Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: How Soon Do AD Mitchell, Laiatu Latu Become Starters?

Episode Date: May 16, 2024

The Indianapolis Colts have fierce position battles coming up on the offensive and defensive lines as well as wide receiver, featuring the likes of rookies AD Mitchell, Laiatu Latu, Matt Goncalves, and Tanor Bortolini. How early will the rookie crack the lineup? Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOColts?sid=YouTube📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQ Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFL Follow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOnFN! Today's episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotors.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning GUARANTEED That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires 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)

The Colts didn't necessarily cross every need off the list this offseason, but they did create some awesome competition in certain spots. Let's get to it. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. All right. Thanks for tuning in and making us your first listen of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. All right. Thanks 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.

And today's show is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off of your first purchase. Terms apply. What up, y'all? This is Jake Arthur and Zach Hicks of HorseshoeHuddle.com. And today we're starting a two-part series on the toughest training camp battles that we can see upcoming. Obviously, the meat and potatoes of free agency is done. It's never truly done.

Roster churning is done throughout the year, especially with a team like the Colts. The draft is done. So the biggest part of your roster construction has happened here. But fast forward to training camp, we're going to get some things where there's some positions that are really, really deep. There's going to be some surprising names that don't quite make the cut. But in honor of this, we want to kind of go,

you know, from the source directly, Chris Ballard, Colts GM. He said this right after the draft. Someone in the room asked him, you know, did this roster today become really hard to make come training camp? And he acknowledged it is, he said, there's going to be great competition up front on both sides of the ball, both offensive and defensive line. It'll be really good competition at wide out as well, depending on how many they keep. We get some guys back that did some things at the end of the year that we really liked. I think across the board, we'll continue to work. There's a few spots we want to continue to add between now and the season.

So now we're going to get in today a few spots that both the Colts think are pretty deep, the offensive and defensive lines and wide receiver. We'll also get to some more tomorrow and it may be some of the areas they even still want to work on that Ballard alluded to. But Zach, I will shut up for a second. Let's first dive into the offensive line, of course. First, I'm going to mention, is this the deepest offensive line that the Colts have had in the Chris Ballard era? Man, it might be. Just thinking back to the early days of it. I mean, 2018, if you count like Glowinski who came into camp as a backup behind Slosson, I believe, Matt Slosson, I believe in 2018.

You had Braden Smith as the backup right tackle to start the year believe Matt Slauson, I believe in 2018. You had Brayden Smith as the backup right tackle to start the year. So they already had a different starter there. So maybe technically on paper, that one was deeper because guys like Brayden Smith and Mark Lewinsky were backups coming into camp. But this is definitely the most resources they've committed to the offensive line. I mean, you look at the offensive line across the board, you got top 100 picks in Bernhardt Ryman. You got a top 10 pick in Quentin Nelson. First round pick Ryan Kelly. You got at right tackle, you have Brayden Smith, who was an early second round pick. Will Fries was a seventh round pick, but a young guy you've had out there. And then multiple other guys, Gonsalves, they just drafted. Tanner Bortolini, they just drafted, you got Danny Pinter coming

back that they spent a pick on a couple years ago, like, it's not that they've gone out and just, like, brought in a bunch of veterans to be their backups, but a lot of players that they've invested draft picks into to either be, you know, guys who can be backups this year, or be starters down the line, whatever it's going to be, so, yeah, I think that the additions of Matt Gonsalves and Tanner Bortolini, Blake Freeland, you know, Jake Witt coming back, like this is a very competitive, very athletic offensive line. So yeah, I think to answer your question, I think this might be the deepest offensive line the Colts have had in the Chris Ballard era. Yeah, with how tough offensive line play can be, the Colts have obviously invested in the future, adding Gonsalves and Bortolini in this one. But if you're going to

do a crapshoot and have to rely on guys taking a while to acclimate to the NFL, you might as well invest in high-level athletes like they've done. So this offensive line starting five, I feel like is pretty iron clad. You know, we went into all last off season. Everybody said, you know, the Colts might look to upgrade right guard with Will Fries. Never wound up being a competition for that. Will Fries, you know, stood on business and played really well, played the best ball of his career. And I would imagine, you know, it's probably the same this year. If he was ever going to be threatened for his job, it feels more likely to be this year with Bortolini and Gonsalves because it's two dudes they love that they want

to play at some point. But I still think Fries is relatively comfortably the starting right guard going into camp and will probably maintain it. But do you, do you see either of those guys cracking the starting lineup this year? I mean, obviously injuries shake things up and if Ryan Kelly goes down, Will Fries goes down, anyone goes down, that obviously creates an opportunity,

but do you see any spot really up for grabs because those two. I wouldn't say so. I don't think so because I think people underestimate how difficult it is for, you know, non first round or early second round offensive lineman rookies to perform in the NFL. I mean, look at some of these other, look at Bernhard Ryman a couple of years ago in his rookie season. It just wasn't a good year at all. Like he got better the last couple of games that he started, but he wasn't ready for the strength. He wasn't ready for the development that he was seeing on the other side.

