Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Lose Ashton Dulin, Sign a New Offensive Tackle
Episode Date: October 12, 2022The Indianapolis Colts made a few roster moves on Tuesday. WR Ashton Dulin heads to the IR while the team signed veteran OT Ty Nsekhe. Current right tackle Dennis Kelly also voiced his concerns on Twi...tter with his lack of playing time. Zach is joined by guest Joel A. Erickson (and his two kids) of The IndyStar to break it all down.Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQ🎧 Apple https://itunes.apple.com/podcast/id1151621306🎧 Spotify https://open.spotify.com/show/6meP450baAtjX4rTENZ5ij🎧 Audacy https://www.audacy.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts-daily-podcast-on-the-indianapolis-colts-21701🎧 Google https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vUFBZODk1ODUyODkyNQ🎧 Megaphone https://cms.megaphone.fm/channel/lockedoncoltsFollow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, and @LockedOnColts!This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp. It’s not a crisis line, it’s not self-help, it’s professional therapy done securely online, available to people worldwide. And they have a special offer for my listeners: get 10% off your first month at better help dot com slash LOCKEDONSupport Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFLBuilt BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.BetOnlineBetOnline.net has you covered this season with more props, odds, and lines than ever before. BetOnline – Where The Game Starts!Athletic GreensTo make it easy, Athletic Greens is going to give you a FREE 1-year supply of immune-supporting Vitamin D AND 5 FREE travel packs with your first purchase. All you have to do is visit athleticgreens.com/NFLNETWORK.PrizePicksFirst-time users can receive a 100% instant deposit match up to $100 with promo code LOCKEDON. That’s PrizePicks.com – promo code; LOCKEDONSimpliSafeWith Fast Protect™️ Technology, exclusively from SimpliSafe, 24/7 monitoring agents capture evidence to accurately verify a threat for faster police response. There’s No Safe Like SimpliSafe. Visit SimpliSafe.com/LockedOnNFL to learn more.EliasTake this NFL season to the next level and download the Elias Game Plan App today and use promo code locked-on-nfl-25 to get 25% off your first month when you choose the monthly subscription. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcript
Discussion (0)
It is officially Jaguars week here on Locked On Colts.
It can't possibly go as poorly as it did last time, right?
I mean, well, either way, I'm joined by one of the best beat writers in the game
to break down everything Colts jags.
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 Colts fans for tuning in and making us your number one listener of the day.
This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.
This podcast is sponsored by BetterHelp.
It's not a crisis line.
It's not self-help.
It's professional therapy done securely online, available to people worldwide.
And they have a special offer to all my listeners.
Get 10% off your first month at BetterHelp.com slash locked on.
This is Zach Hicks, and I'm joined by the great Joel A. Erickson of IndyStar.
You guys are familiar with my work over at HorseshoeHuddle.com,
and if you guys know Joel's voice at all, it's probably from that Colts Cover 2 pod,
which you guys didn't end up changing the name of that, right,
even though the Colts are more of a cover three defense now.
Yeah, no, we didn't change it.
Another friend of both of ours, Brent Fettig, gave me some good advice, which is everyone
already knows it as this.
Don't change it.
And honestly, we've had enough issues with Apple and some of that stuff that changing
it could have been catastrophic for people listening to it that's true but also it i mean the
thing is the cover two sort of works no matter what because we're two guys covering football
right um honestly it's sort of making a comeback because too high safety is suddenly like
i i almost wish jim and I had switched it like at the beginning
and just called it the Too High podcast.
Then it wasn't, you know, so set on the two, cover two, but it still kind of works.
It's still kind of works.
Yeah.
It's funny.
The whole league is switching to this cover two and Too High, except for the team that
you cover and that you're covering in the podcast.
Every other team.
But, you know, maybe John Fox is the mastermind behind it all.
You know, we're not going to dive into that.
But today, guys, we are going to dive into the news and updates of the day.
Plus, we're going to dive into this pivotal matchup with the Jaguars.
