Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - INDIANAPOLIS COLTS: Daniel Jones Progressing in OTAs | Does Recent QB Move Have Hidden Meaning?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Colts wrap up OTAs this week with their mandatory three-day minicamp next week, and then they're going to break for the summer. But what have we learned about the Colts over these last couple weeks? 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,

Starting point is 00:00:36 roundtable sports. And today we are talking all about Colts OTAs and we saw them on the field at practice over the last couple weeks. The media, I was able to go out there and check out practice once last week, once this week as well. So there was a lot to take away. So what we're going to go over today is, you know, the defense, that always, there's so much rotation on the defensive side of the ball this time of year. And they kind of try to figure things out. We'll look at the offense, but always what's most important. What is going on with the quarterback position? So let's go ahead and start there. First and foremost, Daniel Jones, he is recovering from his Achilles injury. He was injured in week 14 last year, had surgery. That all went down in early

Starting point is 00:01:23 December. So the good news about Jones is he appears to be on track and, you know, doesn't seem to be any roadblocks in between him and being the Colts starting quarterback week one. He was out there during OTAs last week, just doing like individual positional stuff and then ramped up his workload this week was doing some seven on sevens. His next hurdle, I guess you could say, would be, or not even a hurdle, but his next natural step would be to participate in 11 on 11s when there are, you know, there's a defense they're rushing the pass or there's an offensive line there. So while no one is allowed to touch the quarterback in these instances in practice anyways,

Starting point is 00:02:08 it does add a little more urgency and makes quarterbacks a little more uncomfortable when it's 11 on 11s. But during 7 on 7s, he looked pretty good. He was 5 of 6. Everything was in the red zone. Five of 6 this week. A couple completions to Josh Downs, a really nice one to Tyler Warren, kind of a corner route where Warren had a defender draped all over him and he made a tough catch and then two

Starting point is 00:02:33 short touchdown throws to Ashton Doolin about five yards. His one in completion was also a throw to Doolin in the back of the end zone that just went too high. But overall, you want to see a guy completing a high percentage in seven on sevens because again, there's no pass rush. But five is six. He looked good. I think he's moving around pretty well there. His accuracy is there. his zip on his arm is there. So, so far from what we've seen from Jones this offseason, I don't really have any concerns. Now, in training camp, you know, when they get back and he's doing 11 on 11s, how quickly he's able to escape pressure, you know, the bootlegs, all the rollouts and stuff, how effective

Starting point is 00:03:18 he isn't doing that. That's definitely going to be something we want to keep our eye on. But for now, you know, doing seven on sevens look pretty good. Anthony Richardson and Riley Leonard are rotating and taking the QB1, QB2 reps during 11-on-11s without Daniel Jones out there. Both days that the media has been able to see, Richardson has gotten out there first, but they do alternate day-to-day. That's just, I think it's just random, the fact that we've only seen Richardson take the first-team reps initially. Shane Stuyken did say that on days we're not there, you know, each other day it's Riley-Linner. that goes out there. But during Red Zone stuff this week, they were Richardson and Riley Linder were both two for three.

Starting point is 00:04:05 No touchdowns for either guy. You know, it was all fine. Just kind of short stuff. No one's really standing out there in particular. But I will say that Richardson looks healthy. He does look a little slim down. I think physically he looks great. You know the big concern with him, always his health, but really specifically the eye injury that he had that ended his season last year. I think he looks fine. You know, he's been 100% fully cleared for football activities. And, I mean, unless we hear otherwise or unless we see something glaringly obvious during training camp, I think we might be able to put the eye stuff behind us.

Starting point is 00:04:46 You know, I think peripheral vision and the ability to scan the field was the big concern with that. but so far so good there now again what we're able to see during oTAs is is like we're seeing a whole practice but the practice is only like an hour in change and they're not doing a ton of 11 on 11 stuff but again from what we've seen it it seems pretty decent uh with leonard again it's it's fine there's a lot of guys in and out of the lineup right now so it's you're not seeing like the full deck of cards, so to speak, but everyone just looks fine so far. No one's doing poorly, at least, I guess you could say, which is positive because if you're doing poorly this time here, that's probably a little bit concerning. The Colts did make an interesting move at quarterback,

Starting point is 00:05:38 though, this week. QB4, Seth Hennigan, they waived him. They brought in Easton Stick, who has been in the league, I think, since 2019. Now, he was with Shane Steichen out in Los Angeles with the Chargers for a couple years. So Shane Steichen knows him. Stick has been a QB2 or QB3 pretty much his entire career. Really never worse than QB3. He's had, I think, two or three seasons where he's been the main primary backup. So I thought this was interesting.

