Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Anthony Richardson Will Win Offensive Rookie of the Year

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Colts season starts this Sunday and we are declaring that Anthony Richardson will win the Offensive Rookie of the Year. 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? 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 00:00:44 your team every day. And today's episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Hello, everybody. I'm Jake Arthur, and he is Zach Hicks. You know the two of us from HorseshoeHuddle.com. Reunited and it feels so good. I'm the boots on the ground credentialed media member for Horseshoe Huddle. And Zach is the hardest working, rootinest, tootinest film guy in the land. Just put out a new one about Jacob Martin on Wednesday. So go ahead and check that out if you haven't already

Starting point is 00:01:25 but on today's show like i mentioned at the top the colts start the regular season this sunday it's the start of the anthony richardson era the start of the shane steichen era and today we're we're gonna go ahead and lay it all out on the line give our final impressions before the season starts we're putting our our putting our legacies on the line here. So come back to this episode at the end of the year if any of this goes wrong. But no, we're going to go through the offense, defense, our expectations kind of for some individuals in each groups, some bold predictions.

Starting point is 00:02:00 And then we'll finish up, you know, is anyone going to be winning any awards, anything like that? So, Zach, starting off with the offense, looking at Anthony Richardson, this is probably a good opportunity to reference yesterday's show when you discussed a lot of the expectations for Richardson throughout the season, you know, right off the bat in terms of schematics within the offense. So what are you seeing? What have you been kind of churning over that leads you to believe the Colts should do X with Richardson? Yeah, I mean, I think when you look at this first season, it's really just about getting Anthony Richardson acclimated to the NFL and getting him in rhythm throughout the year

Starting point is 00:02:38 and finding out what you have in this young quarterback. Because with all the evidence we have about Anthony Richardson so far from his college days, from his high school days days even and just who he is as a quarterback we don't know that much about him right now we don't even know what his preferences are you know does he like pre-snap motion to identify defense does he like empty personnel does he like half field reads like full field reads does he even like being a quarterback that is rushing does he like being used on the ground you know we see we saw with our robert griffin the third couple years ago where he just told the nfl that he did not want to run anymore and then he was out of the league

Starting point is 00:03:12 within a couple years but we just don't know what kind of quarterback he is right now he's a young quarterback we don't know if he's ever going to develop the accuracy we don't know if he's ever going to develop the the middle of the field presence the intermediate game but we also don't know if that's just going to be a strength of his because he just has so much growing to do. So when you look at the Indianapolis Colts, it's really about figuring out what Anthony Richardson is this year and then tailoring your offense to what he is. So like I kind of said on yesterday's show, when I was doing staff predictions and just like looking at Anthony Richardson, this whole like first half of the year, especially his first couple of games is going to be such a feeling out process for the Colts and for Richardson. Richardson has to feel out a defense and feel out what the NFL game is like. And the Colts have to feel out what their young quarterback is and just what he is like

Starting point is 00:03:58 under pressure, under fire in these real NFL games and figuring out what really works for him. So you might see one game early in the season where it's like all pistol formation, all play action, all half field reads and pre-snap motion and stuff like that. And then you might see a next week where it's like empty personnel, it's quarterback power, quarterback runs, read option runs, stuff like that. Like there's going to be so much feeling out between both Shane Steichen and

Starting point is 00:04:23 Anthony Richardson until they figure out what he's really great at and what he can excel at and where to go from there. So this whole first season with Anthony Richardson really isn't about the end of the year stat line. It's really about what we see throughout the year and if the Colts can find that rhythm with this young passer and figure out where he excels as a quarterback. Yeah, I think something you pointed out way back even before the draft, you know, if the Colts got Anthony Richardson, here's how they could do it. And now that we've seen the preseason, we've seen training camp and everything, and we know he's going to be the day one starter. I do see a lot of running, you know, using that running ability to heighten his floor

Starting point is 00:05:02 while he catches up as a passer. I kind of see that. Of course, they don't have Jonathan Taylor in there, so I don't think it'll be as run-centric because you just can't do as much without him. But in general, I think the offense is going to be more tailored to the run than it would have been had they got like a Bryce Young or something. You know what I mean?