And again, hopefully it goes a little better this week.
But man, we had a lot of news today.
I actually had to push back some things that we were going to talk about in the first segment.
So to kick it off, Ty and Secchi signing to the practice squad.
And I think from the original report, I know you reported on it really early.
And then that Schultz guy, Jordan Schultz, I think is his name, also reported on it.
But it seems like the Colts are kind of set on promoting him to the roster within a couple of weeks, right?
Yeah, that's my understanding is that they're going to do it they they can they have some wiggle room on that which colts fans will know from the way they handled chase
mclaughlin for a while there they can they can elevate him three three times before uh putting
him on the active if they want to just put him on the active i think the most likely thing to do is
just they move lieutenant down right i don't i don't look Right. I think he's been an actor for every game.
He's a six-round rookie.
He was a developmental pickup anyway.
So I think that's probably the most likely thing.
Kind of an interesting move with Nseki.
You know, he's 36.
I think that's the thing that jumps out at everybody right away,
but also has extensive experience as a swing tackle.
So Lord knows they need any help on the offensive line they can get.
Like I'm willing to withhold judgment on that 36-year-old at WZM play.
Yeah, you know, Ty Insecchi is an interesting case
because I remember when I was with Washington,
I was covering him years ago, years ago.
He was like a swing tackle starting guy.
I think he's only ended up starting 17 career games,
but he was with Washington,
got a decent contract from the Bills back in, I think, 2019,
but didn't really play too much,
and then was most recently with the Cowboys.
And I think he started his career in another league.
I think it was like the Canadian football league.
AFL.
AFL, that's what it was.
Yeah, Arena Football League.
He did a little bit of arena football and a little bit of AF2. He's been in the Canadian Football League? AFL. That's what it was. Yeah, Arena Football League. He did a little bit of arena football and a little bit of AF2.
He's been in the Canadian League.
He's kind of – he's a guy who's going to play.
Like he wanted to play no matter where he was.
Yeah, yeah.
That's the thing with him.
He's 36, but I don't want to say he's a young 36.
We always throw that kind of stuff out there.
But he hasn't really been in the NFL as long as you would think a 36-year-old has been.
I'm going to start introducing myself as a young 36.
There you go.
Dude, I had these people on Twitter saying, like, what are we doing with this ancient guy or something?
I'm like, man, there's a lot of 36-year-olds on here that are going to take offense to that.
Like, I don't know if they're going to.
We have some newer guys on the beat who are younger.
And it's the first time that Nate Atkins is four or five years younger than me.
James Boyd's a lot younger than that.
It's the first time that I'm getting old-headed by younger guys on a beat.
I don't know how I feel about that.
You're going to have to grow out a beard or something just so you really feel like the old buck.
My belief is that you can't consider yourself
old until you're older than everyone in all the four major pro sports leagues.
Okay. You're getting there.
I feel like I've got a little ways.
Tom Brady's helping you out a little bit. He's giving you a really nice buffer.
There's always some, like, 42- or 43-year-old pitcher.
Always.
Now, I don't know.
Like, it just depends on whether or not I'm going to have somebody who's 45, 46.
But there's always some pitcher who's, like, a lefty who's still 42 and going.
So I think I've bought myself some time there.
Perfect.
Perfect.
Another little news and notes thing that we got from today is Ashton Doolin,
really, really good receiver for the Colts.
Honestly, to me, I would say he's been their third best receiver this year.
He is placed on IR.
I think it was with an elbow injury or hip injury or something like that
from his last game.
I can't remember exactly what it was.
But, yeah, he's on IR.
He's going to miss a minimum of four weeks. Defense tackle Chris
Williams was called up. But losing Ashton Doolin, even though he hasn't been special
team's Ashton Doolin this year, that's a pretty big loss for the squad.
Yeah, I think there's been a kind of a groundswell among Colts fans and media. It's been hard to get
your brain
off the offensive line.
