Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Jonathan Taylor is Back in Superstar Form

Episode Date: October 25, 2023

Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor looked like his old self against the Cleveland Browns last weekend. Is this a sign to come for the star player? Also, we dive into the Colts' wide recei...ver room and discuss the roles and the future of the team's top trio.Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOColts?sid=YouTube📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFLFollow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOnFN!Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!DoorDashGet 50% off up to $10 value when you spend $15 or more on your FIRST order, when you download the DoorDash app and enter code LOCKED23. Subject to change. Terms apply.Jase MedicalGet $20 off these lifesaving antibiotics with Jase Medical by using code LOCKEDON at checkout on jasemedical.com.PrizePicksGo to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnfl and use code lockedonnfl for a first deposit match up to $100!GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Last minute tickets. Lowest Price. Guaranteed.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Right now, NEW customers can bet FIVE DOLLARS and get TWO HUNDRED in BONUS BETS – GUARANTEED. 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) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
Discussion (0)
Starting point is 00:00:00 Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor is officially back. Let's get to it. 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. This episode is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Every day. We're going to have a fun show for you. We're going to be talking all about Jonathan Taylor, how Jonathan Taylor has steadily gotten back into form these last couple weeks,
Starting point is 00:01:07 which obviously all showed out this past weekend against the Cleveland Browns where he had his best game to date of the season. Then we're going to dive into the Colts pass catchers and talk about the kind of the roles that the top three guys are having, look at their seasons in total as of right now, and then talk about, hey, do they actually still need to add another player to this after the season? Do we feel good about this top three trio?
Starting point is 00:01:29 We're going to talk about that in segment two. And then to close it out, we're going to talk about the outside cornerback dilemma. Juju Brent is likely to miss a couple weeks with his quad injury. What do the Colts do at opposite Jalen Jones there at outside corner? We're going to talk about that to close out today's show. But jumping into the Jonathan Taylor conversation, Jonathan Taylor might be back. You know, he's not fully back. He's not back to, you know, dominant Jonathan Taylor, 2021 Jonathan Taylor
Starting point is 00:01:54 range right now, but we are seeing him get back into form slowly. And this past weekend as a Cleveland Browns was obviously his best game of the season. His snaps have increased each week. I know Jake mentioned this on yesterday's show, but his snaps have increased from 15% in his first game back against Tennessee Titans to 42% against the Jaguars last week. And in this past game against the Cleveland Browns, he got all the way up to 50% of the team's offensive snaps. His carries have increased from 6 to 8 to 18.
Starting point is 00:02:24 So he's starting to get more looks in the run game overall. And then he scored his first touchdown this past game as well. He had a couple of long breakaway runs as well. We kind of enjoy seeing him get on the perimeter. I know that sweet play where he got to the outside was obviously the most excited we've, we've been for Jonathan Taylor and quite some time seeing him there on the outside and seeing that potential for him to maybe turn that into a huge gain, which he did.
Starting point is 00:02:47 And a couple other ones right up the middle where he did get some really solid chunk change there. So we're seeing some good things from Jonathan Taylor of late. You know, again, he's not up to the five yards per carry Jonathan Taylor that we we know him from for his career. Right now, I think, you know, that past game was four point two yards per carry. You want to see that still get up a little bit, still get a little closer to his career average, but we are seeing a really, really good Jonathan Taylor. And I do think, you know, as we see the games kind of get a little bit later in the season, Zach Moss's carries will probably go down more to around 40% or like his snaps will have 35 to 40%. And then you will see Taylor back in that 65, 60% ish range.
Starting point is 00:03:28 I do think there will still be kind of a rotation between these two running backs, but I don't think that Moss is going to usurp Jonathan Taylor or Moss is going to be the lead guy for the rest of the season. I do think that Taylor is going to eventually take over that top role. Cause you know, the Colts paid him, the Colts paid Jonathan Taylor to be that top guy. And we are seeing him kind of take over that top role because, you know, the Colts paid him. The Colts paid Jonathan Taylor to be that top guy. We are seeing him kind of take over that role slowly but steadily.
Starting point is 00:03:50 One thing I really wanted to mention in this segment, though, and kind of is a fun little twist to the Jonathan Taylor being back thing is we are seeing kind of a new type of Jonathan Taylor with Shane Steichen. Like, don't get me wrong. Steichen is still leaning into the gap scheme stuff with Taylor, still leaning into the getting him outside the tackles and letting him use that speed and acceleration to get around the edge. And again, we saw it on that sweep play.
