Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: How Can Anthony Richardson STAMP Himself QB1 vs. Daniel Jones?

Episode Date: March 15, 2025

The Indianapolis Colts' QB battle between Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones will dominate headlines throughout the summer. How can AR fend Jones off? Also on today's Q&A episode, what should the Colts still try to accomplish in free agency, and what should the focus of the 2025 NFL Draft be? The 2025 Indy Draft Guide is officially available for pre-orders! 225+ in-depth scouting reports, plus how each player fits the Indianapolis Colts. Pre-Order Now: https://draftguide.gumroad.com/l/indy25 Become a Locked On Colts insider! Ask your burning questions and get prompt answers from someone who's around the team every day! Get special access from the locker room, practice field, and press box! JOIN HERE! Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-nfl/ Follow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOn_SI, as well on TikTok and Instagram! Today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BetterhelpDiscover your relationship “green flags” with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com/lockedon today to get 10% off your first month.Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNFL at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as non-withdrawable free bets that expire in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)

Anthony Richardson vs Daniel Jones who emerges as the Colts QB1 out of training camp. 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 all for tuning in and making us your first listen of this evening. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. And today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel.

Right now, new customers can get $200 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. Hello, everyone. My name is Zach Hicks, your resident film nerd of Horseshoe Huddle dot com. My partner in crime, Jake Arthur, is our credentialed boots on the ground for the site. He was back at the facility today talking to new Colts players. I think it was what? Yes, we we zoomed it today.

Yesterday was on site. Yeah. OK. OK. So you didn't have the boots on the ground today. You were just, you know, sandals or something at home home today was awesome because we didn't even know Valentine was happening And then they're like we're gonna make Cory Valentine available like what who okay? Yep, Jake was a true insider They're tweeting it out I think around the same time as Stephen Holder and he was able to break the news to all of us that we all We all had a while to have that draft in our folder. Yeah, yeah. So boots on the ground.

Jake Arthur joining me as always tonight. And we are doing a Q&A episode for all of you guys. It's the middle free agency. The Colts have made a plethora of signings at this point. They brought in a quarterback, big free agents on defense. So we're going to go through all the questions that you guys had today. First segment, we're gonna talk all about the quarterback competition

that you guys are eagerly asking about right now. We're gonna talk about free agency and what's still to come here in free agency. And then also we're gonna focus on the draft and get through some of your many, many questions there on the draft. But Jake, I don't wanna waste too much time. We already had enough quips at the top of the show here.

Let's dive into this quarterback competition. One of our first questions we got here, though, was what kind of camp split do we expect to see with the ones for Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones? You know, they want to sell this as a true competition, Jake. So what do you think that camp split looks like, especially like early on in training camp? Well, if it's anything like 2023, the last time we saw a true competition, Gardner, Mentsch, versus versus Anthony. If I recall what how Shane did it was, let's say there were five training

camp practices in a week, it would basically be. I can't remember if they alternated each day, but it feels like there was like three days one guy getting all the ones to the other and then they like did it that way off and on so they don't I don't think they do it within a practice like a guy gets an entire day and I think they do it at least a couple days in a row. So I do imagine they're going to get a true 50 50 split. And then how it was with Anthony was like, what was it the second preseason game they declared him to start or something. So they got through like two or three weeks of training camp practice before

they declared a winner. So it feels like that's what they'll probably do here. Again, Anthony is probably going to be the leader in the clubhouse. So I don't know if they're going to drag it out throughout the entire preseason and training camp, but it feels like it'll be pretty similar to 2023. Yeah, I think, you know, not to repeat too much of what you're saying here, but I do think it'd be similar to that. Maybe it's like a 5545 type split. Like if there's an odd number of days, Richardson will technically get more days with the ones.

