Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Bernhard Raimann, Will Fries the Right Men for the Job?

Starting point is 00:00:00 It's the home stretch for the Indianapolis Colts, and there are some subtle changes they can make to help turn this thing around and make things interesting when it comes time to earn playoff spots. We'll talk about that and much more in today's episode of Locked On Colts. 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. Thank you all for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Today's episode is presented by LinkedIn Jobs, which helps you find the candidates that you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. Already off to a hot start because I cannot talk.

Starting point is 00:01:10 Anyways, this is Jake Arthur. Our boy Zach Hicks is still in the process of getting everything squared away with his move, getting internet, all that good stuff. But he'll be back with us better than ever here soon. I talked to him today. He's doing good. Today in his place, I've got Drake Wally here. Drake, how are you doing, man? be back with us better than ever here soon. I talked to him today. He's doing good. Today in his place, I've got Drake Wally here. Drake, how are you doing, man? Doing great. I'm happy to be able to fill in. Glad that Zach's getting through the move.

Starting point is 00:01:34 Yeah, eventually he will be. You know both Drake and me from HorseshoeHuddle.com. He's a newcomer over there. You've maybe noticed some of his new articles over the last week or so. He's also co-hosting the Horseshoe Huddle podcast with Andrew Moore. Those guys are doing a great job. You guys are familiar with Andrew's work as well. He's been a guest here a million times. When you're done here with us, go over to Horseshoe Huddle on YouTube and subscribe there as well. Today, we're going to look at some bigger picture stuff for the

Starting point is 00:02:06 Colts. You know it's the home stretch. They've got just a handful of games left. What are you know what are some of their big questions right now and what are some things maybe we'd like to see adjusted over this last home stretch. Maybe it leads to a playoff spot. The AFC is still kind of open. There's a big log jam in the middle right now. You got teams like the Chiefs are doing really well, but after that, there's not a whole lot of greatness going on outside of that. So first area we wanted to get to is the offensive line. Been kind of the hot button thing all season.

Starting point is 00:02:40 They came into it. Matt Pryor's the left tackle. Danny Pinter's the right guard. A lot of uncertainty there, and it turns out that those moves that Chris Ballard decided upon did not work. Matt Pryor was just a disaster despite looking good for the most part, not good, but like serviceable for the most part in all but about one game last year. I thought, you know, he wasn't going to be awesome, but I thought he would give you average left tackle play. It would be fine, whatever. Danny Pinter, I can now understand why they drafted him as a tackle but wanted him to play

Starting point is 00:03:17 inside at center. He's got the center's frame. He just, he doesn't really have the guard strength. He got pushed around a lot. All that led to about a million different offensive line combinations. And we're now here with Bernard Ryman, the rookie at left tackle and Will Fries at right guard. Fries was a seventh round pick last year, kind of a jack of all trades at Penn State. So far a mixed bag from the two of them. We're kind of at the point where they're just kind of taking their rookie lumps, but they're developing. They've got to get reps in order to develop and get better. As Jeff Saturday said, this weekend after the game, you just kind of have to live with that stuff. So, Drake, we've seen options through both spots on the offensive

Starting point is 00:04:01 line so far. Is the combination of Ryman and Fries at left tackle and right guard respectively, are they the right combo for the job, do you think? I mean, it's kind of cliche to say that it's with the age of both of them. It's just a little too early to tell. But I think if you're giving an evaluation right now based off of the body of work, I mean, Ryman has had an issue with penalties. He had them, I think he had four, which then coach Reich decided to leave him in, let him get through the adversity. Four penalties

Starting point is 00:04:32 is a lot. Usually you'd see a guy's butt on the pine after something like that, but he's a rookie. So I think he just has to get over those penalties and he needs to just continue to play like he did against the Raiders. And as far as Fries goes, I think that it's also too early to tell because he hasn't had that big sample size of starting yet. I think that this is a good opportunity coming up on Monday. It's a very weak team in the Steelers. It might be an opportunity to get those two back on track and maybe try to commit less penalties.

