Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - INDIANAPOLIS COLTS: Daniel Jones BALLIN' to End Mandatory Minicamp

Starting point is 00:00:00 Indianapolis Colts have wrapped up their mandatory mini camp. And I'm going to catch you up today on what I've seen there these last couple days. 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, welcome to Locked on Colts on the Locked On podcast network. I am your host, Jake Arthur, the Indianapolis Colts beatwriter for Roundtable Sports. And today we are chatting all things Colts mandatory minicamp.

Starting point is 00:00:41 I owe you guys a couple days and notes here. So let's go ahead and catch you up on Wednesday. And then they had their final practice this morning, Thursday morning. Now they are on a six-week break until late July. We will find out in the coming weeks exactly what their training camp schedule will be. But for now, we just know that the vibes are chill. Everyone is just hanging out until camp commences. So let's go ahead and start with injuries.

Starting point is 00:01:09 These guys pretty much missed the entire week. We know about wide receiver Alec Pearson, his ankle injury. I just wrote a more in-depth piece on that this morning over at Roundtable, if you guys didn't check it out yet. In Alex's own words, he kind of explained everything. He tried a PRP shot in his ankle right after the season. And then after that didn't really provide the necessary relief. They went ahead and had surgery in late March.

Starting point is 00:01:36 March and then now the hope is kind of that we see him by the end of training camp. Will it be at the beginning of training camp? Maybe. Maybe not. No one's really got any definitive firm answer for that. But they do hope, however, for me to be back by week one. Cornerback Mooney Ward, he had what I was told was minor back stiffness. He was just day to day in that they're just being cautious with him this time of year.

Starting point is 00:02:02 There was no need to run him out there. So Mooney is going to be fine. He just wasn't physically participating out there. DeForest Buckner still obviously dealing with the neck injury. Probably won't see him until training camp. Rookie offensive lineman Jalen Farmer had a knee issue that he was not participating this week. Cornerback Cam Taylor Britt, he had the Liz Frank injury last year when he was with the Bengals. He is not recovered from that.

Starting point is 00:02:28 Cornerback Mackay Blackman did not partake. We did not find out what that injury was. Same thing with quarterback Jalen Jones. I think he was out there Tuesday, but not Wednesday and Thursday. Offensive tackle Byron Motos, safety Austin Brown, and safety Ben Nickel. Undisclosed injuries on those last guys. We'll see if they're still injured for some reason when training camp starts. We'll find out exactly what those guys are dealing with.

Starting point is 00:02:55 But just to kind of set the stage here, those guys did not participate. So let's go ahead and talk about the quarterback performances. I think it's very encouraging that Daniel Jones was out there. seven on sevens throughout the week. So we've been able, we've seen him in a couple weeks now of seven on sevens. Physically could he do 11 on 11s? Yes, but they're just being smart with him. They're not really forcing him to do that quite yet.

Starting point is 00:03:21 Again, he would be physically capable of doing it. But they are just trying to be as smart with him as they possibly can be. And he looked really good in seven on sevens. I had him down as eight of ten during the three days with four touchdowns. Actually, we were just talking about these last two days, eight of ten in the last two days with four touchdowns. He had two of them to Josh Downs, one to Ashton Doolin, and then a long one today to Tyler Warren. The two incompletions were just throwaways in the red zone. So the two to Josh Downs, really crafty quickness and route running by him, again, in the low red zone to get free from Justin Wally.

Starting point is 00:03:59 The one to Ashton Doolan on Wednesday, he actually went up in Moss-Sossed Soss Gardner on that one. Gardner explained to us today, actually. He tried to bait Daniel Jones into making that throw, which he said Daniel probably shouldn't have still made the throw anyways, but he baited him into making that throw. And then Jones just placed it well, and Doolin jumped up and grabbed it over, Gardner. So just a good connection from Jones to Doolin on that one.

Starting point is 00:04:26 The one to Warren was today, big long one from 50-plus yards, a lot of catch-and-run on that one. That was, again, a really encouraging one from Daniel Jones. looked off the safety to the right side, which created a little more space for Warren, and then just launched it deep left for Warren, who did the rest. So really efficient, but productive stuff from Daniel Jones these last couple days, really all of mini-camp. So he's really going into the break on a high note. You can't wait to see him in 11-on-11 to see what that really looks like once there's pressure out there. Anthony Richardson.

Starting point is 00:05:03 So Shane Steichen told us that Richardson and Riley Leonard alternated every day who would get to get first team reps during 11-on-11s first. And from everything we saw that had been accurate. However, Richardson was the first quarterback up with the first-team offense in 11-on-11s each of the last two days. That's the first time we've seen it happen on consecutive days. Make of that what you will. It may mean nothing. It may just mean part of the pattern that they're trying. trying to get out there.

