Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Jonathan Taylor Speaks Out on Contract Extension

Episode Date: June 15, 2023

Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor is up for a contract this offseason, and the star player let it be known that he is open to an extension. Should the Colts look to extend their star pla...yer? Also, rookie safety Daniel Scott lands on Injured Reserve with a torn ACL, and Jake reveals his highlights from veteran mandatory minicamp.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!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!BirddogsGo to birddogs.com/lockedonnfl and when you enter promo code, LOCKEDONNFL, they’ll throw in a free custom birddogs Yeti-style tumbler with every order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to TWO THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.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 A Colts superstar got realer than he's ever been with the media to this point, and it has to do with his contract situation. 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 day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.
Starting point is 00:00:45 I am Jake Arthur. He is Zach Hicks. And you know the two of us from HorseshoeHuddle.com. I'm your resident credentialed member media reporting to you live from the facility. And Zach is the most notorious film guy either side of the Mississippi. I appreciate that, Jake. I appreciate that. that's a good one I was gifted that one from Noah Compton he is he is really into these descriptions I give you that
Starting point is 00:01:12 are totally off the cup every time so that one Noah thank you for that one uh but on today's show the Colts have wrapped up their veteran mini camp they're done until training camp now. But also after practice, media spoke with Jonathan Taylor, who has not been present as he recovers from his ankle procedure. But he's also in the midst of contract negotiations for a new extension. Of course, his second contract, the one for running backs, that is the big one. And he kind of had some more revealing things to say than we really ever hear from him. And then there was some unfortunate news where pretty promising Colts rookie safety Daniel Scott, he's now been lost for the season with a torn ACL.
Starting point is 00:01:57 He went on injured reserve today. And then last up, oh yeah, the Colts actually had practice. They did cut minicamp short by a day. Coach Shane Steichen is giving the guys Thursday off. So just Tuesday and Wednesday, and they're now done until training camp, like I mentioned. But I'll let you guys know a little bit about what I saw in those two days and how some of it has been a little misleading
Starting point is 00:02:20 and taken out of context in regard to how things are digested on Twitter. But first up, Zach, Jonathan Taylor. So you and I have both spoken with him on this show. In fact, I've spoken with him in the locker room. He is wise in how he chooses to speak with the media. He's going to kind of tow the company line and give you a lot of coach speak. He's very encouraging, things like that.
Starting point is 00:02:47 But the truth is he's eligible for a contract extension. And he is one of probably the two or three best players at his position in the league. And it's a position that is getting kind of disrespected when it comes to contracts. And across the league, at least that's definitely what those who play the position, how they view it. You know, these guys are given pretty decent sized deals, and then a good chunk of them are let go before those deals run out, you know, not renewed for what they feel is equitable, what have you. So Jonathan Taylor was asked about that today.
Starting point is 00:03:23 And he said, you know, I, you see why guys request trades. You know, we've seen Dalvin Cook was let go last week. And that's just the latest and kind of a bevy of running back news. There's a lot of notable guys on the free agent market this off season. But he said he wants to retire a Colt and he wants to get something done, but the ball is kind of in the Colt and he wants to get something done, but the ball is kind of in the Colts court right now. And to me, that kind of reads, you know, Taylor's side has let it be known what they want.
Starting point is 00:04:00 And the Colts have probably given out something that's a bit lower right now because another big factor in this is that Jonathan Taylor has also changed management. He has a new agent now. He now shares the same agent as Shaquille Leonard, so someone who is well-equipped with getting big deals done with the Colts. Zach, what do you take through all of this? Yeah, I think it's a very nuanced conversation here. I know there's a lot of people on the analytics side that are very anti-pay the running back, trade him while you can, and just get another young player. And I understand that
Starting point is 00:04:30 take, that point of view, because we are seeing with this running back position in recent years that whoever's getting that big contract is typically not living up to that contract for the duration of the deal. Dalvin Cook was just recently released. Ezekiel Elliott was released. Joe Mixon's play has fallen off since he got his big deal. We are seeing a lot of these star players at the running back position fall off before they even hit 30 years old. So I understand the hesitancy from the Colts where it's like, we might not have to pay him as much as what we would in the past. A player like Emmitt Smith in the 90s when his contract was up was paid at one of the highest paid players in the entire league. And he was a running back.