Starting point is 00:06:11 A guy like that, you're not going to normally bring him in to be the QB4 on a team, especially if he is a guy that knows Shane Stuyken. And Shane Stuyken, you know, puts that stamp. of approval on him and says bring this guy in here to me you know if i'm doing the brian wind horse like what does this mean mean thing you know does this mean that something is happening with anthony richardson at some point coming down the pipe like i think that's a little interesting we're seeing some movement now across the nfl uh j brown miles garrett things like that are starting to get resolved now that it's it's after june first and things are becoming a little cheaper

Starting point is 00:06:49 maybe something happens with Richardson now. You know, you bring a guy like Easton Stick in. He could certainly be that final piece of a quarterback room. You know, Daniel Jones, who I don't think there's any concern now that he's going to be available week one. So you don't bring a guy like Stick in because you're worried that your starter might not make it to week one. I don't think that's a concern. So your starting situation is settled. Riley Leonard is not a guy who you're concerned like you don't have to bring in competition for him necessarily and you already have that with Richardson.

Starting point is 00:07:27 So you bring a guy like stick in to be at worst like the QB3. So I don't know if there's anything eminent with Richardson, but I certainly think the timing is interesting. Richardson's there. He's participating. Physically he looks good. Does that give him a little bit of, you know, trade value back. Maybe the Colts are just being proactive and they don't want to have to wait to bring someone in if

Starting point is 00:07:54 Richardson does get traded. So that's all speculation at this point. But I do think that move is quite interesting. There's no reason to really replace a guy like Seth Hennigan is QB4 unless you're just getting absolutely nothing out of him because they're not guys that are going to play anyways. So this could be Shane Stake and just bolstering the quarterback room. and making it as good as possible, or it could be getting a third quarterback in here

Starting point is 00:08:23 because you're going to be losing one in the short term. So I do think that's definitely something to keep an eye on. It didn't fly under the radar to me as an insignificant move. So that definitely kind of has my ears perked up about it if something's going to happen with Richardson or not coming up. But coming up, guys, let's talk about the rest of the offense. A lot of guys, again, out of the lineup, which is given an opportunity to some other guys to kind of step up.

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Starting point is 00:10:28 That's betterhELP.com slash locked on. All right, welcome back, everybody. We are talking about Colts OTAs, but before we move on to the offensive side of the ball, don't forget to check out the Every Day or Club for ad-free audio 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.com. All right, so let's talk about some of the guys who've been out of the lineup. So Jonathan Taylor, he has not been there for the OTA practices that we've seen.

Starting point is 00:11:04 Now, he has been with the team at certain points this offseason, so that's not, I don't think that's anything concerning. This is just the voluntary portion of the calendar when some guys are doing stuff out on their own wherever they prefer to. Alec Pierce, though, is still recovering from that ankle issue. I think they've been kind of pinpointing training camp for his return. Jalen Travis, the starting right tackle. He has been out with a back injury.

Starting point is 00:11:33 In his place, as far as what I can tell, it's pretty much been Luke Tenuto the entire time, which to me that also says he's got the leg up in the swing tackle race against Blake Freeland as well. So take a look out for that. You got Nolan Rucci, who's probably in the mix a little bit, Blake Freeland. But I think Luke Tenuda probably has the leg up when it comes to swing tackle right now, certainly from what we've seen with Jalen Travis being out of both of the OTA practices that we've seen. With Jonathan Taylor being out, that gives a good workload to DJ Giddens and Seth McGowan. It has been Giddens getting the, you know, the initial first team reps, although they've both rotated. but Giddens has been the first guy out there.

