Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: BOLD Predictions Prior to the 2022 Season

Starting point is 00:00:00 It is time to get bold. On this episode of Locked On Colts, we'll take a look at both sides of the ball and give you our hot takes. Let's get to it. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network,

Starting point is 00:00:16 your team every day. All right, Colts fans, thanks so much for tuning in and making us your number one listen of the day. This is the podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Today's episode is brought to you by BetOnline. BetOnline has you covered this season with more props, odds, and lines than ever before. BetOnline, where the game starts.

Starting point is 00:01:00 I'm Jake Arthur and joined as always by the beautiful Zach Hicks. You know us, of course, from horseshoehuddle.com. On today's show, we're going to dissect Colts General Manager Chris Ballard's recent comments, his pre-season comments that he just had this week. And then we're going to make some bold predictions on both sides of the ball, offense and defense. So Zach, first, let's go ahead and start with what Ballard was speaking with the media about. I, let's see. Yeah, so Shaquille Leonard was the first kind of note I made about this all. Apparently it's been, we've known this going

Starting point is 00:01:38 into each summer, but this is like the first season since 2018, 2019 that he's going into it pain-free. Considering the numbers he's been able to produce over that time, and he doesn't always look like himself, but he's still productive, that could be pretty huge for this defense. Oh, yeah, for sure. And I know a lot of people listening can probably attest either they've had a family member or they've gone through it themselves. But I just know so many people where you have this nagging injury for years and years.

Starting point is 00:02:09 And you go to different doctors and you go to all these things. And then you find that one specialist that fixes that issue for you. My mother-in-law had that. My mom is going through some of that stuff lately as well. To where it's like, oh my gosh, I didn't realize I can live normal now. I don't even know what no pain is like in this. And from everything that we heard from Shaquille Leonard, that's kind of what it was since his rookie season.

Starting point is 00:02:31 I think he said since week four of his rookie season, his ankle just hasn't felt right. And just parts associated with that just hasn't felt right. And he's still been a multiple-time All-Pro and on pace to be probably one of the best statistical linebackers in the history of the game if he continues this so now we're going to see him finally healthy again I think that's pretty fun to see so uh you know I know a lot of people are saying like oh will he be back for week one or week two or anything like that I think the main thing is just getting him

Starting point is 00:02:58 back at all this year and then getting him back maybe anytime in the first half of the season uh because if we if we get him back pain-free, you know, it might be even better than what we've seen, which I can't even imagine that's possible. But, you know, it would be something to see. I know. I'm kind of trying to imagine what that looks like, like rewinding all the way back to 2018.

Starting point is 00:03:19 Like he's made a ton of plays over the last few years kind of in the box or closer to the line of scrimmage. Does it mean he's going to have that ability plus be rangier and and have a better range of motion be able to move quicker like that's that could be pretty remember one of those games before he got hurt was his second game against washington yeah i think that was the game yeah that was the game to put him on the map it was like 20 tackles like two for a loss and the game ending force fumble too on jordan reed yeah yeah so i mean you know if we get that every week you know awesome but you know at the end at the end of the day i mean shaquille leonard is one of the best in the league and just him finally

Starting point is 00:03:55 being healthy is huge because we could see it a little bit last year and i thought we could see it a little bit in 2020 as well uh there were just some games where he just did not look like shaquille Leonard. And last year, he even said, you know, part of the beginning of the year, and then sometimes down the stretch as well, like his body just wasn't moving the way that he wanted to move. So getting that fixed, getting that right, even though he had to miss almost four months of just offseason work, you know, that's huge. That's huge. So whenever he comes back, it'll be big for this team. And hopefully it's a more, you know, reinvigorated Shaquille Leonard. Yeah. And they've been kind of noncommittal. They've kind of thrown water on any timelines. Like I think Ballard literally

Starting point is 00:04:33 said it could be week one or week six or eight or something like that. But they're just basically saying like, he'll just be ready when he's in football shape, has full strength and he's ready. Like no one knows when that is, but it'll, you know, we'll know when it's in football shape has full strength and he's ready like no one knows when that is but it'll you know we'll know when it's happening right uh you and i over this this week as they kind of cut down on the roster we've brought up some of our concerns and ballard was asked about if he has any concerns about the offensive line and how the depth is mostly young guys basically you know ryman is a rookie Fries had like 20 snaps as a rookie last year French is a rookie so there's a lot of youth like they're talented players but if one of these guys has to step in you really don't know what it's going to look like

