Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Grading Laiatu Latu, AD Mitchell and 2024 Rookie Class

Starting point is 00:00:01 The 2024 Colts draft class kind of disappointed in year one. Well, at least at the top of the draft, maybe some of the later picks saved it a little bit. Let's get to it. You are locked on Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Thank you all for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:37 Today's episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs, which helps you find the qualified candidates that you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. Terms and conditions apply. Hello, everyone. My name is Zach Hicks, your resident film nerd over at horseshoehuddle.com. And as always, I'm joined by Jake Arthur, our credentialed Crocs on the ground, back in Indy this week after the week in Mobile last week there. And again, with the rest of the offseason, guys, we're going to bounce between draft coverage, free agency coverage,

Starting point is 00:01:08 reviewing the 2024 season. So now that the Senior Bowl is in the books, the next big event for the draft is the Combine. So up until then, again, you'll get a mixture of a little bit of everything there. But today we are looking back on the 2024 season, particularly at the Colts draft class from 2024, a class that we were all very optimistic about heading into the season, and a class that kind of, the expectations kind of changed a lot throughout the year.

Starting point is 00:01:35 So we're going to talk about, obviously, the first two picks in Laotulatu and A.D. Mitchell to start off the show. We're also going to talk about the middle round offensive linemen that seem to impress in a lot of ways. And then some of the day three guys who are very up and down in terms of their production and contributions to the Colts last season. But Jake, let's start with these top two picks. Laatu Latu and A.D. Mitchell. Starting with Latu, it's really tough to put his rookie season in perspective in a lot of ways,

Starting point is 00:02:06 because on one hand, he had a bigger role than what was expected because Samson, W com went down with the Achilles injury in the preseason. So lots who had to step into this very, very big role for the defense. But on the other hand, he was taken 15th overall. And as Chris Ballard said,

Starting point is 00:02:23 we got the best darn pass rusher in the draft. And he was the third best pass rusher in the draft, which again, to his credit, that's pretty good. A third best pass rusher. But when you're taking 15th overall, the expectations are higher and he didn't really hit those expectations. So Jake, how do you kind of wade through the waters a little bit when it comes to grading a rookie season like Laotu Laotu just had? Yeah, I think there's a couple factors here. First and foremost, I think what we judge guys off of is their comparisons, their counterparts. So when you look at Jared Versus, he's going to be defensive rookie of the year.

Starting point is 00:03:01 You know, you look at Quinion Mitchell, who has a really good argument for it as well. You look at lots who stacked up against those guys and you have some revisionist history, you know, some hindsight, like maybe they should have gone that way. You could even throw like Brian Thomas Jr. from the Jaguars in there. These are all, I'm naming off all guys that we thought were pretty much in the mix for the Colts. I want to try and take that away of my evaluation because everyone kind of deserves their own journey and their own evaluation. You know, I think all of us would maybe hope to be judged in our day-to-day lives based off what we can control. So when you look

Starting point is 00:03:37 at it with Mitchell, or not Mitchell, but Latu, I was okay with the pick at the time. I was optimistic about it. And I still am riding with that pick. Like, I'm not down on it. You could say Latu underwhelmed a little bit. Just, you know, four sacks, five tackles for loss. Now, one thing he did do was he had three forced fumbles on those sacks. He called game against the Bears. Yeah, the Bears it was. He made Jared Goff fumble in a big game where the Colts were close for a lot of that game.

Starting point is 00:04:16 I think he got one against Justin Fields maybe, but he had a few forced fumbles in the season. And if he finishes a few of those plays, you're probably really looking at about seven sacks, which I think a lot more people would feel better about. I think one of his bigger issues when it came to pass rushing was finishing. I mean, how many times did we see him get a hit? He got in the backfield and forced the quarterback to pivot and change their direction or all out break his grasp. I think his realistic number, you're looking closer to about seven sacks, but at the end of the day, you have to finish it. So I wasn't, I wasn't dissuaded by his performance this year. I mean, I still think he's going to be a good player, but like,

