Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Can Nick Cross Star in Year 1?

Episode Date: July 21, 2022

Indianapolis Colts rookie safety Nick Cross is set for a big role in 2022 following the retirement of Khari Willis. Defensive back trainer Jonathan Hagler joins the show to break down the rookie's game.The trio also dives into the Kenny Moore II contract situation, why the star corner should rightfully be paid his due in the near future, and why new star corner Stephon Gilmore joining the Colts is such a big deal.Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQ🎧 Apple https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1151621306🎧 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6meP450baAtjX4rTENZ5ij🎧 Audacy https://www.audacy.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts-daily-podcast-on-the-indianapolis-colts-21701🎧 Google https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vUFBZODk1ODUyODkyNQ🎧 Megaphone https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/lockedoncoltsFollow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, and @LockedOnColts!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!DaveDownload the Dave app from the App store right now for an Extra Cash account and get up to 500 dollars instantly. For terms and conditions go to dave.com/legal. Instant transfer fees apply. Banking provided by Evolve. Member FDIC.Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKED15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Rock AutoAmazing selection. Reliably low prices. All the parts your car will ever need. Visit RockAuto.com and tell them Locked On sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Colts focused heavily on their secondary this offseason, adding a nice blend of talented youth and experienced veterans. And today we're going to tell you exactly why you should be excited for this new cast of characters. 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, Colts fans, thanks so much for tuning in and making us your number one listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. I am Jake Arthur, joined as always by my partner, Zach Hicks.

As you can see, the sun's out, so the guns are out. It's actually really hot in my townhouse right now. We're trying to get some things fixed. But yes, we'll, on YouTube, you guys are seeing it's purely for you guys. We're keeping Hag with his shirt down so I don't look bad. Yeah, on audio, you guys are missing out. But on YouTube, you can see that Zach is just showing the yokedness right now. Anyways, we're going to speak today with former NFL defensive back and current DB trainer Jonathan Hagler

about some of the major storylines surrounding this Colts defensive backfield. That includes rookie safety Nick Cross and the sticky contract situation with Kenny Moore II. Zach and I are also going to dive into new Colts cornerback Stephon Gilmore later. But without further ado, let's welcome in Jonathan Hagler here to the show. Many of you are probably already familiar with Jonathan as he's done quite a bit of work with Zach in the past where they kind of study and break down some defensive back film. Jonathan is currently a DB coach and owner of the NET Center. Thanks so much for joining us today, man. Thanks for having me on, man. You know, starting to really love the Colts Nation last year.

I felt a part of the fam, you know, all season. They showed a lot of love. There we go. Very good. So, of course, with Colts Nation, they're also very excited about their newest safety. The Colts used pick 96 in the third round on Maryland safety Nick Cross. They decided they couldn't live without him. His price was going to be a little too rich next year,

so they traded up into the bottom of the third and got him. What do you think about him as a player? From what I hear, you've done quite a bit of research on him. One thing that sticks out about Nick Cross is he's an elite athlete. You see it on film. I think if you put on the first, if you're a film guy, you put on the first play against West Virginia or second play against West Virginia, he shoots out of a cannon,

lights a guy up, you know, 15 yards away. It's just impressive to cover that much ground. Now, I had no idea he was going to test the way he did when he goes sub 4.35, when you jump 37, when you jump 130 inches on your broad. But I think he brings a ton of speed, a lot of athleticism, and a different type of physicality. You know, when he comes downhill or when he goes in to make a tackle,

it's not nice. You know, he's coming with bad intentions. He's trying to take somebody out of a game, and that's some things that I really love about his game. That will endear himself to Colts fans pretty quick. Everyone wants to relate to Bob Sanders, so that'll beear himself to colts fans pretty quick everyone wants to relate to bob sanders so that'll oh oh yeah legend yeah yep yep and and you know when you look at his game you know so many people coming out we're like oh this is a free safety with that

speed those athletics that athleticism oh this is a free safety but what i've always said on this podcast and said on twitter a lot is the colts have always viewed him as a strong safety and that's what he's going to be this year with with the retirement of Kari Willis, he's going to step in and be a strong safety. Maybe not the starter right away, but he's going to be that. How do you like his fit as a strong safety? And were you one of those guys who said, hey, this guy can play in the box. He can be kind of a box safety and a cover three defense? I believe so.

