Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - INDIANAPOLIS COLTS CAMP, DAYS 8-9: Daniel Jones, QBs Starting to Form Favorite Targets

Starting point is 00:00:00 Daniel Jones has been building up some chemistry with his veteran wide receiver. Let's get to it. You are Locked on Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to Locked on Colts. I'm Zach Hicks, and this is Jake Arthur. Today's episode is brought to you by Fanduel. Join all the action of fandul.com to play daily dingers and make your free pick on who's hitting a home run. this MLB season. On today's show, we are breaking down days eight and nine of Colts training camp,

Starting point is 00:00:41 a little bit lighter practices because they had the big scrimmage on Thursday through a lot of passes. Dale Jones actually dropped back to pass more on the Thursday practice alone than he did over the two weekend practices. So it shows a little bit how light it was these last two days. So we're combining everything into one big episode, days eight and nine of training camp. We're going to talk about the quarterbacks, talk about the offense and talk about the defense before we get ready for joint practice on Tuesday, and then the first preseason game of the year, this upcoming Thursday against New England Patriots.

Starting point is 00:01:12 But first, before we get into the quarterbacks, the Colts had six players out all weekend, Alec Pierce, Josh Downs, which was a new one, with a groin injury. Now, Shane Steichen said that he expects me back really soon, even as early as his upcoming Tuesday. Shane Steakin never tells us that much information. So I'm actually prepared to believe him on this one,

Starting point is 00:01:32 but I guess we'll see what, happens there. Laquan Treadwell and DJ Giddens and Hunter Woller were all still out with their hamstring injuries as well as CJ Allen out with his hamstring injury. Everyone's got a hamstring injury. Actually, speaking of hamstring injuries, Justin Wally was actually pulled out of practice here on Sunday after individual work, didn't participate in any of the team stuff. Shane Stuyken said they're going to be monitoring a hamstring with him as well. So everyone's catching the hamstring injury bug going around the team right now. We'll see how that develops going forward. looking at the quarterbacks, Jake, after Daniel Jones was absolutely lethal in the scrimmage

Starting point is 00:02:09 on Thursday, I thought it was like the best I'd ever really seen that Daniel Jones looked in an offseason setting. He certainly came back to Earth a little bit over the weekend. Nothing terrible, like nothing awful. Like some of the numbers from this weekend do look a little rough because of some drop falls that turned into interceptions. But overall, I thought he was perfectly fine, just not at that same level and like control that he had on Thursday. But he still looks like QBWi-Wan. He's had a good performance out there. So nothing like concerning with Daniel Jones over the weekend. Yeah. And I think it really became amplified in the red zone. You know, I think between the 20s, you can kind of almost fudge it a little bit because you can use Jonathan Taylor to move

Starting point is 00:02:50 the ball. You've got the wide open passing game where you can kind of get just about any past catcher involved. But when you get down into the red zone, it's kind of pros versus pros there. Like you can scheme some things up, but when you're a short-handed at receiver as the Colts are, and you're going against Soss Gardner and Mooney Ward and like even Cam Taylor Britt, I mean, he's at some rocky times in the last 12 months, but he's been a really good corner at that points in his career. Justin Wally, obviously having a really good summer. The Colts receivers are outmatched by the corners they're facing.

Starting point is 00:03:25 And I think it just becomes a bigger problem when you get closer to the end zone. Yeah, no, for sure. So Daniel Jones, if you look at his overall numbers, 18 of 28 over the weekend. He did throw a touchdown pass to Ashton Doolin. And he also had two interceptions today in Sunday's practice. Now, the first one, a bit of a miscommunication between himself and Nick Westbrook, Akeena and Kina stopped his route while Jones expecting to keep running. Pass was a little out of reach, hit off Akina's hands, bounced up, and A.J. Halsey made his first big play of camp with the interception.

Starting point is 00:03:56 And then later on, I mean, like the Westbrook-Kina interception, it's like 50-50. who's at fault there. The throw that he had to Jonathan Taylor in the flat, that hit Taylor in the face mask and bounced up in the air, and then Bynum took it to the house for a pick six, 100% on Jonathan Taylor. He tried to move forward without fully catching the ball, ball bounced up in the air, and it was a pick six.

