Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Heat Check on Alec Pierce, Rodney Thomas II, and Other Young Players

Episode Date: October 14, 2022

Rookies Alec Pierce and Rodney Thomas II have been balling out for the Colts in recent weeks. Are they destined to be major pieces for this team in the future? Zach is joined by Jonathan Hagler to give a heat check on 6 promising Colts' players.Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQ🎧 Apple https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1151621306🎧 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6meP450baAtjX4rTENZ5ij🎧 Audacy https://www.audacy.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts-daily-podcast-on-the-indianapolis-colts-21701🎧 Google https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vUFBZODk1ODUyODkyNQ🎧 Megaphone https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/lockedoncoltsFollow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, and @LockedOnColts!LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds, and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Athletic GreensTo make it easy, Athletic Greens is going to give you a FREE 1-year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com/NFLNETWORK.PrizePicksFirst-time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONSimpliSafeWith Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnNFL to learn more.EliasTake this NFL season to the next level and download the Elias Game Plan App today and use promo code locked-on-nfl-25 to get 25% off your first month when you choose the monthly subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's time for a little heat check Colts fans today I'm joined by one of the top football minds out there to break down six young Colts players and how they perform so far in 2022. 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. Thank you, Colts fans, for tuning in to this Friday edition of Locked On Colts, your number one listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Today's episode of Locked On Colts is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. Help you find the candidates that you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com slash locked on NFL.

This is Zach Hicks and I'm joined by the great John Hagler. You guys knew with Jake being out, I was going to have to have Hag on the show. So, again, if you guys know me from horseshoehuddle.com, but you probably know Hag from all the times that I've brought him into the Colts space these last couple years. I mean, last year we did that into the DB film room with Horseshoe Huddle. We did a bunch of other cool stuff. But Hag, man, we're going to jump into some young players that the Colts have.

We love ourselves some young Colts players. And I got six guys I want you to talk about. So let's jump into segment one here. We're going to talk about Alec Pierce, a guy that you and I liked a lot in the draft process. There was a guy on Twitter the other day saying that I'm late on the Alec Pierce train. Absolutely not. I was early.

That was super early. But Alec Pierce, man, first week it was a little bit of a struggle, that drop in the end zone. Second week he was out with a concussion. These last three weeks, though, he has been everything that the draft report and everything told us that he was going to be. Yeah. I mean, he was a big fast athletic guy he was your colts ideal fit in the draft and then we laughed about how you called the shot and everything um i got to watch him in person against alabama um and in hindsight you know if we look at how well kool-aid mckenzie's playing and he's looking like a possible first second round guy next year you will why, you know, Pierce was able to get the better of him, even though

they weren't necessarily able to get him the ball. You will, you see why he was able to capitalize and beat him. And I mean, he's just playing all that last couple of weeks. So good that I picked him up on my fantasy team. I'm really excited about his prospects going forward. So. Yeah. You know, it's funny. Cause again, I think a lot of people when they, you know, my scouting report included, everyone was kind of talking like, this is a guy who's going to win down the field. He's going to be a guy who you get those 50-50 balls down the field. And we have seen that.

We saw two huge plays or three huge plays this year with over 20-yard catches, jump balls down the field. But where he's really impressing me, and, you know, you and I were watching through some clips before we recorded this, is kind of that underneath game. You know, a lot of 50-50 balls underneath even. He's making those plays happen. Did you kind of see that on film at Cincinnati that, like, this could not just be, like, only a deep ball guy,

but also an underneath receiver who could make some plays? Oh, yeah. Well, I think when you watch his game, you have to ask yourself, and any prospect in general, you have to ask yourself, how does his game translate, where will he possibly be good at the next level? Obviously you're not going to just, he, he's a fast kid. He ran well, his 40 was fast. His GPS numbers were fast, but he was always going to be a guy that threatened people with speed and he was going to get the better of them, get them turned and make contested catches. That's how I saw his game translate. I didn't think I don't, I'm never going to buy into the big jump ball, get them turned, and make contested catches. That's how I saw his game translate.

