Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - INDIANAPOLIS COLTS: Balancing Daniel Jones, Jonathan Taylor to Set Offensive Expectations

Starting point is 00:00:01 Should the Indianapolis Colts drastically change their offense to accommodate for their quarterback coming off of a torn Achilles? Let's get to it. You are Locked on Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked on podcast network, your team every day. Welcome to Locked on Colts. I'm Zach Hicks, and that is Jake Arthur right there. As always, on today's show, we're going to be diving into some schematics talk with the

Starting point is 00:00:35 Indianapolis Colts. I did not have to twist Jake's arm for this. He actually brought this topic up to me. So it's probably going to be a very Zach heavy episode today. To close out today's show, we're going to talk about X factors, but the bulk of this show is going to be talking about defensive scheme, offensive scheme. Could we see some changes over last season to accommodate some of these new faces?

Starting point is 00:00:57 And obviously on the offensive side of the ball, the quarterback coming off of the Achilles injury. So Jake, before I let you just kind of throw it to me and go on these rambles with offense and defensive scheme. I did kind of want to get your thoughts on like the Colts are going into this next season with their quarterback coming off a major injury, one of the most important injuries in sports. While we don't have a ton of data on quarterbacks coming off Achilles injuries because there's only been like four to five prominent guys that have done it and the results are

Starting point is 00:01:26 kind of mixed. Where are kind of your thoughts at going into next season? Like seeing how the offense operated last year, do you think they can operate in a similar way with Daniel Jones or just your. vibe overall when it comes to that situation. Yeah, I think as always, you want to be very Jonathan Taylor-centric as much as you can, especially going into the final year of his contract. Like, who knows if they're thinking extension or what, but in my opinion, I think they're

Starting point is 00:01:54 just going to try and run the heck out of him, you know, this season. It's not like they have great backups either, but I think they want to use him as much as possible. Similarly to how we saw last year before the wheels kind of fell off the whole thing in the back half the year. But even with Jones and the Achilles, I mean, you may have a different perspective on this. I don't think it necessarily changes the things they want to do. I think maybe it changes the way it looks, if that makes sense, because his burst and like his acceleration, I think is going to be changed. Obviously, like, we'd be naive to think he's going to look the same. But it doesn't mean they can't call a lot of the same stuff that they did bootlegs.

Starting point is 00:02:37 I don't know about the quarterback sneaks. They were running that quite a bit in the first half. I don't know how much they'll be doing that. But things that rely on his mobility, I think, will still be a part of it. I just think they need to kind of curtail expectations on how effective that's going to be. And like, expect things to, like, there's going to be certain markers on the field he needs to hit by this time, I'm sure. Like that's the type of small minutia that they're thinking about. I just want them to have that in mind.

Starting point is 00:03:09 Like, he could still do those things. It's just not going to look how it did before. But then when I look at like the receiving core as well, I'm skeptical. I don't want to say skeptical, but I'm kind of awaiting judgment on how this all works together without Michael Pittman Jr., you know, like you're asking Ale Pierce to do different things and kind of incorporating some of

Starting point is 00:03:35 Pitman's route tree into what Pierce does. You're going to be changing how Josh Downs does things a little bit. Surely Tyler, Tyler Warren needs to have a broadened, you know, workload as well. So I'm just kind of waiting on to waiting and wait and see on a lot of this stuff. But I don't think it'll be changed too drastically. But one thing is for certain regardless, I think I'd rely heavily on Jonathan Taylor. Yeah, I think one thing when you look at this Colts offense going into this year compared to what it was like going into last season, this is some of the most continuity I think we've seen on Colts offense in our time, in my time covering the Colts, that is, right? I mean, this is only the second time they've had the same week one starter at quarterback.

