Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Bright Future for Anthony Richardson, Shane Steichen Lead Bye Week Reflections

Starting point is 00:00:00 The new era of Indianapolis Colts football hasn't exactly started the way that we all expected, but there's reason for optimism nonetheless. Let's get to it. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. All right. Thanks for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And today's show is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs, which helps you find the qualified candidates that you want to talk to faster.

Starting point is 00:00:49 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. What is up, everybody? This is Jake Arthur of horseshoehuddledle.com and we're diving deeper into the buy week this week on today's show again we're reflecting on how the season has unfolded from you know going all the way back to the draft and free agency and everything to now look at the offensive side of the ball some of the main sticking points defensive side of the ball

Starting point is 00:01:21 and then what are some of the main questions that are yet to be answered? But there's still kind of the burning questions that we need. It feels like we need to know answers as soon as possible, even if they're going to have to wait. But looking at the offense first, some of the big things that have popped out to me, there's reason to believe that rookie quarterback Anthony Richardson is the guy. Now, we only got a sample size of four starts from him before we were kind of robbed of that by a season ending shoulder injury. But the guy is exciting and you can see the stark difference in the offense when he's in there versus when he is not. When Gardner Minshew is in there, the passing game is a lot more compressed. It might be a little quicker at times and definitely shorter,

Starting point is 00:02:07 but it just clearly has its limitations. It's not been as explosive as we thought it might be, obviously. The run game as a result has suffered as well because defenses are just kind of loading up the front, preparing for Jonathan Taylor and Zach Moss and saying, Gardner-Menshew, you beat us. And it just really hasn't gone all that well. The Colts are 5-5. It's been a mixed bag. But the offense really has not been the reason that they're there,

Starting point is 00:02:36 at least not the passing game. Minshew has done some nice things. I don't want to take that away. But you can kind of clearly see the difference from just look at the Rams game, for instance, when Anthony Richardson just getting harassed the whole game, but was just making some superhuman plays, brought them back from, you know, a 20 plus point deficit. Those are things you're just really only going to see from a guy like Richardson, who's physically capable of being a home run hitter with his legs and his arm. So, so far, if the guy can stay healthy, there's, there's been plenty of discourse and debate so far

Starting point is 00:03:11 of whether, you know, the injuries are going to be a trend for him moving forward or if they've just been freak things. But regardless, you hope in 2024, when he's back out there, just to see a new slate, everything just in the rearview mirror, the guy taking a step forward and hopefully staying healthy because he was considered a really raw project player coming into the NFL. But he proved to be far ahead of where a lot of people thought he would be. Really myself included was it was a pleasant surprise. The guy improved his passing completion up to 59 and a half that's not great of course but people thought you know the the 52

Starting point is 00:03:51 percent or whatever it was at Florida that he'd be a disaster in the NFL as a passer and that hasn't been the case 6.9 yards per attempt is not bad for a rookie especially when a couple of those games in there things the field was field was, again, really compressed, and they were making him throw short, you know, putting that shell defense out there, the cover two stuff, just kind of trying to take away the deep shots. Seven total touchdowns rushing and passing to two total turnovers, fumbles lost, and interceptions.

Starting point is 00:04:23 That is a really great ratio considering what we've seen since then uh he is he also averaged 34 rushing yards per game uh so the guy whether he's gonna take off and into this just total you know huge sky high thing that remains to be seen but at the same time it still looks like like it's going to be pretty exciting, pretty productive football if he is able to be out there for a full slate of games last year. So I think Richardson is going to be the guy, personally, from what we've seen, if he could stay healthy. Shane Steichen and him seem to be on the same page. Steichen was really able to do some interesting things with just the small sample size. Looking at another thing that is

Starting point is 00:05:05 going to be a big factor in all of this moving forward as well, the Colts offensive line in the run game is back. Last year, that was not the case. Really patchwork stuff going on early, some musical chairs just led to the whole offense kind of imploding. They figured things out about midway through the year, got their starting lineup in place. Bernard Grime in left tackle, Will Fry's right guard. Those guys have been playing really, really outstanding football. And now it is zero question of who the Colts proper starting five offensive line should be. And they've been playing at a really high level. Jonathan Taylor, of course, missed the first handful of games with the whole ankle thing, the holdout.

