Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Defensive End Trio Set to THRIVE in 2023

Episode Date: May 20, 2023

Indianapolis Colts defensive ends Samson Ebukam, Dayo Odeyingbo, and Kwity Paye are the future of the team's pass rush. Today, defensive line trainer Eddy McGilvra stops by to talk about his work with the young, athletic trio.Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOColts?sid=YouTube📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFLFollow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOnFN!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This Colts defensive line got quite a bit of firepower this offseason, and we have a guy here joining us to talk all about it. Let's get to it. You are locked on Colts. Your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your team the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts,

part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. I am Zach Hicks, one half of your favorite duo here over on Lockdown Colts. You guys know my work from horseshoehuddle.com, where I'm the most notorious film nerd there is, where my co-host Jake Arthur is our boots on the ground, our credentialed reporter there in the Colts facility. On today's episode, we're going to be talking with D-line coach Eddie McGilvra, a guy who has worked with three of the Colts defensive linemen, probably will be more eventually knowing his track record here. But we're going to kick this bad boy off talking about the new addition to the Colts defensive line room. That's Samson Abukam, defensive lineman from the San Francisco 49ers.

Previously before that, he was with the Los Angeles Rams. Eddie has been working with him for quite a few years i know he hasn't worked with him yet this offseason but knowing eddie and samson there i'm sure you guys will get together so eddie what can you tell colts fans about the player they're getting in samson abukim i think this is a guy where the stats don't tell the whole story and there's a lot there's a lot of really good things there on film with him. Yeah, Colts should be ecstatic to get Samson. He's one of my most favorite guys to work with in the offseason just simply because he's so technical.

All his rushes are very, you know, pre-calculated. He sets people up extremely well. He pushes the pocket with a lot of power. And I think it's very fitting for what the Colts want to do with him. So they should be really excited, man. Yeah. How long have you worked with Samson now? I know he's been in the league for a couple of years now. I want to say we got connected in 2019 while he was here with the Rams, kind of a rotational piece for them. I was working out

a few of his other teammates at the time and he kind of just, you know, fit into that group. And, you know, I learned a lot from Samson as well as time, and he kind of just, you know, fit into that group. And, and, you know, I learned a lot from Samson as well as I'm hoping he learned some stuff from myself, but, you know, he's a, he's a very pre-calculated person. He, he will he'll set people up pretty nasty with his bull rush and he'll, he'll, he'll make some plays off of that and push the pocket. Work with him. I think the most hands-on, I want to say it was that COVID year 2020 you know all

the facilities were shut down not much guys could really do you know people were kind of in hibernation and stuff like that so you know we were on the field a lot during that time before he went out to the 49ers and had a pretty good year out there yeah yeah and that's the big thing with him is you know he's gone from that rotational guy like you mentioned there back in 2018-2019 when he first got in the league and he's kind of grown into you know last year he was still kind of a rotational guy but he kind of grew into like a legit pass rusher this past season only six and a half sacks but I believe it was like 40 something hurries as well really got after it where have you seen the most growth in his game over the last couple seasons working with him well I, I think Sacks won't really tell the story with Samson. Like,

you know, what he does for the other three rushers, four rushers, whatever it is in situational stuff, you know, he's going to sacrifice his rush to get somebody else open or, you know, work his game to his full potential to create space for somebody else to get a one-on-one. And, you know, Samson's just a very selfless person in general and player. So, you know, I think that's what I pick up the most from him and really looking forward to kind of seeing how he fits into that, that room out there with, you know, with D Buck and Quitty and Dio and, you know, being able to, to feed off of how they're working off their rushes, I think it's a huge pickup for them. And something they were probably missing last year.

Yeah, you know, I don't want to talk too much about the player that he is replacing because there's no good in talking smack here on this podcast or anything like that. But knowing what you know from last year's defensive line group where maybe the edge wasn't always set maybe they weren't constantly pushing the pocket having a guy like Samson in this scheme where it's so wide nine heavy and a guy like Samson where every single rush just even if he's not getting pressure like he's going to hit his landmarks and he's going to really pinch

the pocket you know your your experience working with defensive linemen just how important is that to have a guy like Samson out there even if he's not getting 100 sacks a season? It's extremely important. You need that guy that you know you can rely on to just go do his job every time, you know, hit his landmark on his rush, be where he's supposed to be on his games and his stunts. So like I said, he's going to open things up for a lot of the other guys, and they're going to feed off of his game. It's going to be great. Yeah, yeah, for sure.