Starting point is 00:05:13 You don't have to pay these running backs $20 to $25 million a year. That's not what these guys are asking. But even what they are asking, if you're wanting that over a four to five year span, with the nature of the running back back position it's insanely hard to pay them just because that play dips off quite a bit I mean we even saw with Jonathan Taylor last year where he did not play poorly whatsoever like it like he had a he had a down year for him but we saw the injuries piling up we saw him not be as explosive at times we saw nagging just injuries throughout the whole season. And if that persists going forward, you can't pay him over a four-year deal or a five-year deal, which is what all these players want. They want four to five-year deals so they can have security and not have to worry
Starting point is 00:05:54 about that next paycheck and worry about where they're going to have to move their whole family to. So it's a really tough situation. I understand where players like Taylor and Saquon Barkley and Tony Pollard and Josh Jacobs over there with the Raiders. I understand where they're all coming from. You know, teams are trying to keep that position's money low, but there's a reason for it. Like, we are not seeing running backs outside of Derrick Henry play well into their late 20s and early 30s. You know, we're not seeing them keep up that pace of play where we are seeing at wide receiver we're seeing at quarterback we're seeing even on the offensive line and stuff like that we're seeing those positions keep up longer that's why they get those longer deals so the
Starting point is 00:06:34 running back positions in a really tough spot around the league right now I think we're kind of in a tipping point we don't know where we're going to go with it you know are these running backs all just going to hold out and and demand demand to get paid more right away. So they actually touch the field. Are we going to see an increase in shorter term deals, like maybe fully guaranteed short deals or something like that, uh, to kind of appease both sides here. It's, it's a really, really fascinating conversation, but I do think it, it deserves more context and more nuance than just, Oh, don't pay the running back. You know, don't pay the running back. Because, you know, at the end of the day, it's about producing points.
Starting point is 00:07:10 And I'm not going to sit here and deny that throwing the ball is the best way to produce points. But having a playmaker that creates explosive plays like a Jonathan Taylor, who is one of the fastest players in the league, along with a big bruising running back who can carry the ball 20 times a game, there is value in that. There is immense value in that. If you can lock him up on a two to three year deal around 13 to 14 million a year, that's more valuable than almost any other contract on your roster, as long as he stays healthy through it. Now, I'm not saying, again, if you give him a four to five year deal, you're playing with fire when it comes to that position. But if you give yourself an out and you will reward him you know with with a good deal I think there is an avenue for both sides to come together on this I do think the Colts will ultimately get it done and one thing that Jonathan Taylor did say in his uh press conference was you know the Colts were an
Starting point is 00:07:57 organization known for rewarding their players who perform you know rewarding their rookies who perform on that rookie deal with big contracts. And honestly, with the Colts, position value be damned. I mean, they gave Quinton Nelson the biggest contract ever for a guard. They gave Shaquille Leonard the biggest contract ever for a linebacker. At the end of the day, it's about getting wins. It's about getting wins and scoring points and on defense, preventing teams from scoring points, whether that is done through a star running back, a star receiver, star quarterback, whatever. It's about doing that. And a player like Jonathan Taylor is a positive impact player.