Starting point is 00:04:18 I'm assuming Daniel Jones will be the week one starter at quarterback. I don't see any reason not to think that right now. And on top of that, like they're returning like of a lot of their but like biggest snap getters like Michael Pittman Jr. is really the only big guy not returning. You could also maybe throw in like Amir Abdullah, but that's like a fringe, you know, roll right there on the offense. So you're going to see a lot of returning faces. I think they're going to operate in a very similar way that they did last year. My big question is the bootlegs. Like the play action rollout stuff. How does Daniel Jones's leg respond to that? Because I think overall his arms shouldn't take too much of a hit. I'm still like waiting

Starting point is 00:04:59 C mode with the arm, but I think the arm should look fine. I think when you look at like the overall tenets of their passing game last year, it was pre-snap motion, quick first read stuff, get the ball out of Jones's hand and let the playmakers go to work, relying on play action max protect shots, but also doing those play action rollout stuff. I think all of that carries over outside of the play action rollouts, like how often can they incorporate play action rollout with a quarterback coming off of torn Achilles and what does his mobility look like?

Starting point is 00:05:28 but I think the rest of the offense can stay fairly similar. I think maybe you put in some more empty personnel package stuff because with empty personnel, you know, it's a quick passing offense type of deal. So you can get that ball out of Jones's hands quick. And you can maybe use that to supplement where you're losing some of the play action rollout stuff and get some isolations for Josh Downs or even like a Dionne or a Tyler Warren type of situation there.

Starting point is 00:05:54 So I think there are some ways to build around it. we'll see if they have like an increased reliance on Jonathan Taylor because one thing with their team when they were winning last year is remember they were not a run first offense by any they were not a run first offense they were a pass first offense and then when they got the past two open up run lanes then they became a run it down your throat in the second half of the of the game that is how they won games early last season so I don't expect them to come out this next season to start games like 10 straight runs you know 15 straight runs because that's just not Shane's like. M.O. He wants to pass the score run to win, and he wants the run to be there late in the game, with the passing to be there early to open it up. So I do think they want to pass the ball early. It's about where do they find their answers if the play action rollout game is not there. But I do think we're going to see a lot of continuity over what we saw last year, a lot of 12 personnel, a lot of 13 personnel, maybe even more 12 and 13 personnel this year compared to last year. I think we'll see Tyler Warren used all over the place as a fullback as a slot receiver.

Starting point is 00:06:57 maybe even more so as a slot receiver this year of Josh Downs is going out to being more of an outside receiver at times. And honestly, this might sound a little simplistic for the way I usually talk on here. But I think with Alec Pierce, when you go into more like 11 personnel stuff and you're doing like three by one sets where Pierce is the isolated guy on the backside, sometimes there's a simple answer as just go to your number one receiver on the backside of a formation, right? Yeah. There were times a lot the last couple years where Pierce would be the back side of a three by one.

Starting point is 00:07:26 and I'm like, look, if it's one-on-one coverage, just throw a jump ball to him. I know you can't do that all the time, right? Because we want to be our scheme lord offensive coach, right? We want him to be able to draw up wide-open guys. But it's something he did with Mike Williams a lot when he was with the Chargers where it's like, look, there's times where you can draw up the perfect wide-open player. You can run mesh and get guys running free. But there are also times where it's like, look, Mike Williams or Alec Pierce is one-on-one

Starting point is 00:07:51 on the backside. He's going to win that 50-50. Maybe let's incorporate that in there a little bit more. And then he can also use his speed to set up comebacks and curls and in breaking routes too. So I think overall the Colts offense is going to look very similar to last season. The biggest question really is, how do you replace those play action and rollouts that are probably not going to be in the equation this year? And are they going to lean into more like empty stuff? Do they lean into the run game more?

