but like that won't fly if we're in year three no he hasn't played 16 games you can't keep saying essentially a rookie just because like yes he is

Starting point is 00:04:54 younger and the developmental path for him is going to be a little bit longer than other quarterbacks because he's only 22 right now but it doesn't mean that like he gets that rookie grace period for for three years while he's battling injuries and battling inconsistency. So there needs to be something by the end of the season that he can really hang his hat on. I do think there are some areas that are positive for him, but it needs to be a little bit more that the Colts can really hang their hat on before they say, okay, cool. We have our guy let's go from here. Yeah, absolutely. All right. So the next

Starting point is 00:05:25 one are Alec Pierce and Josh Downs closing the gap for the best receiver spot on the team over Pittman. I think that's a very nuanced question and everything really there. They play different roles. And the thing is they all, I mean, Pittman's not having the voluminous season we're used to seeing, but I think they all look really good. That's the problem when everyone's playing at a high gear is you have to declare a winner. Basically, you know, Michael Pittman, you know, for what they need from him, I think he's doing a good job. He's playing through a lot right now. You look at, again, last week,

Starting point is 00:06:02 just three catches, but God, were they important. Pierce is doing his thing. Again, he's not been a high-volume guy, but he's been the biggest playmaker on the offense. And then Josh Downs is playing at what he's getting to what we were hoping his ceiling would be, where he is absolutely killing it from the slot, and he's doing a lot of different things. But basically, there is no winner in this. They have three different roles, and they're doing a lot of different things but basically there is no winner in this they have three different roles and they're they're doing it very well yeah like think of this this receiver core I was like that 2004 Detroit Pistons team I think it was 2004 I was I was a little kid when

Starting point is 00:06:35 that happened Jake so you might have to help me with that year there but I think it's 2004 Detroit Pistons where it's a bunch of role players playing at a really high level in their specific role, it's kind of hard to say who the most effective is or the best player is or who the superstar is in that group. Like, yes, you could say like Ben Wallace was the best player or something, and that could be your Michael Pittman Jr. But like, they're all so important for their role that they play that it makes that offense click. So yeah, it's kind of hard to declare who the best player is here. Like they all have their specific thing, downs in the short game and the quick winner and creating the hidden yardage.

Starting point is 00:07:10 Alec Pierce in the deep game and creating those explosives for the team. And Michael Pittman Jr. just being the guy that you rely on when you need a catch, being that guy who makes the tough catches over the middle. Like it's hard to put one of those guys over the other.

Starting point is 00:07:22 You might lean Pittman because he's done it for multiple years at this point. Uh, but like the beauty of this Colts passing game is like, none of these guys have to be the best player. Like they can all just do their role and be really good at their role. And that's what helps us offense click. How dare you bring up that era of Pistons here on an Indianapolis based show. Sorry. That's that's true sorry but i have answers for you okay pitman is chauncey billups easily okay josh downs rip hamilton that's just a layup like no pun intended and then alec pierce is taishan prince okay okay and then i molly cox is ben wallace oh yeah but yeah like you just the the tough physical defense of it, Rashid Wallace. I don't

Starting point is 00:08:06 know that the Colts have like a head case like that, but I mean, if there's anyone that's always beacon at the refs and that's gotta be Rashid. Well, AD Mitchell had the player concerns. So there we go. There we go right there. You've got your lineup right there. So this next one is from an insider. So how do we get Alec Pierce involved earlier in the games? Is it simply wearing out the corners to open him up? So I'm curious to see what you got to say on that one. I think that's a great question because I do think part of the Colts game plan is wear them down early with Pittman Jr. on the intermediate routes, A.D. Mitchell killing them at the line of scrimmage because he is just so good with his

Starting point is 00:08:44 instant releases and how quick he is out of his breaks. Josh Downs, you have to corral a chicken basically in the open field. Like it's insanely, you know, it's like Rocky chasing around the chicken. Like you really can't catch it. So they are kind of tiring out these corners all game long, making them run with Pierce early in the game. And then when it comes to the fourth quarter, they're uncorking it to him. And he's just outrunning these guys because Pierce, for one, is in great shape, fantastic shape. I mean, he's got a lot of miles under under him these last couple of years, but also he's just really hard to cover in the vertical plane. I do think that's part of it. But also, yes, you want to get him involved a little bit earlier in the game. You want these quarterbacks to to maybe lean