But I do think for the most part, it will be around 50 50 split and they'll alternate days and I'm sure each one of them will get a chance to run with the starters and in a preseason game before they make their decision and I think that's the way it's going to run out there now again I think Richardson is who they want to win I think he's going to get more opportunities than Daniel Jones but they're going to want to sell this as a true up open competition. So it'll be pretty close to 50 50. I think. Yeah, I gotta agree there. And it's when you're going through a camp battle, it really is. You got to wonder if anyone else is barely going to get any reps like Jason Bean or whoever QB three is there are there hardly going to be able to evaluate them, I'm. But this next one here again keeping with the theme of the QB battle from Philip on

Twitter everyone seems in agreement that if both guys play their best that Anthony would handily beat Jones for the QB job. So my question is what percentage of AR is still a better option than Jones like how poorly would Anthony have to actually do to lose his job to Jones? Yeah, so obviously I think what Philip is saying here, especially is like if Richardson becomes a quarterback, the Colts drafted him to be, obviously he's going to win the job here. But I do really like the way this is phrased because at what point do you say Daniel Jones has won this competition? Because I'm of the opinion that this competition is more so Richardson versus Richardson than it is Richardson versus Daniel Jones because if both guys come into camp looking like legit starting quarterbacks. They're going to go with Anthony Richardson. You know there's not really anything Daniel Jones can do in this competition to win it over Richardson in terms of like Richardson not losing it for himself.

to win it over Richardson in terms of like Richardson not losing for himself. You know like Richardson could look like a low end starting quarterback and Daniel Jones could look like the second coming of Peyton Manning. They're still going to lean into Richardson because that's the guy that has the more potential for the future. So yeah, I think I think at the bare minimum you need to see Richardson be better than what he was last offseason and and quite frankly for most of last season as well and I think he's going to be the starting quarterback to me again this competition is more Richardson versus Richardson than it is Richardson versus Daniel Jones yeah I think it would have to be glaringly obvious like who's the better quarterback again it's Anthony's to lose I don't it feels disingenuous to say it's a true scrap everything. Start from the bottom 50-50 chance for either guy because you know, who's the one with the higher ceiling?

Like if Anthony is the one that is even only slightly less productive in camp, like you're probably still going to give him the nod because you know what the ceiling is. So, yeah, I think it would come down to like. Shane hearing from the players and stuff that they think Daniel is probably the better way to go and again, I think it had to be glaringly obvious on the field. Anthony would have to be slipping up in his preparation and stuff like that. So it very much feels like it's his to lose not so much Jones is to gain like you mentioned there. So coming up next from Jan on Twitter,

how do you think the quarterback competition will impact the locker room? And I love this question. It seems to be different situations with all that is writing on Anthony Richardson. So I think this kind of stems from kind of like the confusion and miscommunication in the locker room last year. Anthony was benched for a couple weeks and it very much didn't feel like the locker room was on board with that. They didn't really necessarily outwardly question it and like push against it. But there everyone very much was in Anthony's corner.

You just got the sense from talking to a bunch of guys that maybe it's not the move they would have made. So I think just in general guys want to win. And I think the guys in the locker room were very well aware of Anthony preparing, but maybe not to the level of quarterback needed to. And so if he's not holding up his end of the bargain and it looks like Daniel Jones is better for the offense than. Sure, I think they would go that way, but I, I think this locker room is still clearly behind Anthony, especially from the growth that he showed on the field and behind the scenes after his benching. Um, I don't think it would fracture the locker room, but I am pretty sure I know what, what side the players are on. Yeah. I mean, obviously the players want Richardson to be the guy.

He's the younger player. He's the guy that the Colts invested a high draft pick in. And quite frankly, they've been with him the last two years. They haven't been with Daniel Jones like unless again, Jones comes in and becomes the superstar quarterback that he's never been in the NFL. These Colts players are going to want it to be Richardson. But the theme of this offseason for the Colts has been adding competition and not sticking to the status quo.

I mean, you look at the Colts bringing back Schrader at kicker. That's kind of telling Matt Gay like, hey, get your stuff together from the top of the roster to the bottom. Right. Right. It's bringing in Corey Ballentine, a guy who has experience with the coat with the Colts defensive backs coaches. It's kind of telling guys like Juju Brents, like you got to be healthy if you want to make this team and stuff like that. And that's just one of those are just a couple of the many guys that they brought in for

competition. Khalil Herbert competing with Tyler Goodson for his roster spot and other running backs on the team. So I think the theme of this off-season has been no one should be comfortable and that's perfectly fine. That's a great thing you should be saying. So I look, these are professionals. these are these are adult men and here obviously they're going to want anthony richardson to be the guy but if daniel jones gives them the better chance to be

successful and to win they're going to rally around that i think it's a better communication right now to do it rather than pulling the rug halfway through the season like they did last year kind of sloppily like they did um i think it's better right now to say going into camp like, hey, best guy wins, best guy will be our quarterback. I think players could understand that and accept that especially better compared to last season. Yeah. And I know Joe Flacco was on the heels of a comeback player of the year award the year before, but I do think it's probably easier to sell the locker room on Daniel Jones if he looks really good versus what it did with Flacco last year because Flacco gave you no future.