Starting point is 00:05:48 Whatever it was, whoever's telling the truth, doesn't matter anymore. But he got his new contract. He's healthy now. And even without him out there, Zach Moss was just churning yards out, missed the first game, but still became one of the league's top leading rushers. I think he topped out at the number two leading rusher. And just to kind of show you how effective this run game has been, he still right now is the NFL's fifth leading rusher, despite only having one game with 10 plus

Starting point is 00:06:18 touches in the last three weeks. So the guy has basically been put on the back burner with Jonathan Taylor's ascension, but still ranks in the top five in rushing. That's how much he was just killing it when he first got out there. And again, missed the first game of the year. That guy was on fire, and that offensive line was a huge part of the whole thing right there. The Colts are 10th in rushing right now, despite opposing defenses, knowing that they want to run the ball, knowing that Jonathan Taylor and Zach Moss are back there and loading up to stop them. The Colts still ranked number 10. So that's really been a positive thing to see. 22 sacks allowed. That's not great. 10 games in, you know, obviously that's a little over two sacks per game,

Starting point is 00:07:02 but that is in the middle of the league. Again, not great, not terrible. It is what it is. Anthony Richardson, for what it's worth, is a lot better at avoiding sacks than Gardner Minshew was. Minshew at times has struggled to identify the blitz coming at him. His peripheral vision has not been all that great. So would they have 22 sacks if it would be Richardson this whole time? Probably not to that point. But again, the number itself is not terrible. There's teams in much, much, much worse

Starting point is 00:07:31 shape. So I'll take it. Up next, Michael Pittman Jr. I think he's earned a contract extension so far. I thought the passing game was going to be a lot more evenly distributed going into this thing. You know, Alec Pierce taking a step up the tight ends, being a really deep group. You got Jonathan Taylor, Zach Moss, Josh Downs has now been in there. But still, Michael Pittman Jr. has dominated the passing game. His 98 targets leads the team by 38. His 66 receptions leads by 23 and his 677 receiving yards leads the team by 154. So the guy is on fire, on pace for a career year, on pace for 112 receptions for 1150 yards and five touchdowns. So I think the guy has deserved a new deal, a new extension.

Starting point is 00:08:26 When and if that will come, who knows? It would probably be wise for the Colts not to let him hit the open market because that price tag is just going to go up once free agency rolls around next spring and then the Colts have a few young pass catchers who I'm intrigued back I think they've got some things Josh Downs obviously has been great ranks within or right around the top five in the nfl rookies in receiving and pretty much everything 43 receptions for 523 yards and a pair of touchdowns uh drew ogletree has been banged up a lot of the year but has come out there and has been pretty good as a blocker especially a run blocker. Only nine catches so far, but all of them, except for one, have gone for a first down or touchdown. It's obviously great to see he's a big play threat.

Starting point is 00:09:11 13.6 average depth of target, which means the Colts are looking at him downfield. He's a field stretcher. He is a dynamic player, so definitely someone that you'd like to see more of moving forward. And then Will Mallory, even a smaller sample size, just four catches so far, but 62 yards. He's got two first downs out of those four catches. That guy just looks natural catching the ball. I really want to see more of him going forward. He seems to be able to create yards after the catch. He can high point the ball.

Starting point is 00:09:44 He's competitive, just has a feel for how to yards after the catch. He can high point the ball. He's competitive. Just has a feel for how to move around the field and keep that momentum rolling both before the catch in and out of his breaks and after it. So he seems like a really smooth player. And for the tight end position, that sometimes can be a position around the NFL that is kind of lacking in terms of athletes that can actually make things happen. So coming up next, we're going to look at the defensive side of the ball and some things that have really stuck out to me.