I didn't think – I'm never going to buy into the big jump ball guy, like in college. But if you have the skill set to win in the intermediate game, you'll play in the NFL for a very long time. He has great strong hands. He has high hands. He's a natural pass catcher. And he's not afraid of contact.

And that's the things that he's been demonstrating, especially the last couple weeks and so far in the NFL. And that's what's making him so good. Yep. And so we're going to call this this little show and this kind of these kind of segments uh heat check with hag so that's what we're going to do now i kind of control the narrative because i'm showing you the clips and stuff like that but from what you've seen of alec pierce you know i think i showed you like all but like one or two of his catches this year so i did show you almost every single target that he's got. Are you kind of buying the hype that Alec Pierce is legit for the Colts? I think so. I think the Colts, they've done an incredible job drafting in general.

I'm buying Alec Pierce because he's a good athlete, a really good athlete. He's not a high motor guy, a blue collar guy. No, no, this kid can run. He can jump. He can play football um i love him as a wide receiver too in indy because he's a big body with great speed and good hands that's your ideal number two when we look at why like guys like jamar chasing them have had have had so much success it's because okay cool if you want to take jamar out you know i'm saying if you don't

pay attention to jamar t higgins gets off okay And if you want to take Jamar out or if you want to pay attention to T. Higgins, Jamar gets off. That number two guy, that's your wingman. He's so important. He's so important for your number one guy to have success. Yep. And, again, we said this a lot on the show this week because we're so excited about Alec Pierce.

But if you just take his numbers from the last three weeks and put that over a whole season, that's 1,200 yards receiving. That's one heck of a pace for a rookie receiver. So he's playing some outstanding football. Now we're going to jump to a guy who people were kind of hyped about in the offseason just because we didn't have any other options. But, you know, all-pro gunner last year, Ashton Doolin, has kind of transitioned over to wide receiver this year,

like more full-time receiver. He was just about to hit his career highs in the season in receptions and yards, and he got placed on IR earlier this week. So unfortunately, he will be missing some weeks. But Ashton Doolin through his first couple weeks, man, I know that when when when we started when I started showing you the clips, you're like, Oh, who's this kid out of like, what school? Yeah, but little Malone a couple years ago, and now he's finally starting to come on the scene for the Colts. But I've been really impressed with that with Ashton Doolin so far this season. Oh, yeah.

I mean, what you showed me, I mean, that's a pro. I mean, like you said, all pro gunner. First of all, I love the special teams guys because they get it out of the mud. They know why they're there. But the clips that you showed me, I was thoroughly impressed. And any time you have a team where you can go next man up and that next man produces, oh, you're in a good spot. Like I said, the Colts, they've done a great job of drafting and picking up guys. It's just fun

to watch guys like Doolin come in and get off, especially on those plays we'll see later on critical situations. I love it. That's the thing we're going to jump out next. With Ashton Doolin, week two, he basically took the number one receiver job. Alec Pierce was out with a concussion. Michael Pittman Jr. I think was out with a, with a knee injury or something, you know, lower body injury. So it became the Ashton Doolin show in week two and yes, the Colts got shut out. So we're not going to say that this, this means Ashton Doolin is the number one receiver, but he has 79 yards receiving a career high and he looked really good doing it. But after that,

he kind of took a back seat to Pierce and to Michael Pittman Jr. but since then you know in the last three games he has four catches uh for I think 49 yards and all four of those catches went for first downs he's carving out a nice little role for himself and those critical downs is so big for a receiver oh yeah I mean that's the quarterbacks they love security blankets it It's the same reason why you take guys like Pierce. And if you have a guy in the organization already that's there that you can just put the ball to and he's reliable, sign him up. Especially a guy like Matt Ryan. He knows where he's going, and he needs a guy that's like, oh, this is covered.