Starting point is 00:09:21 on those where it's like, hey they're even he's leaving you know that's the thing we say a lot with corners and and receivers like if that receiver is even he's leaving he's going to be open especially when you have a receiver like Pierce so you want these quarterbacks to get it through their head maybe that like look if Pierce is even on the vertical plane with a corner doesn't matter if it's Jalen Johnson if it's LeJarius Sneed he can probably get open vertically down the field so maybe give him a shot like even if it's aJarius Sneed, he can probably get open vertically down the field. So maybe give him a shot. Like even if it's a contested ball or a 50-50 ball, Pierce can turn those 50-50s into 60-40s, 65-35s and make things look good for your offense. So

Starting point is 00:09:55 yeah, I do think the Colts quarterbacks seem to lean on him a little bit more in those 50-50 situations because he's made those plays this year and they kind of do it more in desperation. But it's like if you do it earlier in the game, you might not need the desperation in the fourth quarter because he can make those plays happen for your offense. Yeah, I know it's totally within how the game is going, but I mean, sometimes you just got to give your guys shots. So coming up here in a moment,

Starting point is 00:10:20 we're going to flip focus to the defensive side of the ball and a star rookie, Laiatu Laatu. When you're hiring for your small business, you want to find quality professionals who are actually right for the role. And that's why you got to check out LinkedIn Jobs. They have the tools to help find the right professionals for your team faster and for free. LinkedIn isn't just a job board either. They help you hire professionals who you can't find anywhere else, even those who aren't actively searching for a new job, but who might be open to the perfect role elsewhere. In a given month, over 70% of LinkedIn users don't even visit other leading job sites. So if you're not looking on LinkedIn, then you're looking in the wrong place.

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Starting point is 00:12:11 you play your first $5 lineup. That's locked on NFL to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup prize picks, run your game. All right. Next up is from our friend at UK Colts fan from Twitter. Thoughts on the linebacker play this season? With EJ Speed coming up to free agency this offseason, would you re-sign him?

Starting point is 00:12:33 Do the Colts need to start looking at upgrades on Zaire Franklin? Yeah, you know, this is something that we've kind of danced around a lot on this podcast this season because it just hasn't been a main topic to talk about. But when we look at this Colts defense this season the secondary play has been fine like if not better than fine in some of these cases like with Womack and Kenny and even Nick Cross at times this year like we've gotten really good play out of the secondary this season defensive line is really banged up it hasn't been perfect but the edge rushers have been pretty good Grover Stewart's been really good so where is the issue in this Colts defense for my money a lot of it really isn't the edge rushers have been pretty good. Grover Stewart's been really good. So where is the issue in this Colts defense? For my money, a lot of it really is in the

Starting point is 00:13:08 linebackers. Like Gus Bradley even kind of alluded to it the other day in one of his press conferences. He said like, you know, Zyra Franklin's got a lot of responsibilities there, but you know, we got to see the play about, you know, a little bit better and stuff like that. Like he kind of alluded to that. And that's kind of the thing with these linebackers where they've had good moments. They've had some really, really highlight plays. You know, Speed had a couple of good moments in the first half against Jacksonville. Zyra Franklin's had a couple of really big stops early in the season, like the fourth down stop against the Pittsburgh Steelers. But it simply hasn't been good enough for this defense. And when you are seeing these long runs, a lot of them are missed tackles from the linebackers or misreads by the linebackers. When you're seeing plays where, I mean, there

Starting point is 00:13:49 were multiple plays in this past game where it's like Grover Stewart is six yards in the backfield. Why is this running play going for 15? There is no excuse for that. Like when you're getting that much vertical penetration from your nose tackle, why is there not someone to clean that play up? And a lot of it is backfield motion, screwing with the reads of the linebackers and they're just not filling against the run like they should be so yeah i do think it kind of like look we're six games in it's early in season these two are veteran guys who are paid to be playing better than what they're playing i do think at the end of the year we'll have a conversation about speed being re-signed I as of right now I think Carlisle probably should be the guy next year over him maybe you have maybe have an argument for playing Carlisle over speed right now and then for Franklin like I think

