Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Do They Need to Put the Heat On Gardner Minshew?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Colts offense has been on the struggle bus lately, but does it mean that they need to put some heat on their quarterback? 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. Thanks for tuning in and making us your last listen of the day, I guess. This is a special late edition episode coming to you on a Wednesday evening. But this is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:48 And 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. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Welcome to the show, everybody. I am Jake Arthur of HorseshoeHuddle.com. And today it's been a big fat minute since we've done this, but I'm going to go ahead and answer some questions. I put out the bat signal for questions the other day

Starting point is 00:01:16 on Twitter and Facebook, and you guys hit me with some good ones. So we're going to go through the offense. You know, there was some questions about Anthony Richardson and his involvement lately. You've got some Nick Cross stuff going on on the offense. You know, there were some questions about Anthony Richardson and his involvement lately. You've got some Nick Cross stuff going on on the defense. You guys want to know what's going on there. And then there was also some questions in terms of, you know, off-season priorities, what to do about free agency and some things like that. So we'll break those up into a few segments.

Starting point is 00:01:42 Starting off with the offense, this one was on Twitter from iRideBoards. Has Anthony Richardson been around much? You don't see him on the broadcast or hyping up teammates. I'll start with saying when the guy is around, no one is more involved as him. He is always there with his teammates and Gardner's ear and Shane Steichen's ear. But basically he had surgery for that, that shoulder injury a few weeks ago, back in Los Angeles. And he pretty much hit the ground running right after with his rehab. So my understanding is he's been out there just doing some like post-op work. And he actually, Shane Steichen said that he is set to rejoin the team this week. So

Starting point is 00:02:27 yeah, let's see. Yeah, he's so he's ready to rejoin the Colts this week, next week. I don't know if he's going to be in Germany with them, but he's coming back soon. So you'll start to see him around more often, I'm sure on the broadcasts. And there will be more to say about him coming up when he's back in the building. The next one was from our guy, Kennan. That's at VBJones007 on Twitter. And this one was joking, but I told him I was still going to take this one. Anyways, should the Colts bring back Carson Wentz for the stretch run?

Starting point is 00:03:02 Now, of course, like an hour after he said that, the Rams went and scooped up Carson Wentz to be Matthew Stafford's backup. But honestly, the Carson Wentz thing aside, a lot of people have been talking about maybe putting some pressure, putting some heat on Gardner Minshew, because the performance just has not been there. He's been efficient. He's completing a high percentage of passes in general.

Starting point is 00:03:28 But the passing game, it's just very predictable. It's very dink and dunk. There's not much downfield. And it's just really easy for defenses to combat. And as a result, they've been loading up the box and, you know, saying we're going to stop Jonathan Taylor and Zach Moss. Gardner Minshew, you beat us. And, I mean, by himself, he has not been able to do that.

Starting point is 00:03:52 Either the running game has stepped up or, in this latest instance, against the Panthers, a big win. Kenny Moore had two pick sixes, which were vital to the Colts' win there. So, I don't, I mean, I don't really think the Colts are actually going to bring anybody else in. I mean, now that Wentz is off the block, who Wentz was the best one available. You're really looking at like Matt Ryan. That's really about it. Anyone who's noteworthy, you know, Matt Barkley just got called up to, I think the Giants practice squad. The next best option is probably if you were going to put pressure on Minshew, which I really don't think that they are.

Starting point is 00:04:35 Your next best next best option. So I cannot talk tonight is really, I guess, seeing what Sam Ellinger can do in a in a Shane Steichen offense. Probably getting a little more mobility there. Your accuracy is about the same. Arm strength, maybe you give the edge to Gardner there, but I don't know. There's really nowhere to go on this one. I think everyone's just going to kind of have to strap in and be down with watching Minshew for the rest of the season. Last one addressing the offense. This one is from at Papa's Home on Twitter. Has the lack of tight end involvement lately been more affected by the positional health, the offensive tackles with a lack of experience