Starting point is 00:08:17 Do they lean into whatever it's going to be? Like what is the solution there? Because again, of their core tenets of their just motion pre-snap to get the looks you, want, get the ball out quick, max protect deep shots. Like you can do all that, but the play action rollout is the biggest question mark. Do you think we might see it become maybe like a little more west coasty as well or like at least incorporate some of those tenants into it? Like we're talking about short rhythmic passing, lots of yard after catch opportunities

Starting point is 00:08:47 because you know like you can do that with downs. Tyler Warren. Ashton Doolin is a yards after catch guy. Moe Alley Cox, they like to leak him out, you know, after peeling all. blocks and like get him yak opportunities for some reason it works but i mean it seems like if you want to continue hammering the pass early in games so that taylor can finish things off that's one way to keep it going early in games yeah and i think they've done that over the past couple years like you think back to the gardener minchu season right like how much empty personnel they ran which is a very

Starting point is 00:09:21 like ken whiz and hunt style of offense right spread the offense wide as possible it get those mini matchup and you get the ball out quick and you move from there. It kind of sucks. The NFL is very anti-RPO at this point because Shane Steichen in the past had really utilized RPO's. And I think that would have been a good solution for Daniel Jones where, you know, you're reading one defender and you're making a read off that one player. And it doesn't require as much movement as the play action rollout games.

Starting point is 00:09:46 So it's about Shane Steichen just finding new solutions. You know, I think he came out with a very different offense than what he's typically run last year, right? He never really ran much 12 and 13 personnel. maybe a little bit with the Eagles, he ran some 12. But he's typically been like an all 11 personnel guy. So he drastically changed what he did last season to accommodate for Daniel Jones. Now, what's the next step in that phase to accommodate for a hampered Daniel Jones? That'll be the big question.

Starting point is 00:10:13 But Shane Seikins always changed his offense according to quarterbacks. You know, with Anthony Richardson, they're running some Liberty and Old Miss type stuff to get him on the move. And in the QV run game with Gardner Minchu, they're running like Oklahoma and Mike Leach type concept. with Daniel Jones. They're running, you know, some very Shanahan-style concepts. So what is that next evolution for Shane Steichen? I have full faith he's going to find an answer for it. It's just if that's good enough for the offense to repeat their success from early last season.

Starting point is 00:10:41 Yeah, I do think it makes me more comfortable that you give a guy like Shane Steichen an entire offseason to make all of these exceptions for this hampered quarterback. At least the timing is right. That's all I know. All right, guys. So coming up, we're going to talk about the defense. and what might Louis Anirumo's group look like now that everybody's actually healthy, knock on all the wood.

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Starting point is 00:13:32 That's supercast.com. All right, Jake, so looking at this Colts defense going into 2026, maybe they downgraded a little bit on the defensive line, right? Maybe, or maybe not the defensive line, the edge rush room. Maybe a slight downgrade because quidipay to whatever the big question mark is, that is Jalen to Molo. But the back seven looks a lot more improved or at least a lot faster

Starting point is 00:13:54 than what it was last year on paper. the big question is just health. Can they stay healthy on that backside? And can it lead to Luana Rimo doing what he wants to do? So what are your first thoughts when you think of this defense going into this 2026 season? Yeah. So, I mean, you, of course, you want to get home with four. You don't want to have the blitz that much because you want your cover guys to be cover guys.

Starting point is 00:14:19 But you kind of have the liberty now of having sauce gardener and Mooney Ward. This is what you envision finally. You have your man to man. guys. You don't have to allocate a bunch of resources in the coverage outside of them. So you can get kind of funky with it. So I'm wondering, you know, you have the cover guys now, but maybe not so much the pass rushers, at least not off the edge. So what does that look like? You know, to you, for example, like even last year, like quidipay wasn't going to do a whole lot for you as a pass rush. We weren't looking at this like, cool. Quitty pay is a 10-7.