Starting point is 00:04:14 We could see what that acceleration does compared to someone like Zach Moss, where Moss is kind of more of your classic bruiser type in between the tackles. But the one area that we're really seeing a new Jonathan Taylor is in the passing game. You know, Jonathan Taylor has not been a terrible pass catcher in his NFL career, but he's never really had that as a big element in his game. But we've seen through three games with Shane Steichen. And again, keep in mind, he has only gone up to 50% of the offensive snaps once. And that was this past week where he went just at 50%. So in more of a rotational type role,
Starting point is 00:04:47 Jonathan Taylor has nine catches for 107 yards through three games. His previous career high in the NFL is 40 receptions throughout an entire season. His pace right now of three per game would put him at 51 if he played the full 17 games this year. And then another area that we're seeing a pretty big increase is the yards per catch, 11.9 yards per catch, which is by far and away the highest in his career. Because again, running backs usually get the dump down stuff. They're not going to have yards per catch at 11.9. That's just something you don't really see. So Shane Steichen is finding some new and intriguing ways to get Taylor involved in the
Starting point is 00:05:24 passing game. We've seen two really impressive slip screens that Steichen has called to get Jonathan Taylor in space with the ball. We saw that drag route against Jacksonville Jaguars where Taylor caught that underneath the mesh or underneath the traffic that the other receivers were running out. And he was able to turn up field for a huge gain. We even saw a running back wheel route this past week where Minshew lofted it right over the linebacker covering Taylor, and Taylor was able to haul it in traffic for the big catch. So we're seeing a little bit of a new Jonathan Taylor with Shane Steichen's offense, which is what you wanted to see. Because look, when you're paying a running back that amount of money, it'd be great if you always was having the 2021 Jonathan Taylor type of season, but you need to add the 2021 Jonathan Taylor type of season,
Starting point is 00:06:05 but you need to add the pass catching on top of it to really be worth it in today's NFL. You know, again, running the ball is valuable, but catching the ball and making plays after the catch is insanely more valuable. So if you have a running back who is rushing for 1500 yards, but catching 10 passes in the season, that's great. But if you have a running back who's rushing for 12, 13, 1400 yards, whatever it is, but then also hauling in the 40 catches, that's even better because you're getting that production in the passing game. We've seen the running backs that last in this league, you know, again, the Austin Ecklers, the Christian McCaffrey's, those are the high level pass catching running backs. So if Taylor with Jonathan or with Taylor
Starting point is 00:06:42 with Shane Steichen can kind of develop this pass catching repertoire and get the big plays happening in the passing game, that And again, his carries are going to go up. His catches are probably even going to go up a little bit more. But I'm loving the way that Shane Sniper is using this talented running back. Get him in space with the ball. Let him do some great things, even in the passing game. And just let your star go to work. You know, you paid him for a reason. And Shane Sniper, early on this season,
Starting point is 00:07:22 even while Jonathan Taylor is just getting back into the group of things, is letting his star go to work and make some things happen. So really excited for Jonathan Taylor. I'm not, again, I know I start off the show by saying he's back. I don't think he's fully back yet, but I think he's close.
Starting point is 00:07:36 I think Jonathan Taylor is close to being back to the Jonathan Taylor that we all know and love, which is exciting for this Colts team. Again, with Anthony Richardson out, we need some more fireworks on offense. They've been doing some good things without a fully back Taylor and without Anthony Richardson, but it'd be really exciting to see Taylor back to maybe not 2021 form, but 2020 form even.
Starting point is 00:07:58 It would be awesome to see. But coming up, guys, we're going to talk about these Colts pass catchers now, talk about kind of their roles in the offense, and if at the end of the end of the season, the Colts actually do need to add another pass catcher to this group. But first buying tickets to your favorite events shouldn't be stressful. Game time is the fast and easy way to buy tickets for all sports, music, comedy, and theater near you with killer deals on last minute tickets and their best price guaranteed. You can stop stressing over the tickets and start getting hype for the fun that you'll have. I personally love game time because if I feel spontaneous and going to a show on a whim, you guys know me, I'm a big punk guy. I'm a big pop punk guy. I love to
Starting point is 00:08:33 go to these concerts near me and get some really good prices too. Like some of these ticket prices on these other apps can just get so high and crazy, but with game time, they have their flash deals. They have images of seat views, and they have their lowest price guaranteed. GameTime is just the easy choice for everything. It's the fastest growing ticketing app in the country for a reason. Get images of your seat before you buy
Starting point is 00:08:54 so you know exactly what to expect when you arrive. Buy tickets in a matter of seconds. Two taps and you're set. Tickets are sent directly to your phone so you'll never have to dig through your email. Snag the tickets without stress with GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase.
