Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Draft Stars Who Shined During Senior Bowl Week

Starting point is 00:00:00 Senior bowl practices are a wrap. I've been down here in Mobile all week, and I'm going to spill my notebook for you guys today, let you know who caught my eye and who I think would be perfect for the Colts to draft coming up this spring. Let's get to it. You are locked on Colts,

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Starting point is 00:00:52 $50 instantly when you play just $5. What is up, y'all? This is Jake Arthur of HorseshoeHuddle.com. And as I mentioned at the top of the the show all three days of senior goal practices are now complete all that's left now to do is the game on saturday but for all intents and purposes the biggest players are pretty much done with the week a lot of these top rated guys probably won't play in the game a lot of them didn't even participate in the final day of practices a lot of nfl personnel are going to go home so So the hay is all but in the barn, so to speak. So I was there for

Starting point is 00:01:31 all three days, all six practices total. So I would love to tell you guys a little bit about what I saw. Going to break down the defensive players. We know the Colts certainly can't shoo anybody away this offseason. If there's defensive talent to be had, they need to go get it. Offensively, maybe don't need quite as much on the offensive side of the ball. But then I'll tell you specifically some guys that really stood out who I think would be really good fits for the Colts. We'll go ahead and start there. So quarterback is obviously not the most pressing need for the Colts right now. But with the most impactful position in sports,

Starting point is 00:02:06 let's go ahead and talk about it. We know Anthony Richardson, they're not going to stay status quo here. The Colts will have a backup quarterback this offseason that they feel is good enough to at least push Anthony Richardson a little bit, and they know they've got a brace for an injury as well. They certainly can't put all their eggs in the basket of depending on Anthony's health. So they certainly will probably go the veteran route in some manner. But I wouldn't be surprised if there's a quarterback that they like that they want

Starting point is 00:02:40 to take in the middle to late rounds of this draft. And there's some, this isn't last year's draft class of quarterbacks, but there are certainly still some guys worth taking a look at. So I thought Dylan Gabriel and Jackson Dart were probably the most consistently solid quarterbacks throughout the week. It's very common that, especially on the first day of practices, guys are super inaccurate. Their timing with these receivers is off because they've never played with the majority of them before, unless you've got one of your teammates there with you to throw to. So timing is usually off.

Starting point is 00:03:17 I never really had an issue with how these guys did. Particularly Dart was maybe the best quarterback of the week when it came to one-on-ones and getting the ball into the right places to get his guys an opportunity to make a play so dart was really good um when it came to you know throws over the middle of the field and timing and some of his issues that that people have with him I thought he answered some questions. At the top of the week, Jim Nagy said his offense was schemed up to throw into wide open spaces and they wanted to see him thrown to some tight windows. Didn't get a ton of that this week, but I thought he was really solid throughout the week. That's obviously a guy I don't think he would be a long-term project.

Starting point is 00:04:03 Depending what system he goes to in the NFL, they may want to be more traditional or they may be a little more forward-thinking and college-based. We're seeing more of that come into the league lately, but Dart, I think, would be a good fit. And then Gabriel, maybe not the biggest fit for the Colts necessarily, but we have seen Shane Steichen bend to whatever his quarterback's abilities are, especially when it was either Joe Flacco or Gardner Minshew. Gabriel is very much a West Coast short rhythmic passing game type of player. I was watching more of his Oregon film this morning, actually,

Starting point is 00:04:41 and I was like, this guy knows how to operate a short passing game as an extension of the run game. guy knows how to operate a short passing game, like as an extension of the run game. He knows how to move the chains. Certainly Oregon's offense is nothing like it would be with Shane Steichen, but Gabriel, you can live with Gabriel and maybe a couple of years down the road. He's a guy that a team wants to take a chance on to become their starter. Certainly not right away, but Gabriel and Dart are a couple guys who really caught my eye throughout the week. I thought them, and you could probably throw Riley Leonard in there as well, has some pretty solid quarterback options. The running backs, the Colts

Starting point is 00:05:16 are certainly going to need that this year. They need a compliment to Jonathan Taylor badly. In the games he played, I believe it was 82% of the time it was him on the field. They just, they wanted to try and tell us Trey Sermon was a guy that they could really rely on to be an early down backup and a pass protector. He was just a guy, which is kind of what a lot of us thought. Tyler Goodson was okay, fine as a pass catcher, but they need upgrades. They need more than just fine. And so when you're looking at like an Ollie Gordon, I see Ollie Gordon as like a direct Trey Sermon replacement. That's a hard, tough runner, a guy with decent

Starting point is 00:05:59 contact balance that can kind of create some of his own yards and break some tackles. Donovan Edwards, Marcus Yarns, and Trevor Etienne, those are all guys that really excelled as pass catchers as well. Marcus Yarns, if I didn't just say that. Those guys can all catch the ball and be difference makers with it. They give you what Tyler Goodson does, but a little more, especially as runners. So I really liked what I saw from those guys this week, especially Yarns. He's really, really growing on me.