You know, he was 39 years old, I believe, you know, taking the spot of a 22 year old, essentially. So at least with Daniel Jones, you're working with a guy that's like 28 and has some room ahead of him in the NFL. But yeah, coming up, guys, we're going to talk about free agency. Now, you know, we're through the first wave. We're into the second wave now and the Colts may not be done moving. March Madness is here and Fandl is giving you the chance to get in on the action like never before. Right now, new customers get $200 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet

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all tournament long. All right, Zach, I like this next question here because I kind of wrote about it today and I totally scrapped the idea of free agency for it because I'm no longer down with it. So at this point in free agency who replaces EJ Speed at weak side linebacker? Yeah I don't think there's many options in free agency at least in terms of like bringing in a guy who's no doubt going to start at that position. You know you could go get like an Isaiah Simmons who the former safety slash linebacker hybrid from new york very athletic but you would have him more in a competition with a jail and car lies to me it snaps next season.

He could work i mean cj mosley's out there but at this point his career is like 33 years old mostly in franklin seems odd right right so at this, I don't really think there's like a bona fide starter out there to grab and free into again, you can go get someone like a Simmons to compete for snaps. But I think more so if you're looking at anybody in free and see it's more for like that competition, rather than a legit starter. I think if you're going to find a starter, it's either going to be in a guy like Carlisle, they just drafted or in spending a draft pick in this upcoming draft, like a Jahad camp lit 14, get them in here and then we just roll from there. Yeah. No, the answer is most definitely it's not for agency.

It's the draft. And if it's anyone, it would be Jalen Carlisle in that instance. But no, I was looking at the options today and I did not like any, any matches for what the Colts probably need. Yeah, I will say this though. If the Bengals do extend Trey Hendrickson and extend all these other guys are talking about right now. Jermaine Pratt might get cut and then maybe a Jermaine Pratt. But again, I don't love that fit with Zaire Franklin either. So another odd one. I could live with that one, but I I would still probably rather go the draft route

Especially again if we're talking like a Jahad Campbell. Yeah for sure All right This next one is from Brian on blue sky put out the put out the bat single on blue sky today as well And actually got a lot of responses. So make sure you're following Zach and I on there What kind of defensive scheme changes do you expect from Lou and Arumo now after adding? Javarez Ward? Yeah, I mean, I think you can kind of just expect the things that we expected when he came here. Because again, we talked about this so much when they hired Lou Anna Rummo.

He wants to be multiple. He wants to be diverse. He wants to mix in press man coverage and let his corners be physical. And he couldn't do that if he had the personnel that Gus Bradley had last season. So giving him a guy like Travarious Ward and giving him a guy even like Cameron Bynum, he can be diverse. He can be multiple. He can disguise things pre snap. And one more thing that we also need to talk about is Charvarius Ward

said in his press conference, he's going to travel with number one wide receivers. Now doesn't mean they're going to be impressed man every single snap, but it gives you the opportunity to do something like that, especially in the red zone. Charvarius Ward is so good in the red zone against opponent number ones so just being able to take away you know the AJ Browns and the Nico Collins and like those type of players of the world having a guy you can actually match up with those guys is massive for this team so yeah I think this allows Luan Arumo to be the Lu Anarumo that you want him to be, because you're actually giving him weapons on defense.

So, you know, this could be a much longer answer, but to keep it quick for the sake of time here, I think we're going to see some great changes from Lou. Yeah, I mean, it's there's a lot of luxury in being able to have a guy that shuts off half of the field. And I mean, that definitely is beneficial to pass rush and safety play and everything. So that alone I think is going to be really beneficial for the Colts. The next one from echo warrior on Twitter. Do you think the Colts pick up another offensive tackle that pushes Blake Freeland for a roster spot? Yeah, there's not many veteran tackles out there left that they could go like the really veteran route. Like I think a lot of 30 plus year olds. Yeah. Yeah. Like I think a George

Fanta still out there. That's an interesting guy who's been around for a little bit. But I mean even some of the lower end guys that I've liked like Storm Norton was out there. He got resigned. Matt hurt was out there. He got resigned. So it is kind of drying up a little bit. But I do think the Colts want to upgrade over that swing tackle spot, especially if Gonzales is moving down to right guard. So I could certainly see them grabbing someone like a George fan. So they don't have to rely on Blake Freeland because last year they were anticipating Blake Freeland being the swing tackle. They saw how he looked a couple of days in the camp and then it became Gonzales is our right tackle is all the future.