Starting point is 00:05:35 But I thought it was at least worth noting. It was the first time we had seen it in the media. Richardson, honestly, he's got the worst completion percentage of the three quarterbacks. But I thought he, I thought he looked pretty solid. He doesn't look like a guy that's recovering from an eye issue at all. I think he looks healthy. He's spinning the ball really well.

Starting point is 00:05:55 And I just, I just think he looks pretty solid. During 11 on 11s in these last two days again, just three of seven. but he did have a couple of touchdowns in seven-on-sevons. I had one to Eli Pancoll in particular, where he rolled out to his left and just kind of flicked his wrist and Pankel jumped up and caught it with one hand. But just some really good stuff to see from Richardson. I want to see more of him in 11-on-11s in training camp, and I'm really interested to see how Stuyken kind of divvies things up,

Starting point is 00:06:27 you know, if he's truly battling rightly winner for QB2, I want to see kind of how those guys split the pie a little bit. What I think would be a little frustrating is if Richardson gets off to a really strong start and gets the fans all kind of in a latherer and gets excited and then gets traded for some reason. That would be, I mean, it would finally be an end to that saga of him being around. But at the same time, you don't want to build a ton of excitement in the fan base for him once again before that happens. But we'll see how it goes. Riley Leonard, the last two days in 11 on 11.

Starting point is 00:07:02 eight of 10, which obviously that's, that's pretty efficient. But there, I didn't, I didn't get any like excitement generated out of it. It didn't necessarily look all that great. He had one today where he slipped down and kind of had a self-sack, you could say. There's been some throws in really tight quarters or like just being late throwing some stuff. I've definitely seen Leonard look better. I thought he looked better during OTAs the previous couple weeks versus this week during mini camp but I kind of felt the same way last year. He looked worse last year like as a rookie but I thought he had a better OTAs last year than he did minicamp and then he came in and got an opportunity to play during the season and obviously looked really good, really surprised all of us.

Starting point is 00:07:49 So I'm not going to bury him too much for this. I think the stuff we've actually seen from him on a live football field and a regular season game buys him a little equity with me. So I'll give him some grace. But the quarterbacks overall, I think it's relatively encouraging. Jones is still easily the one I feel best about if you had to play a game. He's the least healthy of the bunch, of course, but he, I think, has looked the best at playing the quarterback position so far in this limited sample size. So again, six weeks from now, we'll see how training camp looks. Hopefully Jones is participating more so than the other guys and getting all these first team reps during 11 on 11s, and we can just kind of shift focus to not having to look so much at Richardson

Starting point is 00:08:35 versus Leonard. So coming up, guys, we'll talk about some other players on offense that kind of stood out over these last couple of days. Workplace chaos, deadlines are stacking up, the inbox is overflowing, and that one position that you have to fill is still fitting open. When the pressure's on and you need the right hire, this is a job for sponsored jobs. Indeed, sponsored jobs helps you reach the people who actually fit what you're looking for, skills, experiencing location, so that you're not just hoping that the right candidate stumbles across your post. And here's a stat that says it all. In the minute that I've been talking to you, companies like yours made 27 hires on Indeed, according to Indeed data worldwide.

Starting point is 00:09:17 So spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all of your boxes with less stress, less time, and more results. When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. And listeners of our our show are going to get a $75-sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status that it deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast. Just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash podcast, terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. This is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. All right. Welcome back, everybody. Before we dive into some of the other offensive players who aren't

Starting point is 00:10:03 quarterbacks. Do not forget to check out the Everyday Air Club for ad-free audio episodes of the show and access to a group chat with other listeners as well as Zach and myself. Just make sure to tap the link in the show notes or go to locked on colts. supercast.com to join today. All right. So let's start with some past catchers. Everyone obviously wants to know what's going on with the wide receiver three spot. And with Alec Pierce on the sidelines, it's, it's giving. have been more guys a chance to really show out. But I think Ashton Doolin is really the only one I have firm notes about. I think he's really the only one that stood out really all spring,

Starting point is 00:10:45 you could say. Lequan Treadwell did make a couple nice plays today. So like that's good to see. But I'm kind of trying to temper expectations for him because as we mentioned a couple times on this show recently, we've talked a lot about receivers. And there's a lot of guys who are competing for this wide receiver three spot, but they're not going to take like seven or eight receivers into the season. So not everybody can make it. We know Pierce and Downs and Doolin are going to make it. We don't know if Burke's will. We don't know if Nick Westbrook Aquino will, Gould, you know, Treadwell, like not all these guys are going to make it. So I love Treadwell for the special team's prowess. And I've always been interested to see what it would look like if he gets

Starting point is 00:11:29 more of an offensive role, but I don't want to buy too much stock in the Laquan Treadwell, and then he just ultimately doesn't make the roster. But nonetheless, made a couple nice plays today. Ashton Doolin just keeps showing up day in and day out. Super athletic. He's got really good speed. He's got good vertical leaping ability. Usually shows really good hands, makes difficult catches.