Starting point is 00:09:11 Terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Download GameTime today. Last-minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. Alrighty, my beautiful everydayers. Let's dive into a very controversial topic. I mean, I'm not going to say it's this crazy controversial, but I know throughout the season, we've been very, very bipolar on this Colts wide receiver room. You know, do we think that Michael Pittman Jr.,
Starting point is 00:09:36 Alec Pierce, and Josh Downs are enough for the future of this team, or do they need to add another ball winner, another speedy guy another more consistent player into that group to get things done for Anthony Richardson when he comes back next season so let's look at the stats this year let's look at the roles of these players and kind of talk about their overall performance on the season starting with Michael Pittman Jr. the player who was complaining after last game about not getting enough targets which before before we dive into this actual topic here look that's just what receivers do. It's how receivers operate. It's how their minds are. I'm never going to get too upset when I hear, when I hear a wide receiver complaining
Starting point is 00:10:14 about targets, cause that's literally just how receivers are built. That's just, it's like the part of being a wide receiver. So I love it from Pittman jr. It's, I mean, maybe don't voice it right there to the media after the game, but whatever, like who cares? Uh, but from Pittman Jr. I mean, maybe don't voice it right there to the media after the game, but whatever. Who cares? But Michael Pittman Jr. this year, 42 catches on 65 targets for 489 yards and two touchdowns. Obviously, he is your player that wins over the middle of the field, your tough catches guy, your guy when you're going to scheme open like a run after catch type thing. You want Michael Pittman Jr. to be that guy he has an 8.8 average depth of target so again more of the shorter stuff more the intermediate type stuff more over the middle of the field but he has 5.7 yards after catch per reception as well which is
Starting point is 00:10:54 you know pretty impressive for a player of his size you typically see that with more of the smaller guys but he's a player who again I don't want to throw this comp this comp out to be like a perfect one-to-one by any means, but that A.J. Brown type mold where it's like the tough catches over the middle, who's going to fight through traffic, and he's going to power forward for positive yards. 45% of his catches have gone for a first down this year. So again, he's more of that in rhythm type guy, but he will be targeted on third downs as well and money downs to get those first downs. Going to Alec Pierce, the guy who has another ton of snaps this year, but maybe not enough targets or not enough catches.
Starting point is 00:11:31 I know this is a player where a lot of people listening have not been very high on him this season, but we'll talk about here in a second. 14 catches on 25 targets for Alec Pierce this year for 202 yards. Again, no touchdowns and it hasn't been a perfect season, but he's your deep threat. He's your guy who he's not going to have this super high separation or yards after catch, anything like that,
Starting point is 00:11:53 but he's your guy who, hey, if we get a one-on-one backside or if we need a big play down the field, we're going to toss up to him and see what he can do. It's kind of in that same mold of a Marquez Valdez-Scantling, a Marvin Jones, a DJ Shark, that kind of role that we see around a Marquez Valdez Scantling, a Marvin Jones, a DJ Shark, you know, that kind of role that we see around the league with a lot of players. You know, it's a very niche role. It's a very specific role. But when things are clicking and when your offense is being explosive, that player can benefit, which we've seen from Alec Pierce the last couple of
Starting point is 00:12:18 weeks where he's hauled in a couple of downfield targets in the games where he's actually been targeted. So 14 catches on 25 targets this year. He's a 16.0 average depth of target. So again, almost all of his targets have been down the field, like outside of that one handed catch against the Jaguars, pretty much everything has been past the first down marker, only 1.9 yards after catch per reception. Again, more of your jump ball guys, so he's not going to have many opportunities to run after the catch. But 85% of his catches this season have gone for a first down, which is by far and away the highest on the team.
