Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Brock Bowers, Cooper DeJean Buzz Heats Up During Combine

Starting point is 00:00:00 We talked to several of the most popular potential Colts draft picks today. Let's get to it. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast 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 brought to you by FanDuel. Make every moment more.

Starting point is 00:00:43 Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 if your bet wins. Visit FanDuel.com slash locked on to get started. Hello, everyone. It's Zach Hicks and Jake Arthur of the Locked On Colts podcast and obviously of HorseshoeHuddle.com. I'm your favorite film nerd over there. Jake is boots on the ground, and we kind of approached it a different way today.

Starting point is 00:01:07 Jake was in the mosh pits. He was just doing all the dirty work here at the NFL Combined Media Day Sessions. We was in the mud, y'all. We was in the mud. No, you were in the mud. I was wiping my feet off in the backside over there. It's funny because I can't feel my feet still to this moment. Yeah, I was sitting back.

Starting point is 00:01:24 I was letting Jake get in there with some of the top prospects at this event. But luckily, Jake was able to get in there with tight end Brock Bowers, with cornerback Terryon Arnold, and with cornerback Cooper Dijon. I know those are three of your guys' favorite prospects. So Jake got in there. He's going to give us a lowdown on each of these three guys. And then obviously, we're going to get some of my nerdy quips in there about how much these guys fit the Colts.

Starting point is 00:01:46 But Jake, let's start off with the man at the hour, Brock Bowers, Brock Bowers, obviously every Colts fans dream. Most, most NFL fans dream for their NFL team in this draft. Two time Mackey award winner,

Starting point is 00:01:58 a fantastic things at the college level with Georgia. And he met with the Colts today or met with the Colts the last couple of days. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, he, he has been asked if you've met with team X, Y, Z, he's met with half the teams in the league. Uh, but he did confirm that he met with the Colts. And then I followed that up with saying, you know, uh, Colts tight end coach, Tom Manning comes from the college game and he still likes a lot of college concepts uh you know what's that like meeting with someone with those kind of ideas that it's kind of an easy avenue from college into the pros and uh he was he

Starting point is 00:02:32 was really bullish on that aspect of it you know um potentially having a tight ends coach that is so forward thinking like we a lot of we saw a lot of tom manning's influence not just on the tight ends obviously but in shane steichen's offense overall this year. Yes. So he's a big fan of that. Big fan of Anthony Richardson. Because at Georgia, he obviously would see Florida play Florida. They're huge rivals.

Starting point is 00:02:56 He said he's an athletic freak. He gave Georgia's defense fits. And that's a defense that's an NFL factory. So he would be really high on playing for a coach like Tom Manning, playing with a quarterback like Anthony Richardson. He was asked, obviously, what are some of your strengths? What are some of the things you work on? He acknowledged run after catch is my thing, my athleticism, creating extra yards. He acknowledged he does want to work on blocking which

Starting point is 00:03:25 is most and pretty much everyone's most correctable thing gripe about him because he can't really change his size yeah um yeah he i liked that specifically he went into it though he wants to work on combating uh defenders counter moves on blocks like if they get free from the first instance sticking with it and like learning how to finish blocks essentially so that's really good to hear a guy go further into uh what he needs to work on especially when you're a blue chip prospect that is everyone's top tight end so that was really good to hear from him and yeah overall he just seems like a really positive player who knows what he needs to work on knows his strengths uh says you know his favorite thing is to get

Starting point is 00:04:12 those short screen passes with opportunities to create yards after catch he really relishes it just as much as he does catching a 35 yard ball down the sideline jake are you telling me that he wants to go to an offense that incorporates tight end screens and quick hitters like mesh concepts and drags and flats and stuff to their tight ends and and you know a lot of rpo concepts and stuff too that's crazy man i wonder what team this may be this may be controversial but i feel like i no disrespect now anytime that is said it's always followed with disrespect right but I'd rather see Brock Bowers taking a screen pass on a third and fourth or short rather than

Starting point is 00:04:51 Mo Alleycox okay all right too far too far too far I love you Mo but I think you would agree um no I really liked what Brock Bowers had to say today and in particular when he talked about his meeting with the Colts he did go in detail with you know it wasn't just tom manning in that room now he didn't list off every single person who was in that room because honestly he probably doesn't even know half the names that were in that room but he said it was a pretty big contingent a pretty in-depth interview right so like 10 15 guys which sounds like a lot but it's probably pretty standard like you're thinking of the the scouting departments in there including you know you know, Ed Dodds and Chris Ballard, I'm sure probably Shane, depending on who the prospect is, there'll probably be several members of that coaching staff. So you're going to,