I mean, when you look at some of his best plays, I mean, obviously he was asked to play deep a lot and he made a lot of good plays. But some of his biggest mistakes came from playing deep. Right. He gets really nosy. He wants to be closer to the line of scrimmage if you watch him play. His eyes are in the backfield a lot. You know, when tight ends or defenders or he gets beat on a double move, when they get by him, it's because he's peaking.

Now, when you see him come into the box or when you see him fly into the box, he really excels. He matches up well with tight ends. He covers he covers sideline and sideline very well. Like I said, he's a very fast athlete. I like his game in the box. And I think for a young safety, I think that's a natural transition for him. That'd be very beneficial for his career instead of throwing him to the wolves. And, you know, some of those mistakes on Sundays, you start peaking a little too much. And, you know, the Titans, they start, you know,

throwing 40-yard bombs at your head, or the Seahawks start hitting you with all those post routes again. You know, fans start to turn on you a bit. So I think that'll be really beneficial for his game, you know, letting him be physical, letting him be fast, and just, you know, do his thing in the box. Yeah, yeah, I know. I completely agree. Yeah. And you mentioned, you kind of mentioned some of those,

those issues in his game a little bit. It seems like that's kind of a study thing and something that will come along with, with more experience. Right after the draft, we talked to some of the Colts scouts and I think it was Mike DeRice, the Northeast scout who was kind of oversaw Nick Cross. And even though Cross is kind of young, both in age and as a player at safety, Derise was saying, you know, I think he could surprise some people and be ready before a lot of people think, because whether it's a developmental thing or just, you know, sit a year, a lot of people say he needed some time. What's

your evaluation of that? Do you think he could be ready? And especially like Zach said, Kari Willis is retired, so he's probably going to be thrust into a bigger role than what was initially thought. Oh, yeah, I think in a perfect world, I think you kind of slowly integrate him into that defense and you increase his role throughout the season. And then by year two, he becomes kind of a guy for you.

I think with his athleticism and his physicality, I think it'll transition nice to the NFL. So I don't think it's something that he's not capable of doing. When you have his size and his ability as an athlete, those guys tend to figure it out. You know, unless you just go out there and you're just awful, they tend to do okay. And that's kind of what I'm expecting from Nick Cross.

I would have loved to see him get a chance to slowly come into the league. But sometimes when those guys get thrown into the fire, you get to see how good they really are and how naturally they adjust. And that's something I'm excited to see from him. How does he adjust to being thrown into the fire a little bit? Because I think he can make an impact. He brings a lot of positive skill sets to the team. Yeah, yeah. And that's something that Jake and I talked about a couple of times where, you know, these safeties come in with the Colts, like Kari Willis in 2019 was a fourth round pick.

He came in, he took that job by week three. Julian Blackman, the next year, he came in and took a starting job by, I would say, like week five or six. Like once he came back, it was his job basically from that injury. So we do think Nick Cross is going to be that guy this year. But in kind of long term, when you look at a guy like Nick Cross, you know, I know the Colts internally are hoping and maybe optimistically hoping that he can be like a Jamal Adams in this type of defense. You know, this is that cover three, that Gus Bradley type defense where you want that do it all box safety. Who's just going to light up dudes on every single play. I'm not saying, you know, compare him to the Jamal Adams here. But like, do you think long term that, you know, Nick Cross, if he starts figuring out around being a box safety, he could be maybe like a pro bowler and all pro type guy.

You know, those things are always super hard to project. But, yeah, he has the he checks the boxes when it comes to, you know, kind of, you know, is it possible? You know, some guys just you know, some guys are going to be rotational players. Some guys are going to be roster guys. But like I said earlier, he's an elite athlete and he's a very good football player. He comes from a football area in the math of high school like they know football. You know what I mean? So I think he has the type of ability to make that type of impact down the road.