Starting point is 00:04:59 I think he was fine with that being said, if we're handing out grades, I would probably give him like a C, C plus ish, just because I think there's definite room to grow there. He already had a nice arsenal of moves to go to coming into the draft. I think if he can work on getting a little stronger and just work on finishing plays, I think he'll be just fine. Now, my expectations for him were pretty high. On here, I said he was going to get 10 plus sacks in our bold predictions. That obviously did not come to fruition, but I'm still very optimistic about it. But I would give him just a whelming grade of about CC plus. Yeah, just to be real quick on this, I think

Starting point is 00:05:43 Latu is perfectly fine as a rookie. But when you take a guy 15th overall, you're kind of expecting them to be a little bit better than fine, especially when he's not, you know, we're not talking about like a 20 year old project player. He was a 23, 24 year old finished product who had a lot of production at the college level came into the NFL and you could see some of the good things with him. But again, wasn't finishing the plays in the backfield. The play strength was a big issue. He's not the most juiced up pass rusher, so he wasn't able to rely on his athleticism. So I think there is some concern with how much better he can realistically get. Where he was at this last season, like you said, Jake, is he could just finish some tackles he's a good starting edge

Starting point is 00:06:26 rusher in the nfl but can he get better than that is the big question is this who he is as a player or can he get much better when again he's a 24 25 year old pass rusher now uh going into year two maybe just adding more strength in the offseason changes some things but we'll see i'm with you i think a wellman grade of like a c plus is good for him. Again, fine player, but you want to draft better than fine at 15 overall. So next year, it's really on him to be a better than fine player. Going to our next pick though, round two, A.D. Mitchell was the Colts pick at wide receiver. He was drafted to compete with Alec Pierce to be a starting outside wide receiver this season. And Alec Pierce quickly won that battle in camp. Alec Pierce enjoyed a breakout campaign and Mitchell kind of struggled in his snaps this year. And again, with Latu on one hand,

Starting point is 00:07:17 Mitchell, it's hard to really fault him for playing with one of the most inaccurate quarterbacks in football in, in Anthony Richardson. But on the other hand, no other receiver was really impacted by that as much. You know, Alec Pierce had a breakout season. Downs and Pittman, their targets came down, but they were still relatively productive on their targets. Mitchell was really the only guy where he was really hurt by the inaccuracies. And I think some of that really came down to just not having the chemistry with him, not fighting for the ball at times, not creating after the catch at times. It wasn't a great rookie season for A.D. Mitchell by any means. Jake, what are your thoughts on his debut season? Yeah, I think it would be easy to kind of give him a pass if it looked like

Starting point is 00:08:01 there was, you know, all the right decisions being made, all that effort being, you know, being made. But there were times where he just kind of looked like there was you know all the right decisions being made all out effort being you know being made but there were times where he just kind of looked like a space cadet out there now I will give him the discount of he did not mesh with the inaccuracy from Anthony Richardson he struggled with Joe Flacco as well but especially early in the season he was killing dudes he was like averaging the highest rate of separation in the NFL he was winning all season, he was killing dudes. He was like averaging the highest rate of separation in the NFL. He was winning all these routes. He was doing an excellent job. There just was no chemistry there with the quarterback. So that portion of it, the pre-catch portion of it, he did a great job. But unfortunately, the most important part of playing receiver is getting those balls and

Starting point is 00:08:42 coming down with them. So that's not great. Second worst catch percentage in the NFL. And he was only credited with four drops. So you would think it would be a lot higher volume of that considering he rated second worst in the NFL. But he himself right after the season and locker clean out, they admitted basically he's got to learn how to be a professional. A lot of work for him to do with Reggie Wayne. If he can take things seriously and really work on just the fine details of being an NFL receiver. Like he was very often just out of position,

Starting point is 00:09:18 not in sync. I'm assuming with depths of where your breaks are supposed to be and where you're supposed to be on the field. There's a lot of fine stuff to iron out. Athletically, I think he passed the test. We see the potential there, but there's a lot of stuff, you know, between the ears to figure out, I think. And that's up to him to do. I would give him a D minus.