Starting point is 00:05:14 and uh it seems like they really like it despite the depth he even said you know these guys won't be vets until they play so let the young guys play which is kind of a fast and loose way to approach it but I mean it is what it is it we always know in the trenches they're never turned down an opportunity to add a good player but it doesn't it doesn't seem like they're beating all the bushes looking for that yeah no we mentioned on yesterday's podcast when when they brought back Dennis Kelly I think a lot of my concerns went away for the depth on the O-line. Because, I mean, you guys have heard me all offseason. I'm really not that concerned about Bernard Ryman or Will Fries. I think either of those guys could step in in the case of an injury and, you know, not be elite guys or be like top tier starters.

Starting point is 00:05:58 But I think they can be very serviceable while they still are kind of learning the game and getting acclimated. I was just more concerned, you know, if a left tackle and right tackle went down, which we saw at times last year with the Colts, who was going to be that right tackle. And I was not feeling better when Luke Tenuta was claimed because I don't think Luke Tenuta is really that guy either. But with Dennis Kelly coming back, and even though he'll be out probably for a couple weeks, I'm guessing, at a minimum, I mean, he still has not practiced since that knee injury. I would honestly assume that Luke Tanuta is going to basically be the backup right tackle until Dennis Kelly's back. And then I would honestly guess that they're going to waive Tanuta. That's just me throwing that out there.

Starting point is 00:06:36 I think he's kind of just, again, like their Will Holden guy for a couple weeks until Dennis Kelly's back. But once Kelly gets back, I'm not as concerned you know you have two good tackles backing up and then you have a versatile interior guy and then worst case scenario you could just move Matt Pryor down to somewhere on the interior offensive line and put Ryman there at left tackle so I'm not too concerned about the depth on the O-line but I understand people being concerned because when you see you know 20 snaps in a career zero snaps in a career it is kind of concerning but I I think once Dennis Kelly's healthy, this interior depth is probably the strongest the Colts have had

Starting point is 00:07:11 in a couple years. I mean, Chris Reed was great last year and so was Matt Pryor, but besides that, it was pretty poor. Going back a couple years, they haven't had this much depth, I think, again, once Dennis Kelly comes back, maybe since like 2018-2019 yeah and on the flip side of it at defensive line that's we we share the same concern that that is concern number one uh Ballard acknowledged you know Buckner and Stewart it's probably unrivaled as a duo and in terms of interior defensive tackles but behind that again he said all the right things they like who they've got but I felt he's I felt like he sounded more open to adding guys there he made it seem like they're always actively looking at it to add more not that they're not at other positions but it

Starting point is 00:07:58 seemed more of a priority to to get get more guys in there and I think he understands that like yes Chris Williams and Curtis Brooks are on the practice squad for me it's an injury thing with Williams Brooks there's an obvious reason he's there he's just not quite ready um but yeah they like the D-line depth but it seems like it's still something they're probably going to look at yeah no I like the defensive end depth I don't really feel the need to make any changes there. I mean, unless like, you know, a star player would become available all of a sudden or whatever, but I still would, I still like rolling with this defensive end depth, but yeah, defensive tackle, we've talked about a lot as off season, they need another defensive tackle. I'm not going to feel good if they go into week one with Grover Buckner and then the two backups

Starting point is 00:08:42 being Eric Johnson and, and Byron Coward. So, I mean, I'm hoping that they'll add another guy, but if not, you know, I hope Grover and Buckner play most of the game. I think those couple of snaps as other guys see might be pretty bad on the interior. Yeah. That's kind of foreshadowing into a segment we're going to have later on for me. But my last little nugget I had from his, his thing is every time we talk to Chris, someone's got to ask about T.Y. Hilton. Wait, I got to ask real quick.

Starting point is 00:09:09 Wait, is it the same guy every time asking? You don't have to say names. No, not usually. Someone just almost always has to ask just because it's always out there. Until there's a resolution and he retires or comes back, I think we're just going to keep it. I just picture someone kicking the door in and being like, what about T.Y. Hilton? Tell me about T.Y. Because it seems like every time we have to get a T.Y. Hilton question.