Starting point is 00:08:29 It's just not hampering your future with that long-term deal. So I do think ultimately they're going to come to an agreement on like a two to three year deal, whether that's this off season or next off season. But it is a fascinating conversation. I think I lean towards paying him. But again, if it becomes like a five-year deal type thing, I don't know where I would fall on that just because we are seeing the volatility of that position and seeing players falling off. Yeah. And I think ultimately they get something done just because, again, it would go against everything Chris Ballard has always preached to let him just walk out the door unless it is just some ungodly amount of money that Taylor is asking for and I do think the duration of the contract is
Starting point is 00:09:10 a big deal the running backs probably do want longer deals and the Colts just don't you know I think Zeke Elliott is probably one of the more recent examples of getting that huge deal because Zeke is was in his second contract already getting the huge deal that kind of resets everything, resets the market. And then you see the demise later in that contract before it's done. So that's kind of the cautionary tale, but I really do think the Colts will get something done because they, they do value Taylor. I just think they're, they're not eager to get it done right now because there's a lot of bargaining to be done still. Yeah. Yeah. I just think they're not eager to get it done right now because there's a lot of bargaining to be done still. Yeah. Yeah. I do want to pose this question to you guys listening. I'm not going
Starting point is 00:09:49 to say five-year deal here. I'm not going to say one-year deal, but if the Colts were to sign Jonathan Taylor to a three-year $40 million deal right now, right now, and it goes into effect starting today, how would you feel about that deal? Three years, $40 million for your former all-pro running back. Let us know in the comments what you think of that deal? Three years, $40 million for your former all-pro running back. Let us know in the comments what you think of that. That would be a little over $13 million a year. I think that's where the going rate is for running backs right now. So let us know in the comments what you think about that.
Starting point is 00:10:14 Like a three-year, $40-ish million deal, what you think about that for your star running back, Jonathan Taylor. Yeah, honestly, that feels like a low ball, but we can get to that in another time but next a promising Colts rookie Daniel Scott he has been lost for the season with a torn ACL what does that mean for the Colts what does it mean for him we'll get to that in a moment but first a word from our friends over at FanDuel make your way over to FanDuel because right now new customers can get a no sweat first betat first bet up to $2,500.
Starting point is 00:10:47 That's $2,500 back in bonus bets if your first bet doesn't win. The NBA playoffs just finished. The NFL preseason, it'll be here before we all know it, and we know everyone likes to bet on that. We still got NLB golf. There's things out there to still bet on, and let's be honest, the NBA and the NFL, that's not all you're looking for. And there's really no better place to bet at all than at America's number one sportsbook, FanDuel. Visit FanDuel.com slash locked on and get a no sweat first bet up to $2,500. That's FanDuel.com slash locked on.
Starting point is 00:11:22 FanDuel, official sports betting partner of the NBA. And everydayers, we're going to continue our positional breakdown series on tomorrow's episode where we go to the cornerback room, the most intriguing roster spot on the entire roster. Make sure you guys tune in for that tomorrow morning. Set those alarms, you beautiful everydayers. All right, Jake, so getting into our next topic on today's show, it was a surprisingly news-filled day here on Wednesday when we were recording this. everydayers. All right, Jake, so getting into our next topic on today's show is surprisingly
Starting point is 00:11:45 newsfield newsfield day here on Wednesday when we're recording this, but Colts fifth round pick safety Daniel Scott did go down with an ACL injury. He is out for the entire season. You know, at the end of the day, this isn't a massive, massive loss because it's not like Scott was going to be a starter for the team but it does hurt to see a young player go down with an injury especially a player you know where their spot's not really guaranteed going forward you know it's one thing if this were your first or second round pick going down with an injury but having a fifth round pick a 24 year old fifth round pick as well going down with an injury injury in camp. His chances at making an NFL roster going forward