Starting point is 00:12:17 I've been pleasantly surprised. I think both guys have looked pretty good. And the two OTA practices we've seen both of them have made, have had big gains in both practices. Giddens, I think his decisiveness has improved, and you're seeing a bit of his speed. I feel like last year, like everything was just so meh with Giddens. He was just, I'm assuming as a young running back,

Starting point is 00:12:43 just trying to do exactly as he was told without any of his natural creativity as a runner coming out. I feel like he just ran into the teeth of the defense all the time. You just see a guy running into traffic, and there just wasn't anything there. You didn't see any of the creativity that made him him. But so far, in a limited instance, I think we're starting to see a little bit of that. Certainly a guy you want to see get more comfortable, get more confident, because I think he can be a good runner. I'm just not really confident that you're going to see a lot of him unless he has a big workload in a game, right? You know what I mean? Like if Jonathan Taylor has to miss a game

Starting point is 00:13:25 or two, then you can maybe see the guy with 12 or 15 carries, see a bigger workload and he's going to have a bigger opportunity to make plays. Not a guy with a running style that's going to be effective getting anything less than five carries. You know what I mean? That hopefully is changing. Now McGowan is a guy, I am a little more confident. You could give him two, three, four carries in a game, and you're going to see something out of that because of what you're hoping to accomplish. If it's like short yard stuff, he is a decisive, determined violent runner. He doesn't give you like a ton of burst or creativity,

Starting point is 00:14:01 but he's a guy that's going to like fight tooth and nail for every inch that he can get. And then so when that's your complimentary back that you're trying to have with Jonathan Taylor, just a guy to get tough yardage. I think it's very useful in Seth McGowan. So the good news is as runners, both guys have looked pretty good. What it's going to come down to is how effective they can be on special teams, if at all, because neither of them really have that background. And what they can do on third down?

Starting point is 00:14:30 Are they pass protecting well? Are they catching the ball well? I think both guys have looked pretty good catching the ball. I noticed McGowan after practice last week, I was just running routes on air by himself. So some of the rookies have been taken it upon themselves to get an extra work and extra reps with some of the veterans after practice. So that's been good to see. But I am encouraged about the running backs behind Jonathan Taylor, especially with Giddens. I know I've been a little down on him just because of what he showed last year.

Starting point is 00:14:59 But if he's more confident, more comfortable, and able to kind of show who he was that they drafted, you know, that's a talented player. So at receiver, obviously with Alec Pierce not being out there because of recovery from the ankle surgery, we already knew Ashton Doolin was going to have a sizable role, but now that kind of, you know, levels him up yet again because he's not only just in that third spot, he's pretty much in the lead role there. So I think he's taken full advantage. You know, he's getting the most reps of all those guys who we've said are battling for the spot. you know, Doolin, Laquan Treadwell, Dionne Burks, Nick Westbrook, Akina. Among that group of guys, Ashton Doolin certainly seems to be the leader in the clubhouse there,

Starting point is 00:15:45 getting the most reps, getting the most targets. And he looks good. I mean, looks really athletic, explosive, able to climb the ladder and get to high balls, good speed, good hands. So I think Ashton Doolin is definitely one of the guys to keep an eye on this offseason. I think Dionne Burks has looked pretty good as well. been a couple things I've noticed from him. Just he,

Starting point is 00:16:09 he looks pretty routine. A lot of rookies can get kind of lost in the shuffle and you can just see they're thinking about everything and they're not playing loose. They're not playing comfortably. And I think that Dionne Berks has looked pretty comfortable there. And then that's kind of, that's kind of it for their offense right now. The tight ends,

Starting point is 00:16:28 I think they've been pretty well involved in the passing game. All three guys. Yeah, all three guys. have noticed make big plays. Tyler Warren had that big play in seven-on-sevenths from Daniel Jones. Drew Ogletree has made some big catches. Had a big one up the seam last week. Moe Alley Cox has had a good catch or two.

Starting point is 00:16:50 Will Mallory was on the wrong end of an interception on Monday. It looked like him and Anthony Richardson miscommunicated in the red zone, and Jalen Jones was there to pick it off. But yeah, overall, the tight ends, I think it looked pretty good. interested to see if they get any more involved in the passing game outside of Tyler Warren this year. Obviously, the passing game is going to go through Warren and Pierce and Josh Downs. But, you know, Moe Alley Cox is always good for those random, like, 25-yard pickups on third or fourth down each year. And Drew Ogletree, I think, is capable of surprises as well.

Starting point is 00:17:27 So offense looks interesting, but there's a lot of guys who're kind of looking to get back on the field. an offense without Jonathan Taylor and Alec Pierce on it is just kind of an incomplete grade. You know what I mean? You can't really make many determinations of the offense based without those guys. So interesting so far, the good news, Daniel Jones out there, seven-on-sevins. The running backs looking capable without Jonathan Taylor out there. And then, of course, Ashton Doolin stepping up. That's been a very big positive development.