Let me dump this off. There you go. Yeah. So, again, he checked with Hag. I'm not saying are you buying him as a wide receiver one but as like a wide receiver three or four who can make some things happen are you buying ashton dylan yeah he's a good roster guy i mean from what i saw like i said i saw i had a short sample size like i love that that that's you know everybody you know some guys they get moments and they don't

capitalize on them if it's third down third and long and you have a chance to move the chains i'm i'm for that all day long because you give my offense another chance to score even though they didn't. Another chance to score and get the ball in the end zone. That's a guy that I want on my team. And he's used to doing the dirty work. And on the clips that we saw,

he did the dirty work. They're contested catches. They're catches across the middle. They're catches where that guy's going to get hit and he still comes up with the ball. So I'm buying it. I love it. And, again, Ashton Dooling, 13th rated receiver in terms of pro football focuses, overall grades for receivers.

So Ashton Dooling, top 15 receiver in football right now. But we're going to jump to one more player who hasn't had as much run, so we're not going to talk about him too much. But in the short sample size we've seen of Jelani Woods at tight end, it looks really good right now. looks really good yeah yeah no I mean you know you you you ask yourself check the boxes right size speed you know all that good stuff and he check checks them like it's it's you know we had like like with a lot of these guys small sample size but like you get that on the field it's a matchup nightmare you know I a lot of these guys, small sample size, but like you get that on the field. It's a matchup nightmare. You know, I get some of these safeties who are 5'10", 5'11", match up with that guy.

And you're just not going to win in that situation. Now, I don't know the Colts current tight end situation at the moment, but that's a guy that you need to find a way on the field because he is a mismatch. And I know he's young, but, you know, that frame, that speed, it's a problem and it's a nightmare. And I know no DB wants to see that coming across, especially at the end of a game to win it. They don't want to see that lined up. It's like Darnot Washington at Georgia.

It's like, what are we doing? What are we creating, Monstars out here? Yeah, yeah. No, and that Tennessee clip I think was the biggest one where he caught that. I mean, beautiful route. I mean, might have been the best route of all the ones we watched, and we watched all of Doolin and we watched all of Alec pierce the best route might have been jelani woods against tennessee on that 33 yard catch but like you like you were mentioning when we were watching that

clip is like nobody wanted to tackle that guy like i don't want to tackle him like a lot of business decisions were made on that one they're like you got him you got all right somebody got to get him so yeah so the heat check i guess with Jelani Woods will be more playing time going forward. Do you think he needs more playing time going forward? I think you do exactly what they're doing. You know, get him in. Obviously, they trust him because they're putting him in some big situations. But, you know, bring him along and develop that guy because that may be the guy in the future.

You know, it may be a blocking thing. It may be something that we're not seeing on a regular basis or in practice that's keeping them off the field but bring him along because that's a guy that you know you kind of you know it almost feels like a little bit of a steal a little bit because clearly he's a he's a matchup problem for a lot of people yeah absolutely i think that colts have the right man for the job especially for the future right there and before we get to our next segment, we're talking about some defensive,

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Post your job for free terms and conditions apply. And thanks again, guys for making locked on culture. First listen every day, make sure you check out the NFL key predictions every Friday on locked on NFL locked ons. Local experts give you the inside scoop on the five biggest games of the NFL weekend,

including Sunday and Monday night football, plus betting advice from the field's leading experts bet online. Follow NFL key predictions on Friday on Locked on NFL, available on the Odyssey app, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. All right, Hag, we're going to get to defense now.

That's more of our specialty. You know what? We'll kick it off with a player that kind of fits both of our specialties a little more, a safety. You know, the Colts have been starting a really, really young player at safety, rookie Rodney Thomas II out of Yale, seventh round pick. You know, you would think that Nick Cross would maybe get these spots with Julian Blackman out, but they clearly trust Rodney Thomas more in that single high, like, free safety role.

And some people are kind of saying that this might be, like that single high free safety role. Some people are saying that this might be their future free safety, but what are you seeing on film? What were you seeing on film in those limited clips that I was showing? I saw a guy that clearly has playmaking in him. He's not a guy who attacks the football. I see a guy that's doing

his job, but maybe a little bit too robotic with it. Young guy guy he hasn't seen enough reps in the nfl but when you when you talk about relating to the threats a little bit more that's something i probably want to see out of him probably playing a little too safe but at the end of the day like somebody told me a long time ago if you don't give up touchdowns in the nfl you'll play for a long time right so a lot of times he was playing a little bit deeper than necessary didn't necessarily relate to his guy uh but I saw a really good athlete. I saw a guy make some, cover some ground.