So I think ideally they do want to have a more reliable backup tackle. Yeah, absolutely. Whether that's in the draft or free agency, they're not done a tackle. I can assure you that one. This next one from Seth on Twitter. Do you think trading for Trey Hendrickson is a smart use of resources for where the team is at right now? I could see an argument for just because again, getting a player like Trey Hendrickson is so great Like that's a top-tier pass rusher, but on the other end of it like giving up a legit top 100 pick Again, the Bengals apparently won a first-round pick plus more giving up a first-round pick for him His is kind of insane

Yeah, and the contract you'd have to give him it's just that's just a lot but like Even if we go to the realistic route and you're giving up say your third round Pick for him, which is doable and you're giving him that contract Are the Colts in the right position to be giving a 31 year old pass rusher? Nearly 40 million dollars per year. I don't know if they're really in that position yet I again take the big swings where you can this team just needs talent So if they did make this trade, I wouldn't cry or complain about it. But I don't really think this is the type of team that needs that all in move for Hendrickson because I don't think they're

a Trey Hendrickson Trey Hendrickson away from winning anything super serious right now. So I think it would be smarter to allocate those resources, the cap space and allocate those draft picks to just building up this roster a little bit more than making that swing for Trey Hendrickson right now. Yeah, rewinding just a week ago, I was way more on board with it, but there's been a lot of development over the last week in the way the Colts have spent some of the money they would have been able to have for Trey Hendrickson. And it just doesn't make as much sense now.

You know, they would have to clear up a bunch of cap space that they've already used. You know, if the first round pick is unrealistic for someone of that age and again, he's not the missing piece for the Colts to get to the Super Bowl. You know, it was the situation was just a lot different even just a week ago. So at this point, I would say the ship is probably flown unless they're asking price drops pretty drastically. All right. Next one from Eric on Twitter. That's available offensive lineman tight in and linebacker left

on the free agent market. If you don't want to be concerned into making it a huge priority in the draft. So again, offensive lineman, tight in linebacker. Those might be the three least sexy positions for me right now in free agency. Yeah, I can't. I don't want to be pigeonholed into saying who the best available are right now because it's such it's like we're in wave like three right now. A free agency. So it's a lot of minor deals and we'll get a couple guys getting decent deals the rest of the way.

But for the most part, it's lower end deals. I'll just throw out a couple names that I kind of like for there. Like again, on the O line, getting like a George Fant in here, I think would be a pretty interesting get as a swing tackle. If you want to go for a starting guard, Mackay Bekton is still out there, I believe, so you can get him to start at right guard. Yeah. Tevin Jenkins, his market might be a little too much for me for what he is, but

Bekton, I think would make a little bit more sense and then linebacker I just like the taking the shot on Isaiah Simmons. I really do like taking that shot there tight end probably the trade market Michael Mayer maybe seeing if the Eagles do cut Dallas Goddard I don't think they will but maybe waiting that one out there. I think Tyler Conklin is also still on the market, so maybe Tyler Conklin. But tight end. I mean, look, they're going to be pigeonholed into drafting a tight end this year, for sure. I hope they can find some capable guys out there as well.

But they're going to be pigeonholed to drafting one pretty high there at tight end. For sure. Honestly, I don't even love the idea of giving up a bunch of draft capital right now, but within like Tyler Conklin, I would probably rather shoot for trading for Mark Andrews or Michael Mayer or Dallas got her at this point. You never know what the price is. If it's low enough, why not? And then this last one for this segment from Dovey on Twitter, is there any change to Lai