Starting point is 00:14:35 Franklin's probably the better of the two because he's a little bit better in coverage but again he's had his struggles this year too so yeah I do think linebacker play is a big issue for the Colts right now and I'm curious to see what happens going forward because if their linebacker play can get up to adequate the rest of the season, I think they can be a pretty good, like a pretty average defense. I don't want to say good defense because we're dealing with a lot of variables here on this defense, but I think they can be a fairly adequate defense with better linebacker play. It's just right now they're not getting enough out of that unit in terms of coverage or run defense, which was something that was their bread and butter in the past was at least

Starting point is 00:15:12 the run defense was good. Even if their coverage was lacking right now, both of those areas have not been good enough from these two. So we might need to see some changes or hopefully these guys can bounce back to what we know they're capable of playing. Yeah. The Colts had a good thing going, you know, for the first several years of the Chris Ballard era with their linebackers, like drafting a really good developmental one. And then when it was time for one of the starters to move on and for agency, they replaced them. Honestly,

Starting point is 00:15:40 the Colts history with that goes back to the Peyton Manning era. What you got to avoid potentially if, you know, if the Colts be honest with themselves and it gets to that point, don't let money and past reputation dictate what you're doing. Like if Jalen Carlisle looks like a star, don't have the Shaq Leonard, Bobby O'Kerrick a thing come back up. I know there was so much nuance to that, but like, you know what I'm getting at? Just don't, don't let what's happened in the past with a certain player, like just look for what's probably better for the, for the future of the team.

Starting point is 00:16:14 And to the Colts credit, they, this was around the time last year, they benched Shaquille Leonard because it clearly was getting to the point where it wasn't going to bounce back. So it kind of leads to the next question here, where someone asked, what's your opinion on Carlisle's play this year? And do you think it can impact EJ Speed being re-signed? Again, I'm not saying this is what I would do right now, but I'm not saying it's off the table.

Starting point is 00:16:34 And that is starting Carlisle over Speed, or at least giving Carlisle some more passing down work, because Carlisle has not gotten like any passing down work this season. He's been mostly their third linebacker in base. And what you're really seeing from the Colts is, look, Jalen Carlisle is playing so good right now that they're going more base than most teams are this year. Like they're doing a lot of base defense stuff.

Starting point is 00:16:55 And part of that was because their run defense was so bad the first couple of weeks that they're over overcorrecting a little bit. But also Carlisle is playing some really good football. So maybe on passing downs, you got to get Carlisle out there over a guy like Speed, who for the most part in his career has always kind of looked lost in coverage. Like maybe a Carlisle can be an upgrade in past game. I'm curious to see what the Colts do from here because they have shown the ability to pull the trigger in the past. They benched Shaquille Leonard last year. They released Dallas Flowers after that Jaguars game they you know they do make these

Starting point is 00:17:25 moves so maybe Carlisle is in place of speed on some downs is something that could happen in the future I think so too I mean there there is precedent for it I mean we'll see we'll see how it goes but I don't want to roll past this this next topic too much so we have like three or four questions on Latu so we'll go ahead and just kind of encompass his situation altogether. So thoughts on Liatu Latu so far. He shined a bit early in the season, but we haven't seen much out of him in the past few weeks. This person is having some FOMO on Brock Bowers and Brian Thomas Jr.

Starting point is 00:17:59 Fair. And then what does Liatu Latu need to improve on to take his game to the next level? I think he needs more power in his rushes and more of an inside move. And then another one from an insider, as Laotulatu stacks up pressures, what does he need to do to finish with sacks rather than just those pressures? Is it just getting DeForest Buckner back on the field? This wasn't even all the Laotulatu questions.