And the defense does him a ton of favors. You know, he doesn't have to be exposed. Like, you can roll him down to the box. You can, like I said, really bring out his best traits. And, you know, I wouldn't be shocked. I mean, they've done a hell of a job drafting the last couple years. I mean, some of the guys they picked up, I mean, when you look at Leonard and some of those other guys, they're studs.

And I think having Gilmore and Kenny Moore, I think those guys will only help him out because they're veteran players. They'll be able to teach him. And, you know, I think he's in a perfect situation to flourish, I mean, when you look at the big picture. And I got one more question before we jump to the next thing, Jake. I know this is off script a little bit. I go off script, okay? I'm a renegade here. Like, I don't know that. Right, right. One more question, Hag, is, you know, you do your work with Stellar. Stellar is

a sports group that Hag kind of scouts players and watches players. When did Nick Cross kind of come on your radar as someone watching college players? About mid-season, just you start talking to different people, and then, you know, you have grades. He's a young guy, right? He's 20. Has he turned 21 yet? I think he just turned 21. He may have just turned 21.

Like very, very young players. So, like, when you talk to scouts and things like that, they finally make their way to those underclassmen, those young guys. About mid-season, I was a Maryland fan. Not a Maryland fan. I watched Maryland due to Talia, right? Talia transferred to Thompson High School in Alabama a couple years ago, and they lit it up.

So I've always tried to keep him. He went to Alabama. I'm Alabama born and raised. So I like to keep up with the guys once they leave. And then I started looking at the prospects on their team. You start looking at the Rakeem Jarrett. You start looking at who else do they have. And it's like, oh, the safety.

I was like, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. I was like, okay, let me watch him. And then when you get your hands on that, like I said, that West Virginia game really stood out to me. You know, I was like, I like this kid. I like him a lot. And, you know, I know during the draft cycle, you know, we had people, you know, hey, check out Nick Cross, check out Nick Cross, check out Nick Cross.

I'm like, okay, I'll get to this guy, you know, fully. Let me fully look into his family. I was like, he's got something, you know. He's got something there. Yep. Yeah, that's good. So, obviously, there's reason to be optimistic about Nick Cross and his long-term projections with the Colts, potentially even short-term.

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15% off your order. Use promo LOCK15. So guys, we could not have Hag on the show without talking Kenny Moore. You know, I had Hag last year on the Horseshoe Huddle YouTube channel, and we broke down defensive back play every single week. It was something that we just did every week until I think the last couple of weeks when I had COVID, and it was just a complete mess. But one of the constant themes of that show was how great Kenny Moore is you know Kenny Moore was a star even in the weeks where it looked like he struggled we were like look he's a risk taker and there are times he's going to get beat but at the end of the day Kenny Moore is such a great impact on your defense so Hag before we get into this whole contract dispute

and and I wouldn't even call it a dispute because it's not like he's going to not play this year. But when we get into the talk about his contract, what are your overall thoughts on Kenny Moore and why is he so great for this Colts team? You know, Kenny, he's a glue guy. You know, when you look at the success of the Colts defense, like even when, like we said, the team may have not been doing well, he flashes. You know, his energy, his leadership, and his ability just to make plays is, you know, you have to take care of guys like that

because once they're gone, you tend to regret it because they're very hard to replace. It's super hard to find a guy that's that natural and with his playmaking ability in the slot. And, you know, guys like Kenny Moore, man, I love watching them play just because they have an ability to get their hands on footballs, to disrupt defenses. And I know he's 5'9", 190 pounds,

but I don't know how many side defenders set edges the way he does. I know the Titans hate him. The Titans hate him. Derrick Henry does not like him on his kneecaps. But that's what he brings to your team. You know, he brings energy. he's a glue guy for sure. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So of course, during the 2019 off season, Moore signed a $36 million deal. And, you know, at the time that was the highest paid contract for a slot defender. And it was a

highly celebrated deal. a lot of people especially around the league knew that kenny didn't quite have the national fanfare yet but the contract was indicative of how the colts and really people around the league felt about him so at the time very very rich deal but now uh he's the 27th highest paid corner overall um he yeah and that's based on his 8.3 million dollar per season average uh he's only going to make 6.75 this year and then 8.2 the year after we're starting to see these elite corners get around 20 million a year so it's pretty understandable to see why kenny feels underpaid or or would like a reworked contract at this point. What you know, is he underpaid?