Starting point is 00:11:56 Has the confidence as a wide receiver of three to go. go up and snatch the ball away from sauce gardener who has always been considered an elite corner throughout his career so i think duelin is comfortably in that wide receiver three spot and at this point i i feel relatively comfortable saying that if it's not going to be duen entering the season then it'll be someone else that they go out on the market and get you know we we don't know if if they feel comfortable enough or uncomfortable enough to have to go get a free agent but I do think so far Ashton Doolin is pretty much doing everything that he possibly can to win the job. Josh Downs, there's no mystery about his role.

Starting point is 00:12:38 We know he's going to be significantly involved. I think he's really impressed me, especially down in the red zone this week. He's so quick and he's able to get separation and beat man coverage very quickly from the slot. He has kind of taken Justin Wall. to the woodshed a little bit this week. Wally, of course, going from the outside to the inside that's going to put him against Josh Downs regularly throughout practice throughout the year.

Starting point is 00:13:09 So I think there's a lot that a guy like Wally can learn from Josh Downs, just figuring out the ins and outs of how a crafty route runner who really excels on like option routes is going to decide how to combat Wally. I think those guys picking each other's brains will help Wally quite a bit. But yeah, look for Josh Downs to be more effective in the red zone this year than we've seen in years past. Moving beyond receivers to a running back who I've been kind of hard on earlier in the offseason, but he, I think he's had an impressive spring in summer so far. DJ Giddens, he is, he's just moving so much more decisively and confidently,

Starting point is 00:13:51 showing some speed. And, you know, he always had good vision and everything, but I just felt he was overthinking things last. year and it it just did not look productive. I felt like he was just running into the trenches a lot, probably wasn't seeing where openings were being created, and it just kind of led to a dud of a season. Now part of that was we didn't get to see him as much as we probably could have if he played special teams or if he was like really good in past protection.

Starting point is 00:14:21 So it meant that Tyler Goodson and Amir Abdullah were over him pretty much every week. So if he is able to carve out, out a role where he's got multiple uses, then we'll probably be able to see him as a runner a little more often this year. But he's had a really good OTAs in mini-camp. I think it was probably on Tuesday, Tuesday or Wednesday. He had a nice run for probably 12 yards and a touchdown along the left side. I just had to beat one or two defenders to the pylon and he did it. He caught a wheel route today from Riley Leonard along the right side. It was followed tight. in coverage by Jalen Carlis, but

Starting point is 00:15:00 Leonard let it go, and Giddens kind of bobbled it a bit, but ultimately caught it and had a big gain out of that. So the guy's catching the ball. He's running it well right now. When the pads get on, we'll see what past pros looking like, and I want to see more extended special teams period so I can really get a good gauge on if he's

Starting point is 00:15:19 part of those plans or not. Because otherwise, I know the Colts are really high on Seth McGowan right now, but Giddens is doing And just like I mentioned with Doolin, he's pretty much doing everything he can at this rate to earn a spot. So moving beyond all that to Zach's favorite portion of the show, let's talk about the kicker competition real quick. Today, Thursday for the first time, we saw the kickers go at it. Spencer Schrader is back. He was three to five today, though.

Starting point is 00:15:49 So how they have the kickers lined up, us and the media are basically along the back line in the end zone. And so they're extending in distance away from us. So we can't really tell what the yardage markers are. I know normally they go about 27, 33, 40, 44, and then 50 plus. So Schrader missed his third and fourth kicks, made first, second, and fifth. So I think he probably made 27, 33, and 50. If that's the distances they stuck to. So he missed one wide left, one wide right.