Starting point is 00:09:39 It feels rough to give that, but D minus, not an F because he did have a lot of accuracy issues to deal with in the quarterback department. But there's a lot of stuff that if he can make the corrections, then I think he still could be a pretty good player. Yeah, I think I would go with a slightly more positive. I think I'd go D plus when it comes to Mitchell. And this is someone who wasn't very high on him as a prospect. I still understood where the Colts took him, but the film was concerning in college. And a lot of those concerns carried over to the NFL in terms of the blocking, at the catch point, how he was and after the catch and just overall, you know, getting to his depths and stuff like that. Like you mentioned there, Jake,

Starting point is 00:10:18 I think a lot of those carried over to his rookie season. I will say, though, part of my optimism is he's always open. Like he's always open. Like he's always open. Like he's got the hardest part of playing receiver down. And maybe this is like my optimism with Anthony Richardson, where it's like, look, Richardson does the hard things so well. If he can just get the easy things down, he can be a good NFL quarterback. It's kind of like that with Mitchell, where it's like, he can get open. He knows how to win against press. he knows how to win against press he knows how to win against physical corners but can he complete the catch can he create after the catch can he win in contested catch situations he had zero contested catches this season can he do any of

Starting point is 00:10:55 those things to be a starting caliber receiver we'll have to see but I'm gonna hold out a little bit of hope for him he's still very young, just like Richardson is a quarterback. So maybe he can figure it out. But I'm going to go with the D plus for his rookie season. It wasn't perfect, but maybe that bills game just gives me a little bit too much optimism because of how he was used and what he did in that bills game. But I think he can get there one day. It's just, he's got a lot of work to do. And I'm glad that he was able to acknowledge that coming up though, we're going to get out of this somber section of the early picks from the Colts 2024 draft and get into two positive picks in the two offensive linemen that Chris Ballard drafted in the middle rounds. As a small business owner, you know that the work doesn't end when the clock hits five.

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Starting point is 00:12:21 So post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com slash locked on NFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. All right, Zach, so it's very rare in the middle rounds for teams to come away with the exact players they wanted, but I've heard time and time again, you know, on record and just in passing that Tanner Bordellini and Matt Gonsalves were two guys the Colts did not want to leave the draft without, and they got them. And I think they played maybe a little more than we thought they would. We know the nature of the beast with the Colts and the offensive line and injuries.

Starting point is 00:13:01 These guys were going to get a little bit of action. But Gonsalves saw he was active for all 17 games, had eight starts, 566 snaps, Bortolini 12 games, five starts, 352 snaps. Overall, they did really well. Both of them ranked among the top 10, according to Pro Football Focus in rookie offensive linemen. And it's kind of given us a glimpse to the future for both guys that, you know, Ryan Kelly is a free agent and it certainly sounds closer to doubtful

Starting point is 00:13:32 than anything that he'll be back in part because they have Tanner Bortolini there waiting and he really showed some things. And then Matt Gonsalves, you know, one of the reasons you and I have even discussed the possibility of moving on from right tackle this year is because Matt Gonsalves looked pretty good. We've seen him as the swing tackle as a rookie, but he certainly looks like a guy that has a place in the starting lineup for the long-term future. Yeah, I mean, starting with Matt Gonsalves, you know, this was a guy where technically, according to the Indy Draft Guide, you know, I did offensive lineman for the Indy Draft Guide.

Starting point is 00:14:04 I had a round five grade on him and the Colts took him in round three. Now, part of that grade was, hey, I see the athleticism. I see how good this guy can be, but he didn't really play in his final season at Pittsburgh. So the Colts were taking a bit of a risk by taking a player who only played one game

Starting point is 00:14:20 in his final season in college, wasn't even a senior bowl guy, a shrine bowl guy, took him in round three, traded up for him in round three. one game in his final season in college wasn't even a senior bowl guy a shrine bowl guy took him in round three traded up for him in round three and there was even some of those debates in camp like is he a guard is he a tackle quickly solidified himself as a tackle in camp and then got into the season and when the injury started to mount at left tackle and right tackle he had to step in and play both those positions now at left tackle it was a struggle especially those first couple starts but you guys know when we've seen these guys try to make those first