Starting point is 00:17:56 So let's talk about the defensive side of the ball in a moment, guys. here. We'll talk with one of our sponsors and then we'll talk all about a defense again, which is just rotating in and out. Hard to get much definition on lineups here so far. Support for today's episode comes from Square, the business platform that helps sellers become neighborhood favorites. Whether you're gearing up for a busy season or you're just trying to keep up with everyday demand, Square keeps your business running smoothly, from payments to online orders, inventory, staff, and more, all in one place so that you can focus. on your customers and not your to-do list.

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Starting point is 00:20:02 So Soss Gardner and Mooney Ward, working out on their own away from the team right now. Again, it's voluntary. DeForest Buckner is not yet back for team stuff. We have not seen him out there. The hope is training camp, but we'll see. Cam Taylor, Brett, not sure what, you know, he's been there, but he's not been practicing.

Starting point is 00:20:24 He's been observing everything, though, so I'm going to guess he's got an injury that we just, we haven't got confirmed yet. But those are some guys who I think we can expect to see quite a bit of during training camp, if healthy, that have not been out there today or throughout OTAs. So without sauce and Mooney at Corner, obviously you're seeing a good bit of Justin Wally, but I think they're trying to do as much as they can, keeping him inside in the slot. But you've seen a lot of Jonathan Edwards, Jalen Jones, you know, Cameron Mitchell was out there. So you're seeing some of those guys you would expect to step up. Jonathan Edwards had a big day last week.

Starting point is 00:21:06 Had a couple big pass breakups, which is big for us on this show, especially Zach, because we talk a lot about like this guy is, you know, physically he's impressive. He's a high weight speed guy. He's got a lot of good physical tools, but his ball awareness is kind of lacking. He doesn't get his head turned around for the ball a whole lot. He's always in the right position, but not always available to make the play on the ball. So his awareness ticking up now, and he's able to bat passes, get interception, stuff like that. Very positive development for a guy like Jonathan Edwards, who the team likes,

Starting point is 00:21:42 and I think he's worth keeping around, can give you some playable football if something happens to one of the starters, but you certainly want to get a guy that's capable of making a play on the ball. So that's been good for him. Jalen Jones, kind of the forgotten man, obviously. I don't know how much in favor he is with this coaching staff, just because stylistically, I don't think he really fits much. But if he's a guy that keeps making plays, you know, he's right there to make the interception off Anthony Richardson during a miscommunication. That's, you know, he's on his knees catching the pass right in front of the goal line. You know, that's a big play. You can't really ignore stuff like that. Some guys just have a knack, you know, they're not the most physically

Starting point is 00:22:22 impressive, but they just have a knack for playing ball. And that's kind of a guy like Jalen Jones. So those two guys have really stepped up, made some plays. Justin Wally, I haven't noticed him making plays yet, but I asked Shane Stuyken about him. You know, you guys couldn't stop telling us about this guy last year. He's playing on the boundary, maybe going to start, has the injury, now he's inside. What have you guys been seeing? And they've still been really impressed with him. You know, the mental aspect, what Justin Wally brings is such a big part of what they like about him anyways. So he seems to be picking things up pretty well. I'm looking forward to seeing him in a more extended, you know, period next week during the minicamp for when it's three straight days.

Starting point is 00:23:07 He's got a guy I certainly want to keep an eye on. So on the edge, I think Arden Key probably has the inside track so far to start opposite of Laiatu Latu. All the practices I've seen so far, Key has been the first guy out there to start on the opposite side. Now, Tuma Loa does get out there. You see Michael Clemens out there. Clemens kind of crashes inside as well, by the way. They're moving him around a little bit. But so far, it does seem like Arden Key, which makes sense he's the veteran in the room.

Starting point is 00:23:39 You know, Tuma Loow was a rookie last year and didn't play a ton. So I think at least initially they want to see what Arden Key can do there. I do think it behooves them to, you know, get Tuamolo out there if he earns that spot, because he's probably going to be a better run defender. And that was kind of their goal there, is they just want, they want edges out there. They don't have to take off the field because they don't fill the need at run or pass very well. They want guys who are kind of well-rounded. So hopefully Toa-Malo out can kind of show a little bit during training camp because Ardenki is very much better suited.