Starting point is 00:14:56 guy and so is lot too like that's not what the thought was but you look at it and you say after they traded for sauce gardener sauce and mooney ward that's a really good combo the pass rush is and so-so but that's what it looks like now that sauce and mooney are both healthy so what are you thinking like what can the relationship of coverage and pass rush what can that look like yeah i think so much of this offseason has been about getting vandererumal guys that fit what he wants to do like last year it felt like this collision course of two different styles just ramming their head into each other all season long where it was louis and rumo being like i want to be closer to brian flores right i want to have these six man pressure concepts i want to have these five man

Starting point is 00:15:40 pressure concepts i want to run more man than most teams in the league more cover one man in particular uh and i want corners that are big tall and fast i want linebackers that just fly to the football but not like recklessly you know fly to the football but with a contained aggression and I can scheme up a potential pass rush. Just give me guys on the back end that can give them the time and the space needed. And I know a lot of this was because of injuries that they weren't able to do exactly what they wanted to do. But another part of this was just having guys like Jalen Jones, Jujou Brent, Sam Womack.

Starting point is 00:16:14 You know, those guys that were supposed to play prominent roles coming into the season, just not being what Luan Rumo wanted, right? So he had some core ingredients there of how he wanted to run the deal. defense, but he felt hampered at times by he was left, like, left going like, okay, do I throw out a Jalen Jones who just doesn't fit whatsoever or Jonathan Edwards who's just not ready for this at all, or a guy who knows what he needs to do, but his body can't do it in Xavier and Howard or Mike Hilden and like those type of guys. So I think just on paper going in this next season, you're going to see Luanarumo actually unleash what he wants to do. It's like we got a little bit of like a taste of what

Starting point is 00:16:51 he wanted in a couple games. You look at like that Falcons game, for instance, right? the first game with Sauce Gardner, on almost every third down, they're running cover one man and bring like a five-man pressure concept with dime defense on the field. And they're letting those corners be physical at the line of scrimmage, bump and run those wide receivers, having a Cameron Bynam or AJ Halsey is what it's going to be this next season, robbing the middle of the field and just letting your rushers, your five-man rush concept get after the quarterback.

Starting point is 00:17:20 And that's not going to be perfect all the time. But on paper, when you have a slot corner in Wally who can turn and run much better than Kenny Moore could last year, when you have hopefully a healthy Mooney Ward and you have a healthy sauce gardener that can potentially buy you time up front to rush opposing quarterbacks. So I think we're going to see a lot more man. I think we're going to see more of these five and six man pressure concepts that Lou Annamu wants to do and a lot of reliance on putting these corners on an island and seeing what they can do. I mean, we saw sauce sauce gardener kind of get back to. what his, I wouldn't say exactly his all pro status last year, but it was closer to his all pro status than what it was to his 2024 season in the games he played.

Starting point is 00:18:01 And Mooney Ward, I thought played some good football for the first half of the year before the injuries really piled on, you know, so I think there are a lot of things there that can help Lou and Arumo run this style of defense that he wants. They just need these guys to stay healthy. But they have more depth of safety to run more of these cover one robber concepts and

Starting point is 00:18:19 get three safeties on the field, right? like Hunter Woller, a guy they really like is healthy. He can get out there on third downs and help him in that way. I think the linebacker room is way more interesting now. Like you have a guy like C.J. Allen who's much more reliable than a Pratt or even Zaire Franklin were last year in terms of just the volatility of play, I guess, even for a 21-year-old rookie. I expect him to be a little bit more consistent. So I do think they're going to be able to run a lot more of what they want to run. It just comes down to the execution and health.

Starting point is 00:18:51 with this side of the ball. But, you know, there's really no excuse for Louana Rumo if it doesn't work this year, right? Because last year, you could give him a little bit of the out where it was like, look, half the roster did not fit what he wanted at all. So they had to make these wholesale changes. Well, now they made the wholesale changes, right? So now you don't have that built-in excuse. Now you need to perform. I think a lot of the right pieces are there.