Starting point is 00:04:17 So, you know, two interceptions on Sunday, but I don't think he really had like poor play or anything like that. The two interceptions certainly were a little, you know, concerning, I guess, at face value, but, you know, good to see the defense take advantage of mistakes there, I guess. Yeah, without a doubt. And with Taylor, I mean, stuff like this is going to happen. We've grown kind of accustomed to this from him.

Starting point is 00:04:41 Overall, he's going to catch more than he drops, especially like last year. He's coming off the heels of his best season in pretty much every metric when it comes to catching the ball. But every now and then he's going to drop a really bad one that he shouldn't. And this one just doinked right off him into the waiting hands of camp by. them. Those interception numbers, it kind of goes to show you why you can't box score scout because if you just look at these numbers, no touchdowns in 11 on 11s. The touchdown to Doolin was during seven on sevens and two picks with just 64% completions. That looks subpart. It looks, you know, just like any quarterback can kind of put that lineup. But when you look at him, his

Starting point is 00:05:23 anticipation has been there, the accuracy has been there. I got no issues with what I saw from Jones this weekend. Yeah, no for sure. Now let's get to the backup quarterbacks where it has been a bit more up and down. Riley Leonard and Anthony Richardson still competing for that QB2 job, by the way, out there this summer. Riley Leonard threw a few more passes over the weekend, but they both completed 66% of their overall passes. We did see Leonard throw a touchdown pass to Coleman Owen, and he certainly has built up a good chemistry with Coleman Owen as well. Also a deep touchdown pass to Eli Canckel. That has. happened on Sunday's practice. And also Will Mallory. I mean, Leonard loves himself some Will Mallory. I had him with three deep completions to Mallory on Saturday. Today on Sunday, he also had a couple of good throws to him in seven on sevens and also in 11s.

Starting point is 00:06:14 So Leonard and Will Mallory really connecting with Anthony Richardson, had a couple big throws at the end of practice in the two minute drill, including a big one to Dionne Burks. He actually led a touchdown drive in just three plays in his two minute drill where the first team offense struggled to get down there. I believe his two-minute drill went. A big throw to Dionne Burks, defensive pass interference on Trey Washington, and then a long run by Seth McGowan to cap it off with the score.

Starting point is 00:06:39 So Richardson did engineer that. He threw an interception in seven-on-sevenths, though, to Robert Carter Jr., where the ball was way behind and just Carter made a good catch on. It was like a one-handed catch in the back of the end zone. But, again, I don't really say either of these guys have been good or bad. The last two days, I think it's just kind of been a little bit more scatter shot. but they are kind of finding the rhythm, at least with guys that they like out there. Yeah, and I would say they've not been great, but it's, it's becoming more tolerable to watch.

Starting point is 00:07:09 It was there. Hey, no drop snaps this weekend. Exactly. So let's get to that. So we know it has been pretty ugly to see from these guys at points. And they've, both of them have had like kind of very specific issues. For Riley Leonard, it's been holding on the ball too long. And really just a lack of aggression and not.

Starting point is 00:07:28 hitting the open man, whether it's downfield or whatever. He's been really much a checkdown Charlie. We talked to him after practice today, and he acknowledged that. You know, we asked what, what's something you've really wanted to work on? And he basically just said, you know, trusting my eyes and taking more chances and not just thinking and Duncan all the way. And we've seen that from him in the last couple of days. Right.

Starting point is 00:07:50 Way more aggressive than we've seen, which was interesting because when he got on the field in the regular season last year as a sixth round rookie. he was aggressive. He was a gamer out there. And then with Richardson, you know, obviously several flubbed and dropped snaps from shotgun, even has had some from under center. He basically said,

Starting point is 00:08:12 just in the process of adjusting to new centers and everything, he was changing where his hands, like how he held his hands to accept the snap and everything. And that just wasn't going well, apparently, but he is kind of zeroed in on the specific. specific issue and fixed it. And I mean, he hasn't been spotless, but it's been much, much better. Like there was a day last week, we had like five.

