Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Improve at Pass Rusher, Sign Samson Ebukam/Taven Bryan

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Indianapolis Colts are making some moves early in free agency. Is this the new Chris Ballard? Let's get to it today, guys. Let's talk all about this new Chris Ballard. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast your first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:00:48 I'm Zach Hicks. Obviously, I'm not joined by Jake Arthur today. He's having some network connectivity issues. So you guys, let me know if you can hear me okay and everything. I don't have someone to bounce off me today, so as long as we're doing good. We're doing a live stream yet again, guys. Yes, we are live. Steven, throw in your comment up there.

Starting point is 00:01:07 We are live. We're talking Colts free agency. We are a little bit later today than we have been earlier in the week because free agency technically kicked off at 4 p.m. today. So I wanted to push it back a little bit just to see if any more moves trickled in. And while we did that, the Colts actually did sign a player so we're going to be talking about a a couple players that the Colts have signed already including two pass rushers and then the second segment we're going to talk about some guy they brought back which we're really excited about here and also some other guys and kind of updates on what might happen with the Colts and then obviously again if you guys are

Starting point is 00:01:43 watching on YouTube you see this big line across my face that the sun is just in my face right now. Guys, I can't do anything about it. I'm sorry. But before we jump into anything Colts free HD related and stuff like that, Max threw a great comment here about the Pedro Pascal Starbucks video. So if you guys are unaware, if you guys don't follow me on social media, I'm promoting the Indie Draft Guide that we're doing here through Locked On Colts, through SI Colts. We're doing this indie exclusive draft guide with 250 scouting reports, exclusive features

Starting point is 00:02:15 and stuff. You guys can see the link in the bio here on every single YouTube video and every single article there with SI Colts. And yeah, we did a little fun thing where I think if we got 20 purchases on the guide by the end of the week, or by the end of next week, I think is what I did. I would be doing a live stream breakdown of Matt Gay, the new kicker for the Colts. So we have already surpassed that goal. And I also said if we got to 50 purchases by the end of next week, I would be drinking some form of coffee on that live stream there. I don't know the exact numbers, but I think we're pretty darn close to that one. So I might have to do like another goal by the end of next week to like what kind of

Starting point is 00:03:00 coffee and some other things. But I think we're doing pretty good on that goal there, Max. I think we're going to be doing that live stream sometime next week. Uh, so yeah, guys, that's where we're at with the, with the, um, uh, all the coffee stuff and all the indie draft guide stuff. Keep throwing some perks on there. It's really fun. Uh, and, and we'll be, we'll be doing some fun things with that, but getting to Colts free agency, you know, the Colts made a really big signing yesterday. I think it was like late later in the evening. Samson, Abu, Abu calm, Abu calm. I think it's how you say his name. Samson, Abu calm, past rusher from the San Francisco

Starting point is 00:03:35 49ers three-year deal, 29 million. Really, really good player. I was really, really impressed by everything I saw. Obviously some people are going to say that this is a guy where he's never had a 10-sack season, or he's never been a star pass rusher on any team. And people look at that and they're like, oh man, it's a downgrade from Yannick Ngakwe. But I think this is a really good player. I think they definitely upgraded at pass rusher. And I just don't, I don't think people realize how important it is to get constant pressure from a pass rusher instead of just, you know, two sacks, one sack every now and then within a game, you know, something with Yannick Ngakwe is within Ngakwe one, you have a major, major, major liability in the run game, like just an atrocious run defender uh he's been i think pfs

Starting point is 00:04:26 lowest graded edge run run defender in like the last like three years like each of the last three years he's just been someone who has not played well against the run and we saw it last year teams were targeting him in the run game uh it wasn't pretty abucom is not like a phenomenal run defender but he's passable he's solid so they're already upgrading right there but then even in the pass rush department you know abu khan for instance had his best season last year he had six sacks nine qb hits 35 hurries and a 14.9 percent pass rush win rate all these numbers are courtesy of pro football focus and while these don't seem like phenomenal numbers this doesn't seem like a guy who, you know, is the top pass rusher on a team. His pass rush win rate was 24th among all edge rushers.