Starting point is 00:09:32 Yeah. But I will say, and the only reason I'm bringing this up today is because it seems a little different this time around. So here's what Ballard said. He was obviously asked about it. He said, as for T.Y., do I think T.Y. can still play? Absolutely, I do. I'm never going to shut the door on it, but right now I like our group and we like our group. That echoes pretty much what they've said all offseason, but to me,

Starting point is 00:09:57 that sounds, at this point, it sounds like, no, we like our group. This is our group. It's who we're rolling forward with. I'm not closing the door on it because if something happens to this group, we'd love to have someone familiar like TY. But this just seemed more like a moving on thing to me. I don't know. Again, the door's not closed because if someone gets hurt, they want to have that option. Right. I mean, we said all off season, you don't want to bring in a vet during camp because you want to give these young kids a chance to shine. Right. Just give them that chance. And in that in camp, we saw Alec Pierce grow every day. Reggie Wayne's throwing praise at him, I think, in the media today talking about how they've ironed some things out.

Starting point is 00:10:36 He looked good in the preseason. Paris Campbell had a good camp. Ashton Doolin had a strong camp. And then Des Patman and Mike Strong came on really well late in the preseason so you gave these young guys all of camp to show that they belonged and then they showed that they belonged at least in terms of camp and preseason so there's no need to bring in T.Y. Hilton right now and just like what Chris Bradley said if you like them going into the offseason there's nothing about this offseason program that said you don't like them you know they all played pretty well so I think right now the right move is to keep these young guys and see how it goes.

Starting point is 00:11:08 I mean, if it completely blows up these first couple weeks, then, yeah, by all means, go after T.Y. Hilton. Yeah. Like we all said, unless it was a disaster, someone gets hurt, then you do it. Neither of those things have happened. The young guys have cleaned things up a little bit. So, you know, is T.Y. Hilton going to be a Colton 2022?

Starting point is 00:11:25 I wouldn't bet on it, but I'll tell you what I will bet on. The Colts are opening the season as eight and a half point favorites on the road against the Houston Texans, according to BetOnline. And the game's over under is set at 46 points, which is always really enticing to me because I'm always a big fan of the over. But BetOnline.net is your number one source for all of your pro and college football betting needs and sports info this season. Find all of the latest football league developments,

Starting point is 00:11:50 game matchups, news and podcasts, including this year's opening week's games. BetOnline is also your continued source for all your sporting wagering information, including live betting, esports and scores. The fastest and easiest way to check in on all your favorite sports and events including mlb mma boxing and even golf even golf even golf the website today or use your mobile device to learn more about the trends and action bet online where the game starts all right folks so we're kind of trying to figure out a way to make this episode different other than just pounding all the roster stuff every day. So what we're going to do is we're going to look at both sides of the ball and we're each going to make a bold prediction for the season. I'll go ahead and start us out. You know, the Colts passing game.

Starting point is 00:12:42 Almost universally, everyone likes the Matt Ryan addition, but the big hangup has been, what about the receivers? Well, I'm going to say that the Colts are going to have a top 10 passing offense in, in 2022. And I think it looks like averaging about 250 passing yards per game should get you inside that top 10. They were 26 last year at 191.7, which is not great, but quarterback makes,

Starting point is 00:13:07 you know, a world of difference. That second half of the season, they were barely throwing the ball. Yeah, no kidding, no kidding. So obviously people are down on these Colts receivers for good reason. I mean, Michael Pittman Jr. is the only guy you know anything about, pretty much. Everyone else is a big question mark. But honestly, to me, it's precisely because of that, that I think this is going to work. Ryan is the type of quarterback to spread the ball around. He goes through his progressions. He makes checks before he already has a thousand yard guy and Michael Pittman Jr., which helps Alec Pierce and Paris Campbell. They can both take the top off of a defense. Campbell's dynamic with the ball in his hand.