I saw a guy go attack the football, which are all things that I love to see. You know, I think, you know, if he's in these situations right now, kind of like trial by fire against guys like Jerry Judy and things like that, like he's a guy that I want to see more of just because I was impressed. You're not supposed to come into the NFL and just dominate. I don't know what people think of young players, but it's just not. It's hard. Those guys are good.

But the things I saw out of him off him, I was impressed by, and I want to see more. I'm glad you introduced him to me, especially coming out of Yale, the late-round pick. I'm always rooting for those guys, but I want to see him, man. But like I said, I think just getting those reps and really honing in on his craft, I think that'll be huge for him. Yeah, and just some background on him, I know he played a little bit of like linebacker in college and stuff like that too, some strong safety, some

overhangs, you know, some corner, I think at times too, like this is a guy who was kind of like, you know, those Sterling Weatherford type, you know, those guys who could just kind of play everywhere, you know, they literally put them everywhere, kind of like you in college, you know, you was kind of like you know those sterling weatherford type you know those guys who could kind of play everywhere you know they literally put them ever kind of like you in college you know you were kind of all over the place there in college back in the day uh but it's so hard to go to go from that to a cover three single high safety even if you are the best i mean this is a four or five guy who's you know a good 210 212 pounds like this is a big safety you're gonna run but it's tough to you know be in that top spot and what we're seeing Like this is a big safety you're going to run, but it's tough to be in that top spot. And what we're seeing right now is a guy who, even when he is making mistakes, he's making

them at a million miles per hour and still playing it safe, but aggressive and loose, you know? So you know, I'm kind of with you. Like, I don't think I'm like, I guess the heat check question for you here would be, are you buying him yet as the free safety of the future? And I think for me, I'd say, I can't say that yet, but I feel pretty happy about him right now. I like the prospect. Yeah. I like the prospect. It's, you know, the heat check. I'm, I'm lukewarm on it. I won't, I won't, I'm not, I'm not pulling, I'm not pulling out, you know what I'm saying? But I want to see more. I want to see more like, you know, he's, it's like, all right, okay.

I can see it. I can see it. But you know, I want to see more. It's like, all right, okay, I can see it. I can see it, but I want to see him get more reps. I want to see him get more game experience because it could turn out to be gold. But I'm cool on it right now. But, yeah, no, he looks like a good young player, though. Yeah, what we will say is of all the seventh-round players who have ever been drafted in that spot in the NFL, he's already ahead of like 90% of them by even touching the field. Early. It's early in the NFL. He's already ahead of like 90% of them by even touching the field. So early, this is early in the season. Like this isn't like week nine, 10, when the whole

roster is just beat up. This is a young guy thrown into a very important role. You know what I'm saying? I get some good teams. Dude, his first, his first action in the NFL was, okay, you're going out there against Pat Mahomes and the chiefs. You're going to be our single high free safety against Pat Mahomes and the Chiefs. And he played well. And he played well. Usually that conversation before the game is, hey, he can throw at 80 yards. Don't get beat deep. You know what I'm saying?

So, hey, good luck. Yeah, yeah. So we're going from a seventh-round rookie to a second-year first-round guy in Quidipe. This is a guy I know that I was super high on. I know you liked him out of college as well. And we were seeing it in you too. Again, this is another guy who might be going on IR, so it's hard to really get too hyped about him. But he looked really good in these first couple games.

He looked like a legit pass rusher. Oh, yeah, no doubt. The heat check for him is, you know, I'm hot, you know. Yeah. Lashes, obviously the injuries, you never like to see that. But, you know, some of the things that he's doing, how disruptive he is, especially on some of those stunts where he's just crashing the pocket. We already know he's a great athlete.

