Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Division Rival Makes ANOTHER Big Splash This Offseason
Episode Date: April 3, 2024The Indianapolis Colts' divisional rival, the Houston Texans, have made another splash this offseason, this time trading for WR Stefon Diggs. How are we feeling about this move, Colts fans? The Indy ...Draft Guide's Pre-Orders are now open! For $8.99 with code DRAFTMAS, you get access to 225+ in-depth scouting reports, features, and much more. Click the link to Pre-Order today: https://draftguide.gumroad.com/l/indy24 Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOColts?sid=YouTube📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQ Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL Follow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOnFN! Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.RobinhoodRobinhood has the only IRA that gives you a 3% boost on every dollar you contribute when you subscribe to Robinhood Gold. Now through April 30th, Robinhood is even boosting every single dollar you transfer in from other retirement accounts with a 3% match. Available to U.S. customers in good standing. Robinhood Financial LLC (member SIPC), is a registered broker dealer.BetterHelpThis episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDON today to get 10% off your first month.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase.FanDuelNew customers, join today and you’ll get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS if your first bet of FIVE DOLLARS or more wins. Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.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)
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The Houston Texans are back at it again, making another massive move, much the chagrin of
many Colts fans.
Let's get to it.
You are locked on Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast
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visit FanDuel.com to get things started. Hello, everyone. I'm Zach Hicks, your favorite co-host
here on the Locked On Colts podcast, and also your resident film nerd over at HorseshoeHuddle.com.
Today, we're talking about the big news in the NFL, which is division rivals Houston
Texans acquiring Stephon Diggs from the Buffalo Bills.
We're going to talk about my reaction to that trade, if this affects the Colts in any meaningful
way and what this does for the Colts going forward.
And then we're going to talk about a move that the Colts made yesterday, which is re-signing
Julian Blackman. I know we talked about it briefly in a quick Locked On Now. And then we're going to talk about a move that the Colts made yesterday, which is re-signing Julian Blackman.
I know we talked about it briefly in a quick Locked On Now yesterday,
but we're going to talk a little bit more about it today in detail.
And again, what this means for the Colts coming up to the draft.
And then to close things out today,
we're going to talk about how the Colts draft in 2024
is likely going to skew defense heavy.
We got to kind of assume at this point,
it's going to be heavy on the defensive side of the ball. But to kick things off, let's talk about the Texans acquiring Stephon Diggs.
This has just been a pretty brutal offseason for every Colts fan that wanted the Colts to go
aggressive. Any Colts fan out there that wanted the team to be aggressive, to go get a star player,
go get Daniil Hunter, go get LeJarrius Sneed, go get this guy, this guy,
this guy. Not only have all those players elected to go somewhere else or been traded somewhere else,
but they've all been going to interdivisional foes. You know, they're going, you know,
LeJarrius Sneed going to the Tennessee Titans, Daniil Hunter and Stephon Diggs both going to
the Texans, Eric Armstead going to the Jaguars. I know Colts fans weren't super high on that one,
but you know, just in general,
this has just been an off season of massive, massive moves for AFC South teams. And the Colts are the one team that really hasn't been involved in that. Now they have re-signed a lot of their
own guys, but it's not as flashy as what we're seeing from other teams in the AFC South.
But going back to Diggs, the Texans acquire Stephon Diggs, 31-year-old wide receiver for
a 2025 second round pick. There's also some late round picks thrown in there too, going back to Diggs, the Texans acquire Stephon Diggs, 31-year-old wide receiver for a 2025 second round pick.
There's also some late round picks thrown in there too going back to the Texans.
But overall, the Bills are eating a lot of dead cap to send Diggs to Houston.
I believe the Buffalo Bills are eating $31 million in dead cap to move him.