Starting point is 00:12:49 So again, when they do target him, it's down the field and he's catching these passes for first downs for big gains. It's just when you're when you're a deep threat in an offense with Anthony Richardson, who early in the season was passing up the deeper throws and Gardner Minshew, who throughout his career passes up deeper throws for the most part, you're not going to have that many targets. So yes, Pierce could be better this season. There have been a couple of moments where I do think he could have done better things, but overall, I think he's been fulfilling that role fairly well. Now getting to the star, the rookie star of this offense, Josh Downs, 33 receptions on 47 targets
Starting point is 00:13:23 for 401 yards and two touchdowns we've seen an explosion the last couple weeks in this young receiver really quick he's your quick winner he's your guy who if you need a first down you isolate him one-on-one and you let him run those little option routes the stick routes those quick routes and get that first down for you he has 7.7 yards is his average depth of target sorry he has 7.7 yards, uh, is his average depth of target. Sorry. He dot, uh, 7.7 yards. So again, really short stuff when it comes to Josh downs, although we have seen that increase a lot the last couple of weeks, I think up until about two or three weeks ago, it was like a five point something average at the target is risen quite a bit to 7.7 in recent
Starting point is 00:14:02 weeks, uh, 5.5 yards after catch port per reception as well. So he is starting to add a little bit of that yak on top of his catches. And 48% of his catches have gone for a first down, which I will stipulate most of his third down catches have gone for first down. So he's actually done a really good job of making those count for first downs. But like Michael Pittman Jr., he is kind of your rhythm getter on offense. He's your guy who early in the downs, you might hit him for a quick pass for five, six yards just to get closer to the sticks, where that's not Alec Pierce at all. That's why almost all of his catches have gone for first downs. So they kind of have their niche roles. None of these guys are that dominant ball winner,
Starting point is 00:14:41 that superstar receiver, but they all have their niche roles. Again, Michael Pittman Jr., win over the middle of the field, be your tough physical receiver. We might motion you into the backfield or into that sniffer tight end role to be a heavy blocker as well because you're that big bodied receiver that we trust in that kind of grinder type role. Alec Pierce, your dominant deep threat guy, or not dominant, but you know, your deep threat guy, your hopefully dominant deep threat guy, but your deep threat guy who's going to make some jump balls happen. He's going to haul in some downfield targets. He's going to run out the safeties on a lot of these middle of the field shots. Yes, he could be a little bit better, but overall, I think it's been a really solid season for him. And then Josh Downs, your quick winner, your middle of the field guy, your third downs target
Starting point is 00:15:21 guy. But again, more of an expanding role going forward where he is starting to get some more downfield shots. But I think all three of these guys fill their roles fairly well. Again, they could all be a little bit better in what they're doing, but for the most part, you're seeing these players all play at an average to above average level at their design role in the offense. So when you're looking about what you need added to this room going forward, you know, do you need a better fourth receiver just to spell these guys and have more of a diverse guy behind them, like an Ashton Doolin if Ashton Doolin were to come back?
Starting point is 00:15:52 Do you need more speed in this room? Because Alec Pierce is really your only deep threat. Again, Downs is going down the field a little bit more lately, but Pierce is really the only threat down the field right now for this Colts offense. So do you need more speed in this offense? Do you need more of that scheme touches guy that can turn a pass behind the line of scrimmage into a 60 yard gain. Maybe I think they might need that. Or do you just need that dominant ball winner? You know, I'm not saying a Marvin Harrison jr, but like that type,
Starting point is 00:16:17 do you need that star receiver to really put this passing game over the edge? Um, I'm not too sure. You know, I think that we can talk about this as the season goes along. I am I have definitely been higher on this wide receiver room than most people throughout the year, not because I think they're phenomenal, they're phenomenal. But I do think that they are performing their roles at a good level. They're performing their roles in the way that the offense is designed to work. And I think as a result, that's why we're seeing the Colts be top six right now in points per game. We're seeing them have, I think they're six right now in explosive play rate. We're seeing these players make some plays down the field and create some things in this offense. But yeah, I want to hear your guys' thoughts in the comment section. Let me know below this video if you're
Starting point is 00:16:59 guys watching on YouTube or wherever you're watching or listening. Let me know, do you think they need more speed in this offense? Do you think they need that dominant ball winner? Are you pretty happy with the growth and potential of these top three guys? So let me know in the comments. I really want to hear from you guys. But coming up, we're going to talk about one of the bigger issues going forward for this Colts team, which is what the heck do they do about outside corner? With Juju Brents likely to miss a couple weeks,
Starting point is 00:17:23 do they have an outside corner on the roster or do they have to go out for veteran help to start alongside Jalen Jones? We're going to talk about that here in just a second. These days, every new potential hire can feel like a high-stakes wager for your small business. So you want to be 100% certain
Starting point is 00:17:38 that you have access to the best qualified candidates available. That's why you have to check out LinkedIn Jobs. LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the right people for your team faster and for free. Simple tools like screening questions, make it easy to focus on candidates with just the right skills and experience. So you can quickly prioritize who you'd like to interview and hire. It's why small businesses rate LinkedIn jobs. Number one in delivering quality hires versus leading competitors. LinkedIn jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to faster. Post your job for free at linkedin.com.