Starting point is 00:05:35 you're going to get Shane, you're going to get Jim Bob Cooter, Tom Manning, some of those guys in there. So it seems like a lot of people, but still, that's a lot of important people forming an opinion on someone who they would have to take by 15. Yeah. I love the fit of Brock Bowers in this offense. I think if some miracle happens and he's there at 15, or if the Colts could even go up to maybe 13 or 12 to get him, I think it makes a ton of sense for the Indianapolis Colts. This is a blue-chip player who puts your offense over the top. And look, I know we love Jelani Woods. We love the potential of Jelani Woods in this offense, but we can't count on that right now. We can count on Brock Bowers if he's there at 15. So I think this is the guy if he's there at 15, at least for me,

Starting point is 00:06:19 I don't know if that's going to be the case for the Colts, but I'm excited for him this draft process. I think he just brings a lot of potential and I think the Colts are one of the best overall fits for him in this draft class. Yeah, absolutely, and not to discount Woods, but even if he comes back healthy, okay. We're moving further along into the NFL of tight ends and receivers just being pass catchers not like receivers will always be receivers but these tight ends it's moving further into them not really being tight ends necessarily like the group is pass catcher the web offensive weapons and so you can get however many of these guys on the field as as you legally can it does not matter like you can have jelani woods and brock bowers on the field at the same time yeah you know they love two tight end sets like it can be done um any

Starting point is 00:07:11 just think of any added anything added that Jelani Woods is able to bring to it after already getting Brock Bowers incredible potential with that group yeah it's the healthiest way to do it because if you don't factor in Jelani Woods to your tight end conversation, which I know Chris Ballard has been doing in his recent interviews. But if you don't factor him in, if you don't get him back, you're not being punished for that. Because if you don't get him back or he's not fully back to being Jelani Woods, you anticipated that. You're doing fine without that. But if you do get him back as being Jelani Woods, then you have that with a Brock Bowers or with a Jatavian Sanders or whoever we're talking about here. So, um, yeah, I don't think Jelani Woods factors into it too much, even though Ballard is really doing his Ballard thing and saying like,

Starting point is 00:07:53 oh yeah, we like who we have and Jelani's got potential and all that stuff. Um, I do think Brock Bowers there at 15, it's a really real option for the Colts and, and his, uh, press conference availability kind of proved that, or just, again, furthered that hype train there that we're trying to talk about here. But coming up, guys, we're going to talk about another player that really fits the Indianapolis Colts, and that is Iowa cornerback Cooper Dejean. We're going to talk about him here in just a second.

Starting point is 00:08:19 But first, this show is sponsored by BetterHelp. What's the first thing you do if you have an extra hour in your day? Go for a run, take a nap, nap read a book show up for a friend a lot of us spend a lot of us spend our lives wishing we had more time the question is time for what if time was unlimited how would you use it the best way to squeeze in that special thing into your schedule is to knowing what is important to you and make it a priority. Therapy can help you find what matters to you so you can do more of it. Personally, I think the most important things in my life, besides the Colts, besides the Colts, are my wife and my little cockapoo dog. Those are my

Starting point is 00:08:54 favorite things in the world, and I need to make more time for them. And therapy has been a great way of just helping me step back and say, look, these are the two most important things to me, and I need to make time for them, even in this busy season that we're in with draft content and free agent content. So if you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists at any time for no additional charge. Learn to make time for what makes you happy with BetterHelp.

Starting point is 00:09:26 Visit betterhelp.com slash locked on today and get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash locked on. All right, Jake, we're diving into everyone in Indianapolis Colts fans' favorite prospect here, and that is Cooper DeGene, cornerback from Iowa. Now, personally, before I let you talk about his press availability, favorite prospect here and that is Cooper DeGene cornerback from Iowa now personally before I let you talk about his press availability Cooper DeGene really is a guy where I've talked to multiple people who cover other teams and multiple people who work for other teams and jokingly they've come up to me and said hey don't let Ballard get Cooper DeGene don't hey you know

Starting point is 00:10:00 try to talk Ballard off Cooper DeGene because again again, a lot of this is speculation. A lot of people don't know exactly who Chris Ballard is going to take. But watching the press conference, watching the film, looking at the traits, this is a guy that just screams, oh, yeah, Chris Ballard. This is a Midwesterner guy, Big Ten guy, super productive, super athletic, really nice demeanor. Like, this is a Chris Ballard guy. But what kind of impression did you get from Cooper DeG his press conference availability yeah super grounded guy i mean he he screams midwest just like really laid back like low-key seems the guy just does his job and like really is a student of the game and wants to do it well um it seems like he would he would fit into a locker room pretty seamlessly um but no this this is definitely a guy that it makes all the sense in the world