Starting point is 00:19:14 It's just can they perform and can this actually work out the way that Lou Anurmo wants it to work out? Okay, give me your quick snippet answer on this one before we got to go to the next segment here. Very curious because this was a big factor last year with the new look linebacker core, instead of Zair Franklin and Jermaine Pratt, who were older players whose mobility, their mobility's best days were in the past. C.J. Allen and let's say Akeem Davis gave there now, you've got some quarterbacks on this schedule who can either run, you know, pick up yards on their own and, or their mobility in the pocket is unbelievable. Like Joe Burrow comes to my Patrick Mahomes. You have Jaden Daniels, Lamar Jackson, Week 1.

Starting point is 00:19:57 You've got quarterbacks that make things difficult. How much better do you think this lineback of core is going to be at handling stuff like that now? Well, I mean, they don't play Shanahan this year at least, right? So that's a big, that's a big boost because Kyle Shanahan made them look foolish late last season like he does to almost everybody else. So there's always a push and pull with the NFL. And those great quarterbacks are going to get theirs, you know, especially like Lamar Jackson. Actually, if we believe the reports, I don't think we might get Pat Mahomes this year because we might get them in week two. And I don't know if Mahomes will be healthy by then.

Starting point is 00:20:31 So that might be a big win. But then it would be Justin Fields, another running quarterback in there. Yeah, but yeah, you know, I don't think anybody can realistically say like, oh, C.J. Allen, go shut down Lamar Jackson, go shut down Justin Fields. Go shut down Jane Daniels because those are the best scramblers in football. But I do think, again, if you're going to run more of this press man stuff, and you can trust some of your stunts and twist up front. And you can get some, you know, QB spies in there with either Roller or with Allen or whoever it's going to be, you can trust your defense to get after these guys in a certain

Starting point is 00:21:04 way and force them to throw a more tighter windows. So there's always ways to combat these types of guys. It's going to be a challenge for sure. But, you know, Luana Rumo's done a good job in the past of combating these types of quarterbacks in particular. when he's had the guys on defense, that is. Like, 2024 was rough trying to go against Jaden Daniels, but that Bengals defense was just dreadful across the board.

Starting point is 00:21:26 So as long as these guys are healthy, I think they can do it, but it just comes down to actually performing and staying healthy. Yeah, I don't think they'll shut them down, but I feel like they're better equipped to handle stuff like that now, luckily. All right, guys, coming up in just a moment, we're going to talk about some of the X-factor players that might influence some of the ways

Starting point is 00:21:47 that Shane Steichen and Lou Anerumo operate on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball. If you've ever opened your bank account and thought, where did all my money go? You are not alone. Keeping track of subscriptions, spending, and bills can get overwhelming fast. But that's where Rocket Money comes in, helping you take control of your finances all in one place. So how does Rocket Money help you keep track of finances? It tracks all of your subscriptions in one spot, and it can help cancel the ones that you don't need with just a few taps. It automatically categorizes your spending so you can actually see where your money is going

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Starting point is 00:22:54 We are talking about scheme today. Some of the kind of pillars we would lean into for the Colts on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, kind of themes we think that might be kind of prevalent. But now we're going to talk about some individual players who might be X factors and maybe influence the ways that Shane Stuyken on offense and Loua and Rumo on defense kind of call things. These aren't going to, like we're not including. Jonathan Taylor or the quarter, you know, like, we're not doing that. But like,

Starting point is 00:23:22 one of the main guys that came to, to mind when I thought of this topic, Zach, was Tyler Warren. So Tyler Warren last year, very productive player, good guy, like they integrated him well into the offense. But like at Penn State, like, Tyler Warren helped Drew Allen, like, to the fiesta bowl. You know what I mean? Like, he was a big, big difference in the way Penn State was able to operate on offense. You just sold me. That's one of the greatest accomplishments that anyone could ever do. I went against my better judgment.

Starting point is 00:23:55 Yeah, it's my better judgment to do that. But you know what I mean? Like, they did not use, like, they ran Warren on fullback dives. And like, they gave him some stuff up the middle. He passed the ball once. But we all know there's more there that Warren can do. And now he's not a rookie. Like, he got his feet wet last year.