And he had some really, really poor outings. You look at Blake Freeland last year when he stepped in, I was a guy who started a lot of games in his college career, super athlete there at BYU. And he struggled in his starts out there. Even Will Fries, who we can all say now is a pretty solid starter for the Colts.

His rookie season, when he got out there, it still looked at times like he was a bit overwhelmed. And even his second season, not this past year, the year before, where he got out there with Ryman, there were some low points in there for him. So I think Mack and Solves has the best chance of pushing Will Fries because he has NFL-ready strength, but he's also a player coming off of a season in college a season in college where he only played like three games, you know, before he went down with an injury. He hasn't played a lot of football recently, even though he does have that versatility to play inside. He hasn't really played interior too much in his college career either.

So that's going to be a little bit of a transition for him. I think ultimately the goal for those two players, Gonsalves and Bortolini, is to get them ready to potentially start by 2025 and if not be really key rotational players that can step up when need be. But I don't envision either of these guys pushing Will Fries for a starting spot. Will Fries, really solid right guard last year, exactly what you need in your quote unquote weakest player on the offensive line. I think that's the perfect player of this Colts team, very Mark Lewinsky esque. And that's what this team needed. And I don't think the Colts are going to want to disrupt that, you know, this much there like that at all, like going into this next season.

Yeah. If they've proven anything this off season, it's that the talk about believing in continuity was no joke. They literally resigned like damn near everybody that they could. And that includes two guys at the bottom of the depth chart of the offensive line. And speaking of that, it's the depth that's going to have the most competition. So I'll just kind of go through a few instances here. What's the pecking order with, you know, Blake Freeland, Matt Gonsalves, because Gonsalves

can be an inside outside guy and Jake Witt in the pecking order. You've got a left and a right backup spot. Freeland was obviously the guy last year. I think it's probably a free-for-all between Wesley French, Danny Pinter, and Josh Sills among the interior. And then even guys like Arlington Hambright is someone who's played before. He was a stud last preseason in training camp. And Jack Anderson, there's something about him that the Colts really like. They brought him in, was a practice squad guy last year.

He got elevated to the active roster, let go again, but then they re-signed him to an extension this offseason. So there aren't many guys on this roster right now who I think are just, you know, throw them out. Like, I think it's legit competition everywhere behind the starting five. Yeah. I think that the tackle competition is going to be the most intriguing to me because when you look at Blake Freeland last year, I'm not going to sit here and say it was a great rookie season by any means for him. But I do think the Colts kind of

did a little bit of a disservice to him by making him switch between right tackle and left tackle every time there was a guy out, you know, I mean, mostly it was right tackle for Braden Smith. So luckily, you know, he got a lot of reps there at right tackle, but there were two games that he started at left tackle as well. I believe it was two games last year. And that's just such a disservice to a young offensive tackle. It's such a difference in the steps you're taking and the way that you're moving,

the way you approach the game from both those sides. So now when you have a guy like Gonsalves who played right tackle and left tackle throughout his college career, you can have Gonsalves focus maybe on one of those tackle spots and Freeland focus on the other. Or maybe Jake Witt just looks fantastic here in camp. You can have Jake Witt focus on left tackle, Blake Freeland focus on right tackle, and Gonsalves can be your true interior guy. I think having more bodies at tackle can ease up that load there on Blake Freeland.

