Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Mailbag: Should Indy Extend Michael Pittman Jr.?

Episode Date: June 22, 2023

Fans of the Indianapolis Colts have burning questions that we are here to answer... Do the Colts keep more players at any certain position this year? Should the team extend Michael Pittman Jr./Jonathan Taylor? How does the offensive line scheme change under Tony Sparano Jr.?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

It's mailbag time as we answer you guys' questions, so 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. What's up, everyone? 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. And if you love professional, crisp, clean intros, my God, this is for you. You guys.

You guys. You guys mailbag. Not your mailbag. You mailbag. Yep. Anyways, I'm Jake Arthur. He is Zach Hicks. You know us from horseshoe huddle.com

i'm your resident credentialed media member there for the site bringing you the latest scoops from the facility and zach is murderer of film murderer of hair if you're on twitter you know exactly what i'm talking about but you guys have been bringing some good suggestions for those so keep them coming uh either just tweet them to us or DMS are open. I'm going to start keeping a list and you'll start hearing your stuff coming out. Yeah. Yeah. Murder of hair. That's, that's phenomenal. Especially I'm wearing the beanie right now. So you can cover up the, the lack of hair that I have, but yes, I am the murderer of hair. I have knocked out all of my hair over the year. So that's a good one right there. That's a very good one. Also murderer of hair i have knocked out all of my hair over the years so that's a good

one right there that's a very good one also murderer of sleeves the guy yes never met a sleeve that he liked yes if you guys like anime my clue is first friend or whatever has one where it's like the guy that's obsessed with tank tops like that's me obsessed with the tank tops i love it awesome awesome so today chill vibes it's all about you guys. We opened up the Q&A session once again, because it's been a little bit since we've done that. And it is the dead period of the off season. So we want to know what you guys want to hear about. So kind of clumped similar topics together. You guys had some good questions just about roster construction and things like that. We'll also dive into if there's any contract extensions coming down the pike.

And then last, a very nerdy segment for Zach that I'm looking forward to. You guys really got into the scheme question. So O-line scheme, secondary, those are all things that beat Zach's little heart there. So I'm looking forward to him getting to talk about that stuff. Yeah, we'll see if I can actually keep it within the 10 minutes that we have for each segment. We'll see what I can do there. That's showbiz, baby. Whatever. All right, so our first question comes from friend of the show, Stats Matt. He asked, do you think there are positions where the Colts could vary from the normal number of players kept, such as keeping five tight ends

instead of four, keeping four running backs instead of three, et cetera? So we did think that there were, you know, this year we talked about could be a little different in some of the positions. He nailed it right there with some of the tight ends. i think there's like seven guys who make a really compelling argument to make the roster uh running back is the same way so and we've tackled a lot of this in the position by position breakdowns as well um but zach looking at it right now let's just let's start with tight end because that really is one of the more glaring ones. We're pretty sure Mo Alleycox and we know Jelani Woods is making it. We're pretty sure Mo Alleycox and Kylan Granson will be there.

But then you open it up to you got your blockers like Farrow Brown and Caden Smith. Andrew Ogletree, who was a phenom last summer, is coming off the ACL. Will Mallory, he drafted in the middle of the draft, who is kind of another stretch tight end. Running back as well, you know, Jonathan Taylor and Zach Moss are obviously there. Evan Hull and Deion Jackson kind of maybe jockeying for the same role. And then Jake Funk, who has been the next man up at running back with Taylor and Moss out this spring. So pretty interesting.

What do you think about those two groups specific oh my God specifically and then any other position groups that might be heavier than others phenomenal grammar and pronunciation here today Jake we are nailing it I'm nailing it like you going well you are one of one right now Jake but I think with those two positions is actually fascinating because especially with tight end where you know we've talked on this show quite a bit since Shane Steichen has been hired. He's a vertical passing guy. He wants to get the ball down the field. He wants to have multiple vertical threats at the wide receiver position. That's why we've seen, you know, signings of Isaiah McKenzie. We've seen the signing of Bashad Perriman. We've seen

the drafting of Josh Downs. You know, they want of Bashad Perriman. We've seen the drafting of Josh Downs. They want to have a vertical passing offense. So does keeping five tight ends make sense for that? Does keeping a Farrell Brown and a Caden Smith or a Farrell Brown and a Drew Ogletree make sense in that mindset? And then you have to factor in though, like, yes, Shane Steichen wants to throw the ball down the field. But when you have a quarterback like Anthony Richardson where he can throw the ball down the field but you want to be a run first offense with him to kind of make life easier for him do you kind of go heavier on the tight end group so I think everything's on the table if it comes down to it and Shane Steichen and Chris Bowder looking at it and they're saying hey keeping a Farrell Brown or keeping a Caden