Starting point is 00:18:21 It's so many questions that before we recorded, I wrote up a whole article on it. So once my editor, Jake Arthur gets to it after the show, you know, we'll get that, that article up for you guys. But here's what I want to say about layout to lot to. And again,

Starting point is 00:18:32 I cover a lot of it in the article layout to lot to has played fairly well this season. It hasn't been fantastic by any means. Like he needs to finish some of these plays. I mean, you look back at that Chicago game, he had like four missed sack opportunities against Caleb Williams, a couple against Justin Fields as well that he could have finished. Had two QB hits this past game where half a second later with the ball in Levis's hand,

Starting point is 00:18:53 they become sacks. So he has been close, but when you look at what he's done, you know, again, 16% pass rush win rate according to Pro Football Focus. That's the most in the Chris Ballard era from an edge rusher since all the way back in Jabal Sheard's season in 2017. Like he's been playing some good football. He's been winning his pass rush reps. There are some areas that he can get better. Like he needs to be better against chips. Like there are a lot of times where a lot of these chips off the edge are knocking him way out of the play where if he can be a little bit stronger against them, like he can still be involved in the rush despite being chipped. So there are things that he can do,

Starting point is 00:19:29 but he's winning his rush reps. He's getting past the tackle. The interior defensive line rush hasn't been good enough lately. And I think that's leading to the Colts not getting enough sacks where it's like you'll see Quitty and Latu get off the edge and beat their guy. And then the quarterback will step up

Starting point is 00:19:43 because Taven, Brian and Grover Stewart are not getting there. Or on base downs, I mean, gosh, we're having Brian, Raekwon Davis and Adam Gatsas out there. Like these guys are not going to get there on base downs, you know? So I think that plays into it a little bit.

Starting point is 00:19:57 So I do think Latu is kind of a positive regression candidate in the second half of the season in terms of like, this guy's winning a lot of rush reps. Like his pass rush win rate right now is higher than TJ Watts it's higher than Khalil Max it's higher than Will Anderson juniors and Will Anderson has six sacks this season and Latu's winning more rush reps uh than than he is so yeah I think Latu will be fine I think the the main issue right now is and again we we had high expectations for Latu so maybe part

Starting point is 00:20:24 of it is us having too high expectations too but when he was drafted he was supposed to come in here and be like a pass rush only sub package player behind Ebukom behind Quidi Pei behind Dayo Dangbo behind Taekwon Lewis even and you're gonna have NASCAR sets with him Dayo Buckner and and Quidi or Ebukom like all these guys kind of rotating in and having a lot of good pass rushers, and now we're in week six, and a lot of these games have been, you know, on base downs, you're having Lato out there with Gatsas, and Taven, Brian, and Grover, and he's the only one who can win a pass rush rep there, so they're going to chip him, obviously,

Starting point is 00:20:58 on base downs, and then you get to third down, and even in those NASCAR sets, you're getting Dio off the edge, you're getting Latu off the edge. And you're getting Taven Bryant and Adetomi maybe on the interior. Like you're not really getting Dio even on the interior at this point because of injuries and because of other things. So I do think part of this is like we're putting a lot of pressure on this young kid to be the best pass rusher in a unit where he really wasn't going to be the best guy this year. So I do think when they get like Buckner back, when they get Lewis back,

Starting point is 00:21:27 Pei's back out there, and Latu already looked better with Pei back out there, and Dayo Dengbo out there this past week. So I'm not concerned long-term. He's doing good in the advanced metrics. He's winning his rushes. He's creating pressures. He just needs to finish more plays. He needs to be a little bit stronger against chips.

Starting point is 00:21:43 But overall, Laiatu Latu has been fine this year. I'm not terribly concerned. Jacksonville game was really the only concerning one, but that was concerning for every single player on the defense. So it's hard for me really to hold that one in particular against him when he's been very good in every other game. So not really too concerned about Laotu Laotu. I get it, only one sack through six games,

Starting point is 00:22:03 and it doesn't seem like he's that impactful on Sundays but he's doing good enough for a rookie maybe it's not superstardom but like I think he's going to finish the year with five six sacks like it's going to be a pretty solid season for him yeah I think it's just you know he is he is winning those reps but if he finishes one or two more of those plays especially if they're in key moments we're probably not even having that conversation about like is he doing well or not um but also like the role he was supposed to play was to have full juice and a liberal handful of plays per game there is an unreal amount of injuries and he's having to play he's having to play against

Starting point is 00:22:46 the run he's having to play like a huge role like it's he's just not got the gas that he was supposed to have because really an unprecedented amount of injuries at defensive end i mean eddie campe daio just left the game you know he has the hamstring um lewwon. Everyone's hurt. Latu's the only one. Latu's even gotten hurt. It's just crazy. I think it'll calm down a little bit, but yes, having Buckner back will help. Coming up next, we're going to be pretty rapid fire with these next ones.