So pretty steep price to not have a guy play for your team and essentially paying that 31 million in
dead cap to get that that 2025 second round pick but at the end of the day it's another aggressive
move by the Houston Texans to go all in on that CJ Stroud window I mean the wide receiver core
they're going to roll out next season is Nico Collins who in my opinion is a top 10 receiver
in all of football I thought last year he was just outstanding in
every phase of the game, a big time, deep threat, a guy who could win after the catch.
He did some fantastic things for that Houston offense last year. And then you slide in Stefan
Diggs as wide receiver two, and then Tank Dell coming off of a broken leg is going to be sliding
in there as wide receiver three. That's a really, really good wide receiver core. And that's not
even to mention, you know, Joe Mixon and, and Dalton Schultz and Loremmy Tunsell all in that offense
as well. So CJ Stroud is really set up for success there in Houston while the Colts here, again,
Colts fans are kind of sitting back saying, okay, when's our big move coming? When, when are we
going to go all in on this rookie contract for Anthony Richardson? And it doesn't seem like
that's going to happen this off season, maybe next offseason with another year of Richardson, who knows. But as of right now,
it doesn't feel like that's coming this offseason for the Colts. But, you know, looking at this deal
in general, I don't think this is a slam dunk win for the Texans. You know, Stefan Diggs comes with
a lot of red flags, a lot of, you know, I don't want to say character issues because it just sounds
disingenuous and weird to say something like that when I don't know the guy but you know a lot of things where you know he's going on
Twitter and talking about you know things about drama with the team and and you know stuff like
that I mean there was a tweet from last night where basically he was implying that Josh Allen's
not who he is without him without Stefan Diggs and like that's just something that doesn't need
to be said on social medias and stuff
like that.
So there's that stuff.
There's, you know, rumors of just that locker room being fractured by, you know, Diggs'
relationship with McDermott and the rest of the offense.
So again, if a team is willing to eat $31 million in dead cap to send you on your way,
it's probably a relationship that was broken.
There's something going on there.
So this doesn't make it like a 100% slam dunk move for the Texans. They are acquiring a thousand
yard receiver, a very good receiver, former all pro wide receiver, but certainly not a slam dunk.
But I think at the end of the day where Colts fans are frustrated, you guys can correct me in
the comment section or, or whichever way you want. The frustration with this move here isn't
necessarily that the Colts didn't make the move, you know, Oh, why didn't the Colts trade for
Savon Diggs? Like, I don't think that's really the frustration here with Colts fans. I think
the frustration comes in. When are the Colts going to take a risk? When are we going to see that risk
from general manager, Chris Ballard? We're again, we're going into year eight of his tenure with
the Colts. And even if you want to just abstain the first couple of years and say, look, now he's
got his quarterback. Now's where the real year start with Anthony Richardson here. Even if you
want to go about that, we haven't really seen him ever take a risk, a risk that's come back on him,
at least. You know, Anthony Richardson, if Anthony Richardson doesn't work out,
that is going to be on Ballard. Like that was his first risk was taking Anthony Richardson top five last year but aside from that
in his eight-year tenure where have the risks been where have there been moves where it's like
look this could blow up in my face but I believe in it and I and I think it's going to work I'm
not saying that that's a you know a great path to go on you know you don't want GMs to be just
wheeling and dealing and taking these massive risks but like it felt like this all season was the time to take one if that
makes sense like eventually you got to take a risk or two to get your team to the next level
and i'm not saying be reckless with it i'm not saying go out there and and send a first round
pick for you know a bad player like a first round pick for for carson wentz which again that you
can you can say that's a risk but it was a risk on uh Frank Reich's part more so than Ballard's because
Frank Reich was the one who was dealt the bad hand for him but I digress that's not the point of what
I'm saying here but like when you're looking at these other teams like you're looking at the
Stephon Diggs trade here looking at the Daniel Hunter signing these are big risks for the Houston
Texans because there's a good chance they don't work out I mean look both these guys are 30 years old you're giving them 20 plus million dollars a
year to be players that they might not be anymore but they're taking that risk because they want to
take their team to the next level you're seeing that with other teams like the Titans and the
Jaguars the division and I'm not saying it's going to work out this could blow up in their faces but
for being a team like the Colts again just, just resigning all your own guys, the guys that you do know, if you give anyone a contract outside
of the team, it's like a one-year deal. You're not really taking any risk there. You're not
really putting all your eggs in a basket to take that next step. You're just hoping for steady
progress when steady progress isn't given. So I think that's where more of the frustration comes
with Colts fans. It's not necessarily like, hey, every single one of these moves has been made.