Starting point is 00:05:12 You know who that was ahead of? Quiddy Paye, Dayo Dangbo, Yannick Ngakwe by a lot. I think Yannick Ngakwe was like 11% on pass rush win rates. So despite Yannick Ngakwe getting a healthy amount of sacks and getting to that 10-sack number or getting right next to that 10-sack number, Ebukam is a guy who was more productive with his pressures. And one thing I kind of noted in my film room I did last night, which you guys can check out on horseshoehuddle.com,

Starting point is 00:05:39 is a guy like Ebukam, he's constantly affecting the pocket. He's a guy who is always hitting those landmarks on the edge and he's a guy who is constantly making it to where quarterbacks have to step up where they have to move in the pocket so even if there are rushes where Ebu Kam is not getting a sack or not getting a pressure or not getting a hit or anything like that he is still holding that edge and he is making it so it's difficult for quarterbacks to escape the pocket or to um you know move around freely in the pocket that's not something we saw out of yannick and gawkway you know yannick and gawkway it was you know he's gonna get stonewalled 95 percent of the time but he's gonna get a sack on those other ones on those unblocked rushes on

Starting point is 00:06:19 those uh those couple like good rushes he has a game he's gonna get a sack and it's gonna look great at the end of the season. But Abu Kamal is a guy who gets constant pressure and constant effort, and that was the biggest thing, too, on film is, oh, my gosh, this is a high-level energy effort player. I know that scares a lot of people because at the end of the day, you want to have traits and you want to have production over effort, but effort goes a long way when it comes to playing defense. You know, a high level effort guy who gets after on every single snap

Starting point is 00:06:49 and makes, you know, opposing players have to work on every single snap to contain him. That's a player that you want alongside DeForest Buckner. You know, DeForest Buckner is a force. He's a menace on the inside and having a guy like Yannick Ngakwe next to him where Ngakwe is taking almost every snap off you know like he's not getting that constant pressure just those one or two a game that's not a good mix with the Forrest Buckner but getting a guy like Abu Kam who is constantly forcing quarterbacks to step up constantly getting after on every single snap and if Buckner gets the quarterback out of the pocket you know Abu Kam is going to be after him you know so I'm really excited about

Starting point is 00:07:24 this signing I think it excited about this signing. I think it's a good signing. I think they gave him a decent amount of backload in this contract. So they anticipate him being here for the duration of that contract. And yeah, I'm, I'm really excited about it. I think he's going to be a really, really solid player. Like Dizzy says, if he's someone who can collapse the pocket and give opportunities for

Starting point is 00:07:40 Buckner and Grove, massive, massive win. Absolutely. Yeah. Yannick had a 43. Massive, massive win, absolutely. Yeah, Yannick had a 43.7 PFF score at the run. Samson Ebukom had 65.5. By the way, Ebukom, I watched a highlight video to see how you pronounce his name. And every single announcer said it differently. So I hope I'm the one saying it right.

Starting point is 00:08:00 But I just kind of took the mean, the average of all the things that they were saying and kind of decided to roll with it. So Ebu Kham is what I'm going with now. Obviously, I'll change it if that's incorrect. But, yeah, I really think Samson Ebu Kham is a great signing for this team. He's going to fill in perfectly at that Leo position. The other sign the Colts made was Taven Bryan, a defensive tackle from the Cleveland Browns. This is a guy I'm not as excited about,

Starting point is 00:08:25 but he's just a guy who's going to be out there on pass rushing situations. And he's going to be just an explosive guy who can find success on stunts and twists. You know, he's a guy who last year had four sacks, his career high, two QB hits and 17 hurries, only a 9.4% pass rush win rate. He's not a guy who, Taven Bryan's not a guy who's going to win one on one. It's just not who he is. But if you have a guy who can be successful on stunts, who's going to have high energy, high effort, high explosion, that's a good rotational guy, you know? So yes, if he's rushing the passer 300 times next season, I'm not going to be very excited, but Taven Bryan is a guy who is like Taylor Stallworth in rushing the passer, say, you know, 150 times. I think he can be productive in those 150 snaps more so than Eric Johnson or Curtis Brooks was last year.