Starting point is 00:05:18 and needing to be helped by tight ends, or opposing defenses stacking the front against the Colts. I think it's a little bit of everything because obviously Kylan Granson is the leading pass catcher among tight ends and he missed those couple games with the concussion. He's got 28 targets on the season which leads all the tight ends by 11 still and he missed all that time. Drew Ogletree has been banged up. He's been relied upon as a blocker quite a bit. Mo Alleycox is really just a blocking tight end. And then Will Mallory, when he's been out there,

Starting point is 00:05:53 he's not much for blocking either so far. So I do think it's a little bit of a mix of all that. They need those guys blocking. The passing game in general has been very very inconsistent and Michael Pittman Jr. has been fed the ball pretty much um that's who that's who uh Gardner Minshew is most comfortable with clearly um I expect it to go up a little bit but at the same time I don't like the passing game is just not going to be at full strength at any point this year. Like it will be at full strength for what it will be under Minshew at some

Starting point is 00:06:29 point. But I mean, I don't know. That's just, that's a lot of spreading the ball around a lot of running backs, a lot of Michael Pittman, Jr. Josh downs when he returns.

Starting point is 00:06:43 I don't, I don't know. I think Shane, jr josh downs when he returns i i don't i don't know i i think shane it would be easier for shane syken to make the tight ends a bigger more focal point of the passing game if he had anthony richardson and the playbook was more open up and you know you didn't you weren't really hamstrung by your passing game so it is what it is for now with guys being healthier. I think we'll see them just naturally be more involved. Uh, because if you think about it, your approach at tight end has had to change pretty much every week. There's, there's been one of the top two or three pass

Starting point is 00:07:18 catching tight ends gone each week. It seems like I really can't think of the last time everyone was healthy and available. Obviously, Jelani Woods, they say he's getting closer to returning, or at least to the practice field, but he's been out the whole season, so we'll see. Again, I would brace for a heavy dose of Michael Pittman Jr. moving forward when Josh Downs returns. Same with him. The Titans just have to get healthy, and I think that's probably the biggest part of it. So coming up, we will move over to the defensive side of the ball and see what questions you guys had for us there. Buying tickets to your favorite events should not be stressful. Game time is the fastest and easiest way to buy tickets for all the sports, music, comedy, and theater near you.

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Starting point is 00:09:59 Find locked on NFL kickoff live every Friday at 2 PM. Eastern on any locked On NFL YouTube channel. All right, so let's look at this defensive side of the ball. Been kind of up and down lately. The vibes are inconsistent. You looked at a real low point of the season against the Saints. It looked real, real bleak. And then last week against the Panthers, the defense carried the thing and they would not have won the game without an outstanding performance from the front and with the secondary playing lights out.

Starting point is 00:10:31 So hard to know kind of what to expect week to week. But this first one was from on Twitter at Sir Dak. Will the defensive scheme change help with consistency or is that mainly a personnel issue? So those things kind of go hand in hand uh the more healthy quality players that Gus Bradley has at his disposal the more he's able to tinker with things and uh you know health kind of dictates what you can do because here you are two weeks ago and you gotta start Tony Brown or at least you felt like you had to start Tony Brown because you don't have a Juju Brents.

Starting point is 00:11:08 All that happened after Dallas Flowers goes down. So at full strength, Gus can change up his coverages and do stuff like that, which to his credit, and if you guys listen to Zach after the Panthers game, they did do that. He mixed up some things. There were some cover three in there, some shell stuff. So he didn't just stick to a single coverage throughout the game. He mixed things up a little bit to kind of keep things interesting for Bryce Young.

Starting point is 00:11:35 So he's always going to try and do that. But again, the more banged up they are, the more they're just going to have to kind of keep it simple for the players that are there. But we saw last week they got some guys out there that were comfortable playing, which is surprising because, you know, no Zaire Franklin. You still were without Juju Brents. But they got good performances out of it.