We wish the Colts made the same move.
It's just like, all right, when are we going to take that next step?
I mean, how long can we wait on every in-house player to develop into being a star player?
Because clearly that's not happening.
Some of these guys have, don't get me wrong, Jonathan Taylor, Michael Pittman Jr., very,
very good players.
Like I'm not saying that there haven't been hits in this regime,
but when your only philosophy is developed through the draft,
if those guys aren't all developing into really good players,
you're going to eventually hit this middle of the road
and you're going to get stuck there.
I'm not ruling things out right now because, again,
a lot of this next season hinges on Anthony Richardson.
So a lot of this talk about, you know, making this
move, making this move, it's all moot because it really just comes down to what Anthony Richardson
does this next season. But I understand the frustration of Colts fans looking at all these
teams in the off season, actively trying to get better and seeing the Colts just resigning players
and hoping for progress from them and seeing the stagnation a little bit there. I don't think it's necessarily wrong, but I understand the frustration that you guys
are dealing with there.
And it's just another thing on top of it.
You know, it's a cherry on top.
They got Daniel Hunter.
Now they got Stefan Diggs and they're really going all in on on CJ Stroud, where the Colts
are just playing it safe and playing it conservative and and trying to develop through the draft
again.
So we'll see which which process ends up working at the end of the day.
But look, man, you can't doubt that the Texans are at least trying.
They're trying to do all this.
I'm not saying the Colts aren't trying,
but the Texans are actively going out there
trying to make this roster as best as possible for their young quarterback.
And the Colts are banking on development and their coaching staff
and their young quarterback doing a lot.
So we'll see which side actually wins out come regular season time.
But yeah, I understand it's a big frustrating offseason for you guys,
and we'll continue to talk about it, I'm sure, throughout the rest of this offseason.
But coming up, guys, we're going to shift our conversation over to the in-house guy
the Colts signed.
Yes, they signed another in-house guy, and that is safety Julian Black,
and we're going to discuss what this means for the Colts going forward.
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All righty, my lovely Locked On listeners.
We're here talking Colts moves.
So again, getting away from the Houston Texans.
Look, who cares what the Texans are doing?
We have brought back another one of our in-house guys,
and that is safety Julian Blackman.
I discussed it momentarily yesterday on that Locked On Now,
but Julian Blackman is coming off aarily yesterday on that lockdown now but Julian Blackman
is coming off a career best season with the Colts had four interceptions had a couple pass breakups
mostly maintaining that that strong safety role for the Colts but he did do a lot of rotational
work and work back at free safety as well I mean I think his interception against the Cleveland
Browns was at his free safety spot I want want to say his interception against the Patriots was at free safety as well.
It might have been too high, but I think he was drifting back in that one as well.
So Julian Blackman coming back, presumably to be the starting strong safety again next year.
Personally, I would like to see him work a little bit more at free safety
because I think he's got the range and the vision that you want back there.
But at the end of the day, if they want to keep him at strong safety, it makes a lot of sense.
Only 26 years old, had a career best season. You're hoping that he can build off that this
next year with another year in the scheme and in the system. So I do think Julian Blackman coming
back is a great thing for this defense. It builds that continuity. And for a young overall defense
where Julian Blackman and Kenny Moore II are really your only plus players, losing Blackman
and not really replacing him with anybody viable in the market
would have been a non-starter for this offseason.
So you had to bring him back.
They did.