Starting point is 00:09:17 So Taven Bryan is kind of, you know, it's kind of funny. I was just about to say this. Real Mr. Colt says they just released Curtis Brooks. Yeah, they released Curtis Brooks last year. Taven Bryan is kind of like the supercharged version of Curtis Brooks, of like everything Curtis Brooks could be. And then Samson Ebukam, just to kind of bring it full circle, when you watch him, he moves and looks like Ben Banigou, but he's actually developed and he's actually a player who can, you know, have production on the football field. So it's like the Colts got like the already advanced and developed versions of players they drafted in recent years, which maybe that's a step for Chris Ballard saying like, look, I got assigned players now. I can't keep relying on these young guys developing, which it's a positive step in the

Starting point is 00:09:58 right direction. So I'm excited. I think both these players are going to be productive. Ebu I think has the potential to be a Danico Autry level signing. I think Drake says it right here. Yeah, you think he can be an eight plus sack? I really think he can. Obviously, sacks are a lot like interceptions, and it's all about timing and coincidence, and a good amount of luck goes into it, like we saw with Yannick Ngakwe last year. I really think Ebukam, with DeForest Buckner on there, and if Quidipe has a solid season on the other side, I think he has a good chance of eight sacks.

Starting point is 00:10:30 So I'm excited about these two signings. I think both players are really solid. And I really think Abu Khan is going to be like the star from this free agent class for the Colts. So we're going to talk about some in-house guys and a guy that the Colts are bringing back. But first, the midway point of the NBA season is here, and now is the perfect time to download FanDuel

Starting point is 00:10:49 because new customers get a no-sweat first bet up to $1,000. That's bonus bets back if your first bet doesn't win. Just download the FanDuel Sportsbook app. It's safe, secure, and super easy to use. Then you can bet on everything from the money line to point scores to threes drained. Plus, FanDuel even lets you combine your bets for a chance at bigger payout with the same game parlay. So don't miss the chance to get your no-sweat first bet up to $1,000 with bonus bets when you go to FanDuel.com slash locked on. That's FanDuel.com

Starting point is 00:11:20 slash locked on to learn more. Make every moment more with FanDuel, an official sports betting partner of the NBA. All right, guys. So obviously the Colts did make a huge, huge resigning. Oh, and we're going to get to your guys' questions here in a second. So if you guys are listening to audio, we are going live here. We're going to get some of your guys' questions here in the last section of this. But we're going to talk about some in-house guys,

Starting point is 00:11:46 and we're going to talk about Ashton Doolin. Ashton Doolin is back, baby. Ashton Doolin is coming back. Two years, up to $9 million. I know that number scared a lot of people when they saw it this morning because, like, oh, my gosh, you're giving $4.5 million a year to a special teamer. But I think the average cap hit of it is, like,8 million. Like it's not, you guys got to remember with

Starting point is 00:12:09 free agency season, a lot of these big time beat reporter guys are going to put out numbers that agents text them, not what teams text them, what agents text them. So they're going to put up, oh, my client could get up to $10 million on one year or something like that. And then you look at the actual contract and it's like 2 million, you know, in the one season with incentives and boosters that could get up to 10, but might not actually happen. So Ashton Doolin, two years up to 9 million, closer to two years, like 5 million. Like it's, it's a little bit lower than that. But I think that's a great re-signing. I think Ashton Doolin is the perfect wide receiver five or six to have in the NFL. He's a lot like Matthew Slater out there in New England, in my opinion. He's a guy who, sure, he can be on offense and get you some decent things