Aung Laude and Quiddi Pay's roles with Lou Anna Rimmel? one for this segment from Dovey on Twitter. Is there any change to lie out to lot to and Quiddy pays roles with Lou Anna remote? Yeah, so with what we saw with Gus, those two are both basically living in wide nine last year. So basically the like, if you have tight ends on the end of the line, they're going to be outside of the tight ends are going to be outside of the furthest blocker on the offensive line. And that's the way that Gus Bradley like to live in his defense. So what teams were doing is they were stacking the line with 12 and 13 personnel and they were just running up to up the gut with the defensive end

spread out way too wide. What we'll see more with Anna Rumo is more of those defensive ends coming in a little bit more, especially on early downs. You'll see a little bit tighter fronts from them, more five tech, more six, even some four eye, like some some of those type of things there, especially with Quiddy Pay. But once we get to the pass rushing downs, we will see them getting out to the wide nines, especially Lealtou Latou. He'll be living in wide nine on pass rushing downs. And then we'll see some more Sim blitzes and different things there. I think the biggest

change we'll really see with these guys is just when you have a defensive secondary that's not only better, but also more diverse and making quarterbacks think these pass rushers will actually have a chance to be productive in terms of the ball is not being out in 2.1 seconds. You know, if the ball is out in three seconds, you actually have a chance to make an impact on the game and getting sacks in the backfield. So yeah, we'll see some minor changes with alignments like Quiddy Pay will be more of like a true run stuffing defensive end. Like think of him being like a Sam Hubbard for the Colts this next season and Lahtu being the Trey Hendrickson.

Hopefully the Trey Hendrickson, but at least in that similar role, but when it gets to passing downs, you know, they'll both kick out to their wide nines. They'll be attacking with speed and power and hopefully they'll have more time to get to the quarterback this next year. Absolutely. All right guys. And you guys went nuts for the draft questions. So we're going to get to that in just a moment. Do you ever check your bank account and wonder where did all my money go as someone who experiences a life on earth? I, I think that all the time between dining out, online shopping and entertainment,

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That's MonarchMoney.com code locked on NFL for half off of your first year. money.com code locked on NFL for half off of your first year. Alright, we're going to try and zoom through these as quick as we can, Zach, while giving nice, thoughtful answers as well. So this is from the insider program. Now that the free agency initial scramble is done, what are your thoughts for the draft offensive line and tight end in the first two rounds linebacker and defensive tackle? What do you think?

Yeah, I think they're very pigeonholed right now into a tight end in one of the first two rounds probably round one if we're looking at a Tyler Warren being there maybe trading up for a Tyler Warren because when you're looking at this roster, the most pressing need is a legit playmaking tight end is getting that Tyler Warren type player in here. So I think early on we are kind of seeing the Colts be pigeonholed into a tight end pretty early But obviously they could keep they could continue add to the trenches obviously a linebacker would be great I don't think they're like Too stiff right now. It just really takes away the defensive back need

I think like we're not really gonna hear much about the Malachi Starks or Nick Imanwari or Any of these corners will Johnson at this point either. Yeah. Will Johnson. I don't think any of those make sense for the Colts in round one, even though I don't know if Ballard was going to take like a non playmaker slash trench player that high, but I think it does take that off the board quite a bit. Uh, but I still think we'll see them make a big play for tight end, maybe

linebacker and then look at Spalart. He's going to invest a lot in the trenches for sure. Which leads us to our next one from Bobby from blues, Bobby from blue sky. He was wondering basically how fixed is Ballard going to get on getting a defensive end if it's there for him. That's our Stewart, for example, let's say that. No, that's, that's always a great question because I think Ballard views the most pressing things for a team to get early in drafts are trenches and offensive playmakers.

I think those are his two biggest priorities. So we've seen him take obviously quarterback high and try to get wide receiver high like like he did last year. But if it's not those, it's trenches. So I do think if like a Tyler Warren is off the board, I could totally see him going defensive line there. I do think Tyler Warren would be their guy if he's there at 14.

I feel very comfortable saying that. Like if he's there at 14, they're running that card in. They might trade up for him even. I don't know. But I do think if he's gone, it really could be a pass rusher yet again, defensive tackle or defensive end. All right, so Benny from blue sky.

I'd love some second third round linebackers in the draft to keep an eye on. Oh gosh. I haven't I've not been the scout. I can I can take day two. I'll give this to you. I mean Jeffrey Bossa, right? Is I've heard that name a couple times, buddy. He may not be till late third fourth round with the way he was working out there,

but I like the UCLA guy Schwestinger Carson Schwestinger. Yep. So I was going to give you guys three Carson's Schwestinger really good in past defense. Smile Mondan from Georgia and then you could probably throw Demetrius night in there. If you want a thumper with some range, he's probably more of a third round guys. So I his stock is all over the place.