Starting point is 00:23:20 It's the lightning round. NFL fans, you can start this season with a big return on FanDuel, America's number one sports book. So you're meeting a hunch in the middle of the game. You can check out the latest stats, view life play by play, and so much more on the same page where you place your bets. You'll get started with $200 in bonus bets guaranteed when you place your first $5 bet. FanDuel for this week has the Colts at three and a half point favorites with a 43 and a half point over under for total. I think that's fair. I mean, I think the possibility is there for the Colts to murder that point spread, but we'll see. But that's FanDuel.com. All right, Zach, lightning round. So I'm going to get this one that we didn't get to in the first segment.

Starting point is 00:24:10 A creative approach to the Joe Flacco, Anthony Richardson discourse. I love Anthony Richardson, his potential. I know the rule that two quarterbacks equals no quarterbacks, but how close is the league to moving to a two QB set like the Taysom Hill situation in New Orleans, but more full time? Like, could you see Joe Flacco taking a snap and a wing formation with Anthony and JT in the backfield? I think that will be lit, but I also don't really watch films. So it would be fun,

Starting point is 00:24:32 man. It'd be really fun. I don't think it's feasible for the NFL. NFL. It would be lit like this. Yeah, it would be lit. It'd be very fun on college football 25.

Starting point is 00:24:40 You guys want to go on there and play that with that, but no, it's probably not something the Colts would do. It really fun idea though. Really fun idea from one of our insiders there. play with that. But no, it's probably not something the Colts would do. A really fun idea, though. Really fun idea from one of our insiders there. I like it. Yeah. All right.

Starting point is 00:24:48 So with the recent trades over the last few days, because the NFL has been really buzzing and more to come. Do you see the Colts doing anything before the trade deadline? Which I think they extended a week. So it's like in the first week of November. Yeah, it normally is like at the very end of October, but it's one more week. I want to say it's like November 5th, but I don't have a calendar in front of November. Yeah, it normally is like the at the very end of October, but it's one more week. I want to say it's like November 5th, but I don't have a calendar in front of me. But yeah, do you think the Colts do anything there? Probably not. They don't seem like a team that's in the

Starting point is 00:25:13 position to make a trade. And honestly, a lot of the positions that you see traded at this time, like wide receiver, defensive back, I think the Colts are in a pretty good spot at both those positions right now. I mean, crazy a defensive back that, you know, they're at a good spot right now. So I just don't, I don't see the Colts being very active in the trade market. I don't think they're sellers. I don't think they're buyers. I think they're just wait and see mode and see what they got. I feel like it would have to be something that's like a six or seventh round pick, like nothing substantial. It would like, I don't think they're really trying to accomplish anything outside of what's going on with Richardson so right it would be like a footnote of a trade almost uh who is a potential defensive coordinator replacement that you would want if Gus Bradley

Starting point is 00:25:54 were to get fired what type of scheme would maximize the bit of talent the Colts do have on the defense the most yeah so we talked about a couple guys the other day and I don't have my notes in front of me with with who those guys were were. So you guys can, I think it was like last week, a Wednesday episode, we talked about potential names, but in terms of the one, the reason why this question really stood out to me was what type of scheme would maximize the talent. I think you want to stick to a similar ish scheme. Like you want to go grab from the 49ers tree. You want to grab from what the Tennessee Titans are doing, you know, with that Ravens type tree and kind of low, low blitz rate, disguising coverage a little bit and kind of sit back and win with your front seven. And I just think they just need a new voice in