So when you've been working with him over the years, obviously you've probably gotten to more technical stuff as the years have gone on and stuff. Actually, moving past the drill work and getting to more like putting some more tools in his toolbox there, what kind of pass rush tools are we seeing with this guy? I know you mentioned the bull rush there, but what else we got with him? Yeah, he's very technical with his long arm rush. So great hand placement, you know, rarely misses his mark with his hand placement. And the more so what we work on is just escaping off of getting off of his bull rushes and using his counters with him. You know, he already kind of has an idea of what his toolbox is and how he likes to work it, just about muscle memory and creating the reps more so for him because he's been doing it

for such a long time. And I think he picked up a bunch of stuff from SF over the last couple years, being with the Niners and being with that group and that defensive line coach out there. You know, he does an extremely well job coaching those guys up in the pass rush. So, you know, I think he's going to be able to take those things and take it out to, to Indy this fall and be able to feed those younger guys and show them some of the stuff he's picked up.

Yeah. Yeah, for sure. I'm excited to see him next. He'll, he'll assumably, you know, taking over that Yannick Ngakwe role still in that wide nine, like we talked about with Quitty and being out in that wide nine quite a bit, but being next to DeForestner i mean again i think sanson abukim just from my film watching is a player who's better matched with deforest buckner because of that ability to pinch the pocket quarterbacks can't escape the pocket when you have a guy like sanson always pinching that edge and you know what's crazy is he's not he's not super big you know like he's not – like he's strong. Don't get me wrong. Yeah.

He's strong. He's strong. I'm telling you. He puts his hands on you and you're in trouble. So, you know, he makes up for his size with his explosion and his suddenness. And he's got some long arms to him. He's got some long arms so he can create a space and create an edge off of that. But, yeah, I agree with you.

I think he's going to push the hell out of the pocket, and I think guys like Quiddy and Dio are going to benefit by getting wider rushes off the other edge. Yeah, absolutely. So we talked about Dio Adembo. We're going to really dive into your work with him because on top of working with Samson Abukam over the past couple years, you spent a month and a half with Dio Adembo this past offseason.

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Zire Franklin earlier this week. So if you guys missed that for whatever reason, I know you guys are every dayers and you're here every single morning with us, but if you guys missed that, please reason i know you guys are everydayers and you're here every single morning with us but if you guys missed that please go back and listen to it the other day zyra franklin dropped some really great insight on a lot of players and on a couple players we talked about today so make sure you go back and check out that interview all right so diving into dio adangbo this is a player where you know we knew it was going to be a process with him coming in you know towards

achilles coming into his first year only got a little bit of that season in and then last year you know there were some moments where it started a little slow but the second half of last season we got to see the potential that was diadango i think in the last like six or seven games he had i think it was four four and a half sacks uh he had a really, really nice couple of rushes against Zach Martin, of all people, in that Dallas Cowboys game, which I think were the highlights of his season. Dioding, but what did you see from him last year when you were kind of watching the film and talking with him?

I mean, just really relentless, active. You know what I mean? Just motor, motor, motor. Also great power rushes, great counters off his power rushes. He's long, tall, big, strong like he's he's got it all you can see why they drafted him where they did but you know I think coming off of an Achilles is tough I think you have like a really like a two-year window you know until you really feel like yourself again and you're and you're able to almost mentally trust your body and have those things

intertwining into your you know everyday routine just feeling strong and feeling confident to make type of moves that you're used to making so I think this is really the year you're going to see him you know healthy and mentally active to get to get after the quarterback yeah yeah for sure and Dio D'Ambo I think is such fascinating prospect, because you don't see a player with that athleticism, that length and that size, you know, move like a defensive end, you know, he moves like a defensive end when he's built like a three tech, and he can play inside. He does a lot of that as well. But you linked up with Dio last year, and you started working with him a little bit there. But this offseason, you spent a lot of time with him. You told me before we recorded all of the month of February, half of the month of March, you really, really spent time with Dio. What were you guys

kind of working on this offseason now that you guys, you know, you're going to pass the getting to know each other phase of last year? Yeah, just moving, you know, just movement skills like, you know, whether it's rushing vertical or inside out move or an outside in or power rushes, hand placement, off of movement. I think, you know, I think that was key for him, just getting him moving and getting him active again. And he looked great. I got to say he looked great from the time he got to me to the time he left. You know, he even hit me and was like, hey, like I saw the improvement as we were going. So I'm excited to get back with you in the summer. I'm excited to get back with him, too, because I know there's a lot of stuff he can still work on to really clean his plate this fall