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Starting point is 00:12:22 Again, really exciting news for the Locked On Network here. Do a big thing, so follow along with us. All right, but I digress. Let's look at the defensive side of the ball. This is definitely the unit that we all thought would be the more reliable bunch. You know, second year with Gus Bradley, a lot more veterans on it. Although the secondary, very, very young group, but we'll get to that in a second. First big thing that has stuck out to me, Zyre Franklin, just a couple years ago,

Starting point is 00:12:50 went from being an insurance policy and a special teams ace, not just a guy, but it wouldn't be the end of the world if he had gone somewhere else in free agency, to now he's a critical piece of the defense. This guy, especially against the run, is just someone who the Colts need to have out there. somewhere else in free agency to now he's a critical piece of the defense uh this guy especially against the run is just someone who the colts need to have out there because we've seen you know shaquille leonard is not entrusted with those responsibilities when zyra franklin's out we've seen franklin miss a game recently and leonard did not really absorb all those snaps

Starting point is 00:13:21 uh sagoon luby is a nice player as a backup, but he's not Zyra Franklin. Just the instincts, the power, the tackling ability. He doesn't really miss a lot of tackles either, but the guy is just incredible. His first full year last year as a full-time starter, broke the franchise record for tackles with 167. He's almost certainly going to do it again this year. He's on pace for about 200 tackles with 167. He's almost certainly going to do it again this year. He's on pace for about 200 tackles. He has averaged 13 tackles in the games that he has played so far. And in order to break the record again, he's only going to need to average 7.3.

Starting point is 00:13:58 So tackles, again, aren't everything and it can be kind of a bloated stat, but it is still impressive nonetheless. And it shows he's always around the ball and attacking. And again, his power, he's always going for the strip as well. He's become a vital piece of that Colts defense, especially considering what they have to fill in when he is not there. That's not to diminish anybody else necessarily, but he has been head and shoulders above the rest. He's been a really, really big-time player for them.

Starting point is 00:14:29 Something else that's been refreshing, some of their stars, for the most part, have really, really been playing like stars. Kenny Moore having a totally resurgent year. It was really disappointing last year. He was banged up, and then he just wasn't into the scheme mentally. There were some challenges, to say the least. It was rocky, and we all kind of thought it was a foregone conclusion that he wouldn't even be here this season, that he'd either be cut or traded, and that didn't happen.

Starting point is 00:14:56 He kind of bought in once again and is having one of the finest seasons of his career. So far, he's got, I think it's a career-high seven tackles for loss with seven games remaining, one and a half sacks, three interceptions. Of course, he took two of those back for touchdowns against the Panthers. So he's just been really, really good. DeForest Buckner as well. He never fell off.

Starting point is 00:15:18 But last year, he dealt with just a litany of injuries. That guy was constantly banged up, played through it for the most part, did what he could, but he's having another DeForest Buckner-style season. Again, he's been on a really, really hot streak lately, especially the last couple games. He's got seven tackles for loss and five sacks on the season. He has just been a menace with the Colts missing Grover Stewart six games for that PED suspension. Buckner's really stepped it up. The Colts missing Grover Stewart. Six games for that PED suspension. Buckner's really stepped it up. The Colts have been still kind of victimized on the ground a little bit.

Starting point is 00:15:51 Buckner can't do everything, but he has definitely stepped up and done more than his part. A couple of other guys that have really stood out. They're not established stars, but they're kind of up-and-coming guys, I guess you could say. Julian Blackman having one of the first really extensive healthy season seasons of his career, five tackles for loss for him already three interceptions,

Starting point is 00:16:14 five pass breakups. That guy out of his strong safety position has been really good. He's very, very instinctive just knows the game of football knows offenses. And from that, that strong safety position where he can keep so much ahead of him and just kind of diagnose everything he's seeing, not having to worry about covering the back portion as much, I think it's been a really, really great fit.

Starting point is 00:16:36 Quiddie Paye has taken yet another step. Only four and a half sacks so far. I mean, that's not bad. You'd probably like to see it be a little higher at this point. But five and a half tackles for loss as well. Two fumbles recovered, which is really nice, but he has been an absolute stud against the run, which of course is not as sexy, but it is a vital part of the defense. His efforts against the run are great. Pro football focus has him with a 76.0 grade in run defense. In the NFL total, that's 15th overall among all defensive linemen and 11th among edge defenders.

Starting point is 00:17:12 So he is among the best in the league when it comes to stopping a run. And then my last section on the defense, obviously a big youth movement, especially in the back end. It looks promising, I think. Now, there have been some guys that have gotten bagged up, of course, but when they've been out there, they've really shown what they've got. Juju Brents, especially. The Colts have missed him.