Starting point is 00:10:50 to come to Indy. He's got the size. He's got the athleticism. That plus trait of his, he's got that playmaker gene, great punt returner. He can take the ball away. It does make so much sense. And just like you said, we've been hearing a lot about a lot of people around here on twitter connecting those dots and it's i i can see why now i do do i think

Starting point is 00:11:14 ballard would prefer to maybe get some offensive playmaker there at 15 or if he trades down a little bit sure but i think he would also be in love with the prospect of getting someone like the gene to really complete that, that secondary. Yeah. I mean, look, if we're looking at the gene as an outside corner, I mean, he fits a lot of what Gus Bradley wants. He has the length, he has the physicality, he has the playmaking ability. He has the experience and his own dropping type of scheme there at Iowa. So it does make a lot of sense with Gus Bradley. But I think the big thing that people were really asking was, you know, is he a safety? Is he a nickel guy? Is he an outside corner? And he got asked that question quite a bit today, right, Jake? Yeah, he did. And he essentially was asked it two or three different ways. But he said he's comfortable doing all of it. Like he tries to keep the mentality of an outside corner, whether he's playing inside or

Starting point is 00:12:05 even back there in the deep third of the field. But it feels like he knows what he's supposed to do in each spot, and he's not just being put there because he's athletic. He understands the roles all over the place. I love his mentality of being physical and wanting to be hard-nosed and being disruptive even at the line of – close to the line of scrimmage when he can be. But, no, I mean, he knows he's got the range and puts the effort into identifying what offenses are doing before the snap. You know, that's something that was asked the snap um you know that's that's something that

Starting point is 00:12:45 was asked about was you know what kind of a role does you know the behind the scenes stuff the little the intricacies of being a football player not just that god-given ability like the the stuff you don't see like how much how much weight do you put on that and that is something that he works at so uh for me that's always incredibly important like i like to hear about the stuff you don't see on tape because to me that's what puts you over the edge like we've seen a million guys who are brilliant athletes just flame out because they don't care and having that insane athletic ability and actually you know having the effort to take it somewhere, I think is just such a huge X factor and he has it. Yeah. Yeah. No, I think he's a guy who checks off a lot

Starting point is 00:13:32 of boxes across the board. Again, if you're looking for a Ballard type corner, it's the length, it's the physicality, it's the playmaking ability. He's got all of those things that, that Chris Ballard certainly covets. And again, we're talking about one of the best fits in this draft for the Gus Bradley scheme. So I think on paper, it's a great fit. And even if you're talking safety, nickel corner, outside corner, I can envision a very realistic role where even if Kenny Moore is back next year, he can have a similar type of role to Kenny either as the successor or as the backup or just again in a similar type way where you know you play a lot of nickel corner in those in those nickel sets and those dime sets play outside and base defense and then you know in some of those inverted cover two type looks you're dropping

Starting point is 00:14:16 Cooper Dijon or or Kenny Moore back into that deep safety type role and having them over the top you know a guy who has great feel for the game, a guy who's very physical and can make those tackles and run fits that you like, a guy, again, who can just know when the ball is going to come to him and he can make a play on the ball. A lot of really good things out of Cooper DeGene. And like I said, I mean, this is a guy where, when I've been talking with other guys for beat reporters for other teams and stuff like that, they've all said, you know,

Starting point is 00:14:43 this is a Chris Ballard type of guy if I've seen one. Again, don't put too much into that because they don't know the team as well as we do or as well as you know other people around indy do but i do think you know people are starting to pick up on on what the chris ballard way is what the chris ballard type is and i do think cooper dejean very much fits that yeah and and last thing on him is I think he brings a lot to the table that again, Gus Bradley and Ron Milas really like, because they like versatility in that room. You've got Nick cross who they say, you know, they, they say he can play free strong and nickel. We know Julian Blackman can do that. We've seen them move pieces around, especially in the second half of the season when

Starting point is 00:15:25 injuries were just really starting to weigh on them. And DeGene is, again, another guy you can move around anywhere. And we've talked about, you know, Kenny, even if they bring Kenny Moore back, you need a young player who's capable of providing some of the things that he does, because there will come the day where Kenny's's not here anymore or his you know his athletic ability just isn't what it used to be and you you just mentioned it like cooper seems like a great you know eventual replacement for kenny because yes kenny is a nickel but he's also a 100 snap guy yep he's also your top outside corner uh so you're you're you're losing a lot if you lose Kenny for a game. And so having a guy with the position versatility, that's huge. Yeah. And I got one more big question for you, Jake,