Starting point is 00:06:30 And Trevor Etienne in one-on-ones against linebackers. He cooked several guys throughout the week. Tight ends. My favorite group of the week was the tight ends. And part of that may have been biased because we all know the Colts need them so badly. But I talked to Colts assistant O-line coach Chris Watt down on the field today. He's coaching the national team tight ends this year, and, you know, he trumpeted that. He said, you know, this really is a good group this year.

Starting point is 00:06:57 And I'll say last year I was completely underwhelmed with the tight end group down in Mobile last year. Didn't really have much to say about them, but this year, excellent, excellent. Elijah Arroyo out of Miami was a really good player. Him and Mason Taylor showed a lot of the same things. The ability to get separation at the top of a route, really understanding how to use their bodies and their momentum to create separation and ditch a defender. Arroyo had a couple of downfield plays that he made as well. Terrence Ferguson did very

Starting point is 00:07:33 well. I know there's been a lot of talk about Harold Fannin as well, because just an unbelievably productive college player doesn't necessarily offer you the same three down abilities as those other guys do. He's a work in progress as a blocker. I don't think he's a complete non-factor. You drop him into the Colts offense and I think he would be a very playable player right away and would probably be the best tight end they've got. But do you have to, if you're the Colts, do you have time to wait around for a guy to develop a skill to the level that these other guys kind of already have? So this is an awesome tight end class. Obviously we know Tyler Warren and Colston Loveland at the top of the draft would be

Starting point is 00:08:16 excellent options as well, but they were not down here at Mobile. Lots and lots of defensive talent here going on. Defensive tackles, Dion Walker, Walter Nolan, Aeneas Peebles, Darius Alexander. I think all of these guys athletically and measurement-wise would pretty much fall in line with what the Colts club it in their interior defensive linemen. These guys I expect to probably perform relatively well at the combine, whoever of them decides to do it. But this group just showed a lot of power, quickness, fluidity, and how they moved. And I think you just park them behind DeForest Buckner, Grover Stewart, let them learn. You know, Buckner and Stewart are both 30 plus years old. They're not going to be around forever. So you develop one of these super strong athletic players who all have a good argument for being picked within the first few rounds.

Starting point is 00:09:13 A couple of them first-round options. I think the Colts should definitely look into that option. I would be okay with an interior defensive lineman with their first-round pick, really anywhere early on. Linebackers, again, that's one we know they need. They need guys who are better out in space, who have some sort of instinct out in coverage, aren't going to be missing a ton of tackles.

Starting point is 00:09:38 And there were a few guys that really caught my eye. Jeffrey Basa from Oregon, that's a guy who former safety, but you can look at a couple of examples. Like Jalen Carlisle is a former safety. That's now a linebacker. He looks the part, but he, he kind of looks like he has a really filled out safeties frame. Nothing about Jeffrey Bassa looks like anything other than just like an ass-kicking linebacker. This guy looks the part, moves really well. Physical, I really like what I saw. Shamar James from Florida, incredibly rangy, sideline-to-sideline speed,

Starting point is 00:10:15 was clocked as having some of the fastest times of any player out on the field this week. He made himself some money. One of my colleagues, Brandon Olson, who does locked on Gators, big fan of him as well. So James was a big one. Jack Kaiser, I think, was probably my top linebacker of the week out of Notre Dame. Almost unstoppable in the one-on-one drills. Now, I do have questions about if you want him covering vertically a whole bunch in pass coverage, I think laterally he was just such a pest for the offensive players all week.

Starting point is 00:10:55 But Kaiser, hometown kid out of a tiny Indiana town, from Pioneer High School and then to Notre Dame. If you want to keep him in Indy, then he certainly has earned that throughout this week. Plenty of cornerbacks to kind of write home as well. Trey Amos, Tommy Hill, Azaria Thomas. I'm a big fan of Thomas after this week. I thought he checked a bunch of boxes. He did some really good things this week.