Starting point is 00:18:07 That's locked on NFL. That's linkedin.com. That's locked on NFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. And guys, testing my skills on PrizePix this football season has been the most exciting way to play daily fancy sports. If you have the skills, you can turn $10 into $250 with just a few taps. PrizePix is really simple to play. I can make my picks and submit my entry in less than 60 seconds.
Starting point is 00:18:31 Quick withdrawals, easy gameplay, and an enormous selection of players and stat types are what make PrizePix the number one daily fantasy sports app. Go to prizepix.com slash locked on NFL and use code locked on NFL for a first deposit match up to $100. Again, that's prizepix.com slash locked on NFL and use code locked on NFL for a first deposit match up to $100. PrizePix, daily fantasy sports made easy. All righty, my beautiful everydayers, I want to thank you once again for joining me on this beautiful Wednesday morning as we're talking about the Colts offense, the first two segments. Now we're shifting over to the Colts defense to talk about outside cornerback.
Starting point is 00:19:10 You know, I know all offseason we were complaining about, hey, Chris Ballard, we need more veteran play in this quarterback room. How are you going to rely on Dallas Flowers, Juju Brins, Jalen Jones, Baker, DJ Baker, Darryl, uh, Daryl Baker, Jr. Sorry, Daryl Baker, Jr. Uh, Tony Brown, Kenny Moore, like how are you going to rely on just this group of guys to be your starting corners throughout the season? And I would honestly say for the most part, this Colts corner room has been pretty good. Like outside of one player, which we're going to talk about in a second. Uh, I think Juju Brents has been really good when he's played this year. Jalen Jones has filled in admirably. Kenny Moore obviously is back to being Kenny Moore this season. And Dallas Flowers, before his season-ending injury, was
Starting point is 00:19:52 playing at a really high level, really solid level as the team's top cornerback. The main issue now is everyone's getting hurt. Dallas Flowers out for the season with that Achilles injury. You got Juju Brents likely to miss a couple weeks with a quad injury. So now you're down to Jalen Jones and Kenny Moore. There's only two quality corners in that room. And then a bunch of unknowns. You got Darryl Baker Jr., who is coming off a really brutal game, a game where he was playing really well until that last drive,
Starting point is 00:20:22 that last drive where he allowed a long catch down the sideline and then had two costly penalties in the red zone, which ultimately gave the Cleveland Browns their victory in that game. I don't think you can go back to him. Even if you think those penalties are bogus penalties towards the end of the game, which no comment for me, no comment. Jim Mercer said it best on social media today. But even if you think those are bogus penalties, the refs are eyeing him now. The refs are putting that spotlight on him. They're putting that target on his back.
Starting point is 00:20:49 So a player who's not playing particularly well and then also has a spotlight on his back, you can't start him going forward. You just can't have him be your starting corner. You can't even really have him rotating in because he's such a liability now when he's on the field. So that option is pretty much down. And when you're looking at the roster,
Starting point is 00:21:06 the only other outside corner on the team is Amir Speed, who was a player they just claimed this past week from the New England Patriots. Now Speed is really interesting. 6'3", 215-pound rookie. Really, really great testing numbers this past offseason as well. He's played in 83 total snaps this season, but just nine on defense. Now he did get a tackle in one of those nine snaps. So there we go, baby. There we go. That's our guy there on the outside. But I don't know if that's a player that you're feeling
Starting point is 00:21:36 totally comfortable throwing out there just yet. You probably want to get him more into the scheme. You want to get him a little bit more adept into playing before you throw him out there, just throw him to the wolves. So I don't know about that option. Again, I wouldn't mind getting him some snaps just because it's not Daryl Baker Jr., but you probably want to look at some other options here. My personal favorite option for outside corner to replace Juju Brents, and again, this is another thing you guys can let me know in the comments because I don't know how people fall on this, because I think it's really interesting, is I would pretty much move Kenny Moore II back to the outside until Juju Brents comes back. I think the Colts have more options at nickel. They have Tony Brown on the roster who can play
Starting point is 00:22:18 nickel. They have Nick Cross, who worked a lot at nickel in the offseason. Obviously, they have Julian Blackman, who can come down and play nickel in a pinch as well. So Kenny Moore who, yes, it's tough moving him from the slot. He is so good in the slot. He has been a top three slot corner in the NFL this year. Maybe the best in the NFL this year. It's hard to move him from that spot because you're weakening that position.