Starting point is 00:08:35 And he's only had like a couple that I've really been able to tell in the last couple of days. So yeah, he has fixed that issue. I mean, he's still very erratic when it comes to passing the ball. But his strength is, is in finding the big play. That's just what he, that's what he is going to be. And he did that a couple times over the weekend. Yeah, I would say with Richardson, he definitely calmed down his play from how bad it

Starting point is 00:08:58 was on Thursday. Thursday was probably the worst I had seen him in live action in my times covering him. I do think he looked more like the Anthony Richardson we know this weekend, which for better for worse, right? There's still some inconsistencies. There's still some timing issues. But it looked more like Richardson where the best of Richardson is going to be targeting guys down the field, giving them shots, having the quick arm action to get that ball out of his hands. So I do think we saw him bounced back in a big way from Thursday. When it comes to Riley Leonard, I think that he is so much better in like two-minute situations. And it's like if you tell him like, go, go, go, go, go, hurry up, stop thinking or whatever.

Starting point is 00:09:35 That's when you get the best out of Riley Leonard. So again, I thought both them looked better this weekend. They did on Thursday. Thursday was certainly a bad practice for both of them. I thought both them certainly put their best foot forward, even if they're not really competing for the first string, certainly a better practice for them this weekend, better practices, I guess. Yeah, without a doubt.

Starting point is 00:09:54 And so we've really noticed those guys form some good chemistry. Everyone's kind of starting to find their favorite targets, all three quarterbacks. So we'll talk about that in just a moment as well as some of the other guys that kind of stood out good or bad throughout the weekend. All right, baseball fans, if you think you know who's hitting a homer today, then Fandul is giving you a free chance to call your shot with daily dingers. Super easy to play. Just make your free pick for who you think is going to hit a homer in their game. If you're right, you'll receive a profit boost to use on your next bet for a chance at extra winnings. The best of all is you can make a few picks every day throughout the MLB season.

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Starting point is 00:10:57 hit in a homer. Play ball and swing for the fences on Fandle, an official partner of the MLB. All right, welcome back, everybody. We are talking practices eight and nine of Indianapolis Colts training camp. That was this weekend's practices, Saturday and Sunday. We told you about the quarterbacks, but before we move on to the rest of the offense,

Starting point is 00:11:20 do not forget to check out the Everydayer Club for ad-free episodes and access to a group chat with other listeners of the show as well as Zach and myself. Just tap the link in the show notes. or go to locked on colts. That supercast.com to join. All right, Zach, so we kind of teased at the end of this last segment here, how the quarterbacks really seem to be kind of glomming onto their favorite guys at this point.

Starting point is 00:11:41 Jones, Leonard, and Richardson. For Jones, I mean, the poor guy has been dealt. He's going to be throwing to Alec Pearson, Josh Downs throughout the season, but he's had to roll with Nick Westbrook Aquina and Laquan Tregwell, who's now been injured for a few days. And, I mean, Ashton Doolan's going to be. out there. But like it's it's just not it's not the greatest rough draft of what we're going to see for him in the season. But nonetheless, you know, he's he's kind of really connecting with guys

Starting point is 00:12:10 like Ashton Doolin in the red zone, Tyler Warren, of course. When you're looking at Anthony Richardson, I think he has really developed a chemistry with Dionne Burks as of late, which makes a lot of sense. You know, Anthony likes to push the ball down the field. And Burks is one of the, we're assuming going to be one of the biggest playmakers down the road for this team. And then Riley Leonard, very much with all the checkdowns early in camp, lots of tight ends and running backs involved by, I think, you know, between Eli Pankle, his former Duke teammate and Will Mallory and especially Coleman Owen, he really has kind of developed his favorites. Yeah, for sure. And I want to focus real quick on the Daniel Jones and Ashton Dueling connection because I came out here to this training camp hearing the beat guys