Starting point is 00:12:55 on offense. But at the end of the day, he's a pure, pure special teamer. He's a guy who can be a great gunner, who can return the ball. He can be a good asset on kickoff coverage and punt coverage overall. I think Ashton Doolin's a great player. So you need players like Ashton Doolin, especially when you're making this big change as special teams coach to a younger special teams coach guy. So, yeah, I'm excited that Ashton Doolin's back. He's a guy who, you know, he's coming from a college

Starting point is 00:13:20 that doesn't have a football program anymore. He was the last player to come from that college that we't even like doesn't have a football program anymore. Like he was the last, like, he was like the last player to come from that college that we'll ever see in the NFL. And he's worked his way up from undrafted free agent to special team star has an all pro under his belt because it was special teams ability. So yeah, I love Ashton doing it, man. I'm really, really happy that he's come back and, and yeah,

Starting point is 00:13:42 obviously I hope that they, you know, like, like stats, Matt's here saying like, I really hope that they bring in another receiver to ahead of him, but I like him being that wide receiver five or six. Like he's, he's a solid player, solid, solid player. So yeah, Ashton Doolin is coming back. You guys know, I'm, I'm a huge fan of him. Look, Tyrell Doolin does help because he's a big special teams player. Like I know that fantasy numbers and Madden numbers or whatever don't really prepare people for that but like it's a special teams player special teams matters and Ashton Doolin is a big part of that so

Starting point is 00:14:14 yeah I really do think that Ashton Doolin is one of those kind of underrated players really solid players that you need to have on your roster talking some more in-house guys before I go to a couple of your questions and kind of answer some of your things here in the chat. Paris Campbell, it was reported today. It was reported today by my colleague, Destin Adams, that the Carolina Panthers have significant interest in Paris Campbell. We kind of expected it. We expected Frank Reich to go pretty hard after Paris Campbell um so it doesn't shock me whatsoever I would like to see the Colts keep them because again this wide receiver market you're seeing guys sign for you know Jacoby Myers and Juju Smith-Schuster two of the guys

Starting point is 00:14:58 everyone thought were going to be you know the top wide receivers in the market got I think 11 million dollars a year type of deals so I think that Paris Campbell you could probably get him for six seven eight million a year like I want him back at that number like unless it's like a six-year deal like if it's like a one or two-year deal absolutely want him back at that number so I hope the Colts can make a move and get him back other news the Colts officially released Matt Ryan. I will still forever stand by the fact that early in the season, Matt Ryan looked like he could still be Matt Ryan.

Starting point is 00:15:35 It's just when the hits piled up and the injuries happened, he obviously fell off late in the season and just was a really, really poor quarterback by the end. So the Colts kind of had to make that move, especially when you could save $17 million. So yeah, unfortunately, it didn't work out. Colts can clear some space by getting rid of him. And I think Colts cap Kyle on Twitter said that if another team does sign him, the Colts could actually gain some cap space if that happens. So there is some avenues there with Matt Ryan where the Colts can get even more cap space. But yeah, I think that's all I got for in-house guys. We'll see if they tendered anybody. I don't think they tendered really anybody. So

Starting point is 00:16:09 I don't think we really see much of that. So let's get to some of your guys' questions. And the number one question we've got a million times in here is about Lamar Jackson. It is obviously all about Lamar Jackson. Colts picking up steam. me see if I can find it straight up what's the likelihood of Lamar Jackson Lamar Jack to the Colts pick it up steam I'll take Lamar every day look guys I I love Lamar Jackson I think Lamar Jackson is a phenomenal quarterback like I might be higher on him than most people but but as, uh, as Lucas here is saying, the Colts are not going to be in on that. Like, again, the Colts for one, they were not really in deep discussions for the first overall pick. So obviously, you know, they're,

Starting point is 00:16:57 they don't want to give up too much of the future. Yeah. I, in my opinion, the way I took that when they were not really in the first overall discussions is that they're planning more for the future. They don't want to give up picks going forward and signing Lamar Jackson would give up this year's fourth overall pick and next year first round pick. On top of that, like Matt said here, I think he said it, where is it? Yeah, I don't, like, look, I'm not saying that the Colts don't have any cash, but Jim Mercer does not have the cash of a Jerry Jones or anything like that. He doesn't have top of the dollar or whatever to give to these kind of guys. And I think Stephen Holder talked about it the other day in an article.