Starting point is 00:11:58 And it really helps when the defensive front is actually putting pressure on the quarterback like they were. So we'll see. I'm kind of expecting now knock on all the wood around, but I'm kind of expecting a similar performance against the Patriots that they had against the Panthers this week. Obviously, that's not counting on two pick sixes from anybody, let alone just Kenny Moore, but some pressure up front leading to guys in the secondary taking advantage of errant throws and things like that. That's kind of what I'm looking at. The next one, this is two Nick Cross questions. Our guy, Jake, at Coltsguy505 on Twitter,

Starting point is 00:12:39 free Nick Cross, that is my question. And then our friend Felipe put kind of a prettier bow on it, Jake. I'll say it. He said, the performance over expected by Rodney Thomas has apparently created the illusion that he is a good free safety option. It seems to me that Julian Blackman is a better free safety than him. Is there any insight or opinion into why they can't have a Julian Blackman-Nick Kross tandem? Has Nick Kross been that bad in practice? So, yeah, I think they just really trust Rodney Thomas a lot. I'm not going to say he's been bad, but it's just, I mean, he hasn't been making all those splash plays that he did last year.

Starting point is 00:13:22 I mean, he led the team with four picks last year as a rookie. He was always around the ball, you know, getting a lot of tackles. I just feel like everything has kind of slipped a little bit. And they do – now they say Nick Cross could play free and strong and summon the nickel. And they say that about Julian Blackman as well. So, with that being said, they could mix things up more. But again, it's more about their confidence in Rodney Thomas. And with Gus Bradley's scheme, there's just never

Starting point is 00:13:52 really been a lot of wiggle room to have the three safeties. So to them, I just think it's Thomas hasn't done anything to be taken off the field. And because of that, that is where Nick Cross would probably play. Julian Blackman, I think, has been playing really good football to Felipe's point. I personally would like to see more Nick Cross involved. I also would like to see what it looks like with Cross and Blackman, because I think that would lead to a really physical safety tandem. It would probably help the run game a little bit because the run defense has not been great lately without Grover Stewart.

Starting point is 00:14:31 I just would like to see them find more ways to get Cross involved. I think, again, I kind of just mentioned it. They think that both Cross and Blackman can play free, strong, or nickel. They could just mix it up a little bit. I just think it's time to see more nick crossed you made a high round investment in him you traded draft capital the role he's been relegated to for the most part for two years now is that of special teamer and he's been one of the best special teamers in the NFL that whole time. He's ranked near the top in special teams tackles. Like the role you're giving the guy, he is excelling. So why not give him a role that you drafted him for?

Starting point is 00:15:15 And that's defense. You don't have to throw him in the deep end and give him 100% of the snaps all game. But I think it's time to see a little more of what he could do. So I could not agree with you guys more on that one. And then the last one on the defense, considering Jalen Jones and Juju Brents keep playing the way they are, would you consider drafting in the first three rounds or signing another free agent at cornerback next year? Or would you keep those two both as the starting outside cornerbacks? That was from at DePisa on Twitter.

Starting point is 00:15:47 So those two guys, Jalen Jones and Juju Brents, I like what I've seen from them. I like the growth that they've shown. I would personally give both of them the first shot at being the starters next season, and I would re-sign Kenny Moore to be the nickel. So that's your starting three right there. But I also would not, I would make sure that those guys have competition and that the cover does not bear.

Starting point is 00:16:12 Because so far we all saw this problem with the cornerbacks this year coming a mile away and boom, when you know it, here comes the injuries and now the problem is rear to Ted. So I would make sure that the depth of their cornerback group is now they counted on it being young, which it was intentional from them, but you can't let it be a total liability. If there are injuries, like they have to have more experience in the backend and they have guys on the roster, like Darren Hall, for example,

Starting point is 00:16:42 who has played and started before. So I don't know I would give those guys the first shot at starting but if really good players fell in their lap I would not avoid that either like to me almost no one is just ironclad you're a starter next year boom like if if a good opportunity presents itself to get better or add to the group i say do it but i again those guys are young i do like what they have done so dallas flowers factors into that as well i think it'll be a really nice training camp battle uh next summer all over the place like the secondary should look a lot better once everyone's healthy next summer. So coming up, there's more to talk about.