But that's three guys that I would like there. Maybe Shamar James from Florida. He's probably going to be a fourth rounder as well. Probably a day three guy, but we'll see. And then Kyle from blue sky told you guys blue sky went crazy today. It feels like the draft vibes are that if Warren is available 14, the Colts will pick him. But with the help at defensive back brought in through free agency,

we're talking about, you know, Bynum and Ward, obviously, the would it be best player available or should they trade up for Warren? Look, I think the Colts would be privy to maybe trading up for Warren at this point. And I'll be quick with this answer here, but this is maybe just me doing my Brian Winnhurst impression, you know, with the fingers up saying, I'm not, I'm just saying, you know, but like, yeah, like, I'm just saying, but the thing is here, this off season has been about Chris Ballard getting his guy, right? It's about him closing the deal, getting across about Chris Ballard getting his guy right is about him closing the

deal getting across the finish line and getting his guy no matter what like with with Travarious Ward how they had to come in with a late offer to beat out the New Orleans Saints to to get him you know so it's been about him closing the deal and we know last year how hard he tried to get up there to get Bowers and neighbors those were the two guys he was really trying to get so if this offseason is all about him closing the deal and say they have Warren as their top guy, I could totally see him maybe offering more than what he did last year to go up and get a Tyler Warren, you know, and really complete the thing that he feels like this offense needs. So.

I think as of right now, I'm saying I would lean towards them trading up for Tyler Warren on draft day to get that done. Maybe it's too obvious, but I think that's their guy as of right now. Yeah, I feel like there are fewer tight end needy teams now before and around the Colts that either would have sniped them or traded up. Out of them. So I think their chances are better, but you can't leave it the chance after what happened to you last year, basically. Right. And then this next one from Andrew on Twitter, I'll basically kind of reward it now. But who would have to be gone for the Colts to trade back?

So like now that we've got some free agency stuff, we talked about Will Johnson, Malachi, Starks. Obviously, Tyler Warren is in there. But like if like who would have to be off the board basically for them to be comfortable trading back? Yeah, I think Tyler Warren and Jahad Campbell, they would take both of those guys. That's the that's the two examples. This question actually used.

Yeah, so I think Warren, they would certainly take it 14 Jahad Campbell. I think if Warren is gone, they would take him at 14. There's a lot of teams in that range that really like Campbell So he might be gone by 14 as well But I think those are the two guys that they would run the card in for I Don't get a good vibe on them with Loveland I'm just not sure what they would do there, but he's kind of hit or miss for me if they would take him at 14 But after that I do think a trade back kind of comes into play there

I don't think there's an offensive lineman that's really gonna intrigue them So, you know, we I make all the jokes about Shemar Stewart, but I don't know if they would actually take him that high. I think they would rather probably trade back and recoup some picks at that point. So I really do think that they're kind of playing for like a Tyler Warren or Jahad Campbell, unless they have someone in a similar situation as Latu last year that they didn't think was going to fall to 14, and then he happened to fall to 14. So they ran that card in. So we'll see. But I think Warren and Campbell are the two guys that they're really in on right now.

Yeah, let's let's start kind of changing up the flavor here. Because we're talking about a lot of the same guys in range at this point. This one's from our guy Felipe on Twitter. What do you guys think of Malachi more as a day three pick? But he says I don't love him as a safety, but I do think it'd be good development behind Kenny for the future in the nickel. I kind of like that idea. Yeah, I like Malachi more.

I talked to him at the at the combine, a very smart kind of reserved guy and which is funny that he's a reserved guy because on film he's very physical and violent type player. I really like the way that he plays the game. And and again, to me, he's a chess piece type player. He's a guy who can play some safety, play some nickel. And if you're adding that guy as your third safety and your backup nickel, you fill two roles right there with one player.

I think that just makes your team better and it adds versatility and diversity to your defense. So yeah, Malachi Moore is a guy that I've really had circled as like a day three, late day two type guy for the Colts. And I think he'd be a really fantastic fit for this team. Yeah, how the roster lines up right now, I think they still definitely need to back up nickel and they need back.