Starting point is 00:17:38 You have to put that, whatever money you guarantee him or signing bonus-wise, you have to put that into escrow right away. I know that he's a multi-billionaire but Jim Irsay has to put in 200 million dollars or 150 million dollars or whatever into escrow I just don't think he can do that so I don't really see the Colts being even somewhat feasible for that I just don't think it's going to happen maybe if the Jets don't come to agreement with Aaron Rodgers, maybe they go that direction. But yeah, I think Lamar Jacks will be back there with the Baltimore Ravens going forward. But yeah, I don't see the Colts being

Starting point is 00:18:17 in play. I know there was a report out there on Twitter, but I wouldn't really look too much into that report by the guy who said that. So yeah, I don't see it happening. I think you want to look at guys like Anthony Richardson or Will Levis as the next quarterback of the Colts or next rookie quarterback of the Colts, which a couple of you guys did mention there. I did see a couple comments in here about, well, actually let me throw one up up here uh real mr colt's exacted buck and epocom ever overlap in san fran they actually did not epocom came from uh the rams i think from i think he played only in the niners last two seasons and then he was with the rams before that so they overlap in very similar schemes you know that kind of fangio like

Starting point is 00:19:04 brandon staley type of scheme, but they didn't actually overlap and play with each other. I saw a couple other things here. Special teams matters, but kickers don't. So Beaver, Beaver got 13. I'm going to make sure I put that out there. Yeah, I did see a couple things here about wide receivers, you know, could the Colts make a move for a wide receiver, maybe like a DJ Chark or obviously Paris Campbell? Chris Fowler doesn't really sign wide receivers. Like he signed Devin Funchess and he signed Ryan Grant years ago. But for the most part, he doesn't really sign wide receivers.

Starting point is 00:19:42 You know, he likes to keep it in the trenches o-line and d-line and then he will make some splashes on corner so for you guys saying you know i want to see the colts sign a cornerback uh they're they're gonna absolutely sign somebody at corner like somebody at corner they have like almost nobody's there right now like i'm not saying i'm not gonna guarantee it's gonna be like a marcus peters type or like a big signing, but they're going to sign somebody there at cornerback. They kind of have to, you know, so available corners, obviously, I'd love to see Rocky Sin come back, but I just don't, I don't see it happening. I just don't see Rocky Sin being in the cards after the way that he was sent out last year. Sean Murphy

Starting point is 00:20:20 Bunting, I think could be an interesting one. I think Nick Needham is available from the Dolphins, really solid player as well. So they can fill out that cornerback depth. But as for wide receiver, like I was saying, Ballard typically doesn't sign him. I think it's more likely in that second round pick with that 35th or after a tradeback, they look at wide receiver yet again.

Starting point is 00:20:38 So we could see him go that direction. Yeah, for cornerback again, yeah, real Mr. Colt, Shaquille Griffin. I think that's a very realistic one. Zach driving the bus guys. I, I have really bad ADHD, so I'm glad I have Jake here to mostly calm me, calm me down and reel me in a lot of times. But yeah, you know, I think yeah, guys look again, Lamar Jackson. I love it. I love Lamar Jackson, but I, I just, I don't see it happening.

Starting point is 00:21:07 I think maybe if they could have traded for him and had the Ravens eat, you know, eat a bulk of that guaranteed signing at out front, then I think it could have happened, but it's just not going to happen. It's not going to happen. Um, but yeah,

Starting point is 00:21:22 guys, we're going to wrap up here in a second, but first today's episode is brought to you by Ultimate Football GM. You've heard us talk about this mobile game. And if you've ever thought you'd make a good GM, then you've got to give this game a try. It's not as easy as you might think to create a dynasty. When you play Ultimate Football GM, you get control and manage every strategic aspect of your team as you play through seasons and lead your team to glory, trying to build a historic dynasty.