Starting point is 00:17:35 That guy went from not being able to sniff the field the first couple weeks to being a really, really important member of the secondary. He went out with a quad injury kind of week to week at this point. We'll see if he's able to get on the practice field next week when the Colts return to practice out of the Buccaneers. But they missed him big time when he went out. We obviously had the Tony Brown game against the Saints. Tony Brown trying to fill in for Brents.

Starting point is 00:18:01 Darryl Baker Jr. is someone who had a really, really nice summer He was one of the talks at training camp When the season got here, definitely had a rough patch Did not go very well He just kind of hit a skid But these last couple weeks We had, again, Tony Brown game against the Saints Darryl Baker Jr. comes in over the last two weeks

Starting point is 00:18:22 Against the Panthers and Patriots, and those are pretty bad offenses overall, but Baker has not been the liability that he was earlier in the season that Tony Brown was for that game against the Saints. So he's kind of smoothed things out a little bit, and maybe it's a sign of things to come. Obviously, when Juju Brents gets back, you want to see him resume his role, but Brents and Baker are guys who've shown some things. Jalen Jones has been a fixture in the starting lineup for a while now. Dallas Flowers was injured, lost for the season with an Achilles

Starting point is 00:18:56 injury. He was another player that was showing some nice things. So all of these guys have kind of had to fill in for each other at certain points or are playing now because of injuries to each other. But those four quarterbacks, Juju Brents, Jalen Jones, Dallas Flowers, and Daryl Baker Jr., those are all guys who I would say their arrow is pointing up. Again, Dallas Flowers, unfortunately, his season ended early because of the Achilles injury. But he was playing some good football before he went down. And then some guys who have not had as big of roles as the guys we just mentioned.

Starting point is 00:19:31 They're kind of seeing modest roles and are starting to turn things up a little bit, doing some nice things. They've got some things to work on, of course. Defensive tackles, Eric Johnson and Adetomi Adebware. Obviously, with Grover Stewart being out, those two guys have asked to do a little more. And Eric Johnson going into his second year was kind of a Grover Stewart type of project. Really big athletic player coming out of a really small school was probably going to take two, three years to really start to hit his stride. Obviously, year two, he started to look better. When he was out as well with an ankle injury, small school was probably going to take two three years to really start to hit his stride obviously

Starting point is 00:20:05 year two he's starting to look better when he was out as well with an ankle injury you noticed because the colts were getting attacked in the middle of the defense even more uh when johnson was out while filling in for stewart so uh johnson has been a big help against the run out of bar is doing a little bit of everything. Again, super athletic guy. He has no business being that athletic for as big as he is, but he's done some really nice things. He has made some flashy tackles in a sack recently as well. So that's a guy whose arrow is up. Saguna Luby, someone I mentioned a little bit earlier, has been entrusted to be the backup Mike linebacker, which, you know,

Starting point is 00:20:45 talking to linebackers coach Richard Smith and assistant coach Kato June just in the summer and into the season, that is a big responsibility. I mean, that's Zaire Franklin's spot. And again, it's not like Shaquille Leonard or anyone that they're putting in there. Saguna Luby is a second year player, really athletic guy, packs a punch, flies around, can make some plays, misses some tackles for sure. But the team really likes what they have in him, and you can see there's something there. He's definitely – he needs some polish, and he's not a finished product,

Starting point is 00:21:17 but that guy is playing a little better. Same with Isaiah Land, a defensive end that they picked up off the waiver wire earlier in the season, late in the offseason, I think around waiver cut time. But he was a healthy scratch throughout most of the beginning of the year, has finally started to see more playing time these last several weeks. You've probably noticed him quite a bit. He seems that he can kind of collapse that pocket a little bit. The numbers really aren't there yet, but I've noticed him present at the backfield at times. Again, he's not a finished product and he's not seeing a ton of playing time yet, but that's a guy who I

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Starting point is 00:23:39 All right, guys, so I know you have questions related to this Colts team. So do I. I'll be honest. One of them, I'm just going to kind of go just the ones that have been kind of plaguing me the most throughout the season. One of them, are we looking at near the end for Shaquille Leonard is a big thing. I don't have the numbers here in front of me, but I know financially they have an out in that huge contract that makes a lot of financial sense. They could save dozens of millions of dollars if they decide to move on from him at the end of this season. And it's something they're really going to have to consider. Because if you look at it, he's played in nine of their 10 games so far,