Starting point is 00:12:27 are just severely limited. It reminds me a lot of Drew Ogletree last year. Drew Ogletree, mid to late day three pick guy who went down with an injury in camp, and we don't know what his status is going to be this upcoming season. So you have to feel for Scott. You have to feel for his situation, and it just sucks to see a young player go down with an injury like this. Yeah, it really does because he was a fifth round pick. Sure, you know, kind of was at Cal forever. I think he was a six-year player at Cal, but the Colts did have decent plans for him. Not necessarily right away, but the career they foresee for him, you know, is a player who can contribute on defense,
Starting point is 00:13:05 but be a special teams ace as well for Brian Mason, the new special teams coordinator. Everything that Mason has said he wants in one of those core four guys, that's Daniel Scott right there. But kind of one of the biggest bummers about it is we've seen how this safety group, any group in the NFL can change in a matter of week. But the safety group in particular, Rodney Thomas, we didn't think he would see the field at all last season. Seventh round pick out of Yale, played several different positions, didn't even play in 2020. And here it is. He's arguably their best safety right now. Leads the team in picks last season. You kind of saw the avenue for Daniel Scott, and we've talked about it,
Starting point is 00:13:50 for that to potentially happen. Now, Rodney Thomas is definitely an outlier. But with how the Colts have discussed how much they like him, and Julian Blackman has had injury concerns before, Nick Cross has not proven anything yet, there was a spot there for, for Daniel Scott to come in and earn a little playing time. Um, so definitely a bummer for him. Luckily, again, you hear this all the time. ACL injuries aren't what they used to be. Uh, now, of course they're all different, but the recovery time for him, this is, this should, this isn't
Starting point is 00:14:22 like career threatening or anything his season is over because he's not in on injured reserve now um but again like you said with Ogletree hopefully the guy comes back you know stronger than ever because he does seem to have a bright future yeah yeah and I know I think now you know looking at that safety depth chart it kind of gets a little more worrisome because again, you have Julian Blackman, you have Ronnie Thomas, you feel pretty good about both those guys, even though Blackman has a bit of an injury history himself, and he's never completed a full season in his NFL career. Behind that, it's Nick Cross, who, like you said, we don't really
Starting point is 00:15:00 know what we have there. We know he could be a really good special teamer when he gets out there for those opportunities, but he's not someone we know that the Colts can rely on on defense and then you've got Trevor Denboe who is a phenomenal special teamer but we don't know what he can really be on defense I know in your camp notes we'll probably talk about a certain play he had in camp uh if you were if you were there to see that Jake but uh yeah Denboe I think there is a good role for him as a strong safety type player but again he's more of a special teamer so now our conversation gets again like do they go bring in a veteran like they did with Ronnie McLeod last year you know do they get some sort of veteran just to be a stable presence in that safety room I think it's gonna be really interesting
Starting point is 00:15:40 to see what they do there but I like Cross I like denbo to a degree as well I want to see them get some reps here in camp but you know you have to feel a little more concerned about that depth chart behind the top two guys now because you know Daniel Scott was a guy who could kind of do both he could kind of do it all you know he was mostly a free safety in college he played a little strong safety he played a lot in nickel corner as well uh could kind of do all those roles phenomenal speed 4, four, four guide, natural range on the back end when playing deep and cross and Dembo are more strong safety type guys. You know, you want them more in the box. So who is the backup to a Ronnie Thomas, you know,
Starting point is 00:16:17 just Julian Blackman go over to free safety. So you're going to put both of those things on his plate, learning the whole new position of strong safety. And then also remembering your free safety roles. Do you trust Nick Cross in that role after last year? Like, it's gonna be interesting to see what they do with the depth of the safety position. I don't think it's as dire as what it was a couple years ago with the Andrew Sandejo stuff that happened. But I do think that, you know, it becomes more of a problem area than what it was before this injury, for sure. Yeah, but don't sleep on Marcel Dabo now either.