We knew he was a great athlete before. You know, kind of got knocked a little bit in college for the lack of just straight up, you know, sacks, like the big, big sack. We see the guys like Will Anderson and all those guys come out. Great athlete. Could he put it together? And it looks like he is because the QB pressures, how violent. He's just crashing the offense.

Anytime you can do that to those guys, those behemoths, I'm impressed. And I'm loving what I'm seeing out of Quitty, man. And I hope he recovers quickly just so we can see more of it because he's an exciting young player yeah man it's it's been a blessing I mean I only showed you the pass rushing clip so you know he's even doing other good things in the run game as well but uh just as a pass rusher because that's just the most important thing you need these guys to take those steps and we are seeing those steps and you know it's funny because when it comes to michigan football i love michigan football it's really fun to watch but you've seen guys like like rashaun gary i think is the best example ever for these michigan guys who are tracy tracy guy

who went in round one with little college production and now honestly if you're talking the like the five best pass rushers in all the football rashaun gary's probably there they're not saying quitty pay's going to get to that level, but you are starting to see like, okay, this is a guy in year two who's putting it together, and Gus Bradley's doing a great job. These stunts are awesome, and he's just killing on these stunts there. But we're going to get to one more player here, and this is a guy that is kind of polarizing for the fan base right now because I've kind of been hyping him up a little bit on the podcast of late

where it's tough to go from a cover two spot drop thing with like Matt Eberflus to Gus Bradley's heavy match, heavy single high safety. And linebacker Zyre Franklin, I think, has played really well in recent weeks. And even in those first couple of weeks when there were some struggles, again, he was playing at a million miles per hour. Yeah, and that's the most important thing. You know, great athlete, obviously, athlete, obviously, physical, very athletic. And in those man-matched defenses, those guys have a lot of responsibilities. Because one job goes away and you have another one and you're checking this. You can have the back one second,

he goes away, next thing you know, you got to pick up your other rat guy. I was impressed by what I saw. They even threw him out there in coverage a few times, which was on Kelsey, you know, things like that. But, you know, which isn't fair. I don't care how – No. No, I loved what I saw on film.

You know, I loved what I saw on film. I saw violence. I saw physicalness. I saw a great athlete. I saw a guy that has a great motor. And I feel like for linebackers and d linemen you know aside from being fast strong and big and all that stuff having a great motor is one of the most important traits you can have and i saw him flashing all day and for a young

guy i want to see flashes like all day long because it gives me a glimpse of what possibly could be so i love it it's very warm for him. I like what I saw. Obviously, I need to do a full eval or film on some of these cats, but from what I saw, I liked it. I'm not mad at all that. Now, again, I could have completely swayed your opinion by only

showing the good stuff, but I showed him getting beat a couple times. I do think in coverage, there is still some work to be done. It's not perfect yet, but you are seeing, again, the Broncos game, I showed you getting beat a couple of times. Like I do think in coverage, there is still some work to be done. Like it's not perfect yet, but you are seeing again, like the Broncos game. I showed you a couple of clips where he was matching guys down the field, Jerry Judy in the red zone, got a pass breakup. He's running step for step with Jerry Judy in the red zone.

And I, you know, I know a few mics are middle linebackers. And when you go into that Tampa to work and they're running like hey it's like it's like a analobe or something running from a cheetah like they're like I gotta get there I gotta get there because they know what they're going up against and that's what I saw man that that was impressive you know not the past breakups on Kelsey you know not him running out there in space him blowing up line but going and being able to run step for step with Jerry Judy I was like okay I like I like this I like like what he's doing. Yep, yep.

He's just improving every week. And, again, like you said a little bit there, blowing up the linemen on the blitzes has been really fun as well. So this is a violent player. Again, a special teams guy. He's special teams captain the last couple years. Big locker room guy. Filling in for Shaquille Leonard. And he's kind of balling out.

So, yeah, the heat check on these six guys, I think, is pretty good right now for the Colts. So we just got Hag on here to help me, you know, rave about all six of these guys. But coming up, we're going to talk a little bit about this Jaguars game. I know Hag probably has some thoughts about what it's like to come back from being shut out in your career. So we're going to have Hag give his opinion there.