Starting point is 00:04:59 Yeah, that's for sure. And, of course, what you're referring to, you know, Ryman's got seven penalties this year, which is tied for the most on the offensive line. Fries has four and he's only played in five games. So basically they're both the rookie offensive linemen commit penalties. It's what they do. Yep. And they are. They're definitely no different. It hasn't really been backbreaking up until last week just some really inopportune situations i think you know ryman had three he had a holding a downfield uh an ineligible downfield

Starting point is 00:05:35 fries had a bad false start consecutively right after bernard ryman had allowed a sack on on third down on their final drive. So some really ill-timed gaffes by those two. Just kind of providing some background on their performance to this point. According to Pro Football Focus, Ryman is actually the Colts' third best offensive lineman overall this year in terms of overall grade. And he is their number one run blocker. That's over Quentin Nelson. That's over Braden Smith.

Starting point is 00:06:09 Number one graded run blocker overall. I don't know how I feel about that in general, but he's definitely been a better run blocker than pass blocker. Wow. You know, that's, I think that that speaks. I mean, that don't want to take anything away from Ryman, but you know, you have the highest paid offensive line in the entire NFL. And I believe it's $42 million. And if I'm not mistaken, I think it's three men that actually make that $42 million for the most part, if not.

Starting point is 00:06:37 And that just attests to how rough of a year I think it's been running the ball for the stars that are supposed to be the big money guys more than Reimann's performance. Yeah. And that's a run game that currently ranks, what is it? I think 26th and they ranked worse than that through much of the year. They got bumped up to 26 after that big game against the Raiders. So, yeah. And then looking at Will Fries, he's the team's sixth best overall lineman out of eight so far, which is exactly what you would expect. He's just above Pinter and Pryor. He's their number four overall run blocker. So, you know, that's like exactly where I would have thought he was. So I'm not really surprised by that. My take on it all is I would leave both of

Starting point is 00:07:26 them in there I don't I don't think you're fighting for anything you're you're like technically they're fighting for their playoff lives right now because every game is a playoff game from here on out but they're not enough of contenders where everything is super critical plus we've already seen all the other options this year, and I'm much more inclined to give these young guys who have a ton of room to grow and get better, give them the shot because the other guys, the veterans who've been there and done that, have not been cutting it. Well, and it's a great point because at this point, it's not that you're not playing for a playoff spot.

Starting point is 00:08:07 I don't ever want to be the guy that's like, hey, don't try. But it'd be a surprise if you got in. At this point, you're just kind of competing. You're trying to push yourself to hit your stride in those last six games. Stop changing things at this point. You've changed coaches. You've changed coordinators. You've changed linemen.

Starting point is 00:08:25 You've changed quarterbacks. You've changed coaches. You've changed coordinators. You've changed linemen. You've changed quarterbacks. You've changed running backs. Everything on offense has just been a constant revolving ball mess. So just get some continuity, get some consistency, see what can happen when they actually know what the other is going to do. I think that's a big key. And just from what I know about these guys and their background, Ryman and Will Fries are both addicted to getting better. Zach Hicks, our colleague at horseshoehuddle.com, and of course our co-host here, he wrote a big long thing after Will Fries was drafted on him coming up as a football player in high school and college and everything

Starting point is 00:09:02 and just like his his unmatched work ethic and study habits and a guy who will do reps and until midnight until he's puking and stuff like that and Ryman's kind of cut from that same cloth so if I'm counting on a couple guys to do their part to get better I think they they will certainly do. Before we move on and talk about some other topics with the offense in general, I want to tell you about one of our sponsors. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp Therapy Online. All right, guys, it's holiday time. Thanksgiving's pretty much here and Christmas is a month out.

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Starting point is 00:10:52 Get unstuck with BetterHelp. Learn more and save 10% off your first month at BetterHelp.com slash locked on. That's BetterHelp.com slash locked on. All right, Drake. So the offensive line has been the first thing you kind of have to start with when discussing that unit's underperforming situation the whole season. And that's something you're actually in the middle of right now. You got started Tuesday.