Smith is more valuable than keeping a Mike Strawn because they can bring special teams ability and they can bring blocking ability. Then the Colts will keep five tight ends and five wide receivers rather than the four and six that we typically see them keep five because Shane Steichen typically likes to keep a blocking tight end on the roster and if you have multiple pass catchers at that spot and you want to keep your Caden Smith your Farrell Brown your Drew Ogletree to be your blocker you know you're going to have to make that extra room there somewhere so I think tight end is definitely a spot we're looking at running back is another spot we're looking at where again the special teams ability comes into play the pass catching comes into play and the Colts have multiple good pass catchers at the running back position with Deion Jackson with Evan Hull those are two guys that can be good pass catchers as well as good special teamers as well so I think stats Matt is on the right track with those two positions there I think another position to look at though or another two positions to look at

are the cornerback and the safety positions like how are the Colts going to manage those two positions with so much uncertainty there because I mean if we're looking at cornerback and safety right now in the preseason before training camp even starts I mean we're looking at what four to five locks across the two positions or across the four positions technically or five, however you want to look at it there. We're looking at Kenny Moore being a lock. We're looking at Juju Brents being a lock, Julian Blackman, Nick Cross, and Rodney Thomas being locked.

But outside of that, it's wide open. So we could see the Colts go in training camp with six safeties and five corners going into the season, or four corners and six safeties, or five safeties and five corners going into the season or four corners and six safeties or five safeties and five corners, six corners. It could be a crazy mishmash there at those two positions. So outside of what Stats Matt said with running back and tight end, I think what they do at the cornerback positions

and what they do at the safety positions is just so wide open right now because there's so many young guys with so much uncertainty that we have no clue who's actually gonna make the roster come the end of training camp. Those are easily ones to point out, and that's not even it. To me, I think the defensive line, which is such a mismatch rotational group, you look at the ends, you obviously have Quid pay and samson abukim dayo dangbo pretty sure taekwon lewis is going to make it just signed genard avery titus leo is an intriguing late round

guy khalid kareem you re-signed this offseason inside it's gotten pretty deep considering what you've had last couple years buckner stewart obviously tab, Adetomi, Adebore, which is, I think, the first time I've nailed that, if I nailed it. You, McTelvin and Jim, like, there's just a lot of guys there. And then the last one I'll discuss just because we've got to move on soon. Receiver, like, you kind of touched on it briefly, but this is a super deep group now in terms of guys with NFL experience. I mean, Pittman, Pierce, Downs, obviously McKenzie, you want to keep Doolin.

That's five guys who you're pretty comfortable saying are going to make it. And that's not always the case. Like you think there's going to be a 5-6-7 up for grabs maybe. Strawn is a guy who's been there the last couple years. Juwan Winfrey is a veteran, really good route runner, can do some things after the catch uh xavier scott is a swiss army knife who's been really working more with the running backs and could fit into that running back discussion that that we were just talking about brashad paramin uh downfield stretcher has already kind of developed a nice little rapport with

anthony richardson um there's a lot of names there that can make it like i think this is probably the has already kind of developed a nice little rapport with Anthony Richardson. There's a lot of names there that can make it. Like, I think this is probably the most wide open the roster has been in a minute, considering what's going to go into training camp, because you've got a new head coach, you've got a lot of newness everywhere, and so many people start over on a new leaf now. Yeah, and one thing I'll say before you have to lead us into our next segment here is, look, the Colts are in a mini rebuild slash retool, whatever you want to call it. Right now, they're in a youth movement with this roster.

I don't think they're in a place where you can say like, okay, we have to keep four tight ends. We have to keep six wide receivers, has to be five corners and five safeties. Like, just take the players that you think had the best future for this team. I don't care if that's seven safeties and three corners. I don't care if that's six tight ends and four wide receivers. I don't care if that's one running back and, you know, 10 receivers. Like, whatever it is.