Starting point is 00:16:12 when it comes to Cooper DeGenees, just that press conference availability. Did he meet with the Jaguars? Did he meet with the Texans? Did he meet with the Colts? Did he meet with... Yeah. I'm going to lose my mind here this week before it's all over. Look, guys guys these prospects they meet almost with every team informally and a handful of teams formally so i guess look formal interviews i guess they do serve some purpose to figure out who they're meeting with there but even then formal interview doesn't mean that they're interested in that player could just mean hey we have a medical recheck to do here with this guy so uh keep that in the back of your mind

Starting point is 00:16:44 but yes yes if we've learned anything from these press conferences it's the 10 teams they have met medical recheck to do here with this guy. So keep that in the back of your mind. But yes, yes. If we've learned anything from these press conferences, it's the 10 teams they have met with. Cause we've got 10 questions specifically asking about those teams. Yeah. If you want to know how I feel about it, go to the YouTube channel, check out the Brock Bowers video. And he has asked about a team right away and you can hear my dissatisfaction immediately so if you want to hear that go check out the brock bowers interview definitely definitely but coming up guys we have one more cornerback to talk about today and that is terry on arnold from alabama guy who i love coming into the week but i feel like every media person here is in love with now

Starting point is 00:17:22 leaving this week but first get buckets with your first bet on FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook, because right now new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 if your bet wins. Bet on all favorite NBA players and teams with quick bets, live same-game parlays, exclusive props, and more. Indiana Pacers fans, I know it's been a really weird season,

Starting point is 00:17:48 but mostly fun season, just a weird season at times. A lot of points, bet the over on every single game, every single week with that. But go to FanDuel and just have some fun with this Pacers team. I know it's a fun time to watch. That makes sure it's a fun time to bet as well. So just visit FanDuel.com slash locked on and shoot your shot. Fanduel, official sportsbook partner of the NBA. All right, Jake, we're talking one more cornerback here,

Starting point is 00:18:12 Terryon Arnold out of Alabama. I know a lot of you Colts fans love him. I was always of the opinion coming into this week where like, yes, he's there at 15. You run up there, you submit that pick and you say, all right, cool. We have our outside corner. We have this superstar that's going to be here for a while, but I don't know if he's going to be there at 15 because he's going to test out of this world. He's an Alabama corner. He's physical, and today just kind of proved that he's got that big personality that teams love. Oh, absolutely. He is my star of the press availability so far. How much I thought of C.J. Stroud's availability last year is what I thought of Terryon Arnold. That guy commands a room.

Starting point is 00:18:53 There's not a lack of confidence about him. But at the same time, it doesn't seem like arrogance. Like he is just sure of what he is. And I've got to imagine, I think I even heard about, you know, some of the, some of his meetings with teams are going really, really well because teams love that confidence, especially from a corner. He told one story about, I actually think it was a huge scrum, but it was our own James Boyd asked, you know, there's no shortage of confidence to you.

Starting point is 00:19:23 Has there ever been a point where you lacked confidence? And he talked about getting benched against, uh, getting benched against some team like a year or two ago. And he said he's, he would never let that happen again. Um, even though it was one of his friends on the team who replaced him in the lineup, he like, he says it to himself every single day when he wakes up i will never let that happen again the the guy seems like the ultimate leader very close with his teammates but like one of those guys who will not let you mope and pout like he will pick you up and you will keep going like what you want in like a quarterback as a field general is like terry on arnold as a corner like there was nothing not to love about him. And again, every media members probably favorite interview of the week so far. Yeah. And you know, we see a lot of corners with this mindset. Now, obviously a lot more of it

Starting point is 00:20:14 goes into it than just mindset, but we see a lot of corners with this mindset go super early in the draft. I mean, Devon Weatherspoon was the first cornerback off the board last year, and he was very, very much, you very much the same exact way. I'm not going to say which team it was, but my buddy who is close to Weatherspoon told me that there was a team that was like, yeah, we're not going to be in position to draft him, but man, I love the film, and man, I love just the energy and just how crazy this guy is. So he went super high. We've seen it with J.C. Horn. We've seen it with Jair Alexander.

Starting point is 00:20:44 We've seen it with J.C. Horn. We've seen it with Jair Alexander. We've seen it with Sauce Gardner. These cornerbacks that have the confidence and the physicality to be in your face, not only on the field, but off the field and let you know about it. I mean, these corners go high because that's what teams want in their cornerback room. It's what DB coaches want in their DB room. So Terryon Arnold did not lack for confidence. And that's exactly how cornerbacks should be. But Jake, you have in here that he met with the Indianapolis Colts.