Starting point is 00:12:56 talking about. And Jake concluded, right, how Ashton Doolin had a pretty quiet camp. He was getting shadowed by Sauce Gardner on a lot of occasions. So it was difficult for him to really make his way. And I think all three practices I've seen, Doolan has looked like a really solid pass catching option for Jones. Now, it's not that he's been perfect, right? Like even on Thursday, when I thought Doolin had a really good practice, he caught five of eight passes thrown his way, including one that technically would have gone down as a drop, right? So it hasn't been like the most perfect connection. but I do think you see Jones really building that chemistry with Doolin. I think he trusts Ashton Doolin, especially when they get in the red zone with Doolin's speed and his ability along the sideline to get those toes in bounds.

Starting point is 00:13:35 I think we're seeing some really good connection there with those two. So I've liked what I've seen from Doolin the last three practices. I think that he's looked really good. And I think, again, like if you're projecting to be wide receiver one, this is a bad thing. But he's not going to be wide receiver one. He's not going to be wide receiver one. He's not even going to be past target number three. with Tyler Warren in the mix as well.

Starting point is 00:13:55 So I do think it's good to see that chemistry building there. And then obviously I do need to mention that Coleman Owens looked really good these last few days. Now, yeah, now like smaller slot receivers excel in this type of situation. So I don't want to overlook that. Like he's a good route runner. He knows how to find space. And against defenses that are rotating like constantly, he's going to get a lot of targets. But I just think anytime he's targeted, you see good things happen with Coleman Owen.

Starting point is 00:14:20 And again, if it was up to me, if it came down to the, the six wide receiver spot. I would prefer Coleman Owen over Anthony Gould, maybe over Dionne Burks at this point because, like he gives you more on special teams. He has a more to fight. He's a better slot receiver than the other two as of right now. Like he is a much better slot receiver.

Starting point is 00:14:38 Berks doesn't go from the slot, yeah. Right. He's a better feel for the game. Like if Josh Downs were to miss time, which it doesn't seem like he's going to, I would want to put Coleman Owen in there instead of these other two guys, personally. You know, so I like Coleman Owen a lot.

Starting point is 00:14:53 I think he's had a really good. camp and he's one of the young guys where even last year he hit a really good offseason. I feel like he looks even cleaner. He looks even smoother out there. And I'm excited to see him these preseason games because I would not be shocked if he, again, led the team in receptions, led the team in receiving yards, like did all the things we saw last year, but maybe even had a higher clip this summer. Yeah, he's just so smooth than what he does.

Starting point is 00:15:15 And I think it was maybe it was Jim Bob the other day was really complimenting the way that like he can find his way on option routes and he just kind of finds the soft spot in coverage and is able to get open and I mean it's been two summers now that we've seen the guy look really comfortable and like he belongs he doesn't really look like like he looks like a member of the receiving court you know what I mean like we know it's going to be mostly practice squad but if you told me that was a guy that's like on the roster as a receiver come week one I beg yeah that makes sense he routinely weekend and week or day in a day out makes plays and each quarterback that's paired up with him always looks his way to get the ball moving

Starting point is 00:15:53 and kind of move the chains a little bit. Yeah. So let's talk about, we're going to kind of couple some of this here. So today, Sunday, the Colts did a late game situation at the end of practice. The first team offense and the second team offense, kind of an adventure, not maybe as fruitful for the first team. But it also, the second team was punctuated by running back making a play that, again, we've been talking about him all throughout camp so far. What did you see in the late game situation

Starting point is 00:16:22 punctuated by the Seth McGowan touchdown today? Yeah, you know, and you guys are talking so highly about Seth McGowan all offseason, I needed to see it to believe it. And this is the value of me coming out here at training camp because I wasn't super high on his film. Like I saw the potential. I saw the vision for him. But I was like, I don't know if he's going to make a big impact year one, but getting out here in camp, seeing him these last few days, you see a guy who I do think he cut some weight. He looks slimmer. He looks a little bit faster. It looks very explosive.