Starting point is 00:22:42 But because the options on the outside are so poor, you almost have to just make that bet. You can't go into games with such poor options on the outside, especially in this scheme, because we saw this past weekend, the other team was just going after Baker Jr. the entire second half. The Cleveland Browns, despite not having a very accurate or efficient passing game, went after Darryl Baker Jr. for most of that second half. But if you have Kenny Moore out there, that's not going to happen. You know, teams aren't going to go after Kenny Moore the same rate that they're going to go after Darryl Baker Jr. And I trust Tony Brown or Nick Cross in the slot more than I trust Baker Jr. on the outside.
Starting point is 00:23:19 So I think that's the best option for this Colts team. Again, I do think they should also sign a veteran, which we're going to talk about in a second. But I think for now, putting Kenny Moore on the outside, where he can still be a quality corner, he can still fill the run from the outside, he can still get in receivers' faces and do his Kenny Moore thing, I think that's just a better option for this Colts team than forcing another young guy out there
Starting point is 00:23:42 or grabbing a veteran off the street and saying, hey, go start now for us. I think this is just a much better option here. But looking at some veteran options, there are some guys out there who either have some experience with Gus Bradley, who have experience in similar schemes to this, or just have experience in general. Number one is obviously Casey Hayward, the veteran corner who played most of his career with Gus Bradley, with the Chargers, and then played that one season with the Raiders as well. Now he has been a free agent for a bit. And I don't think the viewpoint around the NFL is that he has much left in the tank. But honestly, at this point, like, is it much worse than what we've seen from Daryl Baker Jr. on the
Starting point is 00:24:22 outside? Like it wouldn't hurt as a rotational or a depth guy by any means, but Casey Hayward is definitely out there. Anthony Everett played mostly for the Ravens in the NFL, did a lot of work there at Alabama as well, where he was a really good starting corner for them at Alabama. Everett's another guy who's been around the league a little bit, good athleticism. He's kind of been a little inconsistent throughout his career,
Starting point is 00:24:44 but that's another player you could throw in there. Kyle Fuller, another veteran corner who played really well early in his career, but just more of the veteran on the down sweep of his career. Hasn't really had much work in a while. And then another interesting option would be Greedy Williams. Greedy Williams, a former second round pick of the Cleveland Browns back in 2019. He did go to the philadelphia eagles this past offseason but was released from the team and he hasn't been picked
Starting point is 00:25:10 up since there's probably not much there at this point with greedy williams but good size good athleticism i don't know at this point again you're picking from a really small crop and free agency maybe the colts go to some other teams, practice squads and, and grab some height, weight, speed guide. They really like as well and just rotate him in a mere speed. But personally,
Starting point is 00:25:31 again, I like the Kenny more to the outside idea. It sucks to lose that impact from the slot, but it's just so important to have a reliable outside corner. You really just can't go into these games with someone like Baker jr. In, in the mistakes that he's making on the outside. So I think getting Kenny Moore out there and just
Starting point is 00:25:49 having solid play across your entire cornerback room rather than solid, great and poor play, you know, across the board like that. I just think that's much more important for this team. But again, like I said, with the last segment, you guys let me know in the comment section, what do you think the Colts should do at corner? Maybe do they go for a trade? You know, do they go for a trade despite being a 3-4 team with their backup quarterback? Do they do a win-now trade and go get a corner as well? You guys let us know in the comment section there.
Starting point is 00:26:15 But I think that's all I have for you guys. Again, every day is Jake. We're back tomorrow with Crossover Thursday, talking everything Saints-Colts. Do the Colts come out on top against the Saints? We'll find out tomorrow when Jake talks it out with Ross there from Locked On Saints. And if you guys don't already, follow at Locked On Colts, at JakeArthurNFL, and at Zach Hicks too, all on Twitter. Also, subscribe to us on YouTube, wherever you listen to us on podcasts.
Starting point is 00:26:39 We love your guys' ratings, reviews, and we'll see you guys back here bright and early tomorrow morning.

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