He's getting back there at strong safety,
and hopefully he can just continually build forward
after what he did last season.
So where does this leave the Colts with safety now?
If you look at
their safety depth chart, you have him at, again, you got to pencil him in either at strong safety
or free safety. You don't know which one he's going to start at right now, but presumably strong
safety, which leaves Nick Cross versus Rodney Thomas at the moment at free safety. Now there
are multiple options for what the Colts could do at that free safety spot. You could obviously
start one of those two guys. I know a lot of Colts fans are not big on that. I mean, look, Nick Cross has
the range and the athleticism and the physicality to play free safety, but does he have the instincts
and the vision like a Julian Blackman even to play that spot? That's where I kind of doubt it.
I don't know if he has shown that in his two years in the NFL to have that vision and that
instincts that you need to play free safety in this single high style of defense.
Then we go to Rodney Thomas or Rodney Thomas makes those occasional big plays.
It's a lot of interceptions, has the instincts and the vision, but he doesn't have the physicality
or the tackling ability or the consistency that you like from the position.
And we saw what happened when he was back
there early in the season. It led to a lot of coverage mistakes, a lot of gaffes, and a lot
of big plays for opposing teams. So honestly, the Colts would probably have to look outside of what
they have in-house right now. They don't have a lot of cap space to work with now after signing
Julian Blackman back. So a free agent is probably off the table. They could maybe get a Quadra Diggs
closer to the season start if he really holds out a lot longer
or anything like that.
But as of right now,
they're probably going to go into the draft
with a Nick Cross
and with Ronnie Thomas fighting it out
for that free safety role,
which I know you guys do not love.
And the safety class is not fantastic on paper,
especially if Blackman is filling
that strong safety role.
Because if you're looking at a guy like Tyler Newbin, Tyler Newbin is more of a strong safety
box type guy. You're not going to have him deep in that free safety role. So the potential top
safety of the entire draft is probably not the type of guy you're looking for there. So then
you shift your focus to, you know, like a Cole Bishop from Utah. He can play some free safety.
He doesn't have the next level juice,
but he has a good amount of juice
who can play over the top.
You're looking at Deidre and Taylor Demerson.
You could play a little bit of free,
but he's kind of like a Julian Blackman to me.
And how many undersized safeties
do you really want to have on the field all at once?
So I think it's a difficult conversation to have
when you're looking at safety.
It's like, are we just going to go young at safety again and just hope that somehow
these guys take another step forward?
Because to be completely honest,
like Julian Blackman took a big step forward last year,
but Ronnie Thomas took a giant leap backwards and Nick cross kind of
stagnated.
Like Nick cross kind of looked like the same guy who was having the rookie
issues two years ago where Ronnie Thomas was running in the wrong direction.
So I think hoping on those guys taking the next step or hoping some rookie can
come in and be effective from day one is a recipe for disaster.
When we just talked about the Houston Texans adding Stefan digs,
you know,
we're looking at the Titans adding Calvin Ridley and,
and having Deandre Hopkins.
I just,
you know,
I don't love that, that thought process going into this next season, but I
just don't know what else they can do right now.
They can maybe free up some more cap space and go after like a Justin Simmons or Quadra
Diggs, which would make you infinitely better from day one there.
But I just don't see them actually doing that.
Like, you know, we'd be talking hypotheticals that aren't going to happen at this point
if we talk about those situations. So it's going to be a draft pick probably. Daniel Scott, I think, could factor
into this. But again, he's going to be a 25-year-old going into his first real action of NFL play. I
mean, he's like three years older than Nick Cross at this point. So we'll see if he even factors
into that at all there too. I like Daniel Scott. It's just, again, we haven't seen him on an NFL
field yet at this point.
And I think the Colts more so viewed him as a special teamer than a safety last year. So
yeah, we'll see what the plan of attack is here. If they go safety in the top 50,
if they go safety in the top 75, whatever it's going to be, I think that player could be a good
addition. But again, they're going to be a young player in this defense that requires a lot of
thinking, a lot of instincts, and a lot of range, which I don't think many safeties in this class
have.