Take the players that you think had the best future potential with this team and just go from there. Like, don't get so stuck in we have to keep this amount at each position because when you're in this retool rebuild where you're not really expecting to compete in year one, like, just keep the talented players in the building and then figure out the rest going forward. So I think that's where the Colts are right now. And I think we could see multiple positions where, you know, we're keeping an obscure amount of players at each position. Yeah, without question. I'm really looking forward to it because, again, there's there's just not very many

guys that you can write off on this roster. So next, we're going to look into, you know, are there any contract extensions coming down the pike, what have you? But first, a word from our pals over at FanDuel. Baseball season is in full swing, and there is no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, America's number one sportsbook, because right now new customers get a no-sweat first bet up to $1,000.

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our Positionalal breakdown series. If you missed any of it, go to YouTube, check out all the positional review playlist. We put it all right there in a beautiful playlist for all of you guys. You can go back and check it. You can even check it throughout the whole regular season just to see like how accurate we actually were in breaking down each of these positions. So again,

all you beautiful everydayers who are checking out every single day worth of podcasts, make sure you check those out throughout all of training camp. All right, Jake. So going into segment two, I think we're going to be touching on some contract extensions, right, Jake? So I think you have a couple of questions here on contract extensions, right? Yeah, sure thing. So we got asked about, you know, Jonathan Taylor as well. One of them here from Richardson season on Twitter. Do you think the Colts and Michael Pittman Jr. agree on a new deal before the start of the regular season? Also, if you had to guess, what do you think the parameters of a potential deal would be given what we've seen from Pittman over the last three years?

So I'm going to, again, I'm going to lump Jonathan Taylor into this too, because those are the two biggest names that are in the same spot looking for a deal right now, contract years, both second round guys in 2020. So I don't know if it's going to be Pittman, but I think either JT or Pittman probably gets done around the start of training camp. The Colts are, their calendar is usually pretty

wide open when it comes to these things. We've seen Braden Smith, Naheem Hines, Shaquille Leonard, those guys have gotten done in the recent past in the summertime, right at training camp or around there. So I don't know if both of them will get done or if it's specifically Pittman, but I think one of the two will get done as far as parameters of the contract goes. I think there's 14 receivers right now making 20 million per year, which is bonkers. And that he's gonna probably fit into that.

I mean, every time a number one player at a position gets a new deal, it's always among the richest in the league, whether they are that dude or not. Is he a top receiver? Yes. Like he can't do it alone. But I think looking at some of the other guys who have made that money,

I've got to imagine Pittman is going to get around that as well. Yeah. I'm going to actually throw out a hot take here, Jake. I think of the player that is most likely to get an extension by training camp. I don't think it's Pittman. I don't think it's Taylor. I think it's Grover Stewart. I think Grover Stewart's the guy that's most likely to get an extension

because his, I don't think it's going to break the bank. You know, I don't think it's going to be anything absurd. Like I think it'd be around like 10, 11, 12, maybe 13 million a year for over like one or two years, uh, just to lock in that team leader, phenomenal player for the team. I don't really see the incentive to knock out the Jonathan Taylor or Michael Pittman jr. Contracts before training camp. Because if we look at Jonathan Taylor, the running back market is so dried up that there's really no rush to get that out there. Because if you just go crazy and jump on that early and you give him, say, a $13 to $14 million a year contract,

he could get injured before this year starts. And you're going to be looking at a really bad contract going forward because that's always the fear with running backs. So I don't think there's any rush to really get that one out there right away and then when you're looking at Michael Pittman Jr. you know this is a really good wide receiver a wide receiver that's averaged around 100 catches and around a thousand yards a season each of the last two seasons you know if you put the two seasons together it's just you know when you watch the film and you actually watch him is he a Jamar Chase is he an AJ Brown is he a Devontae Adams type wide receiver and I would lean towards no you know I think he's

a good player I think he's a very good player uh in a lot of ways I think he does a lot of really good things for this team but is he a player you feel comfortable giving 18 to $20 million a year to? I'm just not there yet. And I don't think his, I don't think his overall contract can get so much higher before the season starts to where, like, like for instance, say this next year, he goes out and has a 90 catch 1400 yard season, 12 touchdowns gets a second team all pro like that's the peak of what he could do this year his contract approximation maybe goes up from 18 million this year to 22 per year you know it's really not that big of a climb so there's really no incentive for the Colts to give him that