Starting point is 00:05:20 So I think it's still going to be pretty heavily skewed towards the run. You know, going beyond Richardson and the runners, though, obviously we know Jonathan Taylor out the first four weeks, at least as he played his last snap with the Colts, probably. The trade window is still open to Halloween. Who knows at this point, man? Who knows? If and when he gets a clean bill of health,

Starting point is 00:05:46 we don't know what to expect. I'm proceeding as if he's not going to be around. Uh, that just seems like the safest bet. Zach Moss has returned to practice, but may not play yet. Like he's still got to get his conditioning right and everything. Um, so you're looking at really Evan Hall and Dion Jackson. Jackson should be the starter. I think they're clearly going to call up either of Jake Funk or Jason Huntley from the practice squad, at least for this week against the Jaguars. But the Colts have continued to sniff around the veteran free agent market. Worked out James Robinson this week.

Starting point is 00:06:23 Previously extended a contract offer to Kareem Hunt. And then I saw you had mentioned, they've also spoken with Melvin Gordon a little bit as well. So they want a veteran presence in there. Dion Jackson has started just a couple of games in his career. Has played a lot of special teams, but has never really been the guy offensively for an extended period of time. Zach Moss,

Starting point is 00:06:41 neither really he's been in league a few years, but has never been the guy he's always shared the backfield so it's going to be a committee approach as Shane Steichen mentioned do you see anyone leading the pack here or it's really just going to be a committee churning things through all season I think it'll be like a pack uh thing here like again if Jonathan Taylor does end up playing a significant amount of games for the Colts, then that's your guy, you know, that's your guy you're going to feed the ball to. We just can't say right now that he is going to even play a snap with the Colts this season. We have no clue what that situation is going to be. But when you look at this type of running backfield, it is very

Starting point is 00:07:17 similar to how the Baltimore Ravens have had it with Lamar Jackson. It's similar to Josh Allen with those bills running backs where you can probably project these guys maybe around 500, 600, maybe 700 yards rushing like individually. So at the end of the season, you look at it and it's like, oh, the team average five yards of carry from their running backs and had 1200 yards rushing like a really strong season. But it's because of, you know, 600 yards from this guy, 500 yards from of you know 600 yards from this guy 500 yards from this guy 300 yards from this guy like stuff like that you know it's not actually uh one guy doing all the carry in there and i think that's kind of what we're going to see this year you know deon jackson

Starting point is 00:07:52 can break off a big run but he'll probably be a little bit lower on the yards per carry zach moss be closer to five yards to carry and then evan hole and his limited carries will be you know a pretty efficient runner as well i don't think that these three guys are going to, like any one of them is going to explode as the top running back on the team. But I do think, you know, they're going to be efficient. They're going to be effective. And altogether, it's going to make up a pretty good running back field for the Colts. That's kind of what I see, too. It doesn't seem like any one guy is really going to pull away from the pack.

Starting point is 00:08:20 Like, they all have somewhat comparable skill sets. There's not one guy, even taking even taking like Jonathan Taylor out of it. You don't see one guy who's like head and shoulders above the rest. So I do think it'll be a team effort. You know, you'll see someone in there different and pass protection, someone who they want to be a pass catching specialist, goal line, short yardage, all that stuff. So I, it's going to be a shared thing. Looking quickly at the pass catchers this is kind of the same thing lumping tight ends and receivers together i mean michael pitman jr is going to do his thing you know alec pierce has his specialty probably as a deep ball guy still

Starting point is 00:08:57 but do you michael pitman's days as being the dominant target are probably not in store for this year would you say yeah well I don't think there's going to be any receiver that has this like insanely big year like 1100 1200 yards receiving because I don't think the Colts are going to complete that many passes this year and that's not me saying Anthony Richardson's going to complete like 20% of his passes but I think overall the Colts aren't going to have the high passing volume I don't think they're going to have like a super high completion percentage as well and I don't see a rookie quarterback in Anthony Richardson you know throwing for 3,500 or 4,000 yards passing you know what you kind of need to have a player go over a thousand yards or have a