So I just don't know how effective that player is going to be from from, you know, day one.
So ultimately, I do think it's going to come down to can Nick Cross or will Nick Cross
take that next step?
And I know a lot of people don't want to hear that right now, but I think that's what it's
going to come down to.
Can Nick Cross finally turn that corner and be the safety they drafted him to be? I don't know. I don't know. I was impressed by some things he did last year, but now at least they raised their floor by bringing back julian blackman and and we'll see if they make another signing or
draft pick to raise their ceiling potentially but as of right now it looks like it's going to be the
same two guys starting next year uh in nick cross and julian blackman and we'll have to see uh you
know how much better that looks uh with another year in this system for those guys uh but coming
up we're going to shift gears again we're going to talk about the draft and talk about how this draft is likely going to be
defensive centric for the Indianapolis Colts. But first, the sports calendar is loaded and
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All righty, guys.
We are back talking Indianapolis Colts, talking 2024 NFL draft. And look, guys, we've been talking Indianapolis Colts talking 2024 NFL draft.
And look, as we've been talking this entire offseason about, look, the Colts need to get more explosive and aggressive on offense.
And we do think they will in some way.
They're going to they're going to add some kind of explosive playmaker on the offensive side of the ball, whether it's, you know, a guy in round one, a guy in round two or maybe on day three or something like that. But outside of that pick there, and maybe an offensive lineman on day three, I'm expecting this draft to be very
defensive focused for the Colts. And I hesitate to say this for, you know, like on the same podcast
that we're talking about Stefan Diggs, because you don't want to be reactionary with the moves
you're making. You don't want to see what someone in your division is doing and base all your moves
off of what they did. So you're not going to just draft corners because someone in your division signed a big receiver because you only play that team twice a year, maybe three times a year at best.
That would just be malpractice to base your plans off of what somebody else is doing.
But I do think ultimately when you're seeing the focus on offense around the league, you're seeing how the Colts were a very efficient
offense last year for the most part.
I mean, the Colts were, what, 11th in points per game last year.
They were like 13th in EPA per play, even in doing all that with like the 26th best
red zone offense.
And they were doing that with their backup quarterback with injured Jonathan Taylor without
Jelani Woods.
So the Colts might be thinking like, hey, our big offseason additions on offense are going to be Jelani Woods, Anthony Richardson, and Jonathan Taylor. So our offense is getting
this influx in talent, despite being already very good last year. What we need to help is defense.
So that's where we're going to spend a lot of our draft. And I think that that is not a wrong way
to think about it. I would love an Xavier Worthy. I'd love a Brian Thomas Jr. Don't get me wrong.
I think that would really take this offense over the top. But when you're looking at the issues of
this Colts team, it's the defense. It's really the defense. I mean, it's not having that,
you know, bona fide star pass rusher. It's not having that ball dominant cornerback,
that guy who can take away the ball, get past breakups, just be a guy who can get on, on opposing receivers. And, and also not having a safety that
can take the ball away and be that kind of playmaker back there either. They don't have
any of those things on defense. And it showed last year. I mean, they were one of the worst
defenses in the league. And, and I know that some of the efficiency stats paint a better picture,
but even in the brightest picture you can paint for this Colts defense last year, they were a bottom, you know, bottom
12, bottom 13 defense in all of football.
That's not good enough to win in this league.
You can't win in this league with a bottom 10, bottom 12, bottom 13 defense, whatever
it's going to be.
So I do expect the Colts to go defense pretty early in this draft, especially when you,
when you consider that their edge group could look very different in 2025, especially when you consider that, again, they're entering a big
season for a lot of these young players in the secondary. If Juju Brents doesn't step up this
year, you don't move on, but you try to add somebody else to that room. If Nick Cross doesn't
step up this year, you're probably done with that experiment. So it really is a make or break season
for those guys. And you just want to add more young talent that could eventually supplant them or, or add or add competition to those rooms.