But I know one of the things I was asked on the radio was,
hey, should Ashton Doolin and Alec Pierce start getting more
of Paris Campbell's snaps?
And, I mean, my answer to it was yes, you know, kind of unequivocally.
And now this – I mean, he's out for at least four weeks.
So that takes some of that out.
We kind of – one of the things i was thinking when
this news came out was that we we kind of missed it on thursday because he wasn't a guy who went
down you know on camera at least that i can remember um and it wasn't like quitty pay or
naheem hines or was very visible uh he was just kind of out And so I don't think we got as much attention, but I mean,
he's receiving yards so far. I mean, that's, that's significant. He's averaging 14 yards per
reception. That's, that's a significant loss considering how they replace him. And I wonder,
like, I wondered, does Michael, does Mike Strong get more run now? You know, does, do you do some
of this stuff with Pierce? Cause I don't know if Campbell's snaps are going to go down now with him out.
And that's interesting to me is how do you kind of feel that?
Because he's done some nice stuff.
I really like some of the stuff he's done over the middle
and on the slant game this season.
Yeah, yeah, no, Ashton Doolin's been really good.
I mean, he had that big game in week two with all the injuries.
He kind of became wide receiver one that week.
And then the last couple of weeks, he's seen his snaps drop to around 20%,
but he's making a lot of plays on third downs.
And that's where the Colts are going to be missing him,
where, you know, it might only be one or two third down conversions a game,
but those are one or two that you were getting.
And you got to take everything that you can right now in this offense, you know.
But last little thing I want to talk about in this news and notes we did have a little bit of twitter drama with the indianapolis colts today and that was with right tackle dennis kelly
uh zach keifer uh be reporter for the athletic uh tweeted out something that said like why is
dennis kelly not getting some playing time and dennis Dennis Kelly responded saying he doesn't know. He used the GIF, I think, from that HBO show. But he was like, you know, that's what I'm asking. So
Dennis Kelly, do you think the plan is to get him out there anytime soon, Joel?
I asked about Kelly on Friday, and Frank kind of said he didn't rule it out, first of all.
He could have ruled it out and didn't rule it out.
He kind of said that they were trying to work him in after the injury.
He said, we're happy to have Dennis on our roster.
He adds that veteran presence.
We'll continue to evaluate that.
That's the key sentence there as far as he didn't rule out Kelly making an appearance in the lineup.
And then he said as he was coming off of his injury in training camp,
you can see him getting more and more physically comfortable. He had a procedure on his knee in training camp.
And so I think that may have something to do with it. We haven't talked to Dennis Kelly. I actually
made a note to when I go in the locker room tomorrow to try to grab him and, and see like
what that meant. It's because like on its its face that's a pretty stark thing to do
there on twitter sometimes whenever you confront players with that they're like oh no it was a joke
or whatever you know but i would like to hear more from him on what what he was thinking there because
i do think especially the way matt prior played on the right side last week
that it's a possibility it has to be i I mean, they're trying stuff left and right right now,
trying to get this offensive line to look anything remotely close to average.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You know, if they want to keep Braden Smith at right guard,
then you pretty much have to start Dennis Kelly at right tackle.
So, yeah, I'm agreeing with you there.
And, you know, coming up, guys,
we're going to talk more about this Colts offense,
along with the kind of hole that they're in right now in the division.
Now a word from our sponsor, BetterHelp.
It can be tough to train your brain to stay in problem solving mode when faced with a challenge in life.
But when you learn to find your own solutions, there's no better feeling.
A therapist can help you become a better problem solver, make it easier to accomplish your goals, no matter how big or small.
Personally, guys,
I have been to therapy a couple of times in my life. It really has helped me in a lot of down
moments. And, you know, I know as a guy, it's kind of tough to get in that mindset where, oh,
you can go to therapy. You know, it's something that you're really not taught to do when you're
younger. But, you know, when it comes to therapy, BetterHelp is a great option. It's convenient,
it's accessible, it's affordable and entirely option. It's convenient. It's accessible.