But first, I want to talk to you guys about BetOnline. The Colts' line still sits at two-point favorites over the Jaguars. So despite getting shut out in week two, you guys can go to BetOnline and put some money on the Colts or the Jaguars, whichever one you feel better about. Like, I totally get it if you go the other way with this. But BetOnline.net is your number one source for your football betting info this season.

Find all the latest player developments, team matchups, news, podcasts, and in-depth articles and analysis on every game you can find. And as always, BetOnline remains your continued source for all your sport wagering information with live betting up to the minute scores for every sport out there. The fastest and easiest way to check on all your favorite games and events, including MLB, MMA, boxing, and even golf.

Head to BetOnline.net or use your mobile device to learn more. BetOnline, where the game starts. All right, so last little thoughts here on the Jaguars week. I know we kind of didn't talk Jaguars at all here because it's just a hurtful topic at this point. Like, just talking Jaguars, it's a horrible time. The Colts have lost their last two games against the Jaguars and just didn't look like they belonged on the field against them.

Now they're coming back home. It's their first game against, you know, their first time this year against Jacksonville at home. But, Hag, I know that you're not going to be able to give us too much in-depth on either one of these teams and stuff like that. But as a player, what's it like to bounce back from being shut out you know again in week two they were shut out by this team and now they get another shot at them it doesn't get any more embarrassing than getting shut out does it well because you know when you

get shut out you know it's essentially saying you got dominated yeah that's basically what it is it's hard to shut out people you can kick a field goal it can be one big play here you know getting shut out is a lot of times when you come back there next week it's real personal you're like all right next time you play like that's not happening again if you got any pride about yourself um and i think with a team like jacksonville who isn't necessarily an elite team or top tier team in the nfl you know i think the colts they have they have the players to be able to do it there's no reason they should be getting shut out. And obviously I know a couple of those guys were banged up.

But the mindset switches, you take it a little bit more personal. You know, it's on the quarterbacks probably got a little bit more urgency. You know, those routes, the depth of your routes probably matter a little bit more at practice a little bit. But, you know, I think, you know, getting shut out just makes you focus a little bit more because you don't want that to happen again. No grown man wants to be dominated on a football field. And what that zero indicates is you were and you can't run from it. It's not like it was a shootout and we're like, oh, hey, well,

the ball didn't fall our way. We didn't get the ball the last drive. No, no, no, you didn't score. That means you probably didn't cross the 35. You know what I'm saying? No, no, what's worse is they cross the 35 like three times yeah yeah see and then you didn't capitalize that that that makes it even because it's just like it's hanging there it's like no you didn't want it bad enough you know but um but yeah i

think you know i think they'll bounce back for sure uh i think them being in their territory that many times um obviously makes them feel better about it it's not like like you said like they didn't get completely shut out from their side of the field but you know you pay you know you lock in a little bit more yeah so one thing i want to ask you and this is a little bit jaguars related but you know just while i have you here we have a couple more minutes left on this episode so if you guys are listening and you're just sick of me and hack talking you can turn off right here but we're seeing in today's nfl the rise of the two high safeties you know everything's too everything's big Fangio two high safeties we even saw the Texans last week against the Jaguars

ran two high safeties like 96 percent of the time and Lawrence only scored six points you know they really stifled that offense that the Colts could stifle in week two what do you think about the rise of two high safeties and can a guy like Gus Bradley survive against Trevor Lawrence and other quarterbacks with his same old single I mean again he's mixing coverages but do you think single high safety can survive and now this too high safety type league well you know I think it's just the trend at the moment I'm uh as a defensive guy I always liked the two high especially as a form of safety I liked it a little bit more. You know, you can kind of keep the integrity of the defense a little bit better. You have more guys back there. You may give up a 15-yard, you know, catch or run, but you've got guys back there.