Starting point is 00:16:28 Blake Groupie made all five, though. So if there is a leader in the clubhouse so far from what we've seen, Blake Groupie is perfect so far, and Schrader has missed a couple. But again, we have only seen them kick one day, and then we're not going to see him again for six more weeks. So at least for today, Blake Groupie had the stronger performance. All right, guys, so coming up here in just a moment, we'll talk about some of the guys who stood out on the defensive side,

Starting point is 00:16:54 of the ball over these last couple of days. Okay, welcome back, everybody. We are talking about Colts mini camp days two and three, Wednesday and Thursday. It's now a wrap, and we won't see them again until late July. So, again, let's switch this thing to defensive side now. Let's talk linebackers. I think everyone's very interested in that. So C.J. Allen, I still feel very confidently as the starting mic, they've pretty much

Starting point is 00:17:24 already told us that. there's really no mystery there. Now they did do a little bit more mixing and matching over these last couple of days with the linebacker groups from the first team, second team, third team. I think they just want to see how different guys work together and how different guys communicate. C.J. Allen did get some first team reps on Wednesday, but not, I wouldn't say most of them. He has gotten most of them throughout the entire spring and summer so far. But at least Wednesday, I think they wanted to see how some of them.

Starting point is 00:17:55 other guys looked as well. Alan, for what it's worth, was back, like, exclusively with the first team today. But Bryce Betcher has really been turning it on. I would need to get this confirmed, but just to my naked eye, I think Betcher has been getting more and more first team run. And the two guys who I think have gotten the most looks with the first team so far, at least in the last couple days, C.J. Allen and Bryce Betcher. Now, Akeem Davis Gaither has been involved. but if I had to put like an early leader in the clubhouse, I think the first linebackers so far, C.J. Allen and Bryce Betcher,

Starting point is 00:18:36 and then Akeem Davis Gaither and Jalen Carlis. That's just kind of initially what it looks like. The coaches may completely disagree, but that's kind of who has, you know, that's who's really kind of stood out to me. I did not think Betcher had a strong chance at being a starter just because the Colts probably wouldn't have wanted to start two rookies. But if Betcher keeps this up, they really, really like him.

Starting point is 00:19:02 And it's not like Akeem Davis Gaither is like some established star that they brought in here. I think they'd be completely fine with him starting and playing next to Allen just for the sake of having like a veteran who's seen most things next to Alan and helping like digest things in real time. But if you're just putting the two best guys out there, that might wind up being Betcher and Alan. So that is something I'm going to have my eyes glued to throughout training camp. This got way more interesting than I anticipated this quick. So I'm really pumped to see Betcher. You know, I told you guys all on Tuesday, he had that pick six off of Riley Leonard. He had a really competitive play against Moe L.A. Cox on Wednesday.

Starting point is 00:19:46 That kind of drew some reaction from the sidelines as well. So Betcher is getting some love here from the coaches, you know, from everything we've seen. So keep an eye on that. And you guys probably subtly heard me mention the name Jalen Carlyze. He's been very involved as well, not necessarily in the first team. He's got some first team run, but he's been running a lot with the second group so far. I feel like he's probably in a better standing with the team now than he was last year. Now, he was still hurt at this point last year.

Starting point is 00:20:20 But at the times when he was healthy and on the field, it didn't feel like he was super. super involved. I feel like he's been involved in special teams from what I've seen. And I've seen him on the field a lot this week especially. So Jalen Carly's might be making this thing interesting. And if he sticks around on special teams, I think he makes the roster. And I don't think he's going to start. But I certainly think he's a guy that gets himself in the mix. Don't forget, he's a former college safety. So he's going to be one of those guys that can do more than the regular linebacker. Like he's probably really adept at dime linebacker as a guy they could probably use there. So keep an eye, obviously on betcher, but also on Carlize. I think he's made things really

Starting point is 00:21:05 interesting. Now I've got several notes on corners. So Sauce Gardner, I mentioned, you know, Ashton Doolin went up and had that big play against him on Wednesday when Sauce said he tried to bait Daniel Jones into making a certain throw and he did it, but Doolin still kind of won the rep there. sauce had a big bounce back day today. I felt like he tried to bait the quarterback into another throw again. It was Anthony Richardson this time, but he peeled off the underneath route, and then after Richardson threw it up field up the right side, Gardner kind of drove back and then he tipped the ball,

Starting point is 00:21:41 and then it was nearly intercepted along the sideline by Cam Bynum. Bynum just barely couldn't pull it in. And then Soss had another, you know, just close quarters past breakup as well. just a short time later. I think that one was against Richardson as well. So big bounce back day by Sauce. It was a performance where some of us in the media were like, well, yep, that's exactly what they traded for him.