They need more depth and safety. So a guy like that, that kind of checks multiple boxes. I think that would be perfect. Let's see if you could pick any defensive tackle in this draft to replace Buckner and Stewart, who would it be and why? I'm going to frame it from the way of basically they're going to compete to be your third, fourth defensive tackle. And then within a year or so, they can be the guy. Yeah, I mean, I think when you're looking in like round one,

like a player like a Walter Nolan or thank you or like a Kenneth Grant from from Michigan, those guys have very, very high potential. So maybe if Campbell and Warren are both off the board and you just don't love Loveland, then you could go with one of those two guys and say, look, we're just going to build this nasty interior defensive line. And then once we lose a Grover or Buckner, one of those guys can start for us. So you can go with that early if you want to go a little bit later, maybe like a Darius Alexander and on like day two, I know he's a little bit older,

but very athletic, smooth pass rusher. He can be your guy who fills in for Grover Stewart on pass rushing downs. And then maybe over time he can be your next Buckner. I'm not saying he's going to be as good as DeForest Buckner, but I think that could be an intriguing option to look at there on day two. Yeah, no, no one's definitely that guy. I would throw, you know, maybe Dion Walker in there as well on day two, if you want a huge guy. So he had a back injury he was playing through all of last year that kind of affected his

tape a bit. But he's fully healthy now. He was just he just performed at his pro day. So I think he gets a little more interesting now, having kind of considered that. Let's see this next one. I was pretty interested in with the addition of Daniel Jones. Is quarterback still a possibility anywhere on the draft board for the Colts? I could see like around six or seven, maybe that they would take a quarterback

like they did with Ellinger a couple of years ago, but I don't think it's a priority for them in this draft. I could certainly see like an undrafted free agent come in and compete with Jason Bean to be QB three slash practice squad quarterback, but I don't really see them investing a pretty high pick and a quarterback by any means. I mean, maybe if they have a guy with around one grade that's there in round two, they pulled the trigger at that point. But aside from that, I don't think they're going to muddy this quarterback competition by adding a legit draft pick to it. But day three anything's on the table like they could fall

in love with Kyle McCord from from Syracuse and say, you know round six come in here compete and see if you can earn a roster spot. I could certainly see that but I don't think it's going to be like a serious pick spin a quarterback. Right. I think if they would have got like a Nick Mullins or like a Kyle Allen or something, instead of Daniel Jones, you're maybe looking at anywhere from around three to five. But yeah, I think it was the name like a cook from Iowa or something might be a nice little option late in the draft. Don't ever say an Iowa quarterback. No, no, Jake, it's Cook from Missouri.

Is it Missouri? Missouri, Missouri. There's no quarterback from Iowa that ever will get drafted again. If you see how their offense plays, it's a black and gold team from the Midwest. My bad. We're going a little long with this last one here. So this is from Kyle on blue sky. Is Chris Ballard scheduled for another press conference before the draft? We the fans have very little info directly from the GM this year,

basically just that tight end and interior aligner deposition's in this year's draft. Yes, every kind of front office general that speaks at the combine, they all have to give a pre-draft press conference as well. So Chris's is usually within a week, week and a half at the combine. They all have to give a pre draft press conference as well. So Chris's is usually within a week, week and a half before the draft. So yes, we will hear from Chris one more time. Awesome. Awesome. So that's our long winded Q and a episode guys, you guys keep them coming. We love getting all the questions from you guys.

I'm we'll make sure to keep fitting. I mean, you guys heard how we were going in this episode. We will try to fit in as many as possible So shout out to all you guys on blue sky YouTube Twitter and with the insider program and with Facebook for setting in all your questions Please continue to do so in the future We're gonna have tons of these throughout draft season and the rest of off season And we want to thank you guys for making locked on coach your first listen today now for your second listen Check out locked on NFL draft with Damian Parson and Keith Sanchez. Find Locked On NFL Draft on YouTube or wherever you listen

to your podcast. You guys can become a Locked On Colts insider and chat with us directly and get that insider scoop. Follow the link in our show notes. And if you don't already, make sure you're following at Locked On Colts at Jake Arthur NFL and at Zach Hicks too, all on Twitter. Also subscribe to us on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. We'd love you guys. We'll catch you guys back here Next week unless they sign someone but next week probably