and make sure he doesn't leave anything on the table. Yeah, for sure. I think he said the other day in a press conference with Colts Media that he's up to 285. He doesn't look it, though. He doesn't move like you were saying he doesn't move like that he moves like a clean defensive end like two maybe 260 like he's twitchy and fast for his size so he's a he's a he's a problem man if he gets going he's gonna

that confidence is gonna change his game yeah yeah and it's really interesting with him too is you know they added a couple of three techs this offseason and they already have deforest buckner you know they added tave and brian uh super athletic three tech from the browns they drafted adatomi out of out of northwestern another really athletic three tech and i'm not saying that dio is going to get beat out by those guys and when it comes down to those third down rushing packages i still assume it'll be dio out there with samson quitty and and uh deforest but when you guys were kind of talking or whatever, does Dio think he's going to be more of a defensive end this season? Like, do you think that that where he could be, or do you still think he's going to be more of that defensive end,

defensive tackle type role? You know, I think he's just ready for whatever, you know, he's put himself in a great position physically to be able to play both, and he's in great shape, so I think it really comes down to really whatever and I think you know it's just situational stuff he can move inside if he needs to but you know I see no issues with him staying on the edge full time he's he's fast enough to do it so I think it just depends you know you kind of pick your poison with those guys they got a great group and you can't have enough you got to have more every year yeah you need to have the waves there and again at the end of the day,

we probably think the best four rushers out there are going to be Samson and Quitty outside with DeForest and Dio there on the interior. But it's so interesting to have a player like Dio where they can just be everywhere. You know, we even saw DeForest a couple times line up at defensive end in some packages. But Dio can be like a legit defensive end. You know, he can get out there.

And we talked about with Samson there, those long arms and the strength to hold the edge. But a player like Dio, he's not losing that edge, you know? Yeah, no. And he's fast. Like, that's the thing, too. He doesn't look like your traditional defensive end, but he moves like one. So, you know, you're not losing anything by keeping him out there. Yeah, yeah.

So when Dio got with you this offseason, there any like coaching points that he got from his d-line coach and stuff like that on things to improve on or were you guys more of just again addressing his movement and working on his movement and stuff like really just working on his movement and making sure that he's he's at the right level he needs to be going into otas um yeah and we'll address everything you know you go to otas you kind of get a feel for where you're at as a player and, you know, use that time with your teammates and your staff to figure out kind of where you are. And, you know, then you come back in the summertime in June, maybe take a little vacation, you know, decompress a little bit before the season starts. And then we get

pretty active in July. So, you know, I think that's more of the time we'll focus on the things that he needs to do going into the season. Right. Absolutely. Absolutely. I think this is a big season for him. And I think there are a lot of really good things that he showed last season in terms of, again, what you kind of saw and what you've worked with him in the past. You know, we talked about with Samson where he's got that long arm and he's got that power. Do you think Dio is a similar type of player? You got the long arm and the power and some other things like that. Yeah, but he's going to – the thing with Dio, though, is that he's so sudden and so big. So, like, he can beat you inside out, outside in,

and get around you pretty quickly just as well as he can get through you. So, you know, you're going to have to send help his way a lot of the times. And, you know, I think they're going to do a great job of running a lot of games to open people up and try to get guys one-on-ones. I think that's where they'll really cook people. Yeah, yeah. No, that's the big thing with Gus Bradley is, you know, he doesn't bring too much pressure.

Like, he might bring a fifth guy every now and then, a player like Zyra Franklin, which I talked about there in our little ad there in the middle. But, yeah, a player like Zyra Franklin is super athletic and can get in there. But typically, if Gus Bradley wants to bring pressure or simulate pressure, it's twist. It's stunts. And now he's got guys where, I mean, you work with all these guys, guys like Quidipe, Dio Dangbo, and Samson Abukam. I mean, those are probably three of the more athletic guys you've worked with, right? Yeah, I would say so.

