Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Laiatu Latu Steals the Show as Pads Come On for First Time at Camp

Episode Date: July 30, 2024

Indianapolis Colts rookie Laiatu Latu took center stage on the first day of pads at training camp practice, displaying his burst, athleticism, and flexibility. Both sides of the ball had positive mome...nts, but the defense made more plays. Join the Locked On Colts Insider Program to find out what's going on with the team from someone who's there to watch them every day! Jake and Zach will respond to questions and spark conversation about your team! JOIN HERE: https://joinsubtext.com/lockedoncolts 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/LockedOnNFL Follow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOnFN! LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn Dot Com slash LOCKEDONNFL. That’s LinkedIn Dot Com slash LOCKEDONNFL to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!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.eBay MotorsFor parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotors.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.GametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply.FanDuelFanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. As playoffs wind down, the sports stop sporting like we want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up ALL CUSTOMERS with a boost or a bonus, DAILY! That’s right, there’s something for everyone, every day, all summer long! Visit FANDUEL.COM/LOCKEDON and add a big win to your summer bucket list!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)

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The Pads came on today at Colts training camp and their first round pick was the star of the show. 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. 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 FanDuel. Make every moment more. As the playoffs wind down,
Starting point is 00:00:40 the sports stop sporting like we want them to, but this summer, FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or want them to. But this summer, FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or a bonus daily. That's right. There's something for everyone every day all summer long. Visit FanDuel.com slash locked on to get started. Hello, everyone. I am Zach Hicks, your favorite film nerd over at HorseshoeHuddle.com. And I'm joined by the amicable as always, Jake Arthur, boots on the ground there at Colts Training Camp, the guy who's giving us the inside scoop every single day. And look, if you want to become an insider just like Jake and become like a locked on Colts insider even and chat with us
Starting point is 00:01:16 directly and get that inside scoop, follow the link up in our show notes. Today was day four of training camp. They put the pads on. So look, Jake, we're not talking any receivers. We're not talking any pass catchers, nothing that fantasy football nerds like. We're only talking trenches today because that's all I care about. But there was one player that really stood out, and that's obviously first round pick Layatu Latu. So in our first segment, we're going to talk a little bit about the edge room because big thing happened, obviously, after we recorded yesterday's show.
Starting point is 00:01:47 So I was kind of eating it with what I was saying about the Colts past rushers injury on yesterday's prerecorded show. So we'll talk a little about that, talk about Richardson, obviously, and then talk about the defense having a great day. And obviously all the players in the edge rush room having a great day. And obviously all the players in the edge rush room having a great day, but the Colts were dealt a pretty massive blow yesterday. Jake, a pretty awful thing that we all had to see on social media when the news broke. Samson, Ebucom star pass rusher, maybe not star passer, but really, really good pass rusher for the Colts. Nine and a half sacks last year, 10 tackles for loss, three force fumbles led the team in pressures, hurries, pass rush, win rate, like literally every metric you could look at. He was the Colts best pass rusher by all of them last season. And his 2024 season ends before it even begins with a torn
Starting point is 00:02:36 Achilles, tearing his Achilles not even a quarter of the way through camp before the pads even come on. Just, man, I know Colts fans are listening to this right now being like, of course this happens to us. But what a horrible, horrible blow, man, to this Colts pass rush that we had sky-high hopes for. Yeah, and I think it's still in good shape, but it does shape how you think of it. Like, initially I was like, okay,
Starting point is 00:03:00 so they should have a pretty good consistent pass rush for four quarters in a game, like you would hope to. But now it's like, all right, so how do you shape this? Because right now, Dio Adengbo obviously factors in, but he's missed the last like two and a half practices. You got to throw a lot on Laetitia's play. And then Tyquan Lewis was great in a small sample size last year. But are you rolling the dice too much by giving him a bigger role this year? So you've got a lot more questions now with your leading sacker going out.