And then just another quick mention here with Wesley French and Danny Pinter and Josh Sills. I think the backup center spot is going to be held down by Bortolini. I think Gonsalves is going to be your backup interior guy. And then you've got Freeland and Witt competing at tackle. These three guys really have to show out in camp to earn a spot on this roster. I know the Colts like to keep nine to 10 players on the offensive line, but still it gets a little tight here when you have players who can do multiple things. Like Gonsalves could make it so the Colts only keep nine, and then you have guys like French and Pinter and Sills on the outside looking

in. So these guys really got to stand out and make a name for themselves here in training camp. Yeah, it's definitely a group that I'm going to have to be forced to pay more attention to than I normally would during training camp, especially the preseason when you actually get an opposing team with their pads on going on in a live game situation. But coming up, we're going to do the flip side, talk about the defensive line, which is maybe even more competitive when it comes to the competition this summer. Buying NFL tickets can be frustrating, especially if you aren't sure if the seats are good. You can't find last minute tickets everywhere or there's no good deals. However, with killer last minute deals, all in prices, views from your seat and their lowest price guarantee,

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You looked at that. You looked at the thing first. So no bad religion. I know that's right up Zach's alley. T Swift is coming later this year. I don't think you're going to be able to go to a game time for that. That's been kind of a lottery. Noah, Noah Cahan and Tyler Childers will be here.

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Like they're not going to force Liatulatu into like a significant role right away, but there's a pretty good chance he's going to look like he needs to be involved heavily. So while Quiddy Pay is definitely the guy that's been targeted from the outside as like the guy who's probably most ready to lose his spot or lose some snaps, whatever, Colts has picked up his fifth year option. It could just as well be Samson Ebicom.

Like when we went into this thing last year, we're talking about Ebicom probably being more of the pass rusher with Pei being the run support, you know, specialist. But they're not like Latu is going to focus mostly on pass rushing this year. So just as much as people think it's Pei, it could very well be Ebicom that loses the starting spot if Latu shows out. Yeah, I think the really interesting part of this dilemma that we're looking at with these three players is Leatu Latu, very, very good prospect. He's coming in here. He's going to

be an NFL ready pass rusher from day one, and he might be a better pass rusher from day one than a Quidipe, or maybe even better than Ebukom. I mean, that would be the dream right there is that he's better than your two, you know, two of your better edge rushers that you have on the roster. But when you're looking at a place to put him in this in this lineup, like say you want to start him, you know, with his size, he probably fits better at the strong side defensive end where Quidipe is holding it down. But Quidipe has been one of the best run defending defensive ends in football over the last two seasons.

Then you want to put him on the other side where Ebukom is. And, you know, play style wise, it makes a lot of sense to put him there, but Aboukam is a pretty solid run defender as well. So maybe you don't have him out there for run defensive snaps, but then you get to the pass rushing snaps and it's like, okay, Aboukam is your best rusher off of the edge. You don't want to take him off the field, but Latu probably fits better in that Ebukam role, that Leo role where he's crashing down from the outside and winning with finesse and winning with speed. Whereas the Quidi Pei role in the pass rushing system is to get depth in the pocket, push back that right tackle, and just close the space so that Leo can get around the edge and

make a play. So it's really interesting because I think, again, Ebukam is probably the better pass rusher between him and Quidi Pei. But if you want Laiatu Latu on the field, you probably put him out there over Ebukam just because of that role fits him a little bit more. So I think the Colts are going to have to get unique with it. They're going to have to get very interesting with it. They've shown last year the ability to do that. I mean, look at what they've done with Dayo Dangbo over the last couple of seasons. I mean, he's rushing from defensive end. He's rushing from one tech. He's rushing from three tech.

You know, they've done a lot of really interesting things with Dayo Dangbo, which gives me optimism for what they can do with Leatu Latu in his rookie campaign. But I'm very, very intrigued to see how they're going to manage those snaps. Because like you said, I do think eventually, you know, it's more of like when will will Laotu Laotu become a starter, not if he'll become a starter. And I would lean towards him taking a Bukam spot at some point at that Leo position. But again, it's hard to supplant those two players in the starting lineup because Quidi Pei, you're getting an elite run defender who can do that job of that strong side defensive end and drive back that right tackle. Where with a Bukam, you're getting a solid run defender at a pretty solid pass rusher as well,

who knows what he's doing from that Leo spot. It's a good problem to have really, really good problem to have for this Colts defensive line, but I'm really intrigued to see how they manage it and how they, you know, bring a player like Lyle to a lot to around along to where he's eventually the starter on this team. Yeah.

It's the problem. Chris Ballard has always wanted, really. But you look at the depth of this, and there are some guys who I look at and I'm like, where do they fit into the rotation? Because we know the four top defensive ends are. We know what the Colts probably want to do in the interior. They have Raekwon Davis now as well in the inside, who he's going to get snaps behind the Buckner and Stewart. He just is. Tyquan Lewis and Eric Johnson. Where do they get snaps? Because you also look at Taven Bryan is a guy who I don't think he's a lock for the roster.