Starting point is 00:13:46 So is Kylan Granson. Mo Alleycock seems to be just a chunk play machine. I feel like a lot of his catches are at least 15 yards. He always finds himself wide open somehow or sheds that first tackler. You'd be hard pressed to find a better pass catching duo than Naheem Hines and Jonathan Taylor, especially with the ball in their hands in terms of running backs. And then the whole group has plenty of size for contested catches and the red zone. So I just think mixing all those guys together, you don't have like a pair of dominant guys. You're not you don't have A.J. Brown and and Devontae Smith or Mike

Starting point is 00:14:25 Evans and Chris Godwin Ryan's gonna spread the ball around and it'll result in them being a top 10 passing offense were they I mean I know you might have to look this up here but were they a top 10 passing offense with Phillip Rivers was he top 10 in passing yards that year oh that's a good question you can look it up you can can look it up while I filled some space here. But I actually like that projection. You say some words and I'll look that up. Yeah. I like that projection, man. But, you know, we want to get a little hotter here, Jake.

Starting point is 00:14:52 Let's push this. You know, top eight, top six, top five. Let's push it. Let's say top seven because they're not super reliant on the past. So I don't want to say they're going to be top five or anything. All right. All right. We'll take it.

Starting point is 00:15:06 We'll take top seven. I think that's more click worthy right there. We'll go top seven. But I like that prediction a lot. Again, I don't know if we'll see many guys outside of Michael Pittman Jr. grow over like 500 yards receiving this year. But I do think we'll see a lot of guys in that 300, 400, 500 yards. A lot of guys getting decent receiving numbers because they just see a lot of guys in that 300, 400, 500 yards. You know, a lot of guys getting decent receiving numbers

Starting point is 00:15:27 because they just have a lot of parts. You know, it's not a lot of amazing parts, but it's a lot of parts that can operate in this offense. But do you have the Phillip Rivers numbers? Was he top 10? Yeah, so they were 11th with Phillip Rivers, but at 253.3 yards per game. So in 2021, that would have been top 10.

Starting point is 00:15:47 And now you have Matt Ryan with a stronger arm. So, right. Yeah. And a similar cast of characters to throw to. Right. And again, Phillip Rivers, it took a good bit for that offense to click. It took.

Starting point is 00:15:57 That didn't click till midway through the season. Right. And he didn't have like his, his leading receiver was 600 yards that year. And Zach Paschal. Right. Zach Paschal. So they didn't have a Michael Pittman Jr. Didn't have a like his leading receiver was 600 yards that year. It was Pascal, wasn't it? Right, Zach Pascal. So they didn't have a Michael Pittman Jr. They didn't have a running back.

Starting point is 00:16:09 I mean, Jonathan Taylor was on the team, but he wasn't Jonathan Taylor until the second half of the year. So, yeah, no, I like it. I like it. I do think that they can be a top 10. I'm going to hold you to top seven. So we'll do that. Mine, I want to go a little hotter, just slightly hotter, I guess.

Starting point is 00:16:23 It's not super high. I know we've been talking about this all offseason, but I'm going to focus mine on 19 hines. And I'm going to say 80 catches this year. 80? 80 catches. I said 75 to you earlier. We're going to go with 80.

Starting point is 00:16:36 And I was looking at it because in my mind I was like, I didn't know how to process it. I was like, oh, is 80 catches like fringe record wise? Like I didn't know how many catches were, so I was looking, oh, is 80 catches fringe record-wise? I didn't know how many running back catches were, so I was looking at it. And 80 catches outside of last year. Last year, that would have been by far and away the most catches by a running back. It would have beat it by, I think, six last year. But in years before that, it would have been top two, top three receiving back in the NFL.

Starting point is 00:17:02 We're talking Alvin Kamara, James White's always up there, and J.D. McKissick hit 80 a couple years ago as well. And I think Naeem Hines can do that. I mean, again, we're talking, you know, if we're just basing this off like the Phillip Rivers season, because that's kind of what we're both doing with our predictions here. The Phillip Rivers season, he caught 64 passes. And in that offense, he was was mostly he was almost exclusively running back

Starting point is 00:17:26 you know he wasn't really lined up a receiver that much this offseason we've seen him line up a receiver we saw that they had that heavy increase in him going out of receiver last year to get those two running back sets so i think we're going to see so much more naeem hines on the field that him averaging i think he only needs to average i think it's like 4.6 or 4.7 catches a game to get to 80. I think that's very realistic for him. I could see him averaging around five catches a game in this offense because they're going to want to give him the ball. Heck, he had five catches, I think, in the first preseason game this year against the Bills, and that was in like 12 snaps.