Starting point is 00:16:51 And I think the most important thing with him and going to this touchdown as well is I don't think there's been a mistake at all that I've seen. Like there's not been that notable mistake, that boneheaded moment that we're going to talk about with some other young players in a second. Like he looks like a veteran out here, right? And he capped it off today where the Colts were showing blitz on defense in the two-minute drill. They were mugging the A-gap. And they did some kind of twist out of the A-gap mug because, you know, you're expecting a pass. in that situation. The Colts flipped the script and ran it up the middle.

Starting point is 00:17:21 McGowan went untouched for 20 plus yards. So he looks explosive. He looks fast. He looks reliable. I'm excited to see him in these preseason games because if he can show that he can pass block and pick up in protections, I don't even think it should be a conversation who RB2 is if he does that stuff. But as of right now, I think he's well ahead in the conversation, in the debate right now,

Starting point is 00:17:42 in the battle right now. And I'm expecting see good things from him this preseason. And he's done everything right this offseason so far. Yeah, this team has been looking for specifically what they lost in Zach Moss since he left. And I've seen a lot of backup running back play behind Jonathan Taylor over the last few years in training camp. And I'm telling you, none of it has looked as good as what Seth McGowan is doing behind Taylor since Zach Moss. Zach Moss is the last guy at running back other than Taylor that seems to actually make plays and looks like an NFL. NFL caliber running back who strings consistent consistency together all the time.

Starting point is 00:18:22 So McGowan, I would be, I'd be floored and disappointed if he wasn't the guy that sees the next most snaps after Taylor in the offense. Hopefully it doesn't quite matter because, you know, Jonathan Taylor is going to live in the backfield as we know. But if they can find a way to give him a little bit of a breather and get a role for McGowan, like maybe he does well and pass protection, I don't think he's maybe dropped a ball maybe. I can't really recall one off the top of my head, but he catches the ball very naturally. And then, I mean, he's a very decisive runner. And they don't, they don't need

Starting point is 00:18:58 the type of running back behind Jonathan Taylor that will be effective after you give them 10 or 15 touches. You need to give this guy like three to five touches and he gives you something out of it. First downs, touchdowns, a key blitz pickup. Like, I feel like that is what McGowan is going to give them. Yeah. And then real quick, talking about some young players. and their struggles this weekend. I'll talk Jalen Travis, and I'll throw it to you for Dionne Bergs. Jalen Travis, after a really good Thursday practice

Starting point is 00:19:23 against Laotu Latu for a majority of those reps, I mean, 30 dropbacks for Daniel Jones, and I thought he looked really good against Latu. I didn't really get a sense that Latu was making an impact in that Thursday practice. It definitely flipped on his head this past weekend, where Travis got beat routinely on Saturday by Laatu Latu, and then it kind of continued again on Sunday.

Starting point is 00:19:44 Now, Saturday was the worst of it, because he got beat for a couple sacks, and he had a false start that led to him getting pulled out of a final two-minute drill. Tony Sparano Jr. talked about that today, and it's just how it's unacceptable to have false start penalties and pre-snap penalties, and they wanted to make that known to the young player. So there's going to be ebbs and flows with a young first-time starter like Jalen Travis. So hopefully this is good for him to get it out of his way in the preseason and in the off season,

Starting point is 00:20:10 but something to watch going forward. But you've also noticed with Dionne Burks, we've seen some of those growing pains, even though he's building that chemistry with Anthony Richardson, he's also kind of had those growing pains, which again, when you're like Travis is set to start, right, he's going to make this team with Burtless.

Starting point is 00:20:24 With Bers, he's a seventh round pick. You know, nothing is guaranteed. So while you want to be like accepting of growing pains and like, hey, this guy can get better, time could be running out,

Starting point is 00:20:35 right, where he's got to really start to show it. Yeah, they've got to have the mental makeup to be able to get everything down as well. Because we've seen the physical talent. like Dionne Burks over the last several days seems to make at least one play a day. Like you get the vision now of like, yeah, this guy if he gets it, then like he'll get on the field and continue to make some plays. You see the yak.