As far as size, strength, and speed goes, absolutely. Yeah. You know, they're all kind of similar like Samson and Quitty are very similar in how they rush and you know Dial can really get active inside and outside so you know sky's the limit for that that group right there they can really do some things yeah at the end of the day if you don't have a whole defensive line full of Nick Bosa's and DeForest Buckner's like a just elite overall players throw all the shots at the super athletes and just have them gap shoot and that's what the Colts are going to be doing next year they're going to be gap shooting with these guys uh and

it's going to be really fun to watch but coming up guys we're going to talk about Quiddy Pay we're not forgetting about Quiddy Pay because that's how Eddie and I actually got linked up in the first place a couple years ago was talking about Quiddy Pay we're going to talk about him here in just a second all right eddie so back to our boy quitty pay quitty pay i don't i don't want to seem like we're forgetting about him because you know if you were to stop me about five six games into last year right up until that broncos game and asked me who was the best defender on the colts i mean honestly quitty pay might have had a good argument. I mean, those first five or six games, he had like three and a half sacks, led the team in pass rush win rate, led the team in pressures, and was just playing some outstanding football. Then that injury

happened near the end of that Broncos game. He came back from it, had a couple good moments here and there, but it's just the whole season kind of got derailed a little bit from there with him. But Quiddy, man, he's just a player where I'm so high on. I know you're super high on, and you got to work with him a little bit this offseason, but how much was that injury kind of nagging him last year from your conversations with him? I mean, you can high ankle sprains for an edge rusher. You know, that's just, that's like the worst case scenario, because it's, you know, it's not that crazy of an injury, but, you know, that's just, that's like the worst case scenario. Cause it's, you know, it's not that crazy of an injury, but you know, you gotta be able to bend the edge and use your ankle flexibility, mobility, and then the strength goes down. So you're not really trusting it. Um, it's

tough, you know, there's no other way to put it. It was just, it was a freak play. You know, it was effort play gets rolled up on, you know, looked way worse than it was. Obviously we, I thought the worst and, you know, I'm just glad it wasn't anything more than that. But, you know, like you said, he was on fire to start. He looked really good. We had worked our off. He worked his off to get to where he was and, you know, it's a bummer, but I think that kind of stuff, you know, you can, you can put it as a chip on your shoulder for the next year and get back in the lab and just try to stay as healthy as possible and just get right back where you left off. Yeah, he was showing some really good things, and he was looking like the perfect fit for this scheme. Like I was just saying a second ago, having those explosive, long, powerful edge rushers and just rushers in general in this scheme with how much they stunt and how much they twist. Quitty was thriving on that last year. And I know going into last year, you know,

you and Quitty were watching a lot of film on former San Francisco stuff. And, and I think it was what Robert Sala stuff, whatever you guys were watching a lot of that stuff, getting him ready for the wide nine. And it was, it was looking so good too. It's just, it sucks how injuries happen and derail stuff there. But you did get to get some field work with him, right, this offseason? Yeah, I think just the injury part is just part of the game. As a player, you sign up for it. So you accept what comes with that,

and you try to take the best care of your body as possible and do all the right things. But some things are just not preventable, freak accidents like that. But, yeah, I mean, he was out here in California pretty much the whole month of February, just like – actually, I think he stayed all the way until April. More so just focusing on his rehab, making sure his ankle was as strong as possible, which it is. And, you know, towards the end of his time here,

we were able to get some field work in and you know test the ankle and he looked right back to where he was like a first round pick a couple years ago so um look for big things again i expect huge things from quitty he's you know he knows what he's capable of and so do the people around him so i'm excited for him just as i always have been yeah and the fascinating thing about a player like Quitty is, yes, there are guys like Samson where they're super explosive, long, and powerful. And I'm not saying he's stiff by any means.

Like Samson Nabookum is not that whatsoever. But I don't think there's many guys that fit that mold like that who are also as bendy and elusive as Quitty Pay. We saw, obviously, everyone seeing the three-cone time that he was able to put up. You could see it on the film. I mean, just in glimpses where he's turning that corner like an unreal player. When you're training a guy like that, are you training him more like a speed guy? You're training him more like a power guy or you're just kind of embracing everything that he is?

Well, we definitely tried to work off of his strengths. But, you know, to you know, he has a he has a bag that he hasn't really shown yet as far as his tools to rush. And I think, you know, those are the things you try to unlock as a trainer, as a coach, when you get with guys like him because he's such a special talent and athlete. But more so, I think we were just trying to get him moving and being comfortable again on his legs. And, you know, he hadn't really had too much time to do it. But the little time that he did, he looked right back to normal. So, you know, that was great. And then also, Quitty might be one of the best run defenders in the NFL like top and bottom so you know Quitty's always going to have that and that's going to keep him

on the field for a very long time um I just think you know it's it's this is a huge opportunity now for him to show what he is as a pass rusher, you know, if he can stay healthy, I know those numbers are going to stack up. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, I think guys like Samson and even Dio and Quiddy as well, all three of them are very capable of being 10 sack guys in the NFL. But the beauty of having all of these guys together alongside DeForest Buckner is DeForest Buckner could be your 10 sack, your 11 sack, your 12 sack guy.