Starting point is 00:24:17 to be like the third guy for the Colts. But so far it looks like he has been the guy there. Behind them at linebacker, down of rotation. C.J. Allen has been the biggest constant out there. He did have a big play last week. I thought he got an interception. There were a lot of guys in our way.

Starting point is 00:24:36 You know, sometimes they line up the guys who are supposed to be on the sidelines. And the sideline is in between us and our, you know, it's in between our view of the field. but certainly everyone's reaction to C.J. Allen's play made it seem like it was an interception, dove low for a Riley Leonard throw. So Alan looking good out there. You know, you've seen Akeem Davis Gaither, Bryce Betcher, Jalen Carlis has made plenty of appearances so far. So it's good to see Carlis actually out there and physically capable participating because he's a talented guy. You don't just want to like totally throw in the towel on him. It felt like it was going to be a

Starting point is 00:25:14 a wasted thing if we were just going to have to immediately move on from him without seeing what he's got only because you want to see that guy healthy. He had some talent. You know, he played quite a bit as a rookie when he wasn't, you know, when he wasn't on IR and looked decent, you know. So I'm glad that we get to see this guy healthy right now and the Colts going to get true evaluation of him. But yeah, there's a lot to be sorted out at linebacker. I do still think Akeem Davis-Gather is the guy it's at least going to get the initial jump to start with CJ Allen just because he's a rookie and can help CJ Allen along the way. But Bryce Betcher definitely want to keep an eye on as well.

Starting point is 00:25:56 Looking at safety, I don't see much separation yet with AJ Halsey and Hunter Wooller at strong safety. It feels like they're kind of alternating. I don't really feel like one guy's gotten more run over the other. I think I've seen Halsey go out there first at Strong Safety and Wooler. I don't think there's really been a pattern there. So I think that one is a true open competition. Just let the best man win.

Starting point is 00:26:21 I don't know that anyone's necessarily got the leg up yet. If Woller would have been able to play last year, maybe he does. But, you know, he's, this is essentially his rookie year as well. The only thing he has on Halsey is he was able to participate last summer in a pro system and was able to learn about it all year. But physically, they're kind of in the same boat. So there's there's only so much we can get from OTAs. Again, we've only seen two of the practices, and they're just about an hour and change long with, you know, not even maybe half of them being comprised of seven on sevens and 11 on 11s.

Starting point is 00:26:59 So take that with a grain of salt. I think we're going to see a lot more next week with mandatory minicamp. A lot of these guys that are off working on their own like Jonathan Taylor, Soss Gardner, Mooney Ward. A lot of these guys are going to be back in town. actually participating and I think we're going to be seeing some better football and we're going to see some of the Colts intentions a little more as well because obviously when you're watching football that doesn't feature guys we know we're going to be huge parts of the team you kind of have to you know kind of haven't have to have an asterisk with how you're evaluating things so this was good

Starting point is 00:27:35 still I think when you have those guys who aren't there you get to see a lot of the like guys on the lower rungs of the ladder. You get to see them in a more broad view and they get, you know, more important reps. So I do think that's important. So that is it for us today talking about OTAs. We will be back with you throughout the rest of the week. I'm sure you notice, obviously, it is Wednesday. Now that it's June and it's kind of the sleepy period of the NFL calendar, we will be going down to three times a week, mostly network wide. You know, the squad show might ratcheting down a little bit as well to one show a week. But we'll be keeping constant content for you guys.

Starting point is 00:28:18 And of course, as news comes, there's going to be times where more than three times a week. But, you know, we'll have everything for you guys as it comes up. Thanks for joining me this morning on Locked on Colts. Again, we'll be back tomorrow. We'll have the squad show Wednesday night as well. Make sure to subscribe and follow along so that you get all of our latest episodes. If you don't, also on social media, follow at Lockdown Colts at Jake Arthur. NFL and at Zach Hicks too.

Starting point is 00:28:45 If you never miss an episode, then remember the Everydayer Club is built just for you. Get us ad free plus members-only Discord access and more. Head to Lockdowncultz.supercast.com to join the club. And with that, thank you guys for joining me and you have a great day.

Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - INDIANAPOLIS COLTS: Daniel Jones Progressing in OTAs | Does Recent QB Move Have Hidden Meaning?

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