Starting point is 00:14:51 couple starts in the NFL from Bernhardt Ryman to Braden Smith and I'm sure even Anthony Costanzo's first couple starts back in the day. Costanzo was rough as a rookie I remember it's just how it's nature of the beast for offensive linemen look at all these offensive linemen that went in the top 10, top 15 at offensive tackle. Gonsalves actually outgraded a lot of those guys, according to Pro Football Focus. So Gonsalves really settled in late in the season, especially at right tackle, like that final month of play when Braden Smith was out with his personal matter. Gonsalves became that full fledfledged starter at right tackle. Like it wasn't going to be up in the air from week to week. Like it was his job that final month of the season.

Starting point is 00:15:31 I thought he played some really good football. Was a really good run blocking right tackle. In the passing game, I still think there's a bit of a learning curve for him. But again, it got better as the season went along. And I think he ended up having a really solid rookie season. Now, is that enough to where he should be the unquestioned starter at right tackle next season if the Colts move on from Braden Smith? That's more of a debate for future episodes right there.

Starting point is 00:15:56 But is it enough to say that he had a good rookie season? Heck yeah. I think it was a really, really promising rookie season for, again, for a player who missed a lot of his senior season at Pitt. I think this was as good a rookie season as you could have asked for for Matt Gonsalves, especially having to bounce between right and left tackle, which is very tough to do. So I give him like an A minus. I think B plus maybe to be like a little bit stingy here, but like very promising rookie

Starting point is 00:16:23 season for Matt Gonsalves, much better than I even expected. And I was pretty optimistic about the pick. Yeah. I was thinking probably about a B plus for Gonsalves, maybe a B minus for Bortolini just because, you know, performance wise, Gonsalves had to do a little more and he, I thought showed quite a bit, just like you said, for a guy who there was a bigger question mark for him coming into the into the season uh but no i think just the fact that the conversations we were having about these guys coming into last season were all right most likely they're gonna get a shot to play a bit because injuries happen what's our conversation gonna be like after the season are they gonna be guys who we think are probably starters going into the next year? And I think we're at that point. So they both kind of checked

Starting point is 00:17:10 that huge box that we assumed they would, but still had to go through the season and accomplish that. So I would be comfortable with both players kind of being in the driver's seat for the starting position at their respective positions next year, as long as there is ample competition, which that's going to be the big caveat for just about everything we say this year, as long as there's competition, which Chris Ballard has acknowledged he needs to do. But, yeah, I was good with these guys. Bortolini was obviously, I think, the more popular player going into last year. He had the great RAS score.

Starting point is 00:17:48 He did really good at the combine, really athletic guy. Had the Wisconsin roots. That's almost guaranteed to get you at least something as an offensive lineman. So, no, really, really pleased with what these guys were able to do. Was there anything that you think they kind of like left there on there on the field that you'd like to see them improve on though yeah i'll say that real quick but just to talk on bordellini uh just for a quick i'd actually put like a b plus on bordellini because i really viewed him as like a project player i viewed him as because he's like 21 years old super young player i viewed him as a guy like

Starting point is 00:18:23 maybe he's in contention to start in 2025 but but maybe more 2026. I thought he was gonna be a healthy scratch for most of the season, got in some good snaps this year. And while it wasn't as strong as Gonsalves, Gonsalves was like a three and a half year starter in college who had bounced around the line, very veteran player. Bortolini was more of a younger raw player. I thought he had a really good season as well. But in terms of what they can improve on, you know, Gonsalves, it's more so just getting his hands right and pass protection.