Starting point is 00:24:16 open things up with a guy like Tyler Warren. So do you like how much broader do you think his role could be? Like what more can they do with him now? Well, it's going to be really interesting. Like we mentioned in the very first segment, right? Like if you think that somebody's play action rollout concepts aren't going to be there for the Colts, that was a big part of how they got Tyler Warren the ball last season, right? Was having him pretend like he's blocking or kind of sell the blocking, peel off of that block and get into the flat and then create those yards after the catch. that was a big way they got him involved in the offense. So you've got to think that they're going to have to try to find new ways to get him involved.

Starting point is 00:24:52 I'm sure knowing how Stuyken approaches the offseason, he's looking at a lot of film across college football, probably looking at some of that Penn State film and seeing ways that he can get more and more involved, whether it's as a runner, as a passer, or even as just a true traditional tight end as well. So I'm sure he's going to try to find those new ways to get him involved in the offense because there are targets to be had. So yeah, I'm really curious because maybe Warren comes into camp a little bit bigger and stronger to be a better run blocker this year. So his role becomes still very vital, but it's still more like that yards after catch. Or maybe they asked him to lose a little bit of weight, be a little bit faster.

Starting point is 00:25:30 And then they can use him as more of a move tight end out in the slot a little bit more as well. So really, really curious to see what he looks like coming into camp and how that role develops. And kind of in the same vein, a player I want to throw to you, Jake, was I think Josh Downs might be one of the most important players on the Colts this season. Like just in terms of, like he's always been very solid for the Colts. Like his first three seasons rock solid when he's been healthy. But now the Colts need him to be more than solid, right?

Starting point is 00:25:58 He needs to be that guy on the outside, on the inside. Like, I'm not saying he needs to go for 1,200 yards because, you know, who knows how many targets he's going to get in this offense. But there needs to be a jump in play from him. I feel like since his rookie season, he's kind of been, I don't want to say he's stagnated, but he's kind of been the same guy, right? It's a very reliable, good slot player, but he hasn't taken that step to being like an impact, impact player in the NFL. Part of that's because of role.

Starting point is 00:26:26 Part of it's because of usage and part of it's because of injuries. But this is the time for Josh Downs to emerge as that guy in this offense, get more looks on the outside, more scheme touches in the offense as well. I really want to see the Colts just kind of throw the ball to, especially in the red zone too. I think I've always thought that he could be a great red zone target with his separation ability. So I want to see Josh Downs have that big season. And I think he is one of the most important players for the Colts going to next season. Like when we do like full episodes on this later in the offseason, like I really want to go in on like just how big of a chance this is for Josh Downs.

Starting point is 00:27:02 Like his earning potential too. Like as of right now, his next contract is probably what? Close like 12 to $15 million per year. Solid for a wide receiver. if he gets close to 1,000 yards this year, he could be getting near Alec Pierce money, right? Because that's the way that receivers get paid. So it's a big year for him in the Colts,

Starting point is 00:27:22 but especially for him going forward. Like, he needs to have that big season. So I think he's one of the biggest X factors on the roster going into 2026. I agree. I mean, when we looked at him in 2023 and like some of the things he did as a rookie and the way he was used, you're like, oh, my God, the sky's the limit moving forward. I mean, inconsistency is a quarterback.

Starting point is 00:27:41 and like just the offense getting clunky in general had its effect. And then last year I think there was just a lot of mouths defeat and he was kind of the forgotten guy. But now I think they're going to be deliberate about keeping him involved. Last year everything seemed almost forced. Like the opportunities for him were kind of few and far between. But when they did, it felt like it was just something they needed to do out of necessity. Sometimes it felt a little out of place.