It's affordable and entirely online.
Get matched with a therapist right after filling out a brief survey and switch therapists at any time.
When you want to be a better problem solver, therapy can help you get there.
Visit betterhelp.com slash locked on today to get 10% off your first month.
And thanks again, everybody, for making Locked On Culture your first listen every day.
Make sure you check out NFL Key Predictions
every Friday on Locked On NFL.
Locked On's local experts give you the inside scoop
on the five biggest games of the NFL weekend,
including Sunday and Monday night football.
Plus, betting advice from the field's leading experts
bet online.
Follow NFL Key Predictions every Friday on Locked On NFL,
available on the Odyssey app, YouTube,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
All right, Joel, let's talk about this offense a little bit.
Because, I mean, again, this whole podcast this whole week has been about the offensive line, about the Colts offense.
But DVOA, football outsiders from DVOA released their weekly ranking of where the Colts are and where all the other teams are.
And just to show how bad this offense is right now,
oh, we got a guest star coming on right now.
You guys are on YouTube.
We got a little guest star there in the corner there.
My son's poking his head on right here.
And now he's hiding.
I get it.
I get it.
I get it.
But football outsiders with DVOA,
they put the Colts or whatever as the worst offensive football.
And it was so bad that the Colts were 32nd offense,
11th in defense, 18th in special teams,
but were the 32nd overall team in the whole league because their offense was
rated so terribly.
So Joel, what are you seeing from this offense?
And what's kind of the vibe in the locker room with the coaches and the players
when you're kind of talking to these guys with how dreadful this offense has really been?
Well, I think starting with Reich, Frank is generally pretty good at trying to keep an even keel.
I think it's why they're probably 2-2-1 instead of worse than that record-wise. But I think having been around him for
five years now, I think you can see the stress
on him a little bit when he's talking about this.
They're struggling with things on offense that we've never seen him struggle
with. That's got to gnaw at him.
I do feel like some of the,
some of the personnel changes you've seen the last couple of weeks are an
indicator of that too. Yeah. As, as far as the rest of the team goes,
it's,
it's sort of like a microcosm of what happens when you end up talking about
this team where no matter what,
it ends up coming back to the offensive line and in the locker room,
like, especially after the game the other night,
like the receivers were in there. If you read my story on alec pierce like paris campbell and
michael pitman were in there cutting up about pierce because they were so excited about what
he'd just done you know and the week before that the tight ends it was it was kind of like that
like everyone else with the exception of i think matt ryan's getting a lot of tough questions right now and he's kind of handling
it unflappably it's it's hard to tell with him he's a lot of a lot of quarterbacks have been
around for a long time are like this they're good at hiding what their true thoughts are
but in terms of like the receivers the running backs the the tight ends there's there's optimism and belief there and and there's reason
to you can see why whereas i think like quentin nelson has been very frustrated and self-frustrated
not angry at us that kind of thing um i know that some of the tackles it's it's been they've been
honest about where their confidence is and it's not great at times you know what they're thinking
about and that's just sort of a reflection i think of what we're seeing on the field it's it's you and i were
talking about this like you you try to come up with other reasons or explanations but inevitably
everything keeps coming back to the offensive line it's just yeah it's just the this offense
is 32nd dvoa because the like the offensive line would be if you could have just an offensive
line DVOA they'd be like 45th you know like there'd be backup there'd be backup groups that
would be ahead of them you know so it's I do think if that's been sort of reflected in what we've
what we've seen in the locker room even after games like I know Quentin Nelson the other day
was like that was disgusting in a locker room. That was honestly pretty positive because they want,
you know,
defense played well,
Pierce played well.
There was,
there's a lot of reasons to think if you're a Colts player,
who's not in the offensive line,
there's a lot of reasons to think,
Hey,
there's,
this is right around the corner,
but it all keeps coming back down to,
can they block somebody?
And the answer has been no so far.
Yeah.