Starting point is 00:18:50 I think that's what really hurt him. He let guys into his chest a little bit and just syncing up his hands and his feet a little bit better to be a better pass protector. And then for Bortolini, it's just keep, keep at it in the workout room, keep at it in the weight room. Because as we've seen with guys like like Danny Pinter

Starting point is 00:19:06 in the past, it's like you can be a fine starting center if you're not like this bulldozing strong player. But to get to that next level, to be where Ryan Kelly was at the peak of his powers here at Indy, you have to be a guy who can actually move players off the line and be an assertive dominant force at center. I think Bortolini is right now at the good point where again, like he can survive bull rushes from stronger players. He can be an agile player that can get to that second level, but can he win those like dual box blocks at the middle? Can he drive guys off the line? Can he displace blockers? I

Starting point is 00:19:40 don't know if he's quite there yet. So do whatever Ryman did in his first and second year in the weight room, like whatever Bernhardt Ryman did to add those like 20 pounds of muscle. Just do that. I think we'll be perfectly fine. Let's get everyone on the Bernhardt Ryman, like weight gain thing that he was on after his first year. And I think all these offensive linemen will be fine. But I think that's really the big thing for these guys.

Starting point is 00:20:02 Just continue to grow, get a little bit stronger, get a little more like adjusted to your body in the NFL and let's roll from there I think these guys have very promising futures in Indy yeah I like it all right guys so coming up on day three of the draft the Colts actually had a couple good finds and that even extended to after the draft ended but first the big game is almost here and there's no better way to make it even more exciting than with PrizePix, the best place for daily fantasy sports. With over 10 million members and billions in winnings awarded,

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Starting point is 00:23:07 Last-minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Okay, Zach. So day three of the draft, later on in day three, there was a couple really interesting, I don't want to say boom or bust picks, but some real potential ones here. So Anthony Gould coming in with the 142nd pick, fifth round, right, really need another receiver after they took A.D. Mitchell, but turns out the idea for him was to be the kickoff return

Starting point is 00:23:38 specialist, which pretty soon in training camp, he took that over. He kind of had a little bit of an arc throughout the season. But then after that, they went with Jalen Carlisle. We didn't know if it was safety or linebacker. Safety turned linebacker in that system with Gus Bradley out of Missouri, and he became a starter before the season was over. The final section of the draft did not go to plan uh the colts final three picks jalen simpson micah abraham and jonah laulu see you later none of them are with the team now uh two of them were actually let's see so yeah abraham two of them were cut right off the bat

Starting point is 00:24:20 and then simpson was plucked later um off of the Colts practice squad onto another roster so they did then find Dalton Tucker in the undrafted pool which he wound up starting a handful of games for them and then Jason Bean right after the draft ended became the darling of the rookie undrafted pool so take me through your emotions of this day three group set yeah i mean starting with anthony gould he had a very up and down rookie season which is normal it's normal for a day three pick to have an up and down rookie season uh he was projected to come in be the kick returner be the punt returner quickly got put in the doghouse as a punt returner and i don't really remember the exact game or reason why like it wasn't like

Starting point is 00:25:05 you fumbled or anything it was a couple and he like he took a ball out that he shouldn't have or he should have taken it out and didn't it was like it was a mental error but like the dude got buried immediately for it it was it was odd I thought yeah he became a healthy scratch for a good amount of weeks came back later in the season, and had a couple of pretty strong kick returns. So I think overall, like a fine rookie season, a pretty good punt returner, I thought, by the end of the season. Kick return is what it is at this point.

Starting point is 00:25:37 It's not really a part of the game anymore. But he was fine. Like, for a day three pick, perfectly fine. I think the bell of the ball, though, on day three was Jalen Carlisle, and I think we all kind of said that when he was fine. Like for a day three pick, perfectly fine. I think the bell of the ball though on day three was Jalen Carlisle. And I think we all kind of said that when he was selected on day three. It was like, oh, cool. A safety linebacker in Gus Bradley's defense. That's what he specializes in.

Starting point is 00:25:56 And I mean, dare I say he might be the most promising of everybody from this class after one year. Like I'm not saying the stats are amazing here, like 36 tackles, one sack, one QB hit, one pass breakup. Like, that's not, like, superstar breakout type of play. But in six starts, I thought, I mean, again, he might have been the best linebacker on the team in those games. Like, they had him playing a lot of Sam.