But, you know, he's got a competition with Adetomi coming up. And obviously, if Ade is looking good, he's a young guy you've invested in you want to give him snaps so you know you know who your top four exterior guys are so where does taekwon fit into that and then eric johnson like he's a guy who has been your a somewhat backup to grover at points he's never been trusted to be the backup but like where do those guys get snaps yeah i think luckily for taekwon lewis he wears so many hats for this team not only on the field but off the field uh to where you know you don't have to be concerned about his roster spot or anything like that or be concerned about just his overall ability like there might be some games where he's getting eight

snaps a game nine snaps a game or something but you know that he's gonna give snaps a game, nine snaps a game or something, but you know that he's going to give you some pretty good eight, nine, 10 snaps, whatever it's going to be. So I think Taequann Lewis being the backup to what Dio Dangbo is doing, being the backup to what Quidi Pei is doing, the, you know, potential backup to what Latu and Abu Khan are doing. Like, I think that bodes well for him with this team. And, you know, again, it's not going to be perfect for him every single week, but he'll, he'll get his snaps out there and he'll be a great backup to have injuries happen.

So I'm not too concerned about him. Eric Johnson and Taven Bryan, you know, last year was rough for those two guys. I think they showed some flashes every now and then, but when Grover Stewart went down, it was their time to shine and they did not shine whatsoever. They did not shine, especially in run defense. And I think that's where the big issue lies. And, you know, with a guy like Ray Davis coming in, where do these two players fit on the roster? Because if it comes down to those two players versus Adetomi Adobore, Adetomi brings you something that you don't have. It brings you that highly explosive, young, cheap contract that you have for multiple years of control, where Taven Bryant's an older player that you only have

one more year of. Eric Johnson's not an older player, but a player that you've already kind of seen what he can do over the years. And if he's not turning that switch on this year, I don't know if it's ever going to happen. So I think if it comes down to it, it's even relatively close. You got to go with Tomi here in this battle because he just brings you something. The other two guys don't you get that cheap control and you get that upside with him. It's so much more valuable than whatever those two could, you know, slightly bring over him and run defense.

And, you know, we're comparing bad run defense to very bad run defense. It's not like we're comparing good to bad here. So I think when it comes down to it, I think it's going to be Tomey's just upside and cheap contract that has him win out at the end of the day. Yeah, I agree. Because Brian, I think, is insurance

for if the younger guys aren't doing well. You don't need him. You almost question why the move was made to bring him back. So he's not someone who is an inevitable piece of the roster. And like you mentioned with Johnson, I think this feels like with Ben Banigou when it was like the last chance to prove what you got, you know,

and Ben Banigou at least like had huge flashes every summer. We haven't really gotten much from Johnson that says, God, you got to get this guy a chance and keep him on the roster. So I think it's pivotal for him. It's probably on a shorter lease just because of the depth of the position. But then you've got, you know, just trying to shove something here at the end of the segment. You got some guys on the edge, like Jannard Avery, Isaiah Landon, Titus Leo, where it's like, God, there, it feels like all these guys are fighting for maybe one spot because it's really deep at end right now,

but it's three guys who you kind of like. Yeah, just speaking about Isaiah Land, I really liked what he did last year in his couple snaps. It felt like every time he got out there, you could see the explosiveness. You could see him starting to figure out as a pass rusher a little bit, and it would be a bummer to lose a player like that. But at the end of the day, if you're losing a player like that for Taequann Lewis or Leatu Latu, you it uh but it would it would be unfortunate to lose a player

with his upside because i do think he is a rosterable player in the nfl it's just if you don't have the space you don't have the space but i would love to see him come in here and have a fantastic camp and you know maybe push someone off the roster that we didn't think should have been pushed off the roster i mean that's always a great case right there. So, yeah, I'm excited to see those young guys. Titus Leo has a lot to prove as well. But we'll see. This defensive line is going to be pretty stacked and pretty loaded going into camp.