Starting point is 00:16:50 That's true. That's true. He is, I will admit, he's kind of an anonymous player right now, but I do think the Colts like him a good bit. He got promoted to backup free safety last summer relatively quickly. Of course, he had the practice squad exemption last season so they didn't have to put him on the roster um but i wouldn't be surprised if he is a rosterable player for them this year of course that's going to be special teams is going to be the big x factor and all of it but that's to me you know denbo is a guy
Starting point is 00:17:23 they already really liked you know know, he was going to be on the roster and everything last year before his initial injury. But I think with Daniel Scott going down, it definitely opens the door for Dabo, but also it could allow the Colts to keep an extra cornerback if they were trying to decide between the two groups what that numbers game was. Yeah. Yeah. And another note to do to say with uh trevor denbo is the colts liked him enough last year to where they could have put him on ir right before final cutdowns with his injury because i mean i think his injury ended up missing like six weeks to start last season it was like six to seven weeks they could have put him on ir just before the
Starting point is 00:18:00 year started but they wouldn't have had him available the whole year but he still would have been on their team you know like they still would have had his rights, but they valued him so much as a special teamer and valued him, you know, in their plans that they elected to keep him on that initial roster and cut a guy like Sterling Weatherford, who ended up getting claimed by someone else. And then they put Denbo on IR
Starting point is 00:18:22 just for that short amount of time there because they valued what he could be. Now, they did waive him later in the season and put him on the practice squad and then brought him up late in the season. He got some run there, but I do think the Colts like Trevor Denbo for what he is, and I do think they view something with him. Obviously, they like Nick Cross still. It's just what degree do they like him still? There has to be some interest at least still in him. I'm not saying all is lost in the safety group now that Daniel Scott's gone down I just will say that I was excited for Scott I love what he could have brought to this safety room and to special teams
Starting point is 00:18:53 and and now we're kind of you know we kind of got to expect a lot of Nick Cross and Trevor Denbo but that's the beauty of the offseason these two young guys are going to have a chance to shine and I hope they can both get it done yep I. I was really happy to see Dembo, your boy, make a play today, but we'll get to that here in a minute. But yeah, again, there was practice today. The Colts cut mini camp a day short, so it's now all done. I was there both days, so I can tell you a bit about what I saw and why some of it might've been a little misleading to what you've probably seen on Twitter so far. That's coming up next. All right,
Starting point is 00:19:28 Zach. So before training camp, this veteran mini camp was our final shot to get all of our Anthony Richardson content that we could see. And statistically it wasn't great. You know, I think he was like five of 12 or 13 or something passing during 11 on 11s in the two days, which of course that's not great.
Starting point is 00:19:48 And there's really no way to skew that to make it look great. But Gardner Minshew was not sharp either. And it's also important to remember this defense is way better than the offenses. Like this is a good NFL defense going up against a brand new NFL offense with a veteran quarterback who's not been like a long term starter and a rookie quarterback who started 13 games in college. So let's not forget that the defense should be killing the offense right now. Like that's to be expected. Well, yeah, it's a carried over defense. It's Gusley's defense yeah again they're
Starting point is 00:20:25 not cover they're not calling cover three match or something against um you know some intricate offensive play or anything like that so it's not like it's anything crazy schematically but we're talking about a lot of veteran players on that defense a lot of veteran players who have played together last season who kind of know what they're doing against an offense where you're throwing in a journeyman quarterback and a rookie quarterback who was very raw in college. You know, like anyone who,
Starting point is 00:20:52 even if the offense was light years better than the defense, we knew what Anthony Richardson was, you know, like we knew what this, I mean, I was higher than anybody else on Anthony Richardson. I was sky high on this player. I would have been shocked if he came into training camp or into this mini camp here
Starting point is 00:21:09 and completed every single pass and look like Pat Mahomes in the first practices. Like we know what he is. He's a raw quarterback. He's super talented and he can be amazing, but there's a ways to go. So anyone freaking out on him completing five of 13 in veteran minicamp in June, that's absurd. I'm sorry. That's absurd. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:21:31 And I wasn't looking for efficiency, really, in this minicamp. I was looking for flashes. Like, is he coming along? And is he showing those signs of what he can do? And I did see that. That's what I was looking for, I found. He was aggressive. He took some deep shots.