Starting point is 00:26:22 They got him out there occasionally on pass downs, but I thought he was by far and away the best cover linebacker on the team, games like they had him playing a lot of Sam they got him out there occasionally on pass downs but I thought he was by far and away the best cover linebacker on the team showed the best instincts and coverage among any of the linebackers on the team so honestly like if like Google you probably give him like a cc plus like a very average rookie season Carlisle is like the only thing that brings him down a little bit is the injury because we just didn't get to see him for the whole year but like it's like a very optimistic b you know or very optimistic b plus because i think the colts should bring in a veteran linebacker to compete this offseason but if jalen carlisle ends up being the starter next desire franklin next year i mean if he earned it

Starting point is 00:27:02 like i'm all for it i think he can certainly earn it in camp. I think he moves at just a different pace than most linebackers. He's got good eyes, good feel. I think he can be a starter in this league. The other three guys you mentioned, they're all gone. I know Ballard was really upset when they lost Jonah Luoluo. I thought he was going to be a guy that made it on the team, but unfortunately the Raiders plucked him there. And one more guy I really want to talk about though is Dalton Tucker.

Starting point is 00:27:26 I think, you know, he's an undrafted rookie thrown into a starting role for seven games this past year. He was pretty good for like three to four of them. Really, really bad for the other three to four of those games. So it's kind of like, yes, you want to kill him a bit because he got benched and he was in over his head at that point but like for an undrafted rookie it was kind of fine you know like to find a player capable of starting seven games maybe maybe he shouldn't have started all seven games but even capable of playing those like four games that he

Starting point is 00:28:01 was good if you're finding that an undrafted for agency that's a big win so like I'd give him like a b minus and and I know that like again people might call me crazy there because he was statistically like the worst starter on a worst player on the offensive line this season but to even have a guy capable of doing that an undrafted free agency I mean we're talking you know you're picking from future car dealers at this point and undrafted free agency so for him to come in and and like he should be able to fight for a roster spot again this next offseason I think that's a win so you know I think finding Carlisle finding Tucker finding Gould were good finds it doesn't look great because you had to cut three guys from your rookie class but again if Carlisle ends up being a starter for you then it's a win on day

Starting point is 00:28:45 three you know yeah i i would give carlize is the real standout here for me i'd give him probably like a b plus like yeah uh so he went on ir in the middle chunk of the season he had the i think fibula injury uh which i'm not a doctor but i think that's your lower leg uh so we had injuries remember wasn't it like yeah and concussion yeah he had shoulder maybe elbow at some point yeah so the dude was pretty banged up so to be able to stand out like that while he was essentially not healthy at any point uh it's pretty promising but no but by the time he got hurt he i feel like he was the Colts' number two graded linebacker overall and far and away their number one in coverage.

Starting point is 00:29:32 So I think if he is the starter going into next season, I think he's a very good complement to Zyre Franklin. Because we saw with EJ Speed and Zyre Franklin, it's two dudes with the same strengths and weaknesses, basically. But Carlisle can make up for what Zyra lacks in coverage and vice versa, because Carlisle didn't get graded very well in run defense either. It's definitely something he's got to kind of develop into a little more, add more weight and strength to that, become more of a classic linebacker. Not classic linebacker, but you know what i'm saying like don't just be a safety playing linebacker obviously run defense is not going to be your strong suit uh but he's still developing uh anthony gould probably like a c like he was drafted to be the the return man i felt like he got buried way too early for that

Starting point is 00:30:20 um by the end of it they said they wanted to be more aggressive in the return game, and he winds up averaging more than Josh Downs as a punt returner. Now, Ashton Doolin had like four kickoff returns, I think, and busted a couple big ones, so he wound up being their top kickoff returner. But Gould, I think, gave you plenty of optimism to be the return specialist next year. Like I see zero reason not to do that. And plus he's, he looked really good in the summer and like OTAs and everything. Him and Joe Flacco had a really good report. They were,

Starting point is 00:30:54 they connected a lot downfield. So he still gives them some promise as that gadgety type guy and occasional deep threat. And then with Tucker, yeah, I just, you know, the,