Like what ball? What range of pay should he be in about now, considering what we're seeing guys get paid now? Well, I think, you know, when you are that important and when you are as good as he is, I mean, he's coming off a year where he had the best year of his career. Extremely productive. When you're that good and you play that many snaps, you should be paid like an elite corner. Now, because he played primarily in the slot, I won't say pay him

like the Jalen Ramseys, like the Denzel Wards, but he needs to be up in that upper group because he's extremely valuable for the Colts. I know last year when we were talking about when we were doing all those DB segments, when there was zero ball production or zero plays being made, it was Kenny. So like I said, you can't let those guys walk.

You have to make those guys happy because they tend to just make up for the lack of whether it be last year, those couple of safeties that play that weren't making things happen. Right. Well, Kenny in the slot makes that safety better because now you have to throw at those guys right i think he's definitely should be definitely should be in that top 13 to 14 category and uh whatever that is i would say give it to him because i think he deserves it and i think his play his place says it too yeah yeah and you know there's so many reports coming out that you know he might hold out and stuff like that but that's really just

not a thing anymore players can't really hold out because of all the fines that come in. And I understand the Colts' point of view on this, too, because extending a player when they have two years left on their deal is a tough precedent to set. So I get where the standoff is and I get that Kenny Moore is showing his displeasure. But, you know, as someone like yourself who deals with a lot of players, you know, you talk to a lot of players. You obviously were trying to make the jump into the nfl back in the day and stuff like that you know we're seeing nfl players kind of have this this field more empowerment lately you know it's not it's not the nba where guys can just pick and choose where they want to go when it comes to frequency and still get max deals but it is definitely getting to the level where it's like

these guys know their worth and they're going to voice their displeasure. Again, as someone who talks with a lot of players who gets who deals with agent side as well. What are your kind of thoughts on this whole era of football that we're seeing where I know a lot of fans are kind of against it, seeing players kind of advocate for their own worth out there? Oh, yeah. Well, I think I think the players are are more educated for one. They're aware of how much money is going into the NFL. They're aware of how much these TV deals are worth. They're not they're not dumb. They're not that dumb anymore. There's a couple that are clues, but they have an idea of what's coming in.

You know what I mean? And and they know that, you and and they know that you know they can you know teams can shovel out a little bit more um especially when when you're in a position where i'm playing well like i'm playing good football take care of me yeah i signed an extension i was a undrafted guy coming out of adasta state yeah give me give me that that six and at the time it was high but the markets change and when the markets change yeah we we do need to sit down a little bit more now um am i gonna say hey try to break the bank and and you know pay me whatever it is like i don't care about about the team or the cap space but you know take care of your guys take care of your guys that have

played well for you that are leaders for you like i said that are glue guys for you um i'm definitely gonna side more towards the players but i also know it is a business and it has to make sense for the team. Yep. Yep. And I think the Colts, you know, again, cutting Jake off because this is me just going renegade here, but I think, I think the Colts are just a great example of the last couple of years, though, as of a team that does pay their players. You know, we've seen Braden Smith, we've seen Darius Leonard, we've seen DeForest Buckner right when they traded for him,

they gave him that big contract, you know, they are like a team that will pay the guys. So when it comes to Colts fans being so worried about this situation, I do think ultimately they're going to end up paying Kenny. I just don't think it's going to be right now. And I think Kenny kind of understands that. I think it's fine. But, you know, Jake, you were jumping in there before I cut you off. I just wanted to throw that out there.

