Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Jonathan Taylor Robbed of Season's End, Other Interesting Roster Moves

Starting point is 00:00:00 The hits just keep on coming for the Indianapolis Colts as they have placed superstar running back Jonathan Taylor on injured reserve, ending his season among several other interesting roster moves. We'll talk all about it today on Locked on Colts. 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.

Starting point is 00:00:49 Thank you all 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. Today's episode is brought to you by Ultimate Football GM. To download the game, just visit ultimate-gm.com or look it up in your app stores our listeners get a 100 free boost to their franchise when using the promo locked on in the game store this is jake arthur riding han solo today no zach with us we're going to talk all about this jonathan taylor situation him landing on IR, kind of reflect on his season, the disappointing one that it's been along with the Colts as an entirety, and what him landing on IR means for the team moving forward in these last three games.

Starting point is 00:01:35 So just to kind of paint a picture here, him going to IR was one of several moves made all at once. Along with him on IR, the Colts also signed linebacker Cameron McGrone off of the New England Patriots practice squad. They elevated Jordan Wilkins to the active roster from the practice squad, signed tight end Dominique Daphne and running back Aaron Champkin to the practice squad. And interestingly enough, they waived defensive end Ifedi Odenigbo. We'll get to that last

Starting point is 00:02:05 one more in depth in our final segment here in a bit outside of taylor and o'denigbo there's really not much to write home about with these moves mcgroan is obviously intriguing because the colts felt compelled enough to bring him in off of another team's practice squad so that kind of always means they've they probably had an eye on him for a bit, to be honest with you. At the linebacker position, he's not likely to really see much action in these last few games. I would imagine if he gets active in any of them, it'll be on special teams for the most part. He is actually an Indy native from Lawrence Central High School. For any of you listening who are familiar with that, kind of a fun little tidbit. Daphne also has some Indiana ties as he came to the NFL a couple years ago out of Indiana State.

Starting point is 00:02:56 He does have several games worth of experience with the Packers. Again, probably not going to have much of a role with the Colts if anything outside of special teams a couple of these kind of felt like the Colts getting ahead of making reserve and future deals at the end of the season maybe that's a couple guys they had their eyes on pulling them pulling them in now with a few games left just to get ahead of it so that that's you know bringing in new guys to the active roster for the most part. With this little time left in the season, that's kind of the vibe I'm getting there. As for Wilkins, he's going to join Zach Moss and Deion Jackson in the backfield.

Starting point is 00:03:40 The Colts could have elevated Devontae Price. That's a guy they've had all offseason with them. Jake Funk as well. That's a guy they've had all offseason with them. Jake Funk as well. That's a guy they brought in somewhat recently. But the Colts are just kind of, you know, we've really been able to tell, especially this season. They're kind of like that guy that goes to every restaurant and gets chicken tenders every time. They want the safe bet. They want what they are familiar with.

Starting point is 00:04:05 That's just absolutely what they're ringing the bell on this year, bringing Wilkins back in the first place, which I'm not against, but at this juncture in the season, why not give some of the younger guys a shot? Yeah, I don't know. I don't think any of us truly know what all's brewing back there at all times right now. But before we move on, we're going to get into the Jonathan Taylor situation here in a second. But first, I actually want to make sure that I tell you guys about one of our new partners and sponsors of today's show, and that's the mobile GM game or the mobile game Ultimate Football GM. If you guys have ever wanted to be a GM, you know, fantasy nerds just like me out there, of course you do. And maybe you don't like a certain product that a monopolized NFL game is putting out there.

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Starting point is 00:05:55 It's free wherever you get your mobile games. Ultimate Football GM, start your dynasty today. This episode is also brought to you by Audible. Audible is releasing a slate of new football podcasts that we're sure you guys are going to love. That's why you'll be able to find an episode from The League available as a bonus episode of On Locked On NFL. It's narrated by Super Bowl champion and legendary smack talker Richard Sherman and sports broadcaster and rising star Taylor Rooks. The League is an eight-part docuseries about the most bizarre, inspirational,

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Starting point is 00:06:57 Personally, I think it's a smart move to shut him down. So he aggravated this right ankle, high ankle sprain against the Vikings. He's dealt with it throughout much of the year. He's aggravated it two or three times at this point. He's only been able to play in 11 of their 14 games. Even in the games he has played, he's still been on the practice, on the injury report for most of them. So it's something he's battled through throughout the year. It's obviously an injury that has stayed vulnerable if it keeps being aggravated.