Starting point is 00:31:04 the, the candle burnt out, like it went really well initially. And then at a certain point, he just kind of hit the wall, which is understandable. I don't really, I don't really fault him for that. That's more of the Colts fault that they were relying on a rookie undrafted player to start half the season for them. So he did his part. Like I'm optimistic that he'll get even better like he was obviously good enough to start at least a few games for him uh and then Jason Bean the last guy we hadn't talked much about I mean vibes were good with Jason Bean and Indy what we want is a good preseason quarterback to the point where when Ish is hitting the fan at the quarterback position the regular

Starting point is 00:31:43 season you get a weird section of the fan base that starts calling for that preseason quarterback and that's exactly what happened there were several people that wanted to see some something from jason bean in the regular season it wasn't realistic but people were calling for it and so big check mark for jason bean yeah let me some jason bean i look i would have preferred to have watched him those past couple weeks, those last couple weeks over to Lacko. I called you guys weird, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to see a little something as well.

Starting point is 00:32:13 But we all know how unrealistic that was. Yeah. Now, before we get out of here, Jake, really quick, what grade would you give this overall draft class after one year? Because I'm thinking it's so difficult because if you end up getting two starters on your offensive line and then potentially a third starter in car lies you can't call it an awful draft class but when you have two like top 50 or near top 50 picks that are like average to below average in A.D. Mitchell's case.

Starting point is 00:32:47 It's hard to call it a winning draft class. So I'm going to say like an optimistic C plus or a pessimistic B minus, I guess, after one year just because of those later picks. But Latu and A.D. Mitchell will be the difference between this being an A class one day or a D class. Because like even if you find two offensive linemen, if you miss that bad on your first pick or your second pick, people will remember that more than they will the hits later on. So it really comes down to Mitchell and Latu in the future, but I'm going to say like a C plus maybe right now, I think is

Starting point is 00:33:17 where I grade this class. Yeah. I'm leaning closer to the C minus of it. Like anytime, anytime you can find starters in the middle of your draft, that's excellent. You found two potential future starting offensive linemen, your new kickoff returner, and maybe your new starting will linebacker. Like you found a handful of guys in this class, but that's all fine and dandy.

Starting point is 00:33:44 But like, where are the hits at the top? You have, you have to, you have to nail those. And there's reason for optimism for both. I mean, lot to, I think had, it was fine. His rookie year was fine. We certainly think he'll get a little better, at least in year two. I mean, every conversation we had with people leading into the rookie year, people were glowing about him. AD, I mean, he's your fourth receiver. But so the Colts went aggressive for a playmaker offensively

Starting point is 00:34:19 near the top of the draft. They tried to get up in the top 10. They wound up settling for it. And then, you know, we have a playmaker at home. We'll go get up in the top 10. They wound up settling for it. And then, you know, we have a playmaker at home. We'll go get A.D. Mitchell at 52. And it kind of backfired. Now, again, he is your wide receiver four. So it's not super consequential. But if he would have performed really well, that would have taken the defense or the offense to another level. So had these two picks at the top really worked immediately, it changes the complexion of the season a little bit.

Starting point is 00:34:52 I'm not going to say to make the playoffs, but maybe it makes the difference in a win or so. Yeah. I mean, again, lots who did his part, you know, he had a few forced fumbles, but Mitchell gave you almost nothing like 23 catches. One of the, you know, second to worst catch percentage in the entire NFL. There's only room to go up from that,

Starting point is 00:35:16 but like no one could have seen it being that bad. So I'll lean more towards the C minus just because it's been the story of Ballard's tenure. Of course he can find good guys in rounds three to seven, but where are the guys who are supposed to be your franchise pillars? You need to hit on those. Yeah, for sure. So that's what we got for today, guys. Regrading the 2024 draft class for the Colts.

Starting point is 00:35:42 We want to thank you guys for making Locked on Colts your first listen today and every day. Next, go find Locked on NFL. First, the Madman Tyler Rowland kicks off your morning with a double shot of NFL espresso, and then stop by the Barbershop with Tony Wiggins for some real NFL talk. And if you guys don't already, make sure you're following at Locked on Colts, at JakeArthur, at NFL,

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Grading Laiatu Latu, AD Mitchell and 2024 Rookie Class

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