Starting point is 00:03:33 And it's not like if the Colts were losing Yannick Ngakwe or something a couple years ago. It becomes a really good run defender as well. So you are losing a three-down edge who can lead your team in sacks and who had 10 tackles for loss. So it's definitely a big hit. So far, what we've seen just in one day of camp, I mean, when he left Sunday, when he got hurt, Tyquan Lewis came out there and filled in the rest of the way. They had the off day yesterday. That's when they found out this was going to be toast, and his season was over.
Starting point is 00:04:08 So moving forward, it was primarily still Taekwon Lewis on rundowns, early down stuff, but more obvious passing situations, Liao Tzu Latu came in, which is I think what we could probably come to expect this year, except for I imagine, if I had to guess, I would imagine Daiio Adangbo is probably going to be the starter with Latu getting the passing down attention. And then maybe you keep Taekwon in that similar role as last year, but maybe give him a few more snaps per game.
Starting point is 00:04:36 Because again, you kind of caught lightning in a bottle with a guy who has been plagued by injuries throughout his career and had this incredibly productive season and a limited sample size. So I probably wouldn't mess with that too much. But I mean, we got to get Dio Dango back out here first. Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And, and, you know, again, the human element, your heart breaks for a player like Abu Khan, who just had his best career season in a new environment with the Colts. And it looked like he was going to keep taking those steps forward on a
Starting point is 00:05:06 relatively good deal too, for the Colts. I mean, it just so unfortunate to see, but talk going from the human element to the team element, obviously Abu Khan is signed through 2025, but the Colts could save $8 million if they cut him next off season, he'll be 30 coming off the Achilles injury with 11 million dollar cap hit and if a player like Dio Dango has a great year and you need to make some space for Dio Dango that's an obvious way to make that space but you know hopefully he can get through this recovery
Starting point is 00:05:35 really well he can come back next year we can have all these guys again next year and just really enjoy it but we'll definitely have to keep an eye on that there but yeah like you said this edge rush room it's you know if there were any position group where this could happen and the Colts could survive with their depth, it certainly is the edge rush room, but it's still something you don't want to see, obviously. We're going to talk a little bit more about the edge rushers in particular in our next segment, because we're going to do defense in our next segment. So put a pin in that, guys, because we do have to give you our daily Anthony Richardson update.
Starting point is 00:06:08 And we had our first injury scare of training camp, Jake. You know, I despise training camp because it could be anything from a major injury to a minor injury. And the cryptic tweets will always be like, Anthony Richardson got up slow and went back to the huddle, like looks concerning or he's shaking it off or something. And you have no clue if he just broke his entire leg off or if it's, you know, a little bruise that he's just shaking off. So what was with the latest little injury scare that Anthony Richardson had?
Starting point is 00:06:37 And was there any, is there any reason for anybody listening to be concerned right now? No, I mean, I don't think there's any cause for concern right now like obviously he's the type of guy who until he gets through a full season you're gonna hold your breath every time we all did i mean it's natural he unfortunately for him hasn't earned the benefit of the doubt to be able to fall down yet and let's not gasp um but no he it was just like a toss play to jonathan taylor and a lineman just stepped on him and tripped him up a little bit he got up like looking a little uncomfortable uh but he never
Starting point is 00:07:12 missed a rep he got back in there finished practice and then you know i a few minutes later you never knew anything happened really but of course it's something to to shuffle away in your in your mind and keep in there um but no he's fine i mean shane steichen said afterward that it was it was nothing you know he just got stepped on we've seen that be bad before but it was immediately bad you know like jacoby brissett 2019 had to leave the game and miss the next game um but no anthony didn't miss any time looked uncomfortable for a minute and then was fine after that and there's really no reason for us to have cause for concern now if we get out here tomorrow morning and he's not out there I'll change my tune but I don't think any of us have