So I expect cornerback and may or maybe defensive end in round one, maybe double dip it. And you
know, in the first two rounds and take receiver later, I know it's not flashy. I know it's not
fun. I know it's not the receiver that we all want, but it's probably the right way
to go about it when you look at this team. And I know a lot of you guys will say like, oh,
you know, Ballard kind of put himself in the corner here and forced himself to have to take
a corner or defensive end in round one or whatever it's going to be. And yeah, he kind of did. I mean,
that's the way the roster is built right now. We've seen this with the Colts the last couple
years where there's always going to be a position that they go into the draft desperately needing to address, and they address it within the top 50 picks.
Whether it's going to be their first pick or it's going to be their second round pick or whatever it's going to be, they're going to address it with one of those first two picks because he leaves that hole to be filled by the draft and leaves that rookie to be the savior of that position group.
And I think it's very clear when we look at this,
this roster right now,
that cornerback is that position.
Cornerback has a couple of guys that they like.
I mean,
we know they like Dallas flowers.
We know they like Juju Brents.
We know they like Jalen Jones,
but I don't think they like those guys enough to where you're not going to
take a corner in the top 50 picks.
They're going to add another name to that group and it's going to be someone in that top 50.
So I think a very realistic draft for them would be someone like, you know,
trading back in the first round, taking a Cooper Dijon or Kool-Aid McKinstry,
and then adding your explosive receiver with that second round pick or adding it with
what you gained in that trade back. And then going from there, you know, if you have to add another pass rusher with your other premium picks, if you have to add something
else like that, so be it. But I think that's more of the direction of this team than it is staying
at 15 and taking a receiver. I just don't think that's what the Colts are going to do. And again,
this might seem a bit reactionary because to find digs was just traded to the Texans.
And now we're saying corner,
corner,
corner,
because digs was sent there and you don't want to be reactionary,
but this isn't really about the Texans.
It's about the Colts.
Look at this Colts secondary right now.
You need another secondary player.
And I don't think a rookie is going to fix it,
but it sure is heck better than having Daryl Baker,
Jr.
And Jalen Jones out there again,
because we don't know if Juju Brents can stay healthy.
We don't know if, you know, these other guys can stay healthy. So that's my two cents on
it. I do think we're going to see a very heavy defensive draft for the Indianapolis Colts,
very similar to 2019. I believe that's what the, yeah, I think it was 2019 where they took Rock
and Bobby O'Kara K and Kari Willis, where it was pretty much an entire defensive draft just to
restock the cabinet there on defense.
I think we're going to see that again here in 2024. I think it's going to be
very, very heavy on the defense with maybe one or two offensive playmakers mixed in, but
that's kind of the draft we're going for. I don't really see many holes on offense outside of
offensive line depth and maybe adding another juiced up receiver. Besides that, it's all defense. You just
got to keep throwing resources at defense and hope it fixes the problem because clearly they're not
signing outside free agents to fix that problem. So it needs to be all defense. So I do think this
draft, again, it's going to be very heavy defense. We're going to see which guys they can find
coming up here, but yeah, yeah, I know you guys don't love it. I know you guys want that receiver. You guys
want Brock Bowers. You want Brian Thomas Jr., but it's probably better for the team success next
year for it to be Quinion Mitchell, Terryon Arnold, Dallas Turner, Cooper Dijon, Kool-Aid
McKinstry, you know, whoever that's going to be, whatever that defensive player is going to be in
round one, it's probably better for this team coming up this next year and
going forward. So let me know in the comments what you think. Do you think the Colts just
turn this whole draft on their head, just only go offense and not care about defense? Do you
think they go all defense like I'm thinking or what do you guys think? Let me know in the
comments section. Before we get out of here though, I do want to remind you guys yet again,
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And we'll catch you guys back here with a fun round table tomorrow
afternoon.