And just to throw some more numbers with
that, again, the Colts have only scored 69 points through five games. I believe that comes out to
like less than 13 points a game. By far, in a way, the worst start that we've seen from not only the
Frank Wright Colts, but honestly, I would say the Chris Ballard Colts, even the 2017 offense and
that monstrosity that it was, was never this bad to start a season, to, you know,
at any point in the season, like they're not really scoring.
They're moving the ball a little bit,
but they're just not getting in the end zone and they're not finding success.
And a lot of that is, again, Matt Ryan's being sacked at a crazy number.
He's fumbling at a crazy number. He's throwing a crazy number of picks.
It's just kind of a mess on offense.
I actually have an offensive question for you.
Okay.
I have a hypothesis and it's kind of bigger than the Colts.
But do you think defenses are getting better at taking away quick game around the league?
You know, it's kind of funny.
If you look at the rise of too high safety, it's actually teams are getting better at taking away the deep ball this year. Like if you look at Josh Allen, for instance, his, the way that like his targets down to his A dot,
you know, his average depth of target
has dropped significantly this year.
You know, you're seeing this across the NFL.
And I think that's why we're seeing,
for instance, this Colts defense,
even though they are running that single high
and they are taking, you know,
it's more susceptible to deep shots in this defense
than it is against a two high.
The Colts are having success
against those deep passing games where the quick
passing games are hurting them just like across the league right now.
So it is kind of weird that the Colts are struggling with that quick pass game.
I know that was a big question that you asked, right?
In his presser.
I think teams are trying to sit on the underneath ball and then they're having
the two deep safeties kind of take away everything over the top.
But I do think with, with the rise of too high safety,
with the rise of quarters and the Fangio style,
it's actually kind of encouraging the quick game.
It's kind of going that Matt Eberflus way of you can move the ball on us,
but it's going to take you 16 plays to score.
And you're making offenses just be perfect,
which an offense like the Colts is not going to be perfect all the way down
the field.
The second they cross the 50, they're not going to be even good.
So, you know, I think that's what it is.
I think the Colts' lack of protection plays into it.
You can have those guys, you know, the guys near the line of scrimmage,
you can have them take away the short stuff because the payoff for you is going to be a sack.
Whereas you try to do it against somebody else,
it's less likely to work.
You know, I was just thinking about it
because the Chiefs,
it seems like the way to play the Chiefs
is to take away the quick game
and try to get them into a runaround type of thing.
Because that was the adjustment they made last year
when they weren't getting the deep shots as much.
And if you're on YouTube,
we've got a full on like, he's just going to stop.
You're on dad duty right now. So they're all just jumping around.
Yeah. But, but yeah, it's, it's just interesting.
I think with the Colts, it's just, if I was, if I was a defensive coordinator,
I'd be saying, Hey,
we're going to press the line of scrimmage and take away any quick throw.
Because if, if all we have to do is buy like a half a coordinator, I'd be saying, hey, we're going to press the line of scrimmage and take away any quick throw because all we have to do is buy like a half
a second and we're good.
That's the thing with the Colts too is, at least with Carson Wentz last year,
I'm not even trying to say that I want to go back to the Carson Wentz Colts by any means,
but Carson Wentz... Carson Wentz' line would be really bad.
He'd be an absolute train wreck.
We are kind of seeing a little bit of that with Washington
because their offensive line is struggling too.
But at least with Carson Wentz, if you brought everybody up in blitz,
Wentz could break through that pressure
and he could maybe find a guy down the field.
The thing with Matt Ryan is he's not breaking through contact in the backfield
because he's just not that kind of athlete.
He's not that kind of quarterback. And really doesn't have like the arm strength to
throw it when he's off balance throw it when there's pressure in his face and still
make an accurate pass so it's harder to blitz and play up on guys like Pat Mahomes Aaron Rodgers
Josh Allen and not even just those top guys I mean even we're talking like like a Kirk Cousins
or Derek Carr you know because those guys have a little bit more live arms and a little more,
a little bit more athletic where Matt Ryan, you know,
all that's kind of a struggle for him at this point in his career.