Starting point is 00:21:48 Some of those were complete. He had a 60-65 yard deep touchdown in seven-on-sevens on Tuesday. He had another near bomb today to Brashad Perriman that Nick Cross broke up. The ball flies out of his hand. Like, watching him next to Gardner Minshew and Sam Allinger. It's like incredibly noticeable. But in like, you always hear this about his blend of size and speed and everything, but I've never seen it up close and personal.
Starting point is 00:22:18 This was an incompletion. Mind you, it was on Tuesday. So he's maneuvering out around the pocket, but the way that this dude is just like lightning bolting through traffic and flung a ball across his body again incomplete but like you don't see that a lot and i was just like that's the best broken play i've ever seen probably like like he has it it's as advertised, he hopefully will put it all together, but like,
Starting point is 00:22:47 that's still very young in his career. Like again, no, it's not even training camp yet. But again, you're not looking for efficiency and gaudy numbers and stuff right now. And that's not what they're doing. Plus they're, they're splitting first team reps between Richardson and Gardner Minchie right now. But,hew right now. But beyond the performance things, just some interesting things that I noticed. So Alec Pierce, who, keep in mind, Michael Pittman Jr. is out right now. So Pierce is the de facto wide receiver one on the whole team at the moment. He's been getting his reps with richardson regardless of whether it's first or second team which kind of leads me to believe that the colts
Starting point is 00:23:31 are pairing them together to get that chemistry going they they did something with you know that they're obviously willing to do whatever with richardson but with pierce you know that's why they had stefan gilmore all over him last season to get it going like they're doing things strategically to get these guys development moving so i thought that was pretty interesting um yeah it's that that's that's just i don't know is there anything that you uh you were wondering about through uh through the practices so far no i mean i'll ask you more about like, I guess guys you saw out there and stuff like that,
Starting point is 00:24:08 but just again, with the Richardson thing, look, the Colts took a guy who was a 53% pastor in college. Yes. We can make all the things in the world about how the receivers went off the par, how a lot of it was mechanical stuff.
Starting point is 00:24:21 That's easy to fix. If whatever stance you have on that, him coming into veteran minicamp, like still learning the offense, he's not all of a sudden going to be the quarterback of our dreams. This is a process, and it might take more than a year even before we even start seeing some results from Anthony Richardson. He's not on the Peyton Manning – even Peyton Manning struggled his rookie year.
Starting point is 00:24:43 I'm trying to think of a rookie who actually had a phenomenal season. He's not on the um like the Peyton Manning even Peyton Manning struggled as a rookie I'm trying to think of a rookie who actually had like a phenomenal season he's on the Justin Herbert you know development plan where he's going to come out and throw for 4,000 yards as a rookie you know he's not on that development plan he's on the Josh Allen development plan he's on the Jalen Hurts development plan where it's not going to be pretty the rookie season you know you're going to see some flashes you're going to see some good things he can do but it's not going to be pretty you know you're gonna see some flashes you're gonna see some good things he can do but it's not gonna be pretty you know he's gotta learn while under fire and under duress and he's gonna he's gonna figure it out or he's gonna crash and burn but to expect him to come in from day one and just be the quarterback of our dreams is again just just absurd but talking about these these practices and stuff like that you know the the biggest things i'm wondering really are
Starting point is 00:25:24 again the right guard rotation. Who's that right guard? Was it mostly Will Fries? Were they getting – Yeah, it's Fries. They're rolling with the same – Were they getting Emile Keor in there? Like, were they getting Emile Keor in there like everyone was thinking?
Starting point is 00:25:37 Yeah, Keor has been, so far, the second team right guard. Okay. Okay. All right. And it's Dakota Shepley is the second team center where's pinter been at uh i'm trying to know okay so yeah pinter's probably in the center i'm trying to differentiate between like positional drills as well because there's also been guys that have been in and out with injuries so yeah pinter is is the the center. That's right.