Yeah, no, and that's pretty much exactly what I was going to get at is you probably won't be able to find someone who's going to talk as high about Kenny Moore as Chris Ballard will, for example, like you mentioned glue guys had like, he knows that's a glue guy and they will take care of those guys. That's why I just, I can't see this becoming a big issue because even if nothing new happens with the contract status, I can't see this becoming a big issue because even if nothing new happens with the contract status, I can't imagine that Ballard or anyone from the Colts front office hasn't been in contact with Kenny and given some sort of assurance, be like,

look, I know the market's changed this and that your contract doesn't look as good as it once did, but we want you here. Like there has to have been some sort of assurances made like that's just how the Colts operate they want to take care of those guys but hag another thing I was gonna say Zach and I have heard this a lot unfortunately one argument and it even comes from fans sometimes is the peculiar timing of this request I guess from Kenny given that the last time we saw the

Colts and him even things weren't going well that the last time we saw the Colts and him even, things weren't going well. The last couple weeks of the season didn't go well. How can you squash the argument of, well, if you want this new deal, don't have a terrible last two games of the season or whatever. To me, it wipes out the last four years of what he did. People are just discounting that.

What's the biggest argument you can make to squash that whole thing? I mean, if you're judging players off of two games, then, you know, it's not what have you done for me. Like when you play upwards to, what, 16 to 18 games now, and if you make it to the playoffs even more, what are we talking about, less than 8%, 8%, 9% of the games that you play? Like it's not – that's not fair. That's kind of ignorant, you know, to say just because you don't finish the season great,

it's a long season. The quarterbacks, you know, if I went in there and I talked about how Drew Brees threw four interceptions one game, is he an awful quarterback now? Do you not take care of Mahomes? Do you not take care of these two? What about Peyton Manning? You know, they all had bad games.

They've had a series of bad games. But, no, Kenny Moore has an incredible body of work. He was one of the most productive players in the NFL last year at the defensive back position. And at the end of the day, he's a stud. So if that's your argument, then that just shows a lack of appreciation for talent because nobody's perfect.

It's hard to play in the slot. It's harder to play. It's hard to play in the slot. It's hard to play in the slot than it is on the outside. He's literally playing one of the hardest positions in football and he's thriving. He's thriving as a guy that was undrafted, as a guy who's undersized, you know, and he makes some, some crazy plays. All right. So I think, you know, for those fans that are on Kenny Moore, show some appreciation because there's a lot of teams that wish they had one. Yeah. Yeah. No, the one thing I want to throw with that think, you know, for those fans that are on Kenny Moore, show some appreciation because there's a lot of teams that wish they had one. Yeah. Yeah. No, the one thing I want to throw with that is, you know, like you said, I know it's a what have you done for me lately?

But only cherry picking those last two games is a what have you done for me lately is kind of what it is. Like because, again, he's coming off his best year where he made his first Pro Bowl as a slot corner. Like, you know how hard it is to make it when your position isn't even acknowledged by the Pro Bowl? Chris Harris is like the last guy that people really had to take note of. And even that was a few years ago. So, like, I feel like Kenny Moore is really the first guy since Chris Harris to make people pay attention to that position.

Oh, yeah. No, 100%. Like, he's a he's like we talk about standards like right now he's the standard of slot play in the nfl yeah now hag we did not script this segment that's why we're running a little late so we do kind of have to let you go here but man i appreciate you jumping on you know that i was fighting with jake for like weeks to get you on and just it would have been the first show I would have had you on if it were up to me.

There was no fight. There was no fighting. He's being dramatic. Oh, good, man. Thanks. Thank y'all for having me,

man. Yeah. Thanks for having me. Absolutely. Everybody. Thanks again so much to Jonathan for his time and be sure to follow him on Twitter at John Hagler, CR that's at J O N HN-H-A-G-L-E-R-C-R.