Starting point is 00:17:27 We'll talk about some of the offseason priorities. We just kind of started diving into that a little bit, but we have got some more. Whenever the game clock stops, that means it's time to order in with DoorDash. Why root for your favorite team on an empty stomach? Order on DoorDash and save on your watch party favorites. Get 50% off up to a $10 value when you spend at least $15 or more on your first order when you download the DoorDash app and enter code locked 23 subject to change terms apply and uh like I mentioned I'll be traveling this

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Starting point is 00:18:26 We're going to go to DoorDash. I am sure of it. Look up the local favorites section because DoorDash has you covered there. They'll pick out things that aren't really chains, especially not national ones. They'll tell you what the locals actually rate high there. So that's a really nice feature that I like with DoorDash. I do that pretty much every time I do travel. I always wind up using DoorDash somewhere.

Starting point is 00:18:54 So don't forget to use code LOCKED23 for 50% off up to a $10 value on your first order when you download the DoorDash app and spend $15 more. Subject to change, terms apply. All right, party people, let's get to these final questions here. So this last one, do the Kenny Moore and Michael Pittman extensions get done, or when do they get done? And that was from at SchofieldB95 on Twitter. So, number one, I think both players have earned extensions with the colts uh i think so with kenny moore you could probably let that one get to free agency i don't think his price tag is

Starting point is 00:19:37 going to be huge because he's you know he's getting a little longer in the tooth he's nearing that 30 year old mark and for dbs that's you know teams aren't really banging down the door to pay older dbs that type of money especially not like outside cornerbacks you know it does help him immensely that he has had like a rebirth in this second season in the gus bradley defense and he's kind of starting to show the the master's level operation within it that he had started to do in the matt eberflew scheme at the end of it last couple years of it so that goes well for him uh but michael pittman this is going to be arguably his biggest contract he ever earns and not to

Starting point is 00:20:20 not to cheap out or anything but it would benefit the colts i think to get a deal done earlier the sooner they get a deal done for him the better because if you let a guy like him hit the open market it's just going to drive up the price way to see it every year in free agency uh guys are paid just incredible amounts of money whereas if they would have re-signed with their original team, you know, before free agency started or even, you know, late in the season, the price tag would not have been as big. So if I'm the Colts, I'm trying to get Michael Pittman Jr. done soon. You know, if you use the same defense they used with Jonathan Taylor,

Starting point is 00:21:02 where, you know, we won four games last year, we want to see what things look like with this new offense, with this new head coach. Okay. The passing game has been solely centered around Michael Pittman Jr. So he fits into this offense. He's been a huge part of it. Even if there was a post-game comment there where you kind of question that, but no, if I'm the Colts, I'm re-signing Pittman, and I'm doing it as soon as possible. Or at least I'm coming to the table for negotiations. I wouldn't let this thing be such a late development like with Jonathan Taylor.

Starting point is 00:21:35 They at least need to be at the table figuring out what prices are and just kind of at least start the process there a little bit because I don't think it's going to be a good idea if they truly want him to wait it out until the open market comes because that's he's going to be so expensive if that happens and then again like I mentioned with Kenny that one they could probably wait a little bit but I would still do it be a nickel cornerback play and cornerback play in general is just really important. And still they've drafted these guys, Juju Brents and Jalen Jones, they're outside corners.

Starting point is 00:22:11 You know, your backups are still safeties essentially, unless you're counting on Tony Brown. And I think we've seen he should primarily be a special teams player. So, you know, you're looking at Tony Brown, you're looking at Julian Blackman and Nick Cross as your backups. But two of the guys that just said are safeties. And one of them you're having a hard time finding playing time for. So I would definitely make sure to lock up Kenny and I would probably invest in a quality backup for that position in the off season as well. So hopefully that answers

Starting point is 00:22:46 your question a little bit. I don't see any of those happening super soon, but I would hope the Colts have a plan to get those done sooner rather than later. So last one here, and this one's kind of loaded. It's from David Whiteley from Facebook. You guys may not be ready for this question, but how do you see the offensive line and defensive line moving forward in 2024? Ryan Kelly, Braden Smith, and DeForest Buckner are viable cap casualties, but could be extended, take a pay cut, or otherwise made to be cap friendly. Danny Pinter and Grover Stewart are unrestricted free agents. Bernard Ryman and Blake Freeland are likely the starting tackles.