Starting point is 00:11:21 You put out your piece about the quarterbacks and running backs. You'll then move on to wide receivers, tight ends, and then the offensive line. So you guys want to check that on horseshoehuddle.com. But basically the whole offense, most groups have underperformed in general. I think one thing that a lot of people are talking about this week after this drop to the Eagles is play calling. It is one of them under Parks Frazier. Of course, Frank Reich was fired a couple weeks ago now, a week or two before that. Offensive coordinator Marcus Brady was fired. And so now Parks Frazier has kind of been thrust into the situation. And honestly, there may not be anyone better on the staff to do it. Cause you know, he's, Parks Frazier is the one who's been most ingrained in this system since 2018 with Reich. But with that,

Starting point is 00:12:14 I think some people have kind of overlooked the fact that like he's learning to call plays too. Like there's a, there's a lot of moving parts with situational football. And so you can, you can script the first 15 plays of the game, of course, every team does. But then after that, everything is situational and just snap decisions, things like that. He's still learning as well. Now with that, I think a lot of the things that have frustrated

Starting point is 00:12:44 people about Frank Reich's play calling earlier in the season have come up. You know, early down runs up the gut and just kind of unimaginative things. I said it after the game on this show. I thought the play calling against Philly was pretty unimaginative at times. Those long developing counter runs up the middle with Jonathan Taylor just wasn't working. I see no reason why you can't get a guy with that speed on the outside or just do something. Now, those wham blocks and traps and stuff like that have historically worked in this system before, but you don't really have Jack Doyle, and Moe Alleycox really isn't performing at his best as a blocker.

Starting point is 00:13:20 So that stuff's not necessarily going to work. What have you thought through two weeks now of Park's play calling? And is there anything you would change with it moving forward? You know, it's a really good question because a lot of people were upset with Frank Reich's almost complications of certain play calling. He would almost try to be a little too cute, if you will. But Park's Frazier really shined against the raiders again terrible defense but it was simple it was simplistic easygoing stuff that was not hard to understand that was also a really bad

Starting point is 00:13:55 defense and you had to face a much different side of the football and you had indomitian sue and i believe it was linval joseph um and that, they're old guys at this point. They couldn't find a team all year. They absolutely blew up those runs right up the middle. They destroyed the internal or the internal like blocking. And like you said, why can't, why wasn't there something bounced to the outside with a guy that's got the break tackling ability,

Starting point is 00:14:22 elusiveness and speed of Jonathan Taylor? I call him lightning in a bottle. I think lightning in a bottle happens a lot of times with outside runs. And kind of like you said, there's just not tight end blocking this year. It's really unfortunate because that's what seals the edge and kind of what gave him that edge last year. Yeah, I agree with that. And Jonathan is like the guy now because, I mean mean Naheem Hines was underutilized earlier in the season but he's gone and they've gone very heavy with Jonathan Taylor

Starting point is 00:14:50 to this point uh they did mention Deion Jackson was the two-minute running back last week which I mean I guess that makes sense Jonathan can catch the ball but Deion Jackson is a really good pass catching running back um but outside of that, you know, I'd like to see the run game get more to the outside. I'd like to see them get away from such traditional approaches, old school football, first and second and long runs up the gut, things like that. Like you've got some talented receivers. Chris Ballard's type of pass catcher is big, athletic, freaky, and that's just not being utilized. So incorporate that more into the offense, which kind of leads me into my next point of something I'd like to see. And I don't know if it's something that can really change at this

Starting point is 00:15:37 point, kind of with your quarterback and the time he has to throw. But the downfield passing game has just been non-existent, But they have guys that can do it. Alec Pierce, that was his whole bread and butter in college. And he's really been the only consistent downfield guy this season. Michael Pittman isn't a downfield receiver, but he can win contested catches downfield, which is something Carson Wentz loved about him last year. Paris Campbell, obviously, arguably the fastest guy on the field at all times.

Starting point is 00:16:08 You know, they have guys to do it. Doolin can do it. Like, they've got fast guys. I would love to see the downfield passing game opened up a little bit. And it doesn't have to be long developing things. Like, Phillip Rivers, for example, could do a three-step drop and throw it to a spot downfield and let his guy go under and get it. Matt Ryan, that's probably the stage of his career you're at with Matt Ryan too, or close to it.

Starting point is 00:16:30 That can be incorporated. I just think there's more they can do to scheme up getting guys catches downfield. You know, that's a wonderful point that you brought up because, you know, a lot of people are like, oh, well, receivers aren't getting open. I'm sure that that's been said. It's mostly been the line that I've heard about. But I honestly think it's an underrated receiver core. I think that they are being used incorrectly. I think that you have a quarterback that is confused back there for the first time in his career.