Starting point is 00:07:55 reason for concern yet but again anytime something happens to him until we know that he can carry the load for a season that That's just going to be how it is. Yeah. Yeah. And look, I have a horrible track record talking about Colts injuries in training camp so far this offseason. So I'm not going to say anything about this one. I'm just going to keep my mouth completely shut, but I'm, that's your report from Jake Arthur right there, guys. Real quick though, before we go to the segment, how did Richardson look on the day throwing the football? I know like, like you kind of said at the top you know it wasn't a big offensive day uh in in today's practice but overall just how did richardson look was he still completing a you know passes at a
Starting point is 00:08:34 high rate like he was the first couple days yeah i mean pretty sharp and accurate like he has been throughout uh camp this being the fourth day he has completed his first four passes each day up until today. The fourth consecutive one was a nice play by Ronnie Harrison, who came on a blitz and just batted it at the line of scrimmage. So that snapped the streak. His only other incompletion on the day was a drop from Pittman that he should have had. So he was four of six today. He's had a really good completion percentage throughout camp. Obviously, with the pads coming on and this being a hot day out here and a shorter practice, there wasn't a lot of passing going on. The offensive stuff was just kind of focusing on moving the sticks
Starting point is 00:09:21 and just general gameplay situations. But it was kind of a ho-hum day for the offense overall. Like it was just a day. Awesome. Awesome. Well, that's why we are talking defense, obviously, in this next segment. So get ready for some defensive talk because the pads came on and a certain player got everyone's attention in today's practice. But first, I love sports.
Starting point is 00:09:46 I love them so much I never want them to stop. But as the playoffs wind down, we get fewer and fewer games. And the sports aren't sporting like I want them to. But FanDuel lets me keep the sports going whenever I want. All I have to do is open the app and dream up bets anytime I'm in the mood. And this summer, FanDuel is hooking up all customers with a boost or bonus daily. That's right. There's something for everyone every day all summer long so head to FanDuel.com and start making the most out of your summer FanDuel official sports betting partner of Major League Baseball
Starting point is 00:10:16 and are you guys watching Fox Sports or ESPN or TV all day have to turn down the volume with all that shouting make the switch to Locked On Sports Today, a free 24-7 sports streaming channel that's programmed for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all that screaming. Locked On Sports Today brings you can't-miss analysis, opinions, and news during 24-7 on YouTube or on the free Amazon Fire TV channels app or the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Now we're going to kick off this next segment, Jake, with a comment that we have in our YouTube
Starting point is 00:10:48 section, which I know you guys listening were, you know, I'm just going to read the comment out to you guys, but you guys watching can obviously see it. Brayton Nicholas here says, wow, what a big surprise. Laatu Laatu was the most pro-ready edge in this draft class. And then sarcasm he puts in parentheses there. So I want to kick off this next segment about the defense with Liatu Latu. I saw so much from all the Colts beat guys talking about Latu this, Latu that, Latu that. And did it make you guys all feel a little like, again, the human elements in there,
Starting point is 00:11:19 but it make you guys feel a little bit more comfortable with Ebukam injury, seeing how good Latu looked out there today, Jake? Yeah, because I mean, you have to give rookies grace and time to be rookies. Like they don't have to be awesome right away. And he's, Latu still may not when the game actually comes on. But I mean, it definitely does make me feel better that you have a pro ready guy who can at minimum get you a handful of sacks on the air. Can he duplicate, you know, it becomes nine and a half sacks and you know, all the pressures and hits he had, like hopefully, you know, you, you draft a guy as the first defensive
Starting point is 00:11:56 player off the board and the whole draft, hoping he could probably give you that production. But I, I definitely feel better. If you guys want to know how his day was, the Colts actually just posted a clip while we were talking and it was Latu off the snap, just unreal speed. So if you guys haven't, go check that out. But that's what we saw all day today. With the pads coming on, we saw one-on-ones for the first time, O-line versus D-line. And he just makes people look silly. Like, poor Jake Witt. Like, if I'm Jake Witt, I'm saying, this dude is up the depth chart now. Get him away from me.