So you really need your protection to hold up,
which the Colts really aren't having whatsoever. You know, again,
he was pressured, I think on 50% of his dropbacks on Thursday.
He did a little bit better job on Thursday of stepping up and navigating,
which is kind of what you always hear people talk about the older quarterbacks doing.
But the problem with that is that they just – they haven't –
like it would be one thing if it was just two guys coming off the edge
and the three guys inside were winning, but they're not winning enough inside
to give him a pocket to step into.
So you get some good plays out of that.
Like there were some – Marcus Brady was talking about one today where he stepped up and kind of flipped it back to Pierce across his body.
It was an unbelievable throw and it was,
but there were other plays where he did that and it ended up going badly
for him, you know?
So it's, it's, it's, it's funny.
Like even, even when we're talking about this stuff,
it all ends up coming back to the offensive line again.
Right. Right, right.
Now the last thing I'll say about that is I really think the game plan going
into Thursday and why they made that big change was they wanted to give him a
lane to step up.
You know, they knew the tackles were going to be a struggle on Thursday,
but they didn't expect Ryan Kelly to struggle when he was out there.
And then Danny Pinter played a little bit better,
but it still wasn't great.
Quinton Nelson had his struggles.
Braden Smith was probably their best lineman, but he struggled.
They expected those three to at least hold their own,
and then the outside guys, if they struggled, Ryan could step up.
But again, it was just a complete disaster.
So that's the way to describe this Colts offensive line this year,
just a complete disaster.
But coming up, guys, we're going to talk about this Jaguars matchup,
talk about Colts Jags, and hopefully this could be a little bit better.
But first, I want to tell you guys about our friends over at BetOnline.
BetOnline.net is your number one source for football betting info this season.
Find all the latest player developments, team matchups, news, podcasts,
and in-depth articles and analysis on every game that you can find.
And as always, BetOnline remains your continued source
for all your sport wagering information,
with live betting and up-to-the-minute scores for every sport out there.
The fastest and easiest way to check in on all your favorite games and events, including
MLB, MMA, boxing, and even golf.
Colts are currently two-point favorites against the Jaguars on BetOnline.
Do you want to take that?
I leave that completely up to you guys.
I'm not giving you any betting advice.
Just bet at your own will on BetOnline.
So head to BetOnline.net or use your mobile device to learn more.
BetOnline, where the game starts.
All right, Joel, Jaguars week.
How are we feeling going into this one compared to the last one?
I don't know how to feel about any game at all right now.
I didn't feel great about Denver, and I was generally right
because I was like, that's a pretty good defense,
especially against the pass, and the Colts aren't running it.
And they only scored 12 points.
But then again, Denver is also terrible on offense,
and they ended up winning the game.
I didn't feel great about Kansas City.
And the thing with Jacksonville, too, is that there's clearly some curse
in Jacksonville that makes them play awful down there.
Like everything just falls apart down there.
Where we've seen them, you know, have that happen and then play.
I don't feel like they've ever had an easy time with Jacksonville
the last couple of years.
One time.
2019 was the one time that Jonathan Williams' game was the only time.
Oh, of course it was 2019.
Yeah, yeah.
But they generally play better when they're at home against them.
So it's just everything is so hard with this team right now because
to project them playing much better, I have to project that the offensive line is going to play
much better. We just haven't seen any of it, you know? But I think what we've seen from the Jaguars
the last couple of weeks, I'm expecting the Colts defense to play better against them.