Starting point is 00:17:01 I mean, this is the same team that just benched him for the first time in his career. Matt Ryan is experiencing things he's never seen before. So I think in the right, even just average system where the line hasn't had to shuffle, you know, like a bunch of cards, you might see, you know, guys like Kylan Granson, he might be at this point at 35, 40 receptions. He really is starting to finally, you know, show that he can maybe even play a big receiver role. But back to your point, Paris Campbell's really shown up, but Michael Pittman hasn't been targeted deep. Pierce isn't getting. He's far and away been the most productive receiving tight end on the squad this year. I feel like he's done positive things every week. he had a catch that would have been a first down and extended the drive had Bernard Ryman not had that ineligible man downfield. Kylan Granson is always doing good things. And I mean, he got known for the drops and everything earlier in his career, but that hasn't been an enormous issue. I think the good far outweighs the bad with him, but I don't feel like we've seen him

Starting point is 00:18:22 be made like a prominent part of the passing offense in any game plan yet. There was the game, I think he had like seven catches or something, but a lot of it was garbage time, dump offs, things like that. And they were trying to come from behind. I'd love to see him be schemed into the game and then plan for him to have a big part. Because he's one of your better guys that can run after the catch. And if you get him matched up with 240, 250-pound linebackers, he's probably winning that. He gets great separation on a lot of those drag routes.

Starting point is 00:18:57 So I don't know about you, but I would love to see Granson be the second or third primary option in a game. Well, you know, a lot of Colts miss Dallas Clark. And, you know, Dallas Clark's archetype was the six-foot, three-inch, undersized, way faster than a linebacker, but a little too large for a defensive secondary. You know, that's what he destroyed. And often he had the advantage, and so does Granson. I mean, physically he's got the advantage against anyone. It doesn't matter. He's going to have an advantage. It's going to pop him open. So I think if he can just continue to block and maybe show his,

Starting point is 00:19:33 his grit a little bit, we all know he can run his routes. We all know that if you can just haul the ball in, he's a, he could be a target hog. It'd be nice to see some blocking from Mo Alley, uh, just so that you can get that other side of things because Granson can't do it all. But I've been very impressed with him, and it's looking good, man. He looks really good. Yeah, he's definitely stepped up in such a position of flux this year. Jack Doyle is gone. Mo Alleycox has to block a lot of the time.

Starting point is 00:20:01 Jelani Woods has been banged up a couple weeks. And Andrew Ogletree was lost before his season really got started. So Granson's definitely been a pleasant surprise. You know, for the Colts this year, they've had a pretty high amount of job turnover. And if that's the case with your business, then maybe it's time to hit up LinkedIn. Hope you guys like that transition there. These days, every new potential hire can feel like a high stakes wager for your small business. You want to be 100% certain that you have access to the best qualified candidates available. That's why you have to check out LinkedIn jobs. LinkedIn jobs, LinkedIn jobs helps find the right people for your job faster and for free. Add your job in the purple hashtag

Starting point is 00:20:43 hiring frame to your LinkedIn profile to spread the word that you're hiring. Simple tools like screening questions make it easy to focus on candidates with just the right skills and experience so that you can quickly prioritize who you'd like to interview and hire. This is the time of year when NFL teams may sign someone and finish the season strong. You can do that yourself by hiring a ringer on LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Okay, so finishing up here, the Colts do have a game this week, and it's not necessarily the best season for them to have a bunch of primetime games, but here we

Starting point is 00:21:32 are. Monday night football this week at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Luckily for them, this is a game they should win. They're favored this week. I think, I forget what the line is. I think, I want to say two and a half points, but it's sure to change here in the coming days. But you know, the, the Steelers offensively, there's not a lot that scares you. You know, I think Najee Harris is a decent player. He catches the ball. Well, he can move outside pretty well, but quarterback Kenny Pickett is, is not, he's not it there. He's not there yet. You know, know uh three touchdowns to eight interceptions he gets sacked about three times a game so the Colts defense has been really good most of the time this season I'm not worried about this matchup for them at all I think

Starting point is 00:22:18 Pickett might be able to give them a couple of gifts so that's that's something we can look forward to looking at the Steelers defense is where things get tricky because, you know, the Colts have faced the Steelers a few times recently, and it really hasn't gone well for them. You know, you look at that line, Cam Hayward, TJ Watt's been back for a couple weeks now. Alex Highsmith has nine sacks, you know, totally picking up the slack for Watt being gone. And it's going to be a tough ask to see what the Colts can do offensively. I mean, their defense ranks sixth against the Rush, and the Colts obviously haven't been able to run the ball very consistently. They've only got a couple games this year where they've been able to do it at will.