All right. So that was, that was really good stuff with, uh, with Hag there. Next, we're going to talk about yet another new addition to the Colts secondary. That is Stefan Gilmore. Uh, one of the flashiest signings the Colts seem to have made in a while outside of the quarterback position. Uh, that's a former NFL defensive player of the yeariest signings the Colts seem to have made in a while outside of the quarterback position. That's a former NFL defensive player of the year, former All-Pro, I think five-time Pro Bowler. You know, they kind of replaced Xavier Rhodes with Stephon Gilmore. So that's kind of the role he's overtaking. So that's a pretty nice upgrade if you look at it that way, Zach.

What did you think overall about this move? What are you kind of looking forward to this year? I mean, if you're someone like me who my intro kind of into the NFL and kind of into stuff like this was studying defensive backs, studying corners, studying safeties and stuff like that. I mean, Stephon Gilmore was the teach tape. I mean, that was the guy back when I started this thing. It was him, and then obviously Jalen Ramsey came in, and Darrell Revis was kind of my high school years and stuff like that. But yeah, Stephon Gilmore was like the peak of cornerback play. I mean, he was Gilly Locke for a reason. And what I noticed when I was watching his film last year and then two years ago as well is maybe he's not as good as defensive player of the year stefan gilmore but the drop off really isn't there like he is still matching up with i

mean against the falcons last year he followed kyle pitts for most of that game uh when when he was with carolina and i think he had a pick in that game he had two pass breakups kyle pitts uh he might have still had some production, but I know from every target that I saw with Gilmore on him, Kyle Pitts did not have many receptions. And then you go to other games. I mean, he was following number one targets on a Panthers defense that has some good corners, you know, and that was when he came back halfway through the year after getting traded to a new team, a new scheme, and he came out and he played really well. So watching his film from last year watching his film from two years ago i still think he's stefan gilmore you know and i think in a normal

free agent period like this year we saw outside the jaguars we saw a lot of contracts being a lot lower than what they typically are i think in a normal free agent period you know he's getting up to 15 16 17 maybe 18 million a year over two years So the Colts were super lucky to get him at what they did. And like you said, if you're replacing Xavier Rhodes, or even in my opinion, you know, you're replacing Rock Yassin, what he was doing on the outside with Gilmore. Like if Gilmore can replace what Rock was doing in terms of like receptions allowed and completion percentage, but just add a couple interceptions in there. I mean, that's a huge win for this defense.

So I think Gilmore is going to be a great fit. I think he fits this cover three and, or, you know, single high type defense really well. And he's going to just thrive in the man match concepts that are going to be thrown out there. Yeah, I totally agree. I think he fits this defense very well, especially if there's going to be more man coverage involved and single high

safety with a little less help that his presence is really good for that. And, you know, some of the, some of the skeptics, I guess, see him and, you know, getting traded. And then he's with Carolina. He's banged up quite a bit over the last year, year and a half. And just like you said, there was a drop off, but it wasn't significant. If I'm going to go ahead and compare this to the xavier road situation again just because xavier roads had plenty of detractors before the colts signed him two years ago like he people thought he might have been done he had a lot of injury issues too this isn't even

as sketchy of a situation as that like this is this is just really a small hiccup in what has still remained a very high level career like he's just been banged up a bit and even with Carolina he didn't look half bad he was still you know if you're going off pff grades he had a 77.1 which you know that's that was a top five season of his career yeah yeah and I think you know I don't hate the Rhodes comparison you made there but like you said I think Rhodes for instance was coming in here where his last season with Minnesota he was maybe like a cornerback too like a low-end corner too like he had a bad year because of injuries injuries were one part of it but he did not look like Xavier Rhodes of the past Stephon Gilmore went from the number one, like indisputable number one corner in all of football,

like easy defensive player of the year to maybe like a fringe top 10 guy, you know, still like a high end cornerback one. Exactly. It's what he was last year. So like, it's kind of like what you said with Xavier Rhodes where, yeah,

there were some detractors, but I think at the end of the day, almost anybody who kind of watched any bit of stuff on Gilmoremore's film last year can say like hey he still has it like again it's not what he was but he's still really really good and i think it's kind of a thing that nobody's really talking about but like sometimes we just gotta look ourselves in the mirror and be like holy crap we have stuff on gilmore with the right Colts. I think it's just overshadowed from a busy offseason of pretty big moves. But they for real have a potentially elite corner. Yeah, and I think another thing that's so underrated about this is,

