Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Mike Strachan Returns: What This Means for Wide Receiver Group

Episode Date: August 16, 2022

The Indianapolis Colts activated wide receiver Mike Strachan from the PUP list, just in time for the joint practices this week against the Detroit Lions. What are we watching for in these practices ah...ead of the teams' preseason Week 2 matchup on Saturday? Also, Kenny Moore II and DeForest Buckner land on the NFL Top 100 Players List of 2022 between 100-51.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!Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!DaveDownload the Dave app from the App store right now for an Extra Cash account and get up to 500 dollars instantly. For terms and conditions go to dave.com/legal. Instant transfer fees apply. Banking provided by Evolve. Member FDIC.BetterHelpIt’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 Betterhelp.com/LockedOnEliasNFL season is right around the corner, so don’t wait! Find Elias Game Plan in the App Store or Play Store today!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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 The Colts are about to welcome the Detroit Lions to town for a few days of fun and the Colts are getting back a really intriguing injured player just in time for all the action. Let's get to it. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. All right, Colts fans. Thanks so much for tuning in and making us your number one listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.
Starting point is 00:00:55 I am Jake Arthur, joined as always by my partner, Zach Hicks. For anyone new to the show, you know us from horseshoehuddle.com. I'm also a credentialed member of the Colts Media. I bring you the scoop from camp each day. They're at the facility during