Starting point is 00:22:58 So unfortunately, I think this is going to kind of rely on the Colts passing game. What do you think about that? Well, when you're actually leading the league in passing yards allowed, which is exactly where Pittsburgh is the most vulnerable, is pretty much right there in the middle of the field. They've got that really tenacious line, but they've got a very big weakness in the middle of the field and a lot of teams have exploited it. So it's going to be Matt Ryan. I mean, he's going to have to go out there and he's going to, you might actually have to reverse things for the Colts. You might have to start passing to loosen up those linebackers, get them off the line, get them in coverage sets rather than stacking the box. And then you might be able to use Jonathan Taylor, but boy, that's going to be

Starting point is 00:23:50 a tough one. And it's going to be a gritty and grimy game. I honestly think it's going to be a really low scoring one. I do too. I'm really, I'm not going to totally count out the run game, but I'm going to, this is probably one where Jt gets 70 yards or something you know what i mean i think what the colts will have to do i really don't think there's much excuse for like michael pittman and paris campbell to not have decent games because assuming that pittsburgh's pass rush is going to be on it and the colts offensive line is going to allow it you got to get the ball quick you know michael pittman jr and it. You got to get the ball out quick. You know, Michael Pittman Jr. and Paris Campbell,

Starting point is 00:24:28 they get a lot of quick shots. I don't know how well this will bode for Alec Pierce, even though he's an outside player and Pittsburgh's cornerbacks have not had a good time this year. A lot of his stuff is longer developing routes. So, you know, I just, I love Michael Pittman Jr. over the middle I think it works far more often than it doesn't you know they did it early last week against the Eagles get Pittman in stride over the middle of the field pick up yards after the catch it works same thing with Paris Campbell you know he he obviously kind of turns into a running back once he gets the ball in his hand so to me

Starting point is 00:25:01 I'm gonna say the the run game isn't going to do all that much, but they are going to kind of have to use the quick passing game as an extension to counter that. Yeah, actually, I pulled it up here. I think that the bold predictions that I had is that for the Colts, it'd be that Matt Ryan has 350 yards passing, and these are bold. But, I mean, if there's going to be a stat that's going to stick out for the Indianapolis Colts, it's going to be the passing yards.

Starting point is 00:25:28 I think that the defense is going to really stand up. They're going to make life pretty difficult for Kenny Pickett, potentially. I don't think they're going to score any touchdowns. Basically, just looking at these last couple weeks, the Colts took care of the Raiders like they should have. The Raiders are a bad team. The talent on the colts just outweighed it and it led them to a victory the colts should have beat the eagles on sunday you know but just eventually couldn't hold on long enough and lost to a superior team to me i don't think there's any reason they shouldn't defend lucas oil stadium against the Steelers.

Starting point is 00:26:06 I mean, the Steelers defense is tough. I hate the matchup for the Colts. But, you know, when you're looking at the weight of both sides, I just think the Colts offense is much more capable than the Steelers offense. And like you said, I think it's going to be a low scoring game. It could literally be like a 16 to 10 Colts win. Like that's just the first thing that came to my head. I don't know what my final prediction will be, but 16 to 10 feels about right. I don't know what you think. Yeah, I'm kind of like looking at it now and going, why did I write that? But I guess I was feeling froggy at the time, but put 24 to 9. um i i think that it'll probably be more like about your 17 to 9 and another bold prediction is because

Starting point is 00:26:51 that is a soft uh second level with those linebackers you might see some kyle and granson in that game let's certainly hope so but i think that's it for us today everyone uh check back with us this week as we start talking with some smart people on the other side of the aisle who actually cover the Steelers, including at least one familiar face that we'll bring to you guys. Follow Drake at D. Walster Drake right there on your screen, at LockedOnColts, at JakeArthurNFL, and at ZachHicks2 all on Twitter. Also subscribe to Horseshoe Huddle and Locked on Colts on YouTube

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Bernhard Raimann, Will Fries the Right Men for the Job?

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