Starting point is 00:11:17 Quincy Riley, Jalen Smith, if you're looking for more of a nickel. Someone to back up Kenny Moore. That's not Chris Lamans or, you know, kind of a lower level guy. Bilal Cohn and then Maxwell Harrison. So really, really good showing by the defense. This was a really good week for finding players that the Colts really needed those positions. So let me know what you guys think about those players. If any of those are ones you've had your eyes on as well. Coming up in a moment, we're going to talk about some other

Starting point is 00:11:48 offensive players who stood out, maybe don't fit the Colts necessarily, but you never know. These guys, regardless, they really showed out down here this week. This is a message from sponsor Intuit TurboTax. Taxes was waiting and wondering and worrying if you were gonna get any money back and then waiting, wondering and worrying some more. Now, taxes is matching with a TurboTax expert who could do your taxes as soon as today, right now. An expert who gives your taxes their undivided attention

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Starting point is 00:12:55 All right, so for the first time in a minute, the Colts don't really need any help at wide receiver, but there were several guys who really stood out this week. Iowa State had a pair of guys in Jaden Higgins and Jalen Noel that really answered the bell all week, all three practices. Higgins is probably the one that is going to be shooting up draft boards even more. He's got a great frame. He's a big receiver, but he's got oily hips. He's got the mobility that a lot of bigger receivers don't have. A lot of these taller receivers really struggle to bend and get out of breaks in a quick manner. But Higgins had a lot of wiggle this week.

Starting point is 00:13:42 And so I think as long as he tests well at the combine, that's a guy who's going to be flirting with first-round consideration. Miami's Javier Restrepo, who broke Reggie Wayne's receptions record down there in Miami, he is just a consistent performer all throughout the week. Did everything right. There was quite a few videos from one-on-ones that maybe didn't go viral, but were pretty well-shared of receivers just taking a million steps and just doing too much to try and win routes and get separation.

Starting point is 00:14:13 Not the case for Restrepo. He got down to business, you know, just a few steps made his cut and go, and it worked. He got a separation. He caught the ball very well. You can easily see why he was a very productive player at Miami. Looking at Tez Johnson as well. I'm going to compare Tez Johnson to a couple of players.

Starting point is 00:14:33 And I'm a big fan of this guy. And seeing the success of these other players in the NFL, I think he is someone who, again, I wouldn't be surprised to be forced with late first round consideration, but Xavier Worthy from the Chiefs. And then you look at like Tank Dell from Houston going to the Texans a couple of years ago, Tez Johnson, he's as tiny as the rest of them. You know, he's a sub five, 10, 150, 160pound guy soaking wet. You know, you could literally throw the guy, but incredibly fast, fluid, quick, had really good hands. I think I only saw him drop one ball, and it was as he was falling out of bounds.

Starting point is 00:15:18 The guy gets separation, no sweat, and it looks so seamless for him doing it. He was such a natural route runner, and the way he was just able to get in and out of breaks and just consistently toast guys in one-on-ones, whether it was in the red zone or from 40 yards out, Pez Johnson might have been my top receiver of the week. I came away really impressed. He's a guy where you're like, if he was just 5'11", 180, there would be no questions about it. But there is going to be that question because he's tiny,

Starting point is 00:15:54 but we have seen the successes of guys like Tank Dell and Xavier Worthy. Tank Dell obviously has dealt with some injuries and stuff, but it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with his lack of size. Isaac Taislaw from Arkansas did a lot of really good things, really showed off his ability to win deep and be a difference maker downfield. I talked to Bubba Ventrone, who was the head coach for Taislaw's team this week, and he gave a really great example of they saw something that Tayslaw, you know, maybe made a mistake in a route on day one. They addressed it in film study that night. And then on day two, he ran that same route against the defender and won, won the route and got a deep touchdown in the one-on-ones because of the corrections he's made. So a coachable player, Jack Beck from TCU was a really great player all day long.

Starting point is 00:16:51 He is someone who Jalen Milrow really had a connection with. Just great hands, won all over the field, whether it was short, intermediate, deep. I really liked what I saw from Beck today. Some offensive linemen, as far as offensive tackles goes, Ariante Ursary had a really good week. Did a lot in mirroring defenders and pass rushers and kind of having the sand in his pants to not get pushed back. There were some really good interior guys that performed real well. Gray Zabel from North Dakota State moved around a lot. You saw him in a bunch of different positions, guard, tackle.

Starting point is 00:17:30 I think he might have even got some work at center as well. Willie Lampkin, who is just a little sawed-off shotgun. I'm taller than he is, and I don't know how it's going to work in the NFL if a team is going to work in the NFL. If a team is going to take a chance on him, he was very strong. He showed a lot of power, but there's just that lack of size and length that are going to scare teams. But he's a guy who passed every test here. He can't change how big he is, how tall he is.

Starting point is 00:18:06 But he pretty much maxed himself out this week, so he did a really good job. Jalen Rivers from Miami, that's another guy that held up really well in a couple days out here. And then Emery Jones from LSU, I say kick him inside. We've seen him at guard, we've seen him at tackle. A lot of people would like to see him be an interior player at the next level. I think that's where he's going to be most effective. You know, he's got some power. He had some good matchups with Shamar Stewart throughout the week. Got his fair share of getting beat as well, though, when it was off the edge.