Starting point is 00:09:37 big time season I think it's going to be like 2,800 yards passing to 3,000 yards passing somewhere in there so I don't know if they're going to have a thousand yard receiver. I don't even know if I have a 900 yard wide receiver, but you probably will have a bunch of guys who are, you know, around the edge of like that 600 to 800 range. I think you'll have a couple of guys in that kind of range right there. Yeah. And quickly, I want, I want to make sure we get these off before we move along bold predictions for

Starting point is 00:10:02 the offense. I'll go ahead and start real quick. I know we were trying to get away from stat predictions a little bit but we're getting bold here i'm going to say combined rushing and passing anthony richardson will get 4 000 yards and 30 touchdowns now how would that look it could be 900 rushing yards 31 passing yards and like 21 22 passing touchdowns to eight or nine rushing touchdowns. When you look at it that way, I think it's pretty doable. But again, I think this is going to be an offense that's very, very reliant on him.

Starting point is 00:10:37 So I could see him putting that together. Do you have any bold predictions that they're out there? Yeah, one thing I'll say quickly, this is hopefully going to be better than your bold prediction last year where you had the Colts offense finishing top five in yardage across the entire league. That was a little bit of a struggle. Real quick, mine will be that the Colts leading rusher from a running back this year is not currently on the roster. Again, I mentioned a couple minutes ago that we think that the Colts running back room

Starting point is 00:11:04 is going to be like 600, 500 yards, maybe leading that group in terms of rushing. So it's very feasible to see a guy like Kareem Hunt or Melvin Gordon or someone like that coming in and leading this group in rushing yards. So I'm going to say that the leading rusher from a running back this year is not currently on the Colts roster. I like it because the season starts this week. So yes, I mean, there's moves to make.

Starting point is 00:11:25 But I mean, looking at the roster, I think we know they're not done tweaking with it. So we'll move on and talk about the defensive side of the ball in each unit there here in a bit. But first, I want to talk to you guys about our friends over at Harry's. You know, it takes a lot of work to look this good. And you may not think I shave a lot, and I don't. Kind of clean up things here and there, but in general, I'm not a guy that shaves much, but when I do, Harry's has got the hookup no matter why you shave Harry's has you covered

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Starting point is 00:12:59 and plenty of debate from all 32 of our Locked On NFL hosts with added insights from our national experts. It's a can't-miss series before the season kicks off. Catch every episode on Locked On NFL on YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Jake, so diving into this Colts defense, we're going to start with the Colts defensive line. And I actually mentioned this on social media the other day,

Starting point is 00:13:17 or I guess you guys are listening to this on Wednesday. So on Tuesday, I mentioned this on social media that I think this edge group that the Colts have currently is probably the deepest that Chris Ballard has put together in his tenure with the Colts. I don't think it's like I don't think it has that star power that maybe a Justin Houston, Danico Autry one did a couple of years ago. But I do think that it has a lot of quality players that can get sacks and rush the passer and get things done. I mean, from one to five, it's Quidipe, Samson Abukam, Dio Adangbo, Taequann Lewis, and Jacob Martin, all guys who, when they are on the field, they can produce and create sacks. So when I'm looking at this edge group, and you can expunge on more of the overall defensive line here, Jake, but this edge group, I think, has the potential to create opportunities

Starting point is 00:14:04 in the pass rush department and get sacks. These are all guys that know how to get to the quarterback. And now they have, again, they finally have the waves of pass rushers that we've been talking about for years. They finally have that. If your fifth pass rusher is Jacob Martin, who is a really, really solid rotational guy, uh, who was what he had 25 pressures and only 155 pass rush snaps last year if that's your fifth rusher you're doing something right at edge so I think this edge group actually has a bunch of potential to do some good things for the Colts this year yeah it's it's been a hot minute you

Starting point is 00:14:35 know there's been times in the Chris Ballard area where they have several defensive ends or you know they're pretty good looking at defensive tackle but they've never had a full unit like they do right now. The name recognition throughout the group is just really surprising. Like you said, when I saw they signed Jake Martin, I was like, to do what? He's that far down the depth? That's really nice. People are really excited about Isaiah Land, who they just picked up. I believe he was a rookie. The Cowboys, it was a bummer on their part

Starting point is 00:15:07 that they weren't able to bring him back. But he's, you know, an exciting, energetic pass rusher there as well. So they're really deep. And, you know, if you're forecasting that you're not going to have, like, Tyquan Lewis for 17 games, for example, you pick up right where you left off. You know, like you have these waves, just like you mentioned. Like one injury is not going to derail the whole group.