Starting point is 00:18:00 So I think 80 catches is definitely doable for Naeem Hines, and I think, you know, I can see it maybe even going higher than that, but I'm going to stick at 80 right now. I think 80 is a good number. But I think we're going to see a lot of Naeem Hines this season. I really liked that too. Cause there's, again, I think we both assume there's so many different ways they're going to use them, especially with Jonathan Taylor on the field at the same time. I can just picture now shotgun play action or you know fake a handoff to taylor and here comes naheem running out of the slot or something that'll they'll do a lot with that i can see 75 80 balls 80 i'll go ahead and

Starting point is 00:18:37 do it just just to make it a little hotter like you said yeah but no i you and i both expect big things i i think he definitely sets a new personal best. The 63 just seems like a footnote at this point. Right. But, yeah, that seems like a given. Plus, I think the boxes will be crowded a little more. So especially on plays where Taylor is in there with him too, I see Hines getting the ball a lot in those situations.

Starting point is 00:19:01 Yeah, there will be some tap passes, some screens and stuff like that. And just plays, you know, like we've seen with what we saw with the Andrew Luck season where there will literally be drives in the two-minute drill where he's catching four or five passes because the defense is dropping back 10 yards and he's catching it you know a little two yard pass out the backfield and running for like four or five and then the offense is getting back up and they're doing that again you know like that's what Andrew Luck was doing all year in 2018 and how Hines got up to 63 catches that season without really playing as many snaps. So, yeah, I'm feeling pretty comfortable about our our bold takes there.

Starting point is 00:19:32 But if we're talking some comfort, guys, let's talk about home field. I mean, I'm wearing my home field right now, and this is the most comfortable shirt that I own. Guys, if you haven't gone over to home field yet to grab some of their new merch from the partnership with the Colts, what are you doing? Home Field is a premium collegiate apparel brand out of Indy with incredibly comfortable, officially licensed apparel with vintage college designs. However, being a local brand, the Colts reached out to Home Field for an exclusive partnership to launch this collection of Home Field Colts apparel. This is Home Field's first NFL collection, and they are killing it so far. Home Field and the Colts worked together exclusively to make this co-branded collection, bringing Indianapolis together.

Starting point is 00:20:10 The collection has six items, a hoodie, a crew neck, a pair of t-shirts, a pair of joggers and a jacket. It's the perfect collection to kick off the season. So if you need something to wear this season, look no further than the collection. It is now live. So you guys can go to home field right now and get your uh get your colts gear take from us home field hook both of us up with some of their apparel and i can't tell you how comfortable it is i mean i'm again i'm wearing mine again right now i i wash it and then i wear it all week you know i wash it every night and

Starting point is 00:20:36 wear it the rest of the week whenever i get home especially now that we're getting into the the colder months and stuff like that i can actually pull off wearing this without sweating. Plus the designs are really cool and I have no problem wearing this shirt whenever and wherever. New customers can get 15% off their first purchase from home field with code locked on Colts at checkout at homefieldapparel.com. All right, Jake, let's jump to defense. And I know both of us have our bold predictions are actually going to be involving the Colts, probably two of their top three defenders. So I'll kick it off with mine on this one. I am going to say Stephon Gilmore returns to the all pro scene in 2021 or 2022, not 2021, 2022. Stephon Gilmore is an all pro yet again this season.

Starting point is 00:21:28 And my reasoning is, you know, again, 2020 was not a great season for him with the Patriots. And that's what led to him getting cut. He was obviously dealing with injuries that year, but we're talking, you know, three years ago, Stephon Gilmore was a defensive player of the year, first team all pro. He comes back last year with a different team,

Starting point is 00:21:44 steps in and plays really well i mean we're talking 80 completion percent or 80 percent uh passer rating when targeted uh one of the better you know better corners in the league when he right when he came back on the field he immediately stepped into that panthers team and became their quarterback one uh now he gets to a new system a system that he's going to perform pretty well and because he's going to have that single high safety he's gonna be left on an in because he's going to have that single high safety. He's going to be left on an island. And by all accounts, from you guys and from everybody there in camp,

Starting point is 00:22:14 Stephon Gilmore was the best player on this Colts defense in camp, like by far and away from everything that you guys said. And then we even got to see him a little bit against Mike Evans in this past preseason game. He looked good. I mean, he looked really good against Mike Evans, who's a really good receiver. So I don't know. I'm buying it, man. against Mike Evans, who's a really good receiver. So I don't know. I'm buying it, man.