Starting point is 00:24:19 but he's only had three games where he's played at least 80% of the snaps. And this is a guy who used to never leave the field. He was on the field 100% of the snaps. And this is a guy who used to never leave the field. He was on the field 100% of the snaps. Has not done that yet this year. On average, he plays 70.3% of the snaps. He's obviously been very vocal about his diminished role lately. Whether it's just a matter of not seeing that explosive player on film or just a lack of splash plays,

Starting point is 00:24:46 which is something he alluded to a couple weeks ago. He's just, you know, there's not a lot of action there on third downs. They're just going for guys instead like Zyre Franklin, EJ Speed, obviously, and even Saguna Luby. So that's not a great sign for him. I'll be honest, at that price tag, you know, about $20 million a year. That's a guy who needs to be out there all the time making plays. And on his argument, it's, well, I can't do that if I'm not playing all the time.

Starting point is 00:25:16 And on the Colts argument, it's, well, we've got these other guys who are playing a big part. And in that limited role, we need to see more from you, essentially, just to put it all in layman's terms. Just to go a little further into this, looking at pro football focus is great of Leonard. He's always been ranked decently high for them. But so far, this is easily the lowest grade of his career. He's at a 60.3 right now. I'm discounting last year because he only played in a few games. That just doesn't really count. But so far he has 65 tackles and two for loss, nothing else. You know, no pass breakups, fumbles forced, interceptions,

Starting point is 00:25:54 fumbles recovered, stacks. Like this guy was a stat sheet stuffer. And while I don't think it's totally over for him in the NFL, I'm very curious as to what his future in Indianapolis is, because it's a guy with a huge price tag who just performance wise is not living up to it. And he's showing his frustration out in the media. So I'm not sure that we've heard the last of this saga.

Starting point is 00:26:19 So keep an eye on that one. That's definitely one that I'm not alone and being curious as to how that all unfolds. Another one I'm looking at, what can you salvage of Jelani Woods' season? So this is supposed to be year two for Jelani Woods, was a rookie tight end last year. Athletic freak. I mean, everything that Anthony Richardson basically was as a quarterback prospect this year, that was Woods last year as a tight end prospect. They both graded out as the most athletic prospects at their positions entering the NFL

Starting point is 00:26:52 draft, their respective drafts ever. And unfortunately, a hamstring injury has just totally robbed Woods of what he's been able to do so far. Missed the vast majority of the offseason with the hamstring injury. Got out there for one or two practices in training camp before having it crop up again. Went on IR when the season started. And while news lately has been a little more positive, you know, he's getting there, things like that. He has not returned yet. So hopefully he can return soon because I think we all thought, what can Shane Steichen do with a physical freak like Jelani Woods?

Starting point is 00:27:31 And the season's not over. Obviously, seven more weeks. They'll hopefully eventually open up a 21-day practice window for him when they decide to either activate him from IR or just keep him on. It doesn't sound like his season is going to be over, but seven games left. When is he going to come back and what can we even see from him in that limited time? Because again, you got more mouths to feed. Drew Ogletree has been really good.

Starting point is 00:27:56 Kyler Granson's done his thing. Will Mallory, I mentioned Mo'Ally Cox is actually blocking decently well. So all these other guys have reasons to be on the field. So what can we see of Jelani Woods this season? Where's Nick Cross, guys? Where is Nick Cross? Year two, going into year two, we all said, you know, this guy needs a big summer in order to crack the lineup in his second season.