Starting point is 00:15:34 Like it may hurt if a Quidipe or a Bukum goes down for any period of time, but you've got pass rushers all over the place now, interior and out on the outside. Again, you get any improvement from like eric johnson and adatome adebore that's a big plus mctelvin agim is available to add from the practice squad so i'm pretty excited about what this defensive line can do like and they were already pretty good last year yeah no i think it's again it's it's not to the same degree because i don't know if they have the overall star power but some that these two teams i'm going to mention had but like the new

Starting point is 00:16:08 york jets how they just have waves of past rushers or the san francisco 49ers where they just have that heavy heavy rotation i don't think the colts are going to be as good as either of those two teams at rushing the passer but they actually have rotational guys that can come in they haven't had that the last four or five years i mean you could probably even go back all the way to the early days of Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis maybe like that's probably the last time they've actually had rotational guys that can come in and do some things uh because they like even when they had Danico Autry and Justin Houston they didn't really have the guys behind them like Mokotore maybe once in a while but that was really it now they actually have the rotational guys that can come in and get some things done. But moving over to linebacker,

Starting point is 00:16:46 you know, it's kind of par for the course with these guys. We know kind of who we have here. EJ speed and Zyra Franklin are going to be rock solid players. It really comes down to Shaquille Leonard and what we're going to get out of him. And hopefully he's good to go this weekend and hopefully he's good to go the whole year.

Starting point is 00:17:02 But linebacker, I feel pretty good about this group as long as they stay healthy. Yeah, this one's a quick one. I'm expecting good things from Zaire Franklin again. Even if he doesn't even have to improve upon last year, if he duplicates last year, that's a really nice performance. Same with EJ Speed. I mean, they've been looking for reasons to get him more involved.

Starting point is 00:17:20 They think he's a really big playmaker. And then Shaquille Leonard. You know, even if he's, I don't want to say a hundred percent all year, but just being out there, he's like that ball magnet. Like he always only out there a few games last year and had an interception out of it. So that kind of player, plus someone who can create turnovers, like with punching the ball out huge, huge plus not, not much to write home about about the linebackers you again like you said you kind of know what you're getting there uh the secondary is really where it's at just an enormous amount of turnover at cornerback uh you're looking at daryl baker jr and dallas

Starting point is 00:17:56 flowers on the outside right now with kenny moore on the inside uh a rejuvenated kenny moore and then probably don't know much what to expect for Baker and Flowers because they just haven't really been here before. But their summer performance was pretty good. I mean, then you got a couple talented rookies in the waiting as well. So it's a young group that's going to take their lumps. But I think we'll be able to tell pretty quickly if if you know what to expect for the future. I don't think it's going to be that ugly. Yeah, no, I think the defensive backfield is going to be a lot like Anthony Richardson

Starting point is 00:18:32 this year, where there's a big feeling out period. I mean, if you look at the front seven, the Colts are going to be throwing at this season, it's very Gus Bradley. The front seven of this team is everything Gus Bradley could want out of a front seven, the back four, a front seven the back four you know the back four back five however you want to say it with with nickel and dime defenses um the back the back line here with the defensive backs um they they are the Gus Bradley style they are built to be Gus Bradley defensive backs but that they're more so in mold they're not really in

Starting point is 00:19:02 actual play right now the front seven's ready. The front seven is ready to go. Front seven is ready to go and ready to be that Gus Bradley front seven. You just don't know what the, what those backline guys, if they're ready to be that Gus Bradley guy yet. So yeah, you want, you want to see more from them.