Starting point is 00:28:10 but now I feel like situationally this should be a lot closer to 2023. I think they used him downfield more. They used him in a variety of ways more. Like he did that orbit motion stuff constantly in 2023. I mean, like his role can just be, I can't think of the word I'm looking for here, but it can be more exotic than it has been these last couple years. He's a very heady player. You know, you can use those option routes and things,

Starting point is 00:28:39 especially with a very smart quarterback like Daniel Jones. You can use that in kind of crunch time and the money downs and everything. But he can use double moves. We saw him doing a lot of stuff towards the boundary that got him long gains. Like yards after catch, it wasn't just deep catches. It was him creating. But I think there's a lot of ways you could use him that just hasn't been there in the last couple years. And again,

Starting point is 00:29:09 And without Michael Pittman Jr., I know you got to get Pierce the ball more, but they're just two totally different kind of players, Pearson Downs. So I think there's a big opening to have Josh Downs and Tyler Warren be both involved. Because last year it felt very either or. You know, you're asking them to accomplish kind of similar things. So you can't have both of them being heavily involved. I think it's different this year, hopefully, at least. Yeah, I don't think that Downs is going to be only a slot.

Starting point is 00:29:39 for this year. So he's going to be more involved in the offense, even on those like 12 personnel calls and stuff like that. Real quick, just to touch on defense, and we'll probably do more of this on a future episode. But Jalen Tuamolo, I was obviously the biggest X factor alongside Laotu Latu, if he can take that year three jump. But I also did want to shout out a guy you had here in the outline in Hunter Woller, right? Hunter Woller, I was not enthused about him being the starting strong safety for most of the offseason. So I'm glad that they drafted our boy, AJ Halsey, because I had my own concerns about that. But now I think Woller slides into where you want him to be, right? A core special teamer, your third safety. And then I think, I think a lot of those like dime

Starting point is 00:30:19 situations where they go to three safety sets where it'll be C.J. Allen and Hunter Woller in the box on third down, I think he's going to be a very vital piece there. And, you know, that that's a, that's a role that's a role that can be in man coverage, can be in zone coverage. Like Lou Anuruma was very unique with that role. That's where Nick Cross played on a lot of third downs last year where Bynum played the robbing safety and then over the top was Rodney Thomas. That shuffles around a little bit more, but now Hunter Woller kind of directly replaces Nick Cross in that role hypothetically. And I think that that can be a big jumping point for him going into the season.

Starting point is 00:30:56 So I think Woller is a pretty big X factor, even though he's not going to be like a starter. I think he could have a pretty big role. And even if guys in front of him stay healthy, I think he could get like two to 300 snaps on defense and be an impact player for them. Yeah, like you said, now that he doesn't have to be a starter, I think you can make the reps that you're using him count more, like the concentration of reps that he will get, I think can be more specialized and, you know,

Starting point is 00:31:21 they can come with more strategy involved. I am pretty enthused by, you know, okay, so how he looked last summer and what they think he's going to be in terms of playmaking and taking the ball away and just affecting the ball, whether it's a big hit at the point of attack, whatever, to have him, Cam Bynum, and A.J. Halsey, we know Halsey and Bynum are ballhawks. To have those three guys over the middle of the field situationally, while you have Sauce and Mooney on the outside and shoot throw Wally in there too,

Starting point is 00:31:54 I think there is a ton of big place to be had. And like every time I kind of forecast this defense in my head, I'm like, they are going to be one of the top teams in the league and takeaways. Like they just have the guys there that affect the ball so much in the ways they want to that this this team is going to be very big play dependent because again, I don't think the pass rush is going to be all that much to write home about. But their ability to make plays on the ball, I think will be like the biggest X factor in them actually being a success. Yeah, no, absolutely. I completely agree with that. And we'll talk more about that on future episodes as well.

Starting point is 00:32:32 But thank you all for tuning in today. It's how locked on Coltsubecky. yet again tomorrow afternoon to make sure you subscribe and follow Lockedon Colts. So you get all of those latest episodes. And if you don't already, make sure you're following out Lockdown Colts at Jake Garthor, NFL, and at Zach Hicks 2, all on socials. And if you never miss an episode, the Everydayer Club is built for you. Get us ad-free plus members-only Discord access and much more.

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