Starting point is 00:22:26 Again, as someone who's a big cornerback guy, growing up when I grew up and stuff like that, you're watching football. Stephon Gilmore is the teach tape technician. He's the guy that you're watching to study how a cornerback should play football. And seeing where he was just three years ago and then seeing how he's looked in camp and how he looked late last season even,

Starting point is 00:22:47 I don't think there's that much of a difference between his 2019 play and where he could be here in 2022. So I'm not going to say defensive player of the year, but I do think it's very realistic that we see him jump back into the all-pro scene here in 2022. And, you know, the Colts, they get a lot of all pros, a lot of all pro votes, you know, for a small market team, you know, Shaquille Leonard, DeForest Buckner, Ashton Doolin was an all pro last year, Jonathan Taylor, Quinton Nelson, you know, they get a lot of all pro votes here. So if Stephon Gilmore comes away with, you know,

Starting point is 00:23:18 four or five picks, has a nice little completion percentage against, I could definitely see him being an all pro here in 2022. I think that's certainly a possibility. I think his name still carries some weight. I feel like people's cornerback ratings vary so much, but there's always the same names around there. And I don't think people would be, he's a little older, of course, he's over 30, but I don't think people would be afraid to consider him still one of the best. And as I've described him throughout the summer, I've tried to stay away from saying he looks like the 2019 version of himself just to, I guess, avoid sounding fanatical.

Starting point is 00:23:57 But like, man, he really looks like a lockdown corner and not just that, but he makes plays on the ball. So he takes guys away. And when he is tested tested he's he's getting rid of the ball right so i mean he's tough he'll he'll get his nose dirty and he'll tackle we saw against mike evans he's gonna play physical i have no problem with that one whatsoever and i i think it'll be refreshing for people to see oh yeah he does still have it was just you know he had a year and a half or so where he was banged up. Right, right. Yeah. I really do think that, I mean, again, Shaquille Leonard's going to steal the show. The Forest Buckner is going to steal the show when they're out there,

Starting point is 00:24:33 but Stephon Gilmore is probably the most important player on the defense this year, because if you're going to play more man, if you're going to play more man, if you're going to play, you know, up in receivers faces a little bit more, you need that lockdown guy and that's what stefan gilmore is so i'm i'm fully buying him having a big season this year i almost said i almost just went with pro bowl for this but you know what i'm gonna go really bold here i really do think all pro is realistic for him yeah mine involves another all pro so it wouldn't be bold for me to say he's going to be an all pro again, but there's been a lot of attention on the Colts defensive line with Yannick

Starting point is 00:25:08 and Gawkway getting, you know, they acquired him in a trade there. You expect a big jump in year two from Quitty pay, but I think it's going to be DeForest Buckner that leads the team in sacks still. And I think he's going over 10 sacks. I think he's getting into the double digits.

Starting point is 00:25:29 It's, it's not far fetched to say that an interior guy's gonna do that you know Cameron Hayward and Aaron Donald both did it we've seen Gino Atkins, Jaron Reed, Fletcher Cox, Goliath Campbell, Chris Jones had a incredible sack streak Buckner himself had 12 in 2018 I think that's when San Fran went to the Super Bowl. So despite the fact that Yannick Ngakwe is going to be the guy everyone thinks is going to lead in sacks, and Quidipe seems to be the second choice, I think it's Buckner that's really going to, they're all going to do well, don't get me wrong, but I think it's Buckner that's really going to feast in this new defensive front. I think having Ngakwe and Pei playing even better is going to be beneficial for them. They are going to have to, they're going to command attention.

Starting point is 00:26:11 You know, someone's going to get double teams. Not to mention Grover Stewart might be playing out of his mind. And the push that he gets up the interior can open up space for Buckner to get through. And, you know, his duties, I guess guess aren't to think as much he's just supposed to go attack and get into the backfield so i think all those things together are going to result in him well we'll say he'll get another all pro crown with it but he's going to have 11 12 sacks and be an all pro and he'll he'll lead the team all right j. Let's just push this a little bit more again. I'm going to push you a little bit hotter. Outside of Aaron Donald, DeForest Buckner leads the NFL in defensive tackle,

Starting point is 00:26:51 like sacks as a defensive tackle. Oh, yeah. That's fine. Okay. Let's push that. There we go. See, you need to be more controversial, Jake. I'm going to teach you how to be a little more controversial here.