A lot of times in single high, if you make one or two guys miss, you're kind of out the gate. You know, those seams are a little bit open once you break that second level. And I think it'll come back around, just like how cover three was popping, you know, for six, seven years. It was the thing to do. But, you know, when offenses continue to spread you out a little bit more and these quarterbacks are getting better, they're getting more accurate receivers, they're getting better,

they're more skilled, they're able to expose those windows, the cover one, they're able to create more separation. The rules are helping. And I think that's probably why. You know, I think little all that blended together it's what's causing this trend of okay hey let's too high here keep everything in front of us you know let's get some athletic hook curl guys our corners they can run our safeties you know they can do that thing in the back end but uh i think it's just a trend i think you know all good coaches adjust those that don't

they die off or retire. But I think they'll be okay. It's not like I see anything special with, like, just say the Jaguars at the moment. But when you go look at all the Staley's and all those guys and their too high stuff, it's just football at the end of the day. It all comes full circle. It's like fashion, right? It's popular in the 90s, coming back this way.

Now I don't know if we'll see like a bare front thing. But, you know, I love the too high look. You know, any time you can man match out of it, you can run quarters out of it, you can run cover two out of it. You know, you get a lot of different looks out of it and your personnel. You know, I can take a, you know, just say if you got Jelani, I got Cross, I got any of those guys in, or I may take a, you know, just say if you got Jelani, I got Cross, I got any of those guys in, or I may have a good slide defender.

I can move my guys around with all the motions and things like that without getting exposed. So I just think it's the trend at the moment. It's popular right now. Yeah, yeah. Now, Gus, now this year he has mixed coverage a little bit more. He's still the biggest single high guy in the league, but the Colts defense is finding some success so you know it's something to watch this week and definitely going forward with them but uh had one one last thing you know i need you

to give your score prediction and be nice to the colts because i have not been super nice to the colts in my score prediction so let's be a little nice to the colts with your score but who's in and who's out this week give me give me that one all right so jaguars are one of those they're that team every year where nobody gets hurt except they lost their left guard for the year but that's it like everyone else is completely healthy the colts are likely to be with again we are recording this on wednesday night guys and you guys are hearing this friday i will put the injury updates in the show notes so don't hate me if these are a little off but we are we are leaning towards quittyipe likely being out.

Again, by the time these guys listen, it might be different, but Quidipe likely being out. Ryan Kelly at center probably being out. And then there was one more that was probably going to be out. Jonathan Taylor hasn't practiced at the point of recording this either, so maybe Jonathan Taylor as well. So there are a couple guys out for the Colts this week. Okay, let's go. What was the score last time?

24-0. Let's go. I'm going to go 24. 24. 24 to 20 Colts. Let's do it. I like that one. I like 24-20. I don't think they're just going to get blanked again. You know, I think, you know, they're going to do it to me twice.

We're going to keep rocking with the Colts, man. You know, the line was, what, two and a half, and we're going to go 420. Let's do it. Let's do it, guys. There you go. I did not give you any betting advice, but maybe hacked it a little bit there. So thank you guys for joining us today. And thank you guys for joining me all week.

I was the host of this show, the singular host of this show all week. I'm so excited for Jake to come back. I have missed him. But luckily, I've had some really great guests kind of filling in. And Hag, obviously, it was the one to – he was the cherry on top here this week. So, yeah, make sure you guys are following hag on Twitter. What's your Twitter handle at again? Well,

it's still at John Hagler, uh, C R at J O N H A G L E R C R. Perfect. Perfect. Make sure you guys just flood his followers. He needs to have all Colts followers. So we eventually fully bring him over to the Colts coverage and everything

like that. Uh, but if you guys want to follow me at Zach Hicks too, on Twitter, and then also follow the, the Colt locked on Colts, Twitter page at locked on Colts. Also subscribe to our shows on YouTube, wherever you listen to your podcasts.

And thanks again for making locked on Colts, your first listen every day. Now make your second listen to Peacock and Williamson NFL show. Brian Peacock and former NFL scout, Matt Williamson give you the, give you the expert NFL analysis in less than 30 minutes. It's free and available wherever you get your podcast. We'll see you guys next week.