extension before the season where if he goes out this year and has a 50 catch season for 800 yards his contract will drop from like 18 million a year to maybe like 14 or 12 or you know something like that I just think that there's much more benefit for the Colts waiting on this contract uh than giving out right away I'm not saying that I wouldn't extend Michael Pittman Jr but I'm saying I would just wait to see what he can do with Anthony Richardson before I give out that big contract. So I think for both Taylor and Michael Pittman Jr., I would wait on those contracts. I think they're both quality players that I would like to have long term, but I just want to see exactly what they are first before giving that contract. But if I

were to give a contract before training camp to anybody it's to grover stewart i think grover stewart on a one to two year deal around you know 10 to 13 million per year i think that's a quality contract to keep a very very good player in the building but uh for pitman jr and for jonathan taylor i think i would wait just a little bit on those two and just see exactly what they can do this next season before i give out that giant contract to either one of those guys. Yeah, I get the sense of urgency thing. I'm waiting for more defining moments from Pittman. I think he's had some big moments in big situations. He had really nice games against the Ravens and the 49ers a couple years ago with Wentz. But then you've seen drops in critical moments

and just not making plays that an elite receiver should make. So, I mean, that's something to consider as well. I want to fit this next one in real quick, though, before we move on, because I know we were both pretty intrigued by it. This one's from Tipsy Tater Tot, and it said, who will have a bigger impact on the team in five years, Anthony Richardson or Shane Steichen? And my quick answer to that is, hopefully, they're both here in five years. If a coach is still here in five years, that means the team has probably been over 500, probably had at least a couple uh playoff appearances and same thing with richardson if richardson is still

the starting quarterback in five years he's probably got a pro bowl or two under his belt right yeah no these two people are very married to each other right now going forward the success of anthony richardson relies on the success of shane steichen and vice versa. You cannot have Shane Steichen be this elite coach that's going to be an Indy five years from now without Anthony Richardson being some elite quarterback that's going to be an Indy in five years from now. So it's hard to pick which one, but at the end of the day, what gets the headlines? What gets you at the Super Bowls? What gets you the all pro nods and the MVPs and stuff. It's the quarterback.

So I think on the surface, I'm going to say Anthony Richardson here. I think that's going to be the bigger impact. Again, I was super high on Anthony Richardson throughout the whole draft process. I had him as QB1 from day one. But I also had Shane Steichen as my number one head coach option throughout the whole process as well. So it's hard for me to kind of pick one because both of my biases are with both of these guys here.

But I think at the end of the day, you got to pick the quarterback just because the quarterback's the more name brand, the bigger thing that impacts on the field play. But at the end of the day, it really comes down to these two are going to be so married to each other that in five years from now, if Shane Steichen's still here, it's probably because Anthony Richardson's still here. And if Anthony Richardson's still here and starting for the Colts, that's because Shane Steichen's still here. You know, these two are so married together that it's hard to actually pick one that's more valuable for the team because their success relies on each other so much.

It does. And I think high-level success follows quarterbacks probably a little more than head coaches. Slightly, probably, yeah. It's tough. Yeah, it's really tough. If you look at head coaches with high-level success, they almost always have that quarterback. But then you have to get into the debate of how much did they make.

Yeah, did they make that quarterback? The quarterback make them? It's the Belichick versus Tom Brady thing where we can look back now and say, oh, it was probably Tom Brady, but is Tom Brady Tom Brady without Belichick's defense early on? So it's such an interesting debate there, and I love that question because of that. But I think at the end of the day, I think my cop-out answer, my super easy answer that gives me the easy way out is both.

Just both. You know, like that's the easy one. Yeah. Awesome question, Tater. Keep those coming forever. So next up, we're going to continue this very on brand episode for Zach. We're getting into some scheme stuff. So up next, again, you guys had some really intriguing questions about scheme on both sides of the ball.