Starting point is 00:12:37 Like, the first play lot you had was just rocketing past Witt. And I can't remember what the name of the move is but it's it's unique in gawkway's signature move what is that it's almost like a euro step yes it's the um my cross chop the cross chop yeah so he did that a couple times today and it just was productive but even more so like literally just getting off the snap, you know, so much speed, but he's got the flexibility to bend underneath the tackles reach.
Starting point is 00:13:11 And he's just going to live in the backfield that way. If, I mean, if he can keep it up and put that up against other, you know, NFL caliber blockers. But I think after that first rep in one-on-ones, they realized they probably needed to get him on someone a little higher up
Starting point is 00:13:26 than Jake Witt. So they gave him stiffer competition. I think Ryman kind of stalled him on one, but everything else, Latu was just incredible. And, I mean, he got at an actual, like, would-be sack in the 11-on-11s also. It was near the end of practice. So, obviously, you get a guy like Latu hoping he can be a closer for you, like in the 11 on 11s also. It was near the end of practice. So obviously you get a guy like Latu hoping he can be a closer for you,
Starting point is 00:13:48 like in the fourth quarter. Anthony, you know, bailed out running to his right side and Latu is just right there behind him, like in his hip pocket the whole time. In a game, he could have sacked him 10 times on that one play. But super productive day from him showed like every trait that you would gush about
Starting point is 00:14:06 him over pre-draft. Like he looked the part today. Good. That's what the Colts needed with the unfortunate injury announcement yesterday. So layout to law to look in the part, uh, speaking of one-on-ones though, Jake, I know you keep track of obviously all the wins and losses in one-on-ones. I'm not going to ask you to go through every single one here, but any other players on defense really stand out to you in those one-on-ones? Quidipe as well. So he's undergone a transformation this offseason. Lost, I think you said like 15 pounds, put on some muscle.
Starting point is 00:14:36 We heard Eddie say that he's at the best offseason of any player he's ever been around. And he looks more explosive too. Now for Qu Quitty, he wanted to be a little bit better in all areas, but he wanted his endurance and longevity through a game to be improved as well for those fourth quarters. But God, he looks really good too. Just burst off the line, has that bend, but he's got probably a little more power than Latu does. So he can bull rush a little bit. But another guy in those one-on-ones that stood out to me was Adetomi Adebuare. That guy has a bull rush to him. Like, God, is he powerful.
Starting point is 00:15:11 I mean, he's an interior guy, so he's not going to hit you with a bunch of shake and bake. But he was driving dudes back the whole time. Like, I'm surprised no one woundered up on their rear in those because, like, he had – I've got to imagine one of the worst feelings for an O lineman is being the, the defensive lineman has his hands on you and you're doing the back hop. And he had them doing that the whole time. It was really good to see. That's another guy who they could really,
Starting point is 00:15:37 really could use him having taking a big step this summer and earning a better role next this coming year than he had as a rookie yeah i feel like the next step for him is like getting that bull rush down obviously is perfect you know getting guys doing the back hop like you said that's how they re-establish their position but the next step after that like get that bull rush down perfectly right the next step is working on disengaging once you get back there because you're not really going to do much with the with the blocker still in front of you obviously you can disrupt what the quarterback's doing and make it move but take that one more step and and show the the ability to disengage
Starting point is 00:16:12 but that's great to hear from both of those young players they're transitioning to 11 on 11s though you put out a tweet i don't have it with me i'm not going to post it here on the on the thing but that got some confusion jake so I need you to clarify here. You put a tweet out there saying Taekwon Lewis and Leotu Latu are rotating in Samson Ebukom's spot with the starters. And I saw some people taking that tweet, meaning that those were the two defensive ends at the same time. Was it Quidipe out there with the first team at all times? And those two are rotating on the other side, right?