Starting point is 00:20:57 You see beating guys downfield like deep end breakers and stuff like that. But like today was a good example of like he, Burke's finally got a little bit of run with the first team. And Shane Stuyken literally walked him up to the line and in the formation and plopped him where he was supposed to be. So like that's kind of the stuff we're talking about the other day. He was supposed to go in motion and he didn't. And they were screaming at him to go in motion and he finally did. And it's just like little stuff like this. There is mental mistakes.

Starting point is 00:21:27 It seems like a guy who's probably drinking from a fire hose with information right now. You do see the talent. But I think things are probably moving a little fast for this guy right now. Yeah. So we'll have to see what these guys are able to do in the preseason game and the joint practice. There's still a lot of time to showcase what they can do. So keep an eye, especially on Birx, but also see how Jalen Travis rebounds from a rough weekend.

Starting point is 00:21:52 Coming up, we're going to talk about the defense, though, and how a couple defensive linemen really stood out and how a veteran defensive tackle really showed out on Sunday. Running a business should not feel like you're trying to connect a bunch of systems that were never designed to work together. You got one app for accounting and other for inventory and another for sales, and somehow none of them even talked to each other. But that's where Odu comes in.

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Starting point is 00:22:42 I think of an example like with the Colts, you know, they've gone through so many things with defensive coordinator over the years. You finally get, I feel like a hire that is very Chris Ballard and Shane Steichen based in Luannarumo. And, you know, they run the kind of schemes that both guys seem to like. Shane Steichen has kind of struggled with those kind of coordinators in the past. But now we've seen the amount of resources that Chris Ballard and the front office are giving Lou Aniruma. It feels like anything Lou Aniruma wants he gets, and it's because everyone's going in the same direction.

Starting point is 00:23:17 They all understand what the objective is and what the big picture is and how they're going to get there. I think the adjustment itself was important, but what really impressed us was how smoothly it was all implemented. They dealt with some injuries, but you see what they want to accomplish. Everyone knows their role. Everyone was on the same page, and that's usually what separates good organizations from great ones. Great organizations win because operations matter, and that's why you should, get O-Doo. Try for free today at Odu.com slash locked on. That's ODO.com slash locked on. All right, welcome back, party people. We are putting a bow on the weekend of Colts training camp,

Starting point is 00:23:57 practices number eight and nine. We talked to you all about Daniel Jones, the quarterbacks in the offense, but let's talk to you about the defense and special teams now, which really have been the most consistent units of camp so far, especially the defense act. Yeah, and I thought layout too lot to really came to play this weekend you know after we talked about on thursday how it was a bit of a quiet day form a quiet night with the scrimmage and it was like okay you can take that as a good thing for travis or a bad thing for latu however you want to analyze that well lot too had a really good run this weekend constant pressure got after the quarterback had a multiple sacks at the end of saturday's practice um i think he had a pass break up in one of the days as well like um he had a good

Starting point is 00:24:36 good run this weekend it looked like the lau lau lau that we're hoping for him to be and speaking of those top defenders on the defensive line. I mean, DeForest Buckner on Sunday was DeForest Buckner again, right? Like they did one-on-ones off to the side and I was only able to catch a couple of the reps over there, but he blew by Matt Consolves and one of them. He blew by Quentin Nelson and another one. And then when they got to more of the team stuff where he was actually out there for, I put on like a really nasty spin move on Jalen Travis that Matt Consolves had to come over and help out. And then I had another pressure late in the series as well. So he looked like DeForest Buckner. he looked quick, he looked smooth, he looked athletic.