Starting point is 00:19:15 You want to see them actually play this year and just see what happens before we actually have any definitive takes on them. But I'm excited for them. I'm always excited for young players to get on the field. Same way. I'm excited for Anthony Richards on the other side. And I know that there's going to be some lumps. I'm excited for them. I'm always excited for young players to get on the field. Same way I'm excited for Anthony Richards on the other side. And I know that there's going to be some lumps. I'm excited for the secondary and I know there's going to be some lumps and bruises with them too. So yeah, really excited about these young players. I want to see them out there.

Starting point is 00:19:35 I want to see them take those, those bad moments and those good moments and learn from them. And it's all about where they're at the very end of the season compared to where they are at at the beginning of the season. Yeah. It's an explosive group that they're not timid. So I'm just looking forward to seeing how they improve. Lots of guys that attack the ball and things like that. My bold prediction for the defense, and it's not as far-fetched as it sounds, but I'm going to say that the Colts do break their Indianapolis-era single-season sack record. Back in 2005, they had 46.

Starting point is 00:20:07 Last year, they almost did it. They had 44. And we both agree this is a much deeper group this year. Again, maybe not a ton of star power, but if your top dogs stay healthy, I think it's very doable. Again, it was like 1975, the Colts in Baltimore had like 59 sacks. So that ain't happening. But I think they can break the Indianapolis era this year of 46 sacks.

Starting point is 00:20:31 Come on, Jake. Come on. Give me that Baltimore prediction. I'm optimistic, but I'm not that optimistic. That's like what? A little over four sacks a game? A little under four sacks a game, maybe? It's like right around four.

Starting point is 00:20:41 It's been a minute since they've touched anything that remotely close. So let's... Come on. Let's... No. Come on. It's been a minute since they've touched anything that remotely close. So let's come on. Let's not come on. Let's let's take baby steps. Okay. Okay. We couldn't get Jake to say 60 sacks. That's fine.

Starting point is 00:20:53 That's fine. I guess again, this one's not extremely bold. Maybe I'm not as bold as Jake with these predictions here, but I think 2022 undrafted free agent, Daryl Baker jr. Is going to be the starter for all 17 games this year, as long as he's healthy.

Starting point is 00:21:08 He's going to start all 17 games and establish himself as a player to start going forward. He's going to be a Kenny Moore is what I'm predicting, basically. A player who is going to be a longtime starter and a really good player for the Colts. Again, I've seen a lot of this guy this offseason. I've done a lot of work into his background, and I'm just excited. I really think this can be a starting cornerback in the NFL. Again, there's going to lot of this guy this offseason. I've done a lot of work into his background, and I'm just excited.

Starting point is 00:21:25 I really think this can be a starting cornerback in the NFL. Again, there's going to be some lumps and bruises. There's going to be some bad moments. But from everything I've seen, I think this is the type of player who can stick in the NFL. So Daryl Baker Jr., the next Kenny Moore, that's the tagline right there. That's the whole tagline right there. Perfect.

Starting point is 00:21:42 But coming up, guys, we're going to talk about some awards. Could the Colts take home some of those awards this offseason? Could be fun. We'll talk about that coming up. But first, a word from our friends over at Game Time. Buying tickets to your favorite events shouldn't be stressful. Game Time is the fast and easy way

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Starting point is 00:23:09 create an account and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off. Download game time today. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. All right, Jake. So getting into our last segment here,

Starting point is 00:23:27 we're going to talk about some awards, some accolades that can be coming the Colts' way. Are you feeling confident enough to predict any? Like, do you want to just go out of your way here and say, this one will happen, or are you going to take the Baltimore versus Indianapolis sack record approach and go a little bit lesser? Hey, that's a franchise historic moment. No,

Starting point is 00:23:47 I, so last year, if I remember correctly, there weren't any, I think Quentin Nelson will get back to it. Cause his thing, I think it's generally health. I think,

Starting point is 00:23:59 are you saying all pro here or. Oh, I'm sorry. Pro Bowl. No, I had a couple of Quentin elson was probable last year it was all pros they didn't have any all pros yeah they didn't have any all pros last year after having seven in 2021 yeah yeah yeah yeah okay yeah so quentin will go back to the