Starting point is 00:16:44 That's what you meant? I didn't even realize that had been causing confusion, but no, they are sharing Samson Wasn't Quidipe out there with the first team at all times? And those two are rotating on the other side, right? That's what you meant? Yeah, I didn't even realize that had been causing confusion. But no, they are sharing Samson Ebucon's spot. Still, Quidipe has been the constant there. But again, it's basically been Taekwon Lewis on those early downs with Latu coming in on passing situations, kind of sharing the pie a little bit. I would say Taekwon probably got a a few more reps uh than lots who did again
Starting point is 00:17:06 the focus of today kind of was early down stuff to begin with uh but lots who did still get a handful of reps with the ones today uh but no quitty has never missed a beat he's been out there the whole time yeah yeah for sure i just wanted to clarify that because i did see some people having that conversation on there but yeah i was not I was not aware Quitty's locked in guys Quitty's locked in as a starter it looks like most of the starting defense stayed the same in terms of lineup Jalen Jones still the the other corner on the outside so I don't want to say that that competition is a wrap right now but it kind of feels like it's pretty close to a wrap at this point uh anything stand out to you in 11 on 11 so any guys who made big plays?
Starting point is 00:17:46 Any moments that you want to highlight? Anything that really happened with these guys out there? Yeah, a couple guys. Sorry, there's a guy on his motor just so close to me right now. So there was a couple guys who were like on the starting bubble, at minimum rotational kind of guys that made a couple plays. So Saguna Luby had maybe the best play of the day. Anthony completed a pass to Mo Alleycox for like maybe 10 yards along the left side.
Starting point is 00:18:16 But Luby came in and stripped it and picked it up and ran the other way with it. So that was a really heads up play by our guy Saguna, Saguna the destroyer. Ronnie Harrison. I want to start talking a little more about ronnie and having longer conversations about this whole thing but just in a small little bubble here um ronnie had a really heads-up play on a safety blitz where anthony was trying to fire out the ball you know to the outside and ronnie was just coming in there fast and, you know, hopped up and batted the ball down, which not everybody does. But, I mean, it was just a really heads up play for him. And that's a guy who's battling to become the starting free safety.
Starting point is 00:18:54 And then last, the Colts obviously have some young defensive backs that you just really want to see make some plays and not just be anonymous non-player characters out there. Micah Abraham had a really competitive pass breakup against Evan Hall earlier, and obviously a small corner going up against a pretty well-built, powerful running back. You obviously, if you're able to win that matchup against Joe Flacco, being a quarterback too, that was good to see. And Micah Abraham is firmly in the mix to be that backup nickel to Kenny Moore.
Starting point is 00:19:29 So that's definitely great to see one of the young guys making plays because I know Jalen Simpson made a little noise in the previous practice as well. Yeah, these two late round corners seem to be making a good bit of noise and that's always great to hear from these young players. And Abraham, again, has that path as the backup slot corner. I actually wrote about it for horseshoehuddle.com. You guys can check it.
Starting point is 00:19:48 I think it was something I wrote last month where, look, Abraham has that opportunity to win that backup slot, and he doesn't really have a ton of competition there. So I do think that that is a great opportunity for him. But coming up, we're going to get to the beautiful part, obviously, which is the offense. I know it wasn't a big offensive day today, but we still got to talk about these guys
Starting point is 00:20:05 and what was going on out there with them. But first, are you guys fans of baseball? Are you like me, seeing your Washington Nationals selling everybody at the trade deadline? Or the Chicago White Sox? I know a lot of you guys like Chicago teams. Chicago Cubs, I think, are a little bit better than those guys. But yeah, baseball season is fun,
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Starting point is 00:22:03 We've we talked about really all the big, important details so far in this past, uh, practice Jake, but what did you see from the offense? Do you see anything that really stood out from the offensive line? And again, the pads came on. So obviously there was, uh, some, some hitting going on out there. Did you see anything in particular from the offensive line that stood out to you? Yeah. Well, the most important thing about the line is Braden Smith has taken the next step and he's now participating in those 11 on 11s. In the most recent practice, day three, he got back to practice, but was only doing individual work like position stuff. He did get one chunk of the 11 on 11s. I imagine that'll go up a little bit tomorrow.