Starting point is 00:26:35 the room. I think a lot of this is they have decent pieces, like sure, they can certainly upgrade at some of these spots, but it's about just teaching the fundamentals better again and getting these guys back to doing what they're doing. Because again, the Colts biggest issue this year has been tackling. If you can get a guy and come in here and inspire these guys to tackle a little bit better, I think that's a big thing. So when it comes to scheme, I think you really want to look at, you know, the jet scheme, the 49er scheme, the Titan scheme. Those are really the trees that I'm looking at for the next Colts defensive coordinator if it comes to that after the season outlook on the front office this year if the Colts get a top 10 draft pick do you think Chris Ballard is gone is Gus Bradley really a dead man walking which obviously

Starting point is 00:27:14 we just answered that a little bit or could he slip by with a decent back half performance oh Gus Bradley could certainly slip by we'll see we'll see I don't think he will but we'll see there in terms of Chris Ballard though I think it's very very unlikely that he will not be back after the season like the Colts would probably have to lose out at this point for Chris Ballard to get fired because look guys he's tied to Shane Steichen Shane Steichen's tied to Anthony Richardson and Jim Ursae loves Chris Ballard so like unless he has like a very very very clear excuse to fire Ballard I don't think it's happening so yeah Chris Ballard will be back after the season in terms of my outlook. You know, it's kind of the same old same old with the front office. I think they do a lot of things. Well, I think there are some areas that need to be better. And we'll see if they change those areas going forward in terms of aggression and free agency and and aggression and filling holes on the roster. But we'll see. We'll see exactly what's in store because we're stuck with this front office for a long

Starting point is 00:28:10 time. They'll be here for a while, guys. Yeah, I think they've bought a little time to kind of see things through a little bit. Do you think there's a market for Ryan Kelly, assuming he's 100% healthy by the trade deadline now that we've seen Tanner Bortellini uh can play really well in replacement i think that that one's spicy it's fascinating too because like i don't think there's much of a market for ryan kelly he just really hasn't been that healthy the last couple seasons he's been playing through a lot he's kind of got his roots set in indy like i wouldn't be shocked

Starting point is 00:28:39 if indy decided not to resign him he just retired from the league because it's like he's already accomplished a lot he's gone through a lot of injuries. He, you know, he's got a family at home. Like there's a lot of things with him that I think would lead to either NDR retirement after the year. But stepping away from that, I think the more interesting conversation is

Starting point is 00:28:57 when Kelly's back to being fully healthy, do you start Tanner Bortolini over him? Cause Bortolini has been better and he's the future at the position. So what do you do Tanner Bortolini over him? Because Bortolini's been better and he's the future at the position. So what do you do with that situation? I think you said before we recorded, like maybe you're just extra cautious with Kelly's injuries now

Starting point is 00:29:14 because Bortolini's been playing really well. I think that's ultimately what the Colts do, but it is a fascinating conversation because Bortolini's probably better in the present and in the future. But like Kelly's done so much for organization over the years and you have such loyalty to that to that guy that it's hard to like bench him or trade him I don't think there's going to be much of a move there but it is a really interesting thing to look at for sure I think we've seen enough from the Colts in

Starting point is 00:29:40 the recent past you know like Bordellini's their guy like he's only played a few games but like I think he's done enough already for Chris Ballard. I mean, I know Ballard is the GM, not the coach, but like for him to say Bortolini is the guy long-term. So I don't think Kelly would get traded, but I think we're probably looking at a case where it'd be pretty interesting at this point if he did get re-signed in the off season.

Starting point is 00:30:03 Can you give the rookies grades through what we've seen from training camp to now? Matt Gonsalves and Jalen Carlisle especially. Now, we've talked about Carlisle. We could probably elaborate a little more. But Gonsalves, really interesting one because he was the highest drafted of him in Bordellini. But it's Dalton Tucker, the UDFA, who's now your starting right guard in Bordellini that we just mentioned that is I mean at

Starting point is 00:30:25 minimum your center of the future yeah I just to go through these really quick law too I give like a c plus to a b on him like it could be better but it's been positive still ad mitchell I'd probably say like a c plus as well like winning at the line not converting for catches but that'll come as of right now c plus gonzalez you can really only go off of preseason stuff for him but he won the swing tackle job again we'll give him like a c plus right now but really where this draft class shines and a lot of chris ballard draft classes shine is on day three like as of right now tanner bordellini a plus like been doing some really great things dalton tucker honestly like a B plus or an A has an undrafted he wasn't even drafted and we're giving him like a B plus here and then Jalen Carly is like