Starting point is 00:18:38 But I think if you keep him inside, he's got a lot of attributes that could, you know, make him find more of a permanent home at right guard or so, because some of the times he was getting beat, it was when he was placed at right tackle. And so if you can park that guy at right guard and just give him the reps and let him develop for a bit, he I think he's shown that he could be a pretty impactful player and a starter for a long time. So coming up, this was a great defensive week. I think overall for both the American and national teams, the defense really was the story. So we'll get into that in a moment about who really stood out. All right, guys, the Super Bowl is upon us. And a lot of you have made really nice memories, maybe not Colts fans, but if you attended other games or have in the past,

Starting point is 00:19:25 some really good memories about being at playoff games. There's just more camaraderie in the stands when there's more on the line. I haven't attended a playoff game as a fan, but I know from covering them that, I mean, there's just no better electric feeling for the fans than when everything is on the line. So Game Time is a new feature called Game Time Picks to help make all those dreams come true for you. Maybe, fingers crossed, the Colts can start hosting some playoff games for you guys in the near future. But Game Time makes getting tickets for those events even easier. It filters out all the fluff to show you guys only the incredible deals on great seats so that you don't have to waste time searching through thousands of ticket options. I was

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Starting point is 00:21:20 Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code L-O-C-K-e-d-o-n-n-f-l for 20 dollars off download game time today last minute tickets lowest price guarantee all right so let's talk defense uh we got to start with a couple of edge players who uh did so well that they checked out after Wednesday. Two practices done. They didn't have anything else to show. That's Mike Green and Shamar Stewart.

Starting point is 00:21:51 Green, you know, led the nation in sacks out of Marshall. But, of course, being from Marshall, there's questions about, you know, the competition level. Plus, he's not necessarily got prototypical size. You know, you worry about his power and everything. Well, he had a viral clip that went around on Wednesday where he just bowled through the blocker and kind of answered those questions. So Mike Green showed everything he needed to. Shamar Stewart as well. 280 pounds, but moving like he's 20, 30 pounds lighter.

Starting point is 00:22:23 That guy did everything that he needed to. Some other guys that really stood out, Edge Josiah Stewart from Michigan. He caught my eye all throughout the week. He was bending the edge, bowling through guys, just getting into the backfield consistently. Boston College's Donovan Isaruka. He did really well, showed off his, he's a really bendy player. He had another viral clip as well from a cross chop in one-on-ones that he got a sack on. Really, really impressive player. Someone who I thought really showed up today, Thursday, he's a lot bigger guy, but Utah's junior, Tafuna, he blew up a couple run plays and did some good things in one-on-ones as well. Tim Smith out of Alabama, I feel like I said his name every day throughout the week.

Starting point is 00:23:13 Really stout player, really good at penetrating the backfield and just disrupting even the handoff. He blew a couple plays up and I think did a really good job for himself. Some other corners, Darian Porter and Upton Stout. Now, Upton Stout, I just wish was bigger, but he's got the nickel size. He's sub 5'10", 180-ish pounds or whatever. He did really well in one-on-ones. I thought he was super competitive during 11-on-11 sessions, breaking up passes and everything. But again, I don't know that the Colts would necessarily go for him just because of his lack of size and probably lack of wingspan as well. But really competitive corner. I thought he did some really nice things. He's another guy,

Starting point is 00:24:04 he can't control his size, but he did everything possible that he could to really show off what he is as a player. I hope to see more from the safeties this week. No one really stood out too much. There were a couple of guys who had to opt out just because their seasons ran long. Xavier Watts was one of them from Notre Dame. But Hunter Wohler did really well. He clicked and closed a lot. He really met a lot of pass catchers at the point of attack, broke up the ball. So if there was anyone who really stood out among the safety group, I thought Wohler did a really, really good job as well.

Starting point is 00:24:39 So that is it. I'm going to have a lot more written content on the Senior Bowl as well. Zach and I also plan to do some some mock draft stuff based on senior bowl players coming up as well soon. So stay tuned for that. Other than that, guys, it's officially draft season,

Starting point is 00:24:54 you know, next we're almost in February. So the month after that, we got free agency coming. So hang on tight. Thank you guys for joining me today and hearing me. Yeah. All about the week down here in mobile. After this, go find locked on tight. Thank you guys for joining me today and hearing me. Yeah. All about the week down here in mobile.

Starting point is 00:25:06 After this, go find locked on NFL. First, the bad man, Tyler Roland is going to kick off your morning with a double shot of NFL espresso. And then you stop by the barbershop with Tony Wiggins later in the day for some real NFL talk.

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Draft Stars Who Shined During Senior Bowl Week

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