Starting point is 00:07:27 So this is a lost season. There's nothing to play for. He's one of those guys that is going to try to play through everything. He takes great care of his body. So that probably makes him think he can test things a little more. So kind of a matter of protecting him from himself at this point. There's no point in risking further damage. Just let this guy heal up, get ready for next year.

Starting point is 00:07:51 You know, overall, this has just kind of been the cherry on top of his season. Between adjusting to the ever-changing offensive line throughout the first half of the season, you know, all those new lineup changes and the ankle, he obviously has not lived up to expectations. It's unfortunate because he honestly was looking better lately. We're kind of starting to see those longer runs we got accustomed to seeing to last year. But, you know, he had 10 games with 100 yards or more rushing last year when he led the league overall, just two this year. You know, he's obviously the 11 games missing time is this makes it obvious, but he is going to have career lows pretty much across the board and all the meaningful stats.

Starting point is 00:08:37 192 carries for 861 yards. That's only four and a half yards for average. That's good for a lot of other running backs, but for him, that's like a full yard below his career average only four touchdowns had 20 last year uh 28 catches for 143 yards with no touchdowns uh it's a shame that nothing really more transpired for him in the passing game this year i I thought going into it, if they could get him more opportunities, you know, out in open space with chances to run after that, that he'd be a dangerous player there, but he just got so many quick, just outlet dump offs that had no chance from the beginning. You know, he, he averaged just, uh, just a piddly yards per catch. And it's really not even his fault. A lot of times he'd get the ball and there'd be someone immediately there.

Starting point is 00:09:35 So hopefully they have a better plan for that next year because we've seen him be really dangerous as a pass catcher, as a rookie, and year two, and it just never really transpired much in year three, unfortunately. Looking forward, you know, there's three games left and they don't have their all-pro running back. So it's Zach Moss, Deion Jackson, and now Jordan Wilkins. Again, they elevated him. At this point, it's tough to say what the pecking order is going to be. Zach Moss had 24 carries last week after Jonathan Taylor went down in one pass target. Deion Jackson had 13 carries and one target, although his target was a one yard touchdown. You know, and his first game back with India a few weeks back, Jordan Wilkins had three carries, but was targeted five times. So they weren't afraid to throw him into the fire. And honestly, Wilkins is probably the

Starting point is 00:10:22 most well balanced of all three of these guys. Moss and Jackson, definitely fresher runners. You know, Moss, they're kind of equal as runners, I would say. Neither of them really have pulled away in that department. But Moss is a better pass protector, and Deion Jackson is a better pass catcher. Wilkins is pretty solid in all three. In his first stint with the Colts, he was one of the best pass blocking running backs in the entire NFL. So man, you know, they like to play it safe if they want to. Jordan Wilkins is really the most ready-made three down back they have. So I'm interested to see how they attack this. Now, regardless of

Starting point is 00:11:06 who's back there, and I'm sure it's going to be a two, three headed approach with what they do. They get a very generous final slate of games here against the Chargers, Giants, and Texans. This is three of the worst pass or run defenses in the entire NFL. The Chargers rank 28th. They give up 145 yards per game. They've allowed eight opponents to have, or eight individual running backs to have 100 yards, and that includes four in the last five games. So they are, they're in rough shape right now. So the Colts are definitely getting them at the worst time. The Giants are 30th. They give up 150 yards per game. They have allowed five opponents to have 100-yard rushing games individually. And then the Texans, that's who the Colts finish up with. They're dead last,

Starting point is 00:11:56 32nd. They give up 167 yards on the ground. We're going beyond 100 yard performances on this one. They've had five individual opposing running backs have at least 140 yards. Derek Henry had like 219 yards, I think. So they are just terrible. Obviously, the Colts started off the season against them. Jonathan Taylor had 150 yards, 140, 150 yards. So we know firsthand that the Colts can very well do damage against them on the ground. So you're not going to have Jonathan Taylor, but I don't think it's going to look just totally heinous because they're getting some of the worst competition out there against the run. So we're going to pour one out for JT season overall, and there's no better place to do

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Starting point is 00:13:15 Sorry, Zach. Drink responsibly and be 21. All right, so the final move we talked about in that opening segment was Ifedi Odenigbo being released. And, you know, if you've been on Twitter at all today, everyone's kind of scratching their head at that one because he's played pretty good ball all year, really. Shoot, even even just in the last game facing his old team, the Vikings, he had a sack. He had a blocked punt that was returned for a touchdown. That was the Colts' first special teams touchdown this year. So not only has he had a good season, he's coming off a great game.