Starting point is 00:31:10 it's been very limited snaps so I'm not going to go too crazy but I'm going to give him like a B plus or maybe even an A right now because his snaps on the field have been really good so again a very typical Chris Ballard draft class where the early guys are coming along slow but those day three guys who are a little bit older, they're ready to go right now. And they're playing some good ball right now for the Colts. Absolutely. Teams are, let's see, this is more of a, like, if the Colts were buyers at the trade deadline, which sides would it be? So teams are making moves already heading into the trade deadline. If the Colts made a move to snag a player, what position would they target? Which player should it be?

Starting point is 00:31:47 On the flip side, which player could the Colts trade away to get the most draft capital, but also still have their roster be fine due to the depth they have? That's one that's going to make me think a little bit. Yeah, so just again, we're doing rapid fire here. If you're going to trade away a player, you maybe look at like an EJ Speed, who's a free agent after the season. Maybe look at a Daiwa Dangbo, who's a free agent after the season. But I Daiwa Dangbo who's a free agent after the season but I don't think those are very likely I think the

Starting point is 00:32:08 Colts are just going to roll with them I don't think Ryan Kelly is a realistic one there like we mentioned already in terms of who the Colts would target maybe a veteran tight end just to add more depth to the room like Kylan Granson's falling out of favor so maybe more of a veteran tight end presence or maybe a veteran linebacker I would rather just start Carlisle or give Carlisle more playing time, but you could certainly see a veteran linebacker that could help this defense right now too. Yeah, this one, kind of a doom and gloom one. Is there any reason for hope this season? Even that last win was painful.

Starting point is 00:32:40 Depends on your definition of hope. I think that in terms of hope for maybe the long-term future, if Richardson flashes the rest of the year, sure, there can certainly be some hope. But in terms of this season becoming like a Super Bowl run type season, probably not hope for this season in regards to that. But I do think there can be reasons for hope long-term for the Colts with what we see the rest of the season.

Starting point is 00:33:03 Let's see. What's the realistic timeframe on DeForest we see the rest of the season? Let's see. What's the realistic timeframe on DeForest Buckner's return to the field? So they can open the 21 day window for him to practice really any time now. I get the feeling it's probably not going to be this week since we didn't hear about it today and he wasn't out there today. I don't think they're going to do it until literally he's ready to start practicing. So maybe you're looking at like next week because you don't want to open the window until he's ready to start practicing. So maybe you're looking at like next week because you don't want to open the window until he's ready to practice because then you lose that time.

Starting point is 00:33:29 You have to make a decision on moving him back to the active roster as of, as of that 21 days. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Buckner. It's going to be a little bit of time for that. We'll,

Starting point is 00:33:40 we'll see. I mean, it's a high angle sprain. You don't want to rush it for a 30 year old player. So I'm fine with them. Josh Downs had like six weeks. I would probably put it at something similar for, for Buckner.

Starting point is 00:33:52 What is the best roster in the NFL? It can't be better than Casey, or this might be in reference to the Colts. Best roster in the NFL. It can't be better than Casey's. They have Carson Wentz in the QB room after all. Now I do think this is probably facetious, but when healthy,

Starting point is 00:34:08 you're probably San Francisco. Yeah, probably San Fran or something like that. We'll see. I know that's a fun way to end our rapid fire. Probably San Fran. Maybe Minnesota. They have a fun roster. Right now. Or at least coaching-wise, Minnesota. I don't know. We'll leave that to you guys in the comments there.

Starting point is 00:34:24 That was our rapid fire. I know we went a little bit long today, but you guys spammed me with like 70 questions. So we had to do our best to get a lot of them in here. We really appreciate it. We love you guys for sending your questions. And again, if you guys want to get your questions to take priority on episodes like this, become a Locked

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Anthony Richardson, Laiatu Latu Still Have a Lot to Prove This Season

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