Yes. Yes. That was the thing. Trevor Lawrence kind of had his way with the Colts defense last time, and they really didn't
have to do much obviously in that second half because the Colts offense wasn't doing anything
whatsoever. But yeah, the Jaguars are coming off a pretty bad loss against the Texans. I think they
only scored six points in that game. It was, it was a really ugly game if you watched. And
something really interesting was the Texans I think they ran two
high safeties like on 96 percent of the snaps and that one like that's how they boggled down
Trevor Lawrence and now the Colts are going to come and look I love Gus Bradley I think he's
done a great job this year he's going to run a majority of single high that's just what he does
even if the scouting report says only run too high he's still going to run a lot of single high even
against the Chiefs you know they mixed in a lot of coverages but it's a lot of single high
but yeah like you said the Colts are kind of getting the Jaguars at their worst where in week
two they were kind of getting them kind of rearing up a little bit so you know the Colts could bounce
back here but again I hate to bring the conversation back to this it just all comes down to the
offensive line.
That's what it all is, you know?
Like, I don't know.
What do you think the Colts need to do outside of the offensive line
to get the win against the Jaguars this time?
Well, I think one of the things is Trevor Lawrence is not actually averaging
many yards per attempt this season.
He's at 6.8.
That's not great.
I mean, and, you know, part of the problem in that
first game was that they were just giving him so many easy throws underneath. We asked Bradley a
ton of questions about stopping quick game after that one. I think that they've got to take that
away, take away the easy throw from him. Maybe a little bit of what they did in week three,
where they made Mahomes hold onto it a little bit more and scramble around and
and and then i mean i actually played you know played really well in the back end for a long time
i think maybe they need to do that a little bit just just going off of the first matchup and how
many of those throws were that was one where i went back and watched it again and i was like
i feel like the pass rush is actually better than i realized it was he just got the ball out of his hand so fast and one thing that's going to help him though is I'm
assuming DeForest Buckner is you know at least at the at the level of strength he was at against
Denver he wasn't the same guy in that first game in Jacksonville because of a hip so right that's
going to help the defense a lot too he's I like in the two games they've won, he's been unbelievable on defense,
just borderline unblockable.
And you kind of see with him when he's good to go how important he is to that defense.
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, the Colts, you know, I think their defense is in a better place coming into this game. You know, Rodney McLeod is now their starter at strong
safety, and we've seen the impact that he has had. The second that he stepped in there as a starter,
that defense started to click. I think Zyra Franklin and Bobby Okereke are both in a much
more comfortable spot right now with this defense than where they were early in the season. I mean,
both of them are playing at a very high level for how, you know,
again, I was talking with coaches before the season.
It is so difficult to make that change from a spot-dropping,
like, cover two defense to man-match cover three defense.
It's a completely different position that these guys are playing.
And, you know, five weeks in, they're both looking pretty good.
So the Colts defense, I'm feeling pretty good going into this.
It's just, again, that offense. And I
do think that the Jaguars defense is a tough matchup for them because they have so many guys
that they throw at you in the pass rush. They have so many different fronts that they come at
you with. You know, if Trayvon Walker will be standing up over the center one snap, he'll be
out in the wide nine the next. They'll have Devin Lloyd coming off the edge in one snap. So, yeah, this Colts offensive line is in for some trouble, I think, with this Jaguars defense.
But, again, you can't do much worse than what they did last time.
So I think that's all we have for today, guys.
I appreciate you jumping on, Joel.
And also, you know, your son's jumping on, too.
I'm assuming they had fun on the show.
I know.
We got Spencer and Sager and my
dog was trying to make an appearance too, but he's
just not tall enough.
We got dad
Joel A. Erickson today is what we got on the
show. It was a pleasure having you, man.
If you guys are interested in Joel's work,
follow him on Twitter. I think it's
at Joel A. Erickson, correct?
At Joel A. Erickson,
at ZachH2 for me on Twitter, and then at LockedOnColts.
Also, subscribe to our shows on YouTube
wherever you listen to your podcasts. And thanks again, guys,
for making LockedOnColts your first listen every
day. Now make your second listen to Peacock
and Williamson NFL show.
Brian Peacock and former NFL scout Matt
Williamson give you the expert NFL analysis
in less than 30 minutes. It's free
and available wherever you get your podcasts.
We'll see you next week.