Starting point is 00:26:05 Yeah. But, no, Keyor seems to have that inside track so far. Okay. They're moving guys around. Carter O'Donnell, left guard as well, second team. So, Jake Witt probably factors into that, but he's been out the tackle. So, not everyone has been around. And, of course, that's another reason why with the lineups, I don't take a whole lot of stock yet because they're dealing with over a dozen guys
Starting point is 00:26:29 who will get playing time who aren't in there right now. Right, right. So I guess my last thing I got to ask you then is standout play, standout performers. What has caught your eye there in the last two days, Jake? Yeah, so Evan Hall, again, I really enjoy what I've seen from him. Um, oddly enough, Jake Funk was like, or has been RB one this week, uh, with Taylor and Zach Moss out, uh, you would think it would be probably Dion Jackson. Uh, but it's, it's been Funk Dion Jackson, Evan Hall, but holes looked as good as he did in rookie mini camp catches everything, uh, runs with effort and burst.
Starting point is 00:27:06 Like he just looks like he's, he's got it, you know, uh, Trevor Denbo, we'll, we'll go ahead and make sure we mentioned his play today. So,
Starting point is 00:27:14 uh, it was another Sam Ellinger interception, which he's been getting picked on by the young defensive backs. Uh, but, uh, so Denbo, it was near the end of practice.
Starting point is 00:27:24 Actually, it was like the last play, I think. Ellinger threw one over the middle and Denbo was like leaning back and caught one with one hand and the defense went wild. It was those really fun type of plays where everyone on the field could see that it was an awesome play. And that's really the first flash I'd seen from him so far this spring, which is not a big deal. You're not getting a huge sample size. But no, he's been great. I really like Dallas Flowers. He has obviously had to step up with all the Isaiah Rogers stuff. You know, there was already a void there with Stephon Gilmore and Juju Brents hasn't been out there either. So Dallas Flowers
Starting point is 00:28:01 has been harassing receivers, making plays plays on the ball Jalen Jones as well uh late round pick the you know the forgotten about rookie corner behind uh Darius Rush and Juju Brents uh he had he had an interception off Ellinger on Tuesday and then just shortly after it broke up another pass against Ellinger like right in the same spot so uh these rookie defensive backs are kind of showing up yeah yeah and then you were talking about Kevin Tolliver the other day as well right was he getting some run yeah he he's just in that rotation you know with outside in the absence of Rodgers and Flowers like I haven't noticed anything spectacular or noteworthy positive or negative about him like he's just kind of out there but the colts do seem to value him a little bit so when training camp comes i'm not going to be
Starting point is 00:28:49 surprised to see him out there with the second unit maybe even some occasional first team stuff yeah well kevin tolliver i was actually writing about this the other day i think he has the second most defensive snaps in the whole cornerback room uh for a career only there's not a lot yeah i think it's like 210 career snaps on defense that's his and they came back in 2018 and 2019 so that's our experience right there in that cornerback room but not great there some good notes there jake yeah i like that flowers is stepping up because that's someone they desperately need to step up right now because juju brintz hasn't been getting, he's their second round pick,
Starting point is 00:29:25 but has not been able to get those reps yet. So yeah, they needed flowers to do something. Yeah. And rush has been out too, right? Yeah. Rush.
Starting point is 00:29:34 I think it's hamstring or something. No rush has been out all of, of this mini camp. He had that injury later in OTAs last week, I think. Yeah. Yeah. So we'll keep an eye on everything when it comes actual time for training camp.
Starting point is 00:29:47 But we love the update there, Jake. We love the Trevor Denbo hype, of course. Oh, yeah. And every day, be sure to stick around for the rest of the week while we talk the cornerback room bright and early tomorrow morning. All you beautiful everydayers, set those alarms because we're going to be talking about this really fun quarterback room. Fun with quotations around that there.
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