Starting point is 00:24:14 probable i could see buckner doing it because buckner was really really banged up last year like yeah he that was the most banged up he's ever been. And it was like a different injury every week. It was crazy. So assuming he's not going to be that banged up, like held together with tape, I think Buckner goes back. I'll throw a new player, a new pro bowler into the mix. I'm going to say Rodney Thomas gets back in there. Full offseason as free safety one. He's the

Starting point is 00:24:47 backfielder. Really good at tracking the ball. He puts up good tackle numbers as well. The very first thing I ever thought of him watching him play was, okay, if anything else, this guy's going to be a really good tackler. I think he'll lead them in interceptions again. He'll be a playmaker. So I'm going to say Rodney Thomas earns his first pro bowl. I'll throw Buckner in there as an all pro again, as well.

Starting point is 00:25:12 Second team. Yeah. I could see Buckner and Nelson as all pros and pro bowlers, just because the nature of voting for this stuff, as long as they bounce back from where they were last year, then you could see them go both getting back to all pro or pro bowl status, especially pro bowl status, but all pros as well. For new pro bowlers, you know, I think Zyra Franklin is a good guess, especially if Shaquille Leonard misses time at the beginning of the year, like he like he probably will with that concussion. Then you have Zyra Franklin getting all those tackles that the top linebacker opportunity

Starting point is 00:25:43 and getting a ton of snaps on the field and I know he was a pro ball alternate last year as well so it's not like he's super far off one other player I'll throw in there though is uh right tackle Brayden Smith and the reason I'm throwing him in there is I don't expect the Colts to take that many sacks this year because Richardson is going to be running the ball so much more and he's so good at just effectively getting out of those dangerous situations in the backfield he was the only rookie quarterback not to be sacked in the preseason despite playing the most snaps by far and away of all the rookie quarterbacks so I just don't expect him to get sacked that much and then I expect the Colts rushing game to be pretty efficient so when people are just looking

Starting point is 00:26:20 at who to vote for Pro Bowl and they see the right tackle for the Colts has only allowed like two sacks and the Colts are averaging over five yards to carry on the year. Then I think he might get into the Pro Bowl. I'm not even making this as a testament to how good he's going to play this year. I just think that when you look at Pro Bowl and you factor in that the Colts probably won't take that many sacks and have good rushing yards this year. I think that you can put in one or two of these offensive linemen just off of that so yeah I'll do like Braden Smith Quentin Nelson DeForest Buckner Zyra Franklin and then a little asterisk an asterisk next to uh Shaquille Leonard like if he plays probably but the cut cut now the concussions in there so it's like yeah it's so hard uh but yeah you know four to five guys a good little return to the Pro Bowl scene where I think they only had one last year with Quentin Nelson.

Starting point is 00:27:08 Yeah, for the same reasons you said, Smith, I could also see Ryman. He's, you know, the shinier, newer thing. I've seen people do like film rooms on him, so he's got a little more notoriety. I would also see, you know, Richardson, probably not just because the AFC stacked, you know, Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, like Richardson could have the greatest rookie season we've ever seen from a quarterback and complete like 90% of his passes. And he's still not going to be a pro bowler this year in AFC. Like it's just stacked. And now that a million guys don't make the pro bowl anymore, because there's not an actual game, really, there's not as many alternate. So I'm going to lump these next ones together

Starting point is 00:27:46 so i think the the colts have a legitimate shot at some of the major postseason awards um so between shane steichen as coach of the year anthony richardson as offensive rookie of the year and like shaquille leonard as comeback player of the year what's your heat check on those like do you see any validity to any of those or add add someone in if you think least likely i think would be shaquille leonard uh just because that's going to go to the safety for the bills if he even plays one snap it's right i think i was going to say if demar hamlin yeah demar hamlin yeah i think if hamlin stays up through the year that's easily him if he even plays one snap snap, he's going to win that award. So Shaquille Leonard, I think, would have a good case for it any other year.