Starting point is 00:28:23 By all accounts, he's done everything right. He had an awesome summer, was easily one of the bright spots of the whole team in training camp. His practice habits and his preparation have all come up quite a bit to where the coaching staff wanted them to be. But still, this is just a defensive scheme where there's primarily only room for two safeties, and that's been Rodney Thomas and Julian Blackman. Now Blackman has been playing at a really,

Starting point is 00:28:50 really high level lately. And Thomas is kind of coming up a little bit as well. He's had a couple of interceptions in recent games, but still, I think you've got to find a way to get cross more involved. Just 18 defensive snaps this season. That's not enough. We're 10 weeks in

Starting point is 00:29:05 and it's it's a guy who you you gave up assets in the draft to trade up and get him and has done everything right in the second season to earn playing time for two years in a row now he's been relegated to primarily special teams and has been really good uh he was he was graded as at a near all pro level last year, according to Pro Football Focus and special teams grades. Right now, in 10 weeks, he ranks third in the NFL and special team stops with eight. So he's near the top again. So the guy is excelling in the role he's been given, but just is not really sniffing the field defensively. Now his role defensively is a little more consistent this year.

Starting point is 00:29:47 Last year, he started the first couple games and then was just frozen out the rest of the year, just didn't even really see any more snaps. This year, he's getting three snaps here, five snaps here, one, two. Throughout the season, he's getting a few plays here and there. I still think you just got to – you have to see what you have. He was, again, he's a very young comparable player to like Anthony Richardson in terms of you have to get this guy on the field to develop him and see what you've got. And

Starting point is 00:30:17 that's, you're just, he's not getting enough playing time. He came in the league at 20 years old. You're not going to really develop him and see what the product is going to be unless he gets on the field more consistently. And I mean, again, very, very small sample sizes, but I haven't noticed him being any detriment when he's been out there.

Starting point is 00:30:38 So we'll see maybe, maybe after this bi-week, they find a little better of a role for him. And last, there's some tough decisions looking forward to 2024 for agents. Gardner Minshew, Michael Pittman Jr., Kenny Moore, Grover Stewart, Zach Moss, Julian Blackman are some of the main ones that they're actually going to have tough decisions on. You look like Rigoberto Sanchez is a free agent as well, but that's not going to be a tough decision.

Starting point is 00:31:04 And some of these guys, it seems like an easy choice to bring them back, but Gardner Minshew, to bring him back as Anthony Richardson's backup, I'm cool with it. That's the role that he was supposed to play, but do you see any better option if another instance like this season happens where Richardson goes down and this guy's got to start the majority of the season. So that's a big toss up. Michael Pittman, Jr. I already made my argument for him. I think you do it. Kenny Moore as well. Resurgent. The slot defender is very important and he has been the constant in a young cornerback room this season that has needed stability. And he's playing at a pro-ball, all-pro level once again. Grover Stewart, his absence has really shown his value.

Starting point is 00:31:58 Now, the PED thing, I don't know how much the Colts put into that. It seems like they're on his side and that was just a mistake, that it wasn't an intentional act of trying to boost his performance, at least in terms of knowingly taking a banned substance. So that, I don't think that's going to be a big issue when it comes to them deciding if they want to resign him. Zach Moss, that's an interesting one because they just shelled out quite a bit of money to Jonathan Taylor. But do they truly envision it as a one-two punch? Because Jonathan Taylor has really kind of dominated the snaps these last couple weeks. And then Julian Blackman.

Starting point is 00:32:39 He's having his best season to date, but you have Nick Cross. There's Rodney Thomas as well. Who do you hold more value in? Do you think you can move forward with, you know, Julian Blackman, you know, thank you for the memories. Thank you for everything you've done, but we got to move on to Nick cross or, you know, is it just something, you know, you have to bring this guy back and you just figured out after, uh, that's, I think that's gonna be a really, really tough decision. And, you know,. And how does Rodney

Starting point is 00:33:06 Thomas factor into it? Because I know they have their guys, they want to play at free safety and strong safety. They feel Blackman and Cross can play both. So what does that mean in terms for Rodney Thomas? He's only going to be going into his third year and won't be a free agent. So again, tough decisions. So, uh, yeah, thanks for letting me ramble at you guys for a while here.

Starting point is 00:33:30 This was a long episode today. Uh, again, locked on has launched the first ever national sports 24 seven streaming channel on YouTube. So be sure to go over to locked on sports today and subscribe to that really cool things going on there. And if you guys don't already follow at locked on ColOnColts, at JakeArthurNFL, and at

Starting point is 00:33:48 ZachKicks2 on Twitter. Also be sure to subscribe on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts. We would love your ratings and reviews as well. And with that, we will see you guys tomorrow morning.

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