Julian Blackman is going to step in here as the free safety in a different scheme than what he's played in the NFL. A little similar to what he was doing at Utah, but for the most part, it's a different scheme. He's going to be doing a lot of single high type stuff. You know how much easier your life is as a single high safety when one side you really don't have to worry about as much when you when you can just focus your eyes on half real half read stuff, half field reads and such and kind of focus towards, you know,

Isaiah Rogers side or helping Kenny in the slot or helping the linebackers up at the top because, you know, you have Stephon Gilmore on the other side. Your life is made so much easier as a free safety. So I think Gilmore not only helps this defense overall, but it helps Julian Blackman, especially going to a new scheme and coming back from a big injury. It also helps having the front seven that the Colts have. That'll help Gilmore. You have Buckner and Ngakwe

and what we assume will be an even better Quidipe up front. You have Darius Leonard doing Darius Leonard things. You have Kenny in the slot. Like the guys he has around him will, it'll be similar to when he was absolutely falling out with the Patriots, the level of competition playing around him.

So that'll be a huge boost for him as well. Yeah, no, I agree. I think it's going to be a really, really good year for Gilmore and just the Colts defense in general, as long as they adjust to this new scheme really well. That's my big caveat right now is just like this defense. I want to see how they look in this new scheme. But outside of that, that's really my biggest concern. Like, I feel really good about a lot of other areas.

Yeah. Well guys, Merry Christmas to Zach. We gave him another DB episode. So I hope he's happy now. We didn't talk about Curtis Brooks or Isaiah Rogers though, or Kylan Granson. So I mean, now we have, now we have, now we have can't wait to see Curtis Brooks lining up at deep safety, man. It's going to be nice. He can play some corner, right?

We need, we need a fifth corner. Exactly. Well guys, we will be back with you tomorrow. Zach and I are going to continue to prepare for the start of Colts training camp players report next Tuesday. First practice will be Wednesday.

So there's still plenty of us to break down before then. Yep. And guys, make sure you go on social media, follow us on Twitter at Zach Hicks to at Jake Arthur, NFL at locked on Colts for our accounts page. And also at the horseshoe huddle page. I think we have two for horseshoe huddle there on Twitter. So definitely check them out. I think it's fan fan nation. Horseshoe huddle is what we have out there or horseshoe huddle. Right. Is that what it is?

It's Colts on FN and then there's Colt Maven. So there's two. You don't have to follow both. They both produce the same content, but Colts on FN is probably the one we would distribute the most. Yes, yes.

And then also here on YouTube, I know you guys have been watching. Like Jake said, you get to see my bare arms, I guess, and stuff like that on YouTube. So that's, I guess that's a perk or it's a downside. If you're watching on YouTube, hit that subscribe button. I think we're about to hit 400 subscribers here on YouTube. We're getting close. I mean, you guys are getting us to a thousand before we have anything real to talk about. Like we have had coming on just spewing knowledge, so we don't have to talk about this much. So we appreciate all that. And also on Facebook guys, we are starting to get some things going on Facebook.

We have a lot of places for you guys to follow the page and we appreciate all the follows that you guys have already given us. And thanks again for Jonathan Hagler for joining us. And thanks to you guys for making locked on cold to our first listen of the day. Now make your second listen of the day, the locked on NFL podcast. That's our national NFL experts and insiders keeping fans dialed in with the biggest stories

and the latest news from around the league. Because an offseason doesn't equal a break in the action. And guys, it's almost not the offseason anymore, so that's pretty dope in itself. And with that, we'll see you tomorrow.