And I feel bad for some of these backup offensive linemen that we talked about in the first segment because it's going to be an all-out battle here in camp. But coming up, we're going to switch over to wide receiver, the flashiest position on the roster, and talk about Alec Pierce versus A.D. Mitchell. Who's going to be the starter for the Colts at X wide receiver this upcoming season? But first, it's winner take all time in the NBA and NHL, and FanDuel's giving you a shot to bring home a big win of your own. Right now, new customers get $150 in bonus bets with any winning

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hedge your bets and bet on the other team. Either way, you're feeling pretty happy. But make sure you're visiting Fanduel.com slash locked on to make every playoff shot count. Fanduel, America's number one sportsbook. All right, Jake, we are back. We're talking wide receiver. And I think when it comes to wide receiver, I know you put in a couple other bottom of

the roster guys here, but I think unlike our other position battles that we just discussed, I think wide receiver, it's more of a case of who's getting the snaps rather than who's making the roster. I think we kind of have our six guys here at wide receiver already. Like, don't get me wrong. It would be cool if a DJ Montgomery just has this fantastic training camp and just outshines Ashton Doolin and we get another all pro special team or guy on a, on a rookie contract and they can save some money by moving on from Ashton Doolin. But I don't think that's going to be the case. I think they have their six guys. They have their two young guys that just drafted. They're three top guys that they are bringing back from last year. And then they're, they're beautiful cockroach

at the bottom of the roster and Ashton Doolin who the guy who never dies who will always be here on the roster I think they have their six but it really comes down to you know will Pierce start or will AD Mitchell start will Anthony Gould have a real shot at you know getting some offensive snaps as that backup slot or will he fade away like that Isaiah McKenzie did last year will Doolin have a role on offense like I think that's more of the question with this group rather than who's going to make the roster if you if you agree with that yeah absolutely so what I had on here was Ashton Doolin in an offensive battle versus uh DJ Montgomery and Juwan Winfrey because Chris Ballard did mention uh they had a couple guys who did some

things they liked at the end of the year it being those two so Doolin is absolutely a lock like I would be among the guys who are somewhat realistically on the fringe of the roster I think he would be the most shocking cut to me like yeah ballard has gone out of his way to mention him every time wide receiver has been brought up so not happening but offensively do they like what montgomery and winfrey can do better i don't think so uh but ballard at least had mentioned them um yeah do in spot because of special teams ability alone you know brian mason has seemed to get whatever he wants special teams wise uh but yeah I think your six are like set in stone there I think the most intriguing part of the whole wide

receiver thing is A.D. Mitchell like how you know how early do you make him the starter opposite of Michael Pittman if he's showing out like now obviously obviously you give him the grace of being a rookie and having some struggles like he doesn't have to be a stud right away but the fact of the matter is his ceiling is much much higher uh so how long until Mitchell becomes a starter because like with Latu it's a matter of time he will be starting at some point yeah and when it comes to Pierce you know it kind of is like the law to thing where AD Mitchell is not surpassing or trying to surpass an absolute liability for this team. Like, don't get me wrong. Alec Pierce has a ways to go still. He could be a little bit more fluid

in his route running, could be a little more consistent with his catches and stuff. Like, don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to say Alec Pierce is this plus plus starter for the team, but he's not a liability out there. He's a really great run blocker, has a lot of flashes down the field, did some good things on third downs last year, a really good player with his ADOT that he gets. So I do think it's going to be tough to supplant a player where Pierce just does everything the coach is like, again, with that run blocking,

with his ability to adapt his game when the deep balls aren't there. He's shown that ability to kind of be like the Ashton Doolin, where it's like you find ways to stick if the original way is not working out. That's a tough player to overtake their spot. I do think at the end of the day, the talent will, as long as A.D. Mitchell's progressing, again, I have to clarify that.

As long as A.D. Mitchell keeps progressing, keeps flashing, eventually you can't ignore that talent that's sitting behind him but I do think this is going to be a little bit more of a process than what most people are expecting I don't think it's going to be like the Josh Downs thing last year where you know the the pass came in what the the first week of August where he passed Isaiah McKenzie and then it was Josh Downs roll out the gate and the whole season as that slot water receiver. I think this is going to be, you know, a little bit closer to Michael Pittman Jr.'s rookie season where it's going to be a little bit before he gets out there with the starters.

It might be even longer because Pierce is better than, I don't even remember who Pittman was trying to take over in 2020. I don't even, I can't even remember who the starter was alongside T.Y. Hilton back then. It's been, it's been a while. My brain keeps saying Dontrell Inman, but I can't even remember who the starter was alongside T.Y. Hilton back then. It's been a while. My brain keeps saying Dontrell Inman, but I don't think that's correct at all. I honestly can't think of it either. It's 2020 with Phillip. You know, Paris was the guy early in the year, and then he got hurt. Yeah, well, yeah.