All right, Zach, it's only fitting that we go with our boy Felipe Costa here first. With the new coaching staff and scheme, does the offensive line go away from the angle and aggressive sets, or will it probably remain their teached technique? What would be the biggest reason for the unit to have a better performance this season, whether it's a change in personnel scheme or both, and then you hold your horses because Steven Pearlstein also asked about

that. And basically differences between a Sperano offensive line versus a Chris Strasser offensive line. So just tie all that together. All right. All right. I'll try to keep this low. Cause I mean, And basically differences between a Sperano offensive line versus a Chris Strasser offensive line. So just tie all that together. All right. All right. I'll try to keep this low. Cause I mean,

I know we have a cornerback question as well, or a defensive back question as well, but I love the question, Philippe and Steven, I believe was the other name, right? Steven. Yeah.

Steven. Great question. I absolutely love it. When it comes to pass protection, I'm going to mostly focus on pass protection here with the angle sets and the quick setting and stuff like that. The Tony Sperano offensive line versus the Chris Drosser slash Howard Mudd type offensive line. I had the benefit of talking with Jake Witt recently. Jake Witt, the Colts seventh round selection.

And we talked a little bit off air from from when we were talking and stuff like that. And he kind of let me know that like, Hey, Tony Sperano throughout the draft process was talking with a lot of prospects being like, you know, very pro angle set pro Howard mud, aggressive sets on the outside. And, and the phenomenal thing about past sets when it comes to offensive lines and kind of how you, how you kind of just navigate that aspect of the play is, yes, you can be a Howard Mudd guy and say, hey, I want to angle set. I want to be aggressive. I want to get out there and jump these pass rushers,

but you can't do that every single snap. Even Howard Mudd understood that. You know, you can't just jump guys every single time because every time you jump these pass rushers, they're going to understand that's what you're doing and they're going to be able to counter that quicker. so you do have to kind of have a mix of vertical sets where you're kind of retreating into the pocket a little bit and letting the pass rusher show their hand and then attacking and then mixing in those jump sets and those angle sets that

Howard Mudd loves which is getting after that pass rusher early and often and not letting them even get into their pass rush move that they want to do. But from my understanding of Tony Sperano Jr., he's going to be very aggressive, very similar to a Chris Drosser, very similar to a Howard Mudd type where he wants his offensive tackles to jump set. He wants his offensive tackles to get out there and attack those pass rushers and not let them get any room before they can establish their pass rush move. I know some people are scared when they hear that because I know a lot of people out there do not love the Chris Drosser way of doing things the last couple of years.

But I want to kind of remind you guys that back in 2020 with Phillip Rivers as the quarterback, Chris Drosser was the offensive line coach. And that was the best offensive line that Chris Ballard and Frank Reich have had here in Indy. You know, that was the best offensive line that Chris Ballard and Frank Reich have had here in Indy. You know, that was the best offensive line. I know 2018 did not allow that many sacks, but they had a great rushing attack that season with Jonathan Taylor. And they also had a very low sack number and very low pressure number with Anthony Costanzo at left tackle, Braden Smith at right tackle, obviously, and then the core three on the inside.

But they kind of relied, again, on those aggressive pass sets. They had Howard Mudd helping out in the offseason and doing a lot of those things. So I think Tony Sperano just kind of bringing the focus back to those things, bringing more energy to the position like Howard Mudd brought in 2020, I think can kind of rejuvenize these guys on the interior and on the exterior as well with Bernard Ryman and Braden Smith. And I think you can kind of get them back to the basics. You know, you don't want to bring in an offensive line coach where, hey, you guys learned aggressive

sets and angle sets so much the last couple of years. Now let's go to vertical sets. Let's all try vertical sets. You guys struggle with that. Let's go to vertical sets. Now you're kind of teaching these guys a new, like a new alphabet, basically, you know, like it's a very difficult thing. So kind of just building off of what they've learned the last couple of seasons and just bringing a new energy and a new passion to that. I think that's what Tony Sperano Jr. is going to be. So I think it's going to be a lot of the same as Chris Drosser, but with just more energy, more excitement, more, more just a unique style of coaching. That's what we're really going to get there. So I do think it's going to be similar to Chris Drosser,

but I do think there's going to be some differences in just the way that the subject material is taught to these guys. Yeah. I'm, I'm ready for some new film to be, be put out there. So you can really kind of digest it and put it out there for us to, to take in, in a teachable way. Cause I mean that, that stuff's always really good and it is intriguing cause you don't want to make drastic changes from a group that's had success recently. So that we'll see,

that'll be interesting. Our last one here from Daniel Rodriguez, after the draft, Chris Ballard mentioned that the Colts wanted to play a little bit more press man, but with so much inexperience at the position now, Isaiah Rogers out, Stephon Gilmore out. Do you see the Colts reverting to a much more heavy zone type?