Starting point is 00:21:48 Jake thought he was well on his way to winning with our staff league before his owner gave him the boot for guaranteeing a championship and not delivering. Don't do that. Don't be like Jake. Frequency is actually starting right now in reality. And with Ultimate Football GM, you're responsible for controlling the whole thing and molding your team from top to bottom. Locked on Colts listeners get a hundred percent free boost to their franchise when using promo code locked on in all caps in the game store,

Starting point is 00:22:15 that's locked on in all caps. So make sure you check it out today to download the game. Just visit ultimate-gm.com or look it up on app stores. That's ultimate-gm.com or look it up on app stores. That's ultimate-gm.com. Ultimate Football GM, start your dynasty today. All right, guys, I'm going to wrap it up here in a second, but I see you guys left a couple more comments. Marcel Dabo.

Starting point is 00:22:37 Hey, Marcel Dabo, that's an interesting name. Maybe he could play some corner, you know? So yeah, Marcel Dabo. I think that's an interesting one there. Lamar ends up in Indy. I'll name my first born Lamar. Yes, yes. Oh man.

Starting point is 00:22:54 You know, audio wise, this might not be a great podcast because I'm just talking to myself and reading your guys' comments. But on YouTube, this is gonna be a good one, guys. It's gonna be good. Oh man. Hey, Tyler Huntley, I think is a very interesting stopgap quarterback. Yeah. I think Tyler Huntley is going to be an interesting one to look at for the Colts. Obviously Gardner Minshew is still out there. So we could see Gardner Minshew as an option. Marcus Mariota is still out there. So I think

Starting point is 00:23:21 whether they go Anthony Richardson or they go Will Levis, I think they're going to need that stopgap quarterback or at least a guy who can play a little bit in a pinch. So guys just like guys like Minshew or Mariota make a lot of sense. Yeah, I think this is going to be an interesting offseason for us, guys. And I really think, you know, I was kind of saying this the other day. I think that this is kind of like a 2018-style offense for the Colts where they're not rebuilding.

Starting point is 00:23:49 They're just kind of retooling and changing up a lot of how the team roster looks. And as a result, we're seeing more free agent signing. For the first time, we're not seeing one-year deals or two-year deals from Chris Ballard just to worry only about the upcoming season. We're actually seeing them worry about two to three or four years out, which to me, again, it kind of signifies the rookie quarterback direction. If you had any doubt in your mind that the Colts were going to go rookie quarterback, look at the deals they just gave to a kicker, which was four years in length,

Starting point is 00:24:18 that they just gave to Samson Ebukom, who is going to be three years in length. These are guys that are going to be here for a couple seasons, and they're going to have that money, and they're backloading that money on these deals because they're going to have that rookie quarterback. So, yeah, the Colts are going to go rookie quarterback. Anthony Richardson, Will Levis, maybe one of the top two guys falls out of the top two.

Starting point is 00:24:40 Who knows? Who knows? We'll see. But, yeah, it's going to be a fun time talking about all that this offseason. That's all we have for today. Make sure you guys are following at LockedOnColts, at JakeArthurNFL, and at ZachHicks2 on Twitter. Also, subscribe to the LockedOnColts podcast on YouTube, wherever you listen to your podcasts. We love your ratings and reviews and comments.

Starting point is 00:24:57 Just throw them all our way, guys, especially if they're nice, especially if they're nice. And thank you guys for making Locked On Colts your first listen every day. Now make your second listen, Locked On NFL Draft. Damian Parson and Keith Sanchez provide in-depth coverage of the biggest NFL draft prospects with deep dives into sleepers and hidden gems that can change your favorite NFL franchise. Find Locked On NFL Draft wherever you get your podcasts and on YouTube. Or the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

Starting point is 00:25:26 We will see you guys back here live tomorrow.

Your Ad Here

Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Improve at Pass Rusher, Sign Samson Ebukam/Taven Bryan

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.