Starting point is 00:23:25 And when you factor in Quiddie Paye and Dio Adengbo, there will be a lot of paydays coming up in two and three years. The trenches are not going to be the same next season. So that is really intriguing. Because I think Braden Smith is a super intriguing one because he is very handsomely paid. But you kind of do have this other tackle in Blake Freeland that has played pretty good football and has showed that he's getting better the more he has to play because he's already had to be thrown in there. He's filled in for Smith.

Starting point is 00:23:57 He's filled in for Ryman. I mean, at the very worst, he's shown that he's going to be a pretty good swing tackle for you. So that's an intriguing conversation the Colts are going to have to have. Is the price tag of Smith worth it where they should just move along to Freeland once his contract's up? That's going to be an interesting one. Ryan Kelly, I think we'll probably stop hearing the cap casualty, the trade stuff. I think we'll hear that quiet down because Ryan Kelly is another player

Starting point is 00:24:30 that's kind of had a rebirth with this new coaching staff. He's been playing some of the best football in his career this season. So, again, some of these guys make a lot of money where you can restructure things. But we've been saying that for some of these guys for like two years and they haven't done it so uh deforest buckner is another one you mentioned that's another one where you kind of don't want to poke the bear on that one because this guy has trusted you and bought in to what you're selling and could have requested a trade and wanted out and would have been and would have deservedly so.

Starting point is 00:25:07 So Buckner is maybe a guy they don't want to restructure unless they convert some more of that money into guaranteed money, take it off the books as bonuses. I don't know. But to your point, I see what you're saying. The trenches are going to look a little different. Danny Penter, free agent like you mentioned, Grover Stewart. Now, I think the Colts with the Grover Stewart thing and the suspension, six-game suspension for PEDs,

Starting point is 00:25:34 I think they're supportive of him. When it comes to that, I don't really think that's going to factor into whether or not they re-sign him or not. And I do think they would still like to re-s resign him. I mean, shoot, the Colts' performance against the run in these few games since he's been gone is a big reason why. I mean, Stewart, even at his age, has continued getting better, has added things to his repertoire, and has become one of the very best nose tackles in the game.

Starting point is 00:26:01 And the Colts are hurting right now without him. So there probably will to, there probably will have to do some cost cutting measures this off season. I'm not going to say that any of these big name guys are going to be cap casualties. Uh, but I do think it would probably be wise to move some money around, um, just to create more cap space. Cause you're right. I mean, they kind of make the excuse every year that, you know, you can't pay everybody. We got some big ones coming. And yes, you do.

Starting point is 00:26:30 Quiddipay, Dio, Dangbo, that'll be coming up. You do have extensions you have to take care of. So I don't know. Those are really interesting ones, though, guys. I want to do this more often. And I know Zach loves to be a part of this, too. I don't think we've done the Q&A stuff since training camp ended. So it's good to kind of get back to our roots on that one there.

Starting point is 00:26:48 I promise we'll do another one of these again. But shoot, that's it for this episode. You'll notice you guys are pretty much getting two for one within 12 hours on this one because this one is going up right here tonight, Wednesday night, and then we'll have crossover Thursday coming up first thing Thursday

Starting point is 00:27:08 morning. So a lot of you guys who might be asleep already by now, you will wake up to two new episodes. So good for you. If you guys don't already, follow at LockedOnColts, at JakeArthurNFL and at ZachHicks2 on Twitter. Also be sure to subscribe on YouTube

Starting point is 00:27:24 and wherever you listen to podcasts. We would love your ratings and reviews as well. It helps get us up the charts. And if you like the show, leave a really nice review because people who are upset and not nice tend to be the loudest. And some of our reviews look like that sometimes.

Starting point is 00:27:43 So it'd be good to kind of drown out some of that noise if you guys really like the show. But with that, we will see you guys Friday. And then we'll see you again after the game.

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Do They Need to Put the Heat On Gardner Minshew?

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