It's actually interesting with Gus Bradley. And I know, again, this starts a Zach ramble on the podcast here. Let's hear it. Yeah, you guys all love. But when it comes to press man is such a fascinating aspect of playing the cornerback position where you know when you have a too high safety look you know when you have a traditional matt eberflus type scheme or you have a vic fangio type scheme where they're going to have that cover for that cover two type stuff

you can do a lot of press man because you're just rerouting the wide receivers to those safeties over the top. Now, when you have a Gus Bradley type scheme where you have the one safety over the top, those press man corners are kind of on an island. You know, they're going to be a little bit on an island. And does that best suit guys like Juju Brents, like Jalen Jones, where these are four fives guys in a league where receivers are running four twos and four threes. Do you want them in press man and then bailing into that cover three drop where they're going to be at a disadvantage unless they're really rerouting those wide receivers at the line of scrimmage? That's the big conversation you want to have there. Or again,

this is the big thing with big corners. does the impact that they bring with their size and physicality at the at the line of scrimmage does that impact the route enough to where that they don't have to get worried about getting beat deep you know because you're going to have that single high safety over the top that can kind of shade your side and help you out a little bit there but um i i think the colts definitely leaned into the press man type thing a little bit by getting guys like i think the colts definitely leaned into the press man type thing a little bit by getting guys like juju brentz where again it comes down to the way that you think about these things where juju brentz he can't run with guys like tyree kill but at the offensive line or at the line of scrimmage he's going to be able to beat him up you know he's

going to be able to get those long arms those 35 inch arms and just beat up a guy like tyree kill or beat up a guy like uh who kill or beat up a guy like, who's another fast receiver in the league, whatever, just any fast receiver you can think of, he's going to be able to beat him up at the line of scrimmage enough to where the quarterback cannot attack vertically with those guys. And the same can be said for Jalen Jones, where Jalen Jones isn't super long or anything like that, but he's a physical press corner. And then you have a guy like Darius rush who can beat you up at the line of scrimmage. He can also turn and run with you

because he's got that four, three speed as well. So I do think the Colts kind of leaned into that press man type of mold in this draft class. Juju Brents was phenomenal in press last year. Darius Rush had a lot of really good reps in press. And then Jalen Jones as well. He's a guy where he mirrors really well in press and can do a lot of things underneath and in the quick game. So I think they leaned into that a little bit. I don't know if they're

really going to rely on that too much. But when you look at Gus Bradley's cover three type of mold, especially what they do on third downs, they like to do kind of a zone concept on the strong side and on the weak side, they do more man coverage. So when you get a guy like Darius Rush, who is a four, three speed guy with super super long arms he's going to be in that more man concept on those third downs he's going to be able to press guys turn and run with them and kind of lock that down where on the other side juju brentz could probably do like more of a press bail type thing drop into his cover three and kind of read the quarterback's eyes so you know to kind of answer your question

you know i do think we're going to see a little bit more press but you don't want to put these young corners in too many disadvantage uh just in disadvantageous positions to where they can't turn and run with these guys so i think it's gonna be a nice mix uh you do like what they can bring to the table uh but i don't think they're going to be impressed like every single snap or anything it's still gus bradley's system it's still gonna be cover three it's gonna be still like some press bail and drop into those cover three stuff but i think we're gonna see a lot of very good mix with these young corners and kind of see what they can do you know these are young corners where they have upside we don't really know exactly what they're going to be it's going to be a lot

of baptized by fire we don't know if they're going to be uh proficient in press that they're going to be. It's going to be a lot of baptized by fire. We don't know if they're going to be proficient in press, if they're going to be proficient in dropping into those cover threes. So it's going to be a really feeling out period for both coaches and players this year. So yeah, we could see more press man. We could see more cover three. And to not really answer your question, I don't know, but I'm excited to see what these guys can do. I think that's what I tend to think as well, because they did say they wanted to keep at it. And again, this isn't really an offseason to make huge changes schematically. But yeah, through the draft, they showed that they were still interested in those classic Gus Bradley type corners. So they gave them the type of guys that we all think of when we think of a Gus Bradley corner.

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