Starting point is 00:22:44 And with that, we saw a little bit tomorrow. And with that, we saw a little more definition to the, the second and third team lines because obviously Freeland goes up. So yeah, we're starting to see a little more of a pattern with the second and third lines. Although guys like Danny Pinter and Tanner Bordellini, they're kind of rotating.
Starting point is 00:23:01 Cause I think the Colts do want to see, you know, they want to see what Bortolini can do, but I think they want to keep Pinter fresh as well. Lots of, you know, lots of positives in the run game today, which, you know, caught the cheers of the offensive line plenty of times. You know, you could hear guys like Quentin Nelson and other guys, you know, hollering for the linemen making big holes.
Starting point is 00:23:24 There was one that really stood out. Someone whose name I haven't said yet during camp. Obviously, Jonathan Taylor and Trey Sermon had a couple of nice runs. But Trent Pennix, he had a good one today. Bortolini and Lewis Kidd, the right side, the center and guard on that play. They opened up a nice hole for him. And it looked like it would have been a legit run for you know maybe 20 yards or so but those guys were pretty animated and celebrating after that play so good stuff to see because it is so hard to tell what's real and
Starting point is 00:23:56 what's not when it comes to line play during camp because you're not it's not live and you're not really tackling guys but looking at body language, looking at celebrations, those guys know what is legit. And so, you know, kind of using them as a barometer is really good to see. So I think the, the run game through the first, second and third teams were, was pretty positive today. You know, obviously with the first team, they're going against Grover Stewart on defense. So, but we know the second and third teams who you're going against at nose tackle there. So maybe that helps a little bit with the run game as well with a nose tackle. Taven Bryan, obviously is a big, is a big factor there, but yeah, no, it's great to
Starting point is 00:24:36 hear that the run games click in that, that, you know, they kind of have the rotations down a little bit on the offensive line. And like you mentioned, I think it's good to get that update on Tanner Bordellini, because as you said, the first quarter of camp, he was mostly working with that third team behind Pinter, behind Wesley French. But that's good to hear that he seems to be getting a little bit more reps with the second team and moving up a little bit. And that was something we talked about at the end of, I think, yesterday's show, where it's like, I want to see how these rookies get acclimated more, how they get worked into the lineup more. Obviously, Laatu Laatu, it's a crazy
Starting point is 00:25:09 circumstance that he now has to be worked in a lot more, but guys like Tanner Bordellini, Matt Gonsalves, those guys, you want to see how much they can get worked in there with second and maybe even first teams later in camp. Yeah, a little progress report on those guys. So Gonsalves has been the second team right tackle the first three days. But now that Braden Smith was back at first team right tackle, that sent Freeland down to right tackle, which is kind of his most natural position. And then Gonsalves kicked over to the left side with the second team. So with it being a battle between those two for swing tackle on this,
Starting point is 00:25:46 they'll both make the roster. But being a battle between those two to see who's going to be that sixth lineman, basically, Gonsalves is getting a little bit of action on the left and right now. Bortolini has kind of bounced back and forth between the second and third team center. I can't think if he has played guard or not. I think it's primarily been center.
Starting point is 00:26:07 I think we know that's the plan anyways, post Ryan Kelly era, whenever that happens. But so non-offensive line, because I want to address this real quick because they've been very patient for the last couple of shows. So how Keaton Slovis has done. So to be realistic with you, when all the quarterbacks are healthy and they're the only ones who really get game reps are Anthony Flacco and Sam Ellinger.