Starting point is 00:13:55 He's actually had two sacks in the last three games. I was looking more in-depth at his season overall earlier today. According to Pro Football Focus, he has the best pass rushing grade on the Colts of all of their defensive ends. That includes Quidipe and Yannick Ngakwe on the season. So according to PFF, he's been their best pass rushing defensive end all year and second on the team overall only to DeForest Buckner. So, you know, he's been like third or fourth or about fourth or fifth in the pecking order as far as defensive ends go. But he's getting home a lot of the time when he's out there rushing the passer. So he'll be missed in these last few games. Honestly, so a lot of people worrying like,'s up with this why would they let a really high quality

Starting point is 00:14:45 player go and for me this kind of reads you know there's only a few reasons you would do this at this juncture in the season um one would be for disciplinary reasons and there's no reason for us to believe that's the case another thing would be just doing a courtesy to a veteran and letting him go and find a better opportunity with a contender, uh, you know, establish himself for a week or two before moving into the playoffs. Or, you know, if, if the player just flat out requested their release, which may be the case, I know there's been a lot of speculation about that today.

Starting point is 00:15:20 I wouldn't be surprised and he wouldn't be the first guy to, to try and get his way out of Indy this year. You know, we saw, you know, Naheem Hines was traded earlier this season. So who knows, man, you know, at one point that was an ironclad locker room and there's just been so much dysfunction this season that it's now kind of a place people are trying to find their way out. And I mean, can you blame them? I mean, look at what's happened these last two games. You give up 33 unanswered points in the fourth quarter against the Cowboys. Embarrassing loss on national TV. You give up the biggest comeback in NFL history on Saturday on national TV.

Starting point is 00:15:57 You got another national TV game this next one, Monday Night Football. What kind of nonsense can happen then? But no, the Colts are losing a pretty good rotational player in Odenikbo. You wish him the best. He's on waivers, so he's eligible for some team to pick him up on his current deal. We'll see where he goes. Hopefully he can go somewhere that's making a strong playoff push. With him gone, of course, Taequan Lewis was out for the year already.

Starting point is 00:16:26 Quidi Pei's been back, so that's definitely good. You're really looking at Dayo Odengbo, who's been playing a lot lately, and he's been looking awesome. Just coming off of a career game. Had a great game, just like Odengbo, against the Vikings with a couple of sacks and some chase downs of Kirk Cousins running up in the pocket. Ben Banigou might get a little play. I don't know. He's been an actor for a lot of time this year. Khalid Kareem was a guy they picked up a couple weeks ago.

Starting point is 00:16:55 He honestly fits more of the Effetti-Odenik-Bowe role than someone like Banigou does. Banigou is more just like a Leo. So I don't think it affects Dio too much because he already was playing a lot and maybe get a few extra snaps. Really, I would expect it to be more Khalid Kareem that we see rather than Ben Banigou, just based on the type of roles that they play, body types, ability to stop the run, things like that. So that's a couple of things I would look for in these last few games after Denning Bowe goes down. Short and sweet.

Starting point is 00:17:30 That's it for us today, everybody. We'll be back with you tomorrow. Zach is going to chat with Locked on Chargers to get kind of an insider's perspective on Monday's matchup. Learn a little bit more about a team we probably don't see much of outside of primetime games out there on the west coast uh as for social media and stuff you know if you're watching on youtube we're getting really close to 2 000 subscribers i think we're at 1965 before i uh before i started looking man that'd be a great gift for us if you guys got us to 2k before christmas we definitely

Starting point is 00:18:02 appreciate it uh you guys can follow at LockedOnColts, at JakeArthurNFL, and at ZachHicks2 on Twitter. Again, subscribe on YouTube, wherever you listen to podcasts, Spotify, Apple, Stitcher, wherever we are on there. And thank you guys for making us

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Jonathan Taylor Robbed of Season's End, Other Interesting Roster Moves

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