And those other three guys could be your five or six sack guys. Like they don't even have to be 10 sack dudes to be really effective as a group. Cause if they're all hitting five or six, you know, just alone on your defensive line there, you're pushing your 30 sacks. If you're counting them along with DeForest Buckner. So it's going to be really interesting to see these group of guys really get after it together this next year. I'm Scott high, obviously on all of them. But, but yeah, I think, I think this is a really good group. And obviously, you've worked with all of

them there. I don't want to put too much pressure on you here, but who's the best one of the three? Who's the best one long term? Project it five years out. Who's got more sacks out of all three of these guys? I don't know. It's going to be a battle. It's going to be a battle. I think they're going to, honestly, I wouldn't be shocked if they even talk about that. So, you know, I think, I think more and more importantly than anything else, they're all winners, dude. They're all winners. Like they want to win badly. And you're going to see that. You're going to see that. I think they're going to take that type of culture into that locker room and that defensive line room. I think all three would tell you that they would you know sacrifice a sack for a super bowl like those sack numbers for super bowls and i think d buck would probably say this uh you probably say the same

thing so you know you want that type of mindset going into it but you know i think for guys like quitty and dial coming out of that draft class you know this is a huge year for them to be able to put some numbers up and you know get paid which is you know obviously a huge priority for all of them samson just getting a bag which was really cool to see i'm happy for him um but you know i think it's time for quitty and dial to get paid man they're gonna go out there and get their money now yeah yeah and again we don't want to throw too much uh on last year's uh other piece on the defensive line but do you really think samson i guess i don't want to throw too much on last year's other piece on the defensive line. But do you really think Samson, I guess I don't want to put too much on like too many words in your mouth here. But do you think Samson was kind of the missing piece of this defensive line under Gus Bradley?

I think, you know, I think, you know, he could say the same thing about Quitty probably not getting hurt, you know. Yeah. I think that it all, it's football is so tough because you got to have all 11 guys playing at one beat. You know, the back end's got to cover well for the D lineman to get to the quarterback and the D lineman got to get to the quarterback fast for the back end to be able to cover well.

You know, so it all kind of intertwines together and that's why this game is so beautiful. But, you know, I would love to say yes. I just think, I would personally say yes because I think Samson on all 32 teams is a missing piece. So hopefully for him, he gets an opportunity to show that. Love it. Love it. So to close us out here, Eddie, I got to say, which Colts defensive lineman are you getting next?

You know, we have a couple depth guys that you could work with. Taven Bryan's been around for a little bit, super athletic. Atatomi is a young kid I'm sure you can probably work with. Who's the next guy you're going to be pulling out there? Because you seem to be grabbing all of the Colts defensive linemen. They should have drafted one of my guys from this

year. I don't know. We'll see. We've got some guys in college still that I'm working with. It could be next year's class. It could be one of the rookies that they took this year. You know, it just depends, man. I'm my my my cell phone doesn't stop ringing. So if someone wants to hit me up, Instagram or Twitter, whatever it is, man, I'm willing to work with you. So we'll get active. Love it, man. All right. We got to get Quitty and Dio to just drag a couple of these other young kids out there to work with you.

And we'll have a whole defensive line group trained under Eddie McGilver. But, Eddie, as always, appreciate your time and you jumping on here. You guys can go follow him there on social medias, at DLineCoachEd. And what's your Instagram as well, if people wanted to follow you on there? Same thing, like DLCoachEd. Perfect, perfect. So you guys go follow him on there. See a lot of updates.

And I know there's a lot of videos on dial from your work this past off season as well. Uh, so every day is make sure you are tuning into everything that is happening with locked on Colts is next week. And again, make sure you're following at D line coach at on Twitter. Uh,

if you guys don't already follow us on Twitter as well, as well at locked on Colts at Jake Arthur, NFL and at Zach Hicks to also subscribe to theolts podcast on YouTube or wherever you list your podcasts. We love your guys' ratings and reviews, and we'll see you guys bright and early on Monday.