Starting point is 00:22:05 So a good day from him. Obviously a guy, you want to see him stacking those days. When he does get tested in practice, you want to see him respond. If he's going to get beat on those reps like Doolin occasionally, you want to see him come back with days like today. I had mentioned that Justin Wally was, you know, he's impressing coaches. Loua and Rumo said recently he's been back in the full and he doesn't really notice a drop off from before the ACL injury last summer.

Starting point is 00:22:35 So they like that transition he's making to the inside. It's obviously just a little difficult having to go against the guy like Josh Downs. So I wouldn't, I wouldn't be totally stocked down on Justin Wally. I think the coaches do like what they're seeing from him. Just a work in progress transitioning to the inside. Jonathan Edwards, we've mentioned his name a lot. He just keeps making plays. Several past breakups from that guy,

Starting point is 00:23:00 and that's someone who had trouble locating the ball in coverage last year. So if he has taken that next step where he's playing comfortably to the point where he can now not just focus on the receiver, but also be able to pay attention to where the ball is coming and where it is, that's a big step in his development. Without Mooney Ward out there, it's really been sauce gardener. and Jonathan Edwards is the two outside corners. So this dude has got a ton of really meaningful reps out there, and he's been making the most of it.

Starting point is 00:23:30 And then Cameron Mitchell today, another one who is going to be battling for one of those final roster spots at corner. You know, I mentioned Mooney Ward has not been out there, so it's kind of made everyone who makes up the corner depth, kind of shuffled them up of it. But a bunch of corners have been out. Jalen Jones has been out. Cam Taylor Britt hasn't.

Starting point is 00:23:51 taken a rep yet. Mackay Blackman's been out. So Cameron Mitchell responded very well. Had a couple really big time past breakups. It was against the second unit, but I mean, he did it. He's the guy that's out there. You can only compete with who's out there with you. And Mitchell made some big plays today. Definitely worth noting. So a few young corners here in Wally, Edwards, and Mitchell, especially Edwards and Mitchell making a strong impression on media members like me who were able to watch practice. But Wally, especially making a good impression on the coaches as well. So if these guys can just stay healthy, I think they will be just fine at corner.

Starting point is 00:24:36 I think the depth is really good. They've got some young talent there. There are obviously very top heavy with Soss Garner and Mooney Ward. But again, health is key. We just got to keep an eye on that. At safety, just a quick note, I'm starting to get the feeling. now that the plan is for AJ Halsey to be the starter alongside Cam Bynham with Hunter Wooler being the next chess piece that they can just move around wherever. I don't think

Starting point is 00:25:01 that Halsey is just leaps and bounds above Wooler. I just think the Colts, if everything was equal, I think the Colts really would prefer to have Halsey out there as the starter and for them to be able to just use Wooler wherever necessary. Because that way you just keep Halsey where you always plan to have him. And then Woler is the guy who probably plays a little bit less, but you can move him to be put in advantageous situations. Both of those guys have had really impressive offseason so far. Halsey is another guy that just keeps getting talked about by his teammates and coaches

Starting point is 00:25:40 as like a really smart, instinctive player, first one in the building type of guy, always taking notes, always asking questions. he's in the wait room, like he's just doing everything right. And as a young guy, he's already trying to develop like a routine for himself, which is huge for young guys in the NFL. If you don't create those good habits early in your career, it can be hard to, it can be really hard to get a leg up early in your career

Starting point is 00:26:07 until you just kind of mature and figure out how to be a pro a few years down the road. But Halsey is kind of already a guy that gets it, so to speak. So that's really, that's one of the, biggest hurdles for those young guys in order for them to get on the field. But I think already he is earning a lot of trust inside the building. So I'm very encouraged by what I'm seeing defensively, especially in the secondary in a group that was just decimated by injuries last year. So that's all I've got for you guys today.

Starting point is 00:26:36 Tomorrow I'll be chatting all about kind of like the big takeaways I have from mini camp, like the big thoughts I have, some things about lineups and just maybe bigger picture things heading into training camp. I want to make sure I get all that stuff to you guys here tomorrow. But otherwise, thanks for tuning in today to Locked on Colts. We'll be back tonight for the Locked on Colts squad show with Zach, Derek Schultz, Alan Pinkett, and myself. If you don't already, make sure to follow at Locked on Colts at Jake Arthur NFL and at Zach Hicks 2 on social media. And remember, if you never miss an episode, then the Everydayer Club is built just for you. get ad-free audio episodes of us plus members-only discord access and more just head to

Starting point is 00:27:20 locked on colts dot supercast.com to join the club and with that thank you guys again for joining us today and we will see you again tonight for the locked on colts squad show

Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - INDIANAPOLIS COLTS: Daniel Jones BALLIN' to End Mandatory Minicamp

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