But, yeah, you know, I think because Pierce is just a quality type of player, and I think with Anthony Richardson, Pierce is going to be able to produce a little bit more, it's going to be tough for Mitchell to surpass him early in the season. But I don't think that means that Mitchell won't get on the field. You know, Pierce, I think brings you a lot more value on rundown snaps. I think he brings you more ability if you're going to do more in like the wide receiver screen game and more in the running back screen game because of that blocking ability and that tenacity that he brings to it. But when you're in like third downs, like third and long, third intermediate, or maybe you're going to more four wide or five wide type stuff, then you can get Mitchell out there because of that ability as a route runner and that ability

to separate. So there will be a role for him regardless, regardless if he's the starter from day one or he's the starter in week 18 or just not his rookie season at all. But I think that role will obviously change compared to or just based off of what his development looks like this year. I don't think it's going to be the most linear thing. I don't think it's going to be right out the gate. But I do think Pierce and Mitchell, you know, again, it's a good problem to have. It's a good problem to have to have two good players competing and trying to win one spot. It's so much better than having the alternative of just giving it to one guy. So I think this is a positive thing for the Colts team. I'm really

curious to see what happens here. Because again, we can't even rule out Pierce taking a positive step either. Like, it's not like Pierce has been awful. Like he's not been an awful player. So Pierce could obviously take another step as well. And then you have just this player you took in, you know, near top 50 in this past draft with all this talent and then Pierce taking a step and your offense is really taken off from there. Yeah. I think we get kind of stuck in a spot in this day and age where, you know, if, if one person is better than it means the other person sucks or you have to cast them off. It's like, no, Alec Pierce is still a very serviceable player, and I know that the coaching staff feels that way as well.

Not to cast blame on anybody, but the coaches know there were opportunities there for Pierce that weren't taken advantage of in the decision-making department at the top of the offense. So the coaches believe in alec pierce i think i think this is probably a thing where roles will be very situational this year like it's not going to be just so black and white like you like pitman and pierce or pitman and mitchell are the outside receiver. It's going to be very situational base. So there's going to be plenty of balls to go around for everybody,

which kind of brings me to my next spot. Anthony Gould, very interested in him. That's the Isaiah McKenzie role, right? You're probably looking at like 15 catches for him, you know, a handful of probably jet sweeps. Is that kind of what you're thinking for him as well? Yeah, I'm hoping it's a little bit more prominent than the McKenzie role because I think the McKenzie role had spurts where he was getting out there

for like eight to ten snaps a game, which was, you know, perfectly fine. And that's probably where you want to have him. But then there were other spurts where zero snaps, one snap, two snaps. And it's just like, okay, what's the point in even getting him out there at this point? I would love to see Gould be more of a factor in that gadget game and also be a guy where, look, if you need to give Josh Downs a couple snaps off, you can get Gould out there to play in the slot too. It doesn't need to be Josh Downs playing every single available snap that you have a slot

receiver out there. You know, you can give him a couple snaps off so you can preserve him for later in the season. So I would love to see Gould get in that 8, 9, 10, maybe 10 to 15 snap range per game on offense. And then obviously be your premier punt returner as well. So I would like a little bit more prominent version of the Isaiah McKenzie role. And I do think they have bigger plans for Gould than they ever really did for McKenzie, who felt like more of a, let's get a little speedster in here, more so than a player they really had high, you know, hopes for or ambitions for last year. Yeah, I think that role is also dependent on how successful

it is too. Like, right. McKenzie was a fine player, but if he was more dangerous with the ball in his hands or, you know, as a route runner but if he was more dangerous with the ball in his hands or, you know, as a route runner, if he was more effective in his role, then it would have grown more. So I think it's really up to Gould. How much,

you know, how prominent that rule is. So I'm with you there. I think if he's doing a lot with his opportunities, then that role probably grows a little bit. Right, right. Exactly.

Exactly. Well, guys, we just talked offensive line, defensive line, wired receiver for camp battles and gave a little bit. Right, right. Exactly, exactly. Well, guys, we just talked offensive line, defensive line, wide receiver for camp battles and gave a little bit of a preview for training camp. Tomorrow we'll be back with this series, continuing talking linebacker, cornerback, and safety. So make sure you're tuning in to Locked on Colts tomorrow.

And if you don't already, make sure you're following at Locked on Colts, at JakeArthurNFL, and at ZachHicks2 all on Twitter. Also subscribe to us on YouTube where we list your podcasts. We love your guys' ratings and reviews, and we'll catch you guys back here tomorrow afternoon.