Starting point is 00:27:03 Just saying DeForest Buckner double-digit sacks, that's bold. It's bold, but we want to go controversial. Not named Aaron Donald, DeForest Buckner is the best defensive tackle in football. That's what we need to say right there. Okay. Okay. I got you. I'm not as spicy as you. I get that. You're not used to the hate, Jake. I was born in the hate. I was raised in the hate. That's middle child syndrome. I'm a people pleaser. This is the oldest child here. But no, I really like it.

Starting point is 00:27:32 I mean, the Forrest Buckner, again, getting back to a scheme. You know, it's a defensive front scheme that's going to be very similar to where he saw a lot of his great success with the 49ers. You know, like you mentioned, he had 12 sacks with the 49ers. Robert Sala. I think it's Robert Sala, that's how you say his name. Sala, Sale, Sala, Sala. Yeah, whatever. Robert Sala, you guys can roast me on Twitter for that. His defensive front is, you know, it came from his,

Starting point is 00:27:56 from learning under Gus Bradley. You know, those guys obviously worked together for years. And a lot of what Sala was doing with Buckner is a lot of what Gus Bradley is going to want to do with him too. So I think you're going to see him kind of get back to that strength that he was at with the 49ers, where I'm not saying that he was better with the Niners. He's actually been more productive. You look at pressures and just him being more disruptive with the Colts, but he was more efficient. He was more effective with the 49ers and and he was just more again just kind of

Starting point is 00:28:27 more productive in terms of sacks and and those impact plays you know with the colts it seems like he's kind of hot and cold you know when the matt eberflug scheme but when that robert sala scheme with the 49ers it was just 100 miles per hour all the time and that's what we're going to see with gus bradley so uh saying deforest buckner will be second among all defensive tackles and sacks this year, because obviously you've got to have Aaron Donald in his own tier. I mean, Aaron Donald's a cheat code. I can totally see that. I mean, I know Jeffrey Simmons is going to obviously push for that as well.

Starting point is 00:28:54 But yeah, DeForest Buckner, I think he's going to have a huge season. And this should be the best supporting cast he's been around since that 2018 49ers defense. They had Eric Armstead, Nick Bosa. I mean, Yannick Ngakwe, Quitty Payne, Grover Stewart. Dee Ford, yeah. You can look at it however you want, but that will be beneficial to him because of, again, the attention that other guys command. I think that's it for today, guys.

Starting point is 00:29:20 We'll be back with you on Monday as we begin our very first official game week with you guys. That's right. It'll officially be week one as the Colts get ready to take on the Houston Texans. Make sure you guys are following us for all that Houston Texans coverage at JakeArthurNFL there on Twitter, at ZachHicks2 on Twitter, follow our written work at HorseshoeHuddle.com. Subscribe to our YouTube channel. Guys, tomorrow evening, I think I put it for 7 p.m. Eastern time, I'll be going live to answer some of your guys' questions

Starting point is 00:29:50 and then change my header on Twitter as well. So you guys are going to be able to see all of that live. We're going to have a good time. You guys can ask me whatever you want. It can be about football, about the channel, about anything. You know, just jump in. Obviously be respectful or I will kick you from the chat. But, you know, for the most part, you guys can just jump in.

Starting point is 00:30:07 We're going to have a good time. You know, we're going to have fun. Because, again, you guys have got us to 1,000 subs in less than two months. You know, that's something to celebrate. We're almost at 1,100 now. Yeah, almost at 1,100. So you guys have been killing it. We love you guys so much.

Starting point is 00:30:19 And thanks again for making Locked On Culture First listen every day. Make sure you check out the Ultimate Pro Football Preview starting August 31st. An eight-episode extravaganza to get you ready for the NFL season. The local team experts of the Locked On Podcast Network and Audacity NFL Insiders finding into one Ultimate NFL Preview.

Starting point is 00:30:38 Starting August 31st, search your Ultimate Pro Football Preview 2022 on your Audacity app, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. We will see you guys on Monday.

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