Starting point is 00:25:13 So if they get that level of DeForest Buckner and that level of Laotu Latu this year, the Colts defense is going to be in a big place, in a good place. It's just they need to get that out of them in the regular season. Yeah, it's really crazy how we're going into year three of hoping to see this like just super tag team pass rush. Like we've been waiting to see Lyatu Latu, the elite outside rusher paired with DeForest Buckner, you know, the old head, but who's like one of the better interior pass rush, in the league, this combo rush, and it's just not happened because Buckner's been really banged up

Starting point is 00:25:46 the last two years. And Latsu's kind of going through his own growing pains, learning how to finish and everything. Maybe this year if Buckner can stay healthy. And obviously, like, it looks like Lattu's naturally going to take some sort of jump. He went from four and a half sacks to eight last year. That, you know, it's, it could be, I'm not going to say a really good defensive front, because I'm very skeptical still. But if those two are playing like, you want them to, then it gives you a lot bigger margin for error, I think. And honestly, the guys behind them, Jalen Tuamoloow and Arden Key, I've been pretty impressed what I've seen from them as well, both against the pass and the run.

Starting point is 00:26:27 Yeah, I think my only concern with two Malow is he's still basically only running with the second team. Yeah, he's got some run with the ones, but it's not super consistent. Like I think over this weekend, I saw Michael Clemens running with the ones more than I saw Jalen to him a low out. because Clemens got out there and ran some three tech today alongside DeForest Buckner with the ones. I haven't seen Tumloa much at all with the ones, but he is taking advantage of what he's been given. Like he's been beating Blake Freeland.

Starting point is 00:26:51 He's been beating Luke Tanuda. I want to see him against some caliber of starter, though, like in this odd season, but he's doing the best with what he can. Arden Kee, I think has just been a really solid bet for them. And again, if he was their third rusher, I'd feel awesome about Arden Kee. But I do think he's been key to young guys. I even saw a moment today where Dorel and Chalmy, try to spin move in one-on-ones, and it clearly did not work, and it just was an awful spin move, and R&K pulled him off to the side and was coaching him up on how to do the spin moves

Starting point is 00:27:19 and, like, how to time that up better. So I think he's been a good addition. It's just, we'll see if he's a starting caliber player. I did want to get one note in on linebackers, because Jake always neglect to talk linebackers on here unless they're, like, awesome. But I do want to talk linebackers. I thought Akeem Davis-Gather had a good weekend. He had a pass breakup covering Anthony Gould, one of the day, I think it was on Saturday in the red zone. Red zone, yeah. Yeah, in the red zone, it was like a drag route in front of him. He broke on it and knocked it away.

Starting point is 00:27:48 Then he had a sack today, blitzing. I want to say it was against the first team as well. So, the Keem Davis-Skather, I thought I'd go on. He's been just steady, like really steady player. I think he should be a starter, in my opinion, with the two young guys kind of being, you know, one of them being hurt and the other one still trying to figure things out. He should be a starter in some capacity,

Starting point is 00:28:06 but, you know, Akim Davis-Gather, I thought had a decent day. But we had some DB standout too, Jake. You want to talk about some of them? Yeah, without a doubt. So Cam Taylor Brett's kind of in an awkward spot now because he's going to be suspended for the first regular season game. But he's really having, he's having the type of camp you would have hoped to see after the halacious year he had in Cincinnati last year. His play really dipped under the first season of defensive coordinator Al Golden. He had been like a three or four year starter for them and ultimately got benched.

Starting point is 00:28:36 was a healthy scratch one game. And then shortly after he returned, he suffered a list Frank injury and was out for the year. I think he played eight games for them last year. So really bad season for him. Obviously, I had the driving arrest that led to him, you know, spending five days in jail at the beginning of the year as well.

Starting point is 00:28:55 So the guy just needed to move on and get a fresh start. We've seen the Colts use him inside, outside, special teams, first team, second team. Like, they got a plan for this guy. And I've been pretty impressed. He's been making past breakups, had two of them, either two of them in the red zone over the weekend, making sure no one got into the end zone.

Starting point is 00:29:18 So, yeah, I think he looks much closer to the Cincinnati, early Cincinnati version than he did the disaster. That was 2025. Yeah, and he's getting some run with the gunners as well, which I think is notable. So he has the one game suspension. We'll see him after that with the Colts this season. but he's going to make this team and should be the fourth corner up as long as everybody stays healthy.