Starting point is 00:28:30 But because of all the stuff that happened with DeMar Hamlin, I think it's pretty much a lock for him. Then I would go next to Shane Steichen for least likely, just because for coach of the year, you typically have to get your team into the playoffs for that. Like you could have an eight game turnaround in terms of record or whatever it is i think for the colts to make the playoffs it'd probably have to be like a six game turnaround from what they had last year uh but not win this award because it's all about playoffs so if he gets the colts in the playoffs which i'm not saying is is impossible i just don't think it's super likely then i think coach of the year is his if he gets the colts in the playoffs uh then we go to number one I think Anthony Richardson winning offensive rookie of the year is the most

Starting point is 00:29:07 likely out of these because we know the talent with Anthony Richardson if he figures it out early in the season that that awards his because he's gonna he could run for a thousand yards he could throw for 3,000 he could you know throw for 20 touchdowns run for another 10 touchdowns like he could have the best rookie season we've seen from a rookie quarterback. But also we know the other side, it could be a Josh Allen rookie season where he's completely 50% of his passes and not looking great. So he's a very volatile player right now. We don't know what we're going to see in year one.

Starting point is 00:29:37 So you can feel safe saying, you know, I could definitely see him being rookie of the year because he has that talent. He has that potential. It's just about how soon he figures it out and how much he realizes that potential here in year one. But yeah, I wouldn't rule out Rookie of the Year. I mean, Bijan's going to run for over a thousand yards. Bryce Young and CJ Stroud are going to have good seasons as well, but it's not like Richardson's way behind those guys. If Richardson just figures it out early in the season, he could easily win that award. And I wouldn't fault anyone for predicting it. I think you wanted to go out on a limb and

Starting point is 00:30:09 predict it. Yeah, I'm going to say he gets it. I mean, Bijan is probably, I think it's probably his biggest threat. I do think Bryce Young and CJ Stroud are going to make a case as well. They'll probably have better passing numbers than richardson uh but just based on like the voters and everything i think richardson is going to become a fan favorite across the nfl very quickly um you know he's gonna have the rushing numbers like i think 1 000 yards per game is very doable that's like 60 yards a game or something you know a thousand yards per game no my goodness a thousand yards in the season a thousand per game would be a lot. That's me maddening right there with Richardson. There you go.

Starting point is 00:30:51 No, so 1,000 rushing yards in the season I think is very doable. If he gets the 30 touchdowns, like I mentioned at the top of the show, but just the likability and stuff as well, like the Fly Eagles fly celebration, all that stuff, he's going to draw a lot of attention to himself. He's going to be a player that people onlookers across the NFL want to know what he's done each week and again he's probably not going to have those gaudy passing stats probably not even the stats of Bryce Young or CJ Stroud but his body of work and just like the excitement factor that he's going to bring

Starting point is 00:31:21 I think that's going to get him offensive rookie of the year. And I don't think the Colts are going to be a disaster because they won't give it to a guy whose team sucks. So like, I think the Colts would be pretty competitive and they'll, they'll be an exciting team to watch on many weeks because of him. There you go, guys.

Starting point is 00:31:37 We've given you some, some plenty of hot takes. Hopefully they age better than last year's where again, Jake was saying that the Colts are going to have a top five offense. I was saying these certain guys are going to be all pros. That never happened. It was brutal last year. So hopefully these age better.

Starting point is 00:31:53 But every day, don't worry. Tomorrow is crossover Thursday. So we are back with you for the latest with our man Tony Wiggins from Locked On Jaguars. You guys tend to love when we have him on. He's a blast. Tony is the best at the network besides us. Obviously, we're great

Starting point is 00:32:08 too. But no, Tony is phenomenal. So we're going to talk about all things Jaguars, Colts with him tomorrow. And if you don't already, follow at Locked On Colts, at JakeArthurNFL, at ZachHicks2, all on Twitter slash X. Also subscribe to Locked On Colts podcast on YouTube, wherever you list your podcasts. We love your guys' ratings and reviews.

Starting point is 00:32:24 And we'll see you guys back here bright and early tomorrow morning.

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Anthony Richardson Will Win Offensive Rookie of the Year

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