Starting point is 00:21:08 And apparently it was a pretty memorable interview there. Yeah. I mean, in these interviews, teams often go over plays with players. They want them to identify what they're seeing, you know, just to kind of get on the same page or just see how they think, how they process things. And, you know, players oftentimes take notes and so forth. But no notes needed from Arnold because he doesn't need it. He's got like a photographic memory. He doesn't need to see something twice.

Starting point is 00:21:36 That's awesome. The Colts throw something up for him. He's able to regurgitate it back to him. Yeah. And that's great. That's great. Again, because I talked about it with the gene, the behind the scenes stuff, what goes on between your ears, man, like, he is another guy,

Starting point is 00:21:51 he's a junkie, I asked him specifically about the behind the scenes stuff. You know, what goes on when there's not eyes on you, you know, weight room, film room, all that. And he seems like he is obsessed with it. And he, he gave me a great answer on that. You know, he, he talked exactly about what I was, what I was just saying. You have to be tenacious in preparation when no one's looking, which is that's integrity. And, you know, you, you want those kinds of players. We hear Ballard and Steichen talking about that all the time. He wants to know what the offense is doing before they're going to do it essentially he wants to be uber prepared everything about him film mentality all of it just screams alpha cornerback island

Starting point is 00:22:36 cornerback he wants that he wants that matchup against like a marvin har. If you want someone on your defense to follow a top wide receiver around, you're not going to look beyond Arnold because that's your guy. Yeah, and that's why he's going to go top five or seven in this draft. That dude is going to go high. Now, again, I would love him at 15, but I don't know how realistic it is. But, look, you have to be prepared for these things because you never know what's going to happen if a guy's going to fall for this or that reason whatsoever. And look,

Starting point is 00:23:07 a guy like Arnold has no reason being there at 15, but it can happen. But I love that you mentioned that, you know, he didn't have to take notes in the Colts meeting room because look, when you're coming from a Saban led defense, you've seen it all. You've seen every aspect of defense. You've seen what the NFL is doing. You've seen what the peak of college football is doing when it comes to defensive schematics and stuff so uh yeah he's seen a lot of it there but i love terry on our old man former safety former safety as well that converted a corner i know the colts love doing that it's never really worked out for them but they love doing it yeah um but yeah former safety at corner two and he brings kind of that that mindset right yeah and he he wants i asked

Starting point is 00:23:45 about the importance of tackling when you're a cornerback too because that's a super competitive guy yeah and he wants it he wants to be able to tackle uh and he basically reiterated things we've heard from the colts in the past like gus bradley for example matt eberflus even before you know you're never going to be a good tackling defense unless your cornerbacks are into it too and arnold wants to be the one that kills the play at the line of scrimmage and he's a corner uh so you you just love that mentality especially like out of the slot he said he turns he turns into a linebacker when he's lining up in the slot he's he said that and you don't hear cornerbacks a lot of these guys who don't relish contact,

Starting point is 00:24:26 say that they turn into a linebacker. So that was really great to see because matching him up with a guy like Juju Brents who has the same mentality, that's nice. Yeah, and one more thing of note too, I think the first two guys we mentioned, Bowers and Dejean, are unlikely to work out this week. Like Dejean's not working out. I don't think Bowers is going to work out. So Dejean said unlikely to to work out this week like dejean's not working out i don't think bowers is gonna work out dejean said he just got cleared like a week ago so he's just flat out not ready but he will work out sometime before the combine probably not at their pro day

Starting point is 00:24:56 yes and i don't believe that bowers is gonna work out but arnold i believe should be working out this week and it's gonna be a show's going to be a show man he's again he's a he's a one-of-one athlete uh he's a one-of-one competitor he's a one-of-one player on film and he's going to be a top five to seven player but again we have to be prepared we love terry on arnold and we would love for him to be there at 15 i believe that's all we have for today though guys uh before we get out of here though the indie draft guides pre-orders are now open for 8.99 with code DRAFTMISS. You get access to an essential piece of reading

Starting point is 00:25:27 for Colts fans both before and after the draft featuring 225 in-depth scouting reports, features, and much more. You guys can click the link in the show notes to pre-order today and learn all about these three players that we talked about on today's episode. And if you guys don't already,

Starting point is 00:25:44 make sure you're following at Locked Colts at Jake Arthur NFL at Zach kicks to all on Twitter. Also subscribe to us on YouTube, wherever you list your podcasts. We love your guys' ratings reviews and we'll be back here tomorrow afternoon. My beautiful friends back here yet again, tomorrow afternoon.

Your Ad Here

Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Brock Bowers, Cooper DeJean Buzz Heats Up During Combine

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.