Starting point is 00:29:40 I thought Rob Carter Jr. had a good weekend as well, especially in the Red Zone stuff, had an interception of Anthony Richardson on Saturday at a past breakup of Richardson's on Sunday. So some good things there. And one more minor thing I want to mention is George Guns Jr. It's just fun to watch. Like he is chaotic out there. I still don't think he has any clue what he's doing right now, but he is so juiced up and so explosive.

Starting point is 00:30:04 and just gives 100% on every snap. That is very much like you just have to hold him by the shoulder pat until the ball is snapped and let go and he's just going to go flying. So he's a fun player. Well, I think he could be a special team's demon if Brian Mason can really rein him in and get him going there. But if not, I do think there's still something worthy to develop there because even though he's got yelled at a couple times by coaches

Starting point is 00:30:26 and there's been some low lights, I do think he's had some really good rushes and some good moments as well because he's so athletic. But Jake, before we get out of here, do you want to give us a little bit of an update on the kicker battle? It feels like there has been some distance between these two, and it got even wider over the weekend. Yeah, I think at this point, like, I commend the Colts for, like,

Starting point is 00:30:47 trying to be fair to Spencer Schrader, but at a certain point, I think you got to call the race. Like, Blake Groupie hasn't been perfect, and he's missed his first three kicks of the offseason, at least during live practice this weekend. but he is he was seven of eight this weekend since the spring from what i've seen him kick he's 32 of 35 which is 91 percent Schrader in the exact same timeline he was four of eight today only made half his kicks and since the spring he is 23 of 35 which is 65 percent

Starting point is 00:31:21 which would not even fly for a college kicker and there there's a pretty big variance for what they're allowed to get away with so Schrader's not quite back to being himself himself, unfortunately. I think he's still got a little bit of work to do. He's got this thing where he's pulling a lot of kicks left. And there was a couple kicks today where as soon as it left his foot, we knew it was not going in. When he pulls them, you can see they're low and they're just off kilter. And then he overcorrected on one to the right today where it was just airmail. So I do think Schrader can still be a good kicker in the league. I think he just is going to need some time to recover and but the Colts need to move on with a good consistent kicker.

Starting point is 00:32:06 I think they just need to let it ride with Groupie at this point. I think it's fairly obvious to everybody. Yeah. So we'll see. Maybe you straighter can sneak to the practice squad, but it certainly is going to take some time. Remember, he destroyed his knee and his plant leg. So he's still trying to figure out some things there.

Starting point is 00:32:20 And it seems like a correctable issue because it's not that he's just missing everything all over the place. It's everything is pulling to the left. Yeah. So as long as he can figure out how he's pointing, It's like a golfer that keeps, like, slicing his hits or something. You know, it's like, we got to figure out a way just to straighten this up a little bit. And I think there is still potential, but when Blake Groupie's on fire like he is right now,

Starting point is 00:32:40 it's hard to go away from that. So we'll monitor it going forward. I don't think we had any other big special teams notes. Coleman Owen and Anthony Gould are going to get a majority of the returning reps in the preseason game, at least the beginning reps. They'll get McGowan and Burks out there as well. But it does seem like Owen and Gould are really competing. now for prime special teams reps, especially as the punt returner.

Starting point is 00:33:02 So that'll be something to watch on the preseason game. Jonathan Edwards, primary gunner on the outside, Cam Taylor Britt, Jalen Jones, and Mackay Blackman are rolling in there a lot. So we'll keep an eye on all that stuff going forward for you guys. And thank you for making Lockdown Culture first listen today and every day. Now for your second listen, check out Locked on NFL scouting. As training camps are rolling on and moves are being made, host Kyle Crabs and Joe Marino will make you the most informed NFL fan.

Starting point is 00:33:29 all season. Find Locked on NFL scouting on YouTube or wherever you list to your podcast. If you don't already, make sure you follow at Lockdown Colts at Jake Arthur, NFL, and at Zach Hicks to all on socials. If you've never missed an episode, the Everydayer Club is built for you. Get us ad-free plus member-only Discord access and much more. Head to Lockdowncolts.com to join the club. Thank you all for tuning in, and we'll catch you guys back here next week.

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