Starting point is 00:26:37 But there was a day without Flacco when he went to went to Jacoby Jones funeral and Slovis got a little bit of work Slovis got a little bit of work. He got a little bit of work today as well because the Colts are starting to pepper in a little bit of developmental periods for guys who don't get many reps in those 11-on-11s and 7-on-7s. They put that smack dab in the middle of practice today. Slovis got some action out there. I don't have any real real negatives for him so far I
Starting point is 00:27:07 think he's doing overall pretty well I think he's seems firmly as the QB4 compared to what we saw back in in the spring as well when Anthony couldn't pass that one day uh we saw that Slovis was the next man up I do remember I think it was today I made a comment to one of the other media guys I was like you know Slovis kind of has an arm on him. So I like the arm talent there for Slovis. And the other day, you know, I thought he moved really well when he was pressured out of the pocket. So hopefully that's a good progress report for you on Keaton Slovis. Yes, yes, we do appreciate your patience with that. We try to get through some questions, obviously, on the show, but also hit all of our major talking points.
Starting point is 00:27:47 Would you have anything else you really want to talk about the offense? If not, you could talk, you know, the kickoff returners and stuff. I think that's a really interesting topic, too. I saw they had, what, Alec Pierce back there and Penny Moore back there. That's a really fascinating thing. It's a little bit of a sore subject for me right now. So the guys that have been back there, they're throwing a lot of guys back there, by the way. So it's a little bit of a sore subject for me right now. So the guys that have been back there, they're throwing a lot of guys back there,
Starting point is 00:28:07 by the way. So it's a tandem thing. Basically you have a blocker and an actual return man, but since the spring Kenny has been out there and it's driving me insane. I know, like, I know they want to find out who their best blocker is and who the best returner is for this.
Starting point is 00:28:23 But Kenny is so important. You cannot have him returning kicks. And I'm going to like, I'll say this now. He's not going to be the kick returner. Like that's just not going to happen for all intents and purposes. It's, it should still be Anthony Gould, but I don't, I don't like seeing Kenny take all the unnecessary work as a kick returner. Now, Alec Pierce has been out there, and I think you and I would both agree, that's pretty intriguing to be the lead blocker on the kickoffs. Let's just say it's Alec Pierce as the lead blocker on kickoffs with Anthony Gould returning it.
Starting point is 00:28:57 I don't hate that. Yeah, I could see that. Yeah, I mean, maybe you want more. I'd be curious to see a Drew ogletree as a lead blocker because the way he moves with his size like he's a little bit bigger but if you want more of a stock blocker like alec pierce like i think that one works pretty well i didn't even think of it that way i saw the guys they were putting back there and i didn't think that they were putting like blockers back there too so i was like so it's still returning is fascinating there's it's still returning is fascinating. It's still, it's still mostly like corners receivers,
Starting point is 00:29:27 like DBs receivers and running backs, like any returner would be. Cause I think if you put a guy back there and the ball gets to him, he has to be able to return it. Right. So they're kind of sussing out who is the best blocker among them, which obviously we know that's a strong suit for Alec Pierce and who's best with the ball in their hands. Right. They, again, they've used a million different guys back there, locker among them, which obviously we know that's a strong suit for Alec Pierce and who's best with
Starting point is 00:29:45 the ball in their hands. They, again, they've used a million different guys back there, but some of the most consistent guys who are involved are Alec and Kenny. Now Kenny returns it seemingly every time and Alec blocks it like every time. But yeah, they'll, they'll get it figured out. The NFL teams, all of them right now, are trying to figure this thing out. And I don't think any of them know what to expect until joint practices in the preseason. Yeah, that's interesting. So Pierce and Sermon, I think, would make a ton of sense for being the main blockers. I saw Sermon was back there too.
Starting point is 00:30:18 Penix? Penix wouldn't be a bad one. I think I've seen Evan Hull back there. There was one day, I think it was probably the first or second day in my camp notes on horseshoe huddle i put out the entire rotation and that stayed pretty consistent uh they worked on it again today and i didn't pay super close attention to that because i was watching more o-line d-line stuff but it's been pretty consistent those rotations so if you go back to like my day one or two notes, the guys all in there has pretty much been in the mix for blocking and returning.
Starting point is 00:30:51 All right, guys. So Kenny Moore being the Colts kick returner, that's our big update from Jake. I know. Big update from Jake. And before we get out here though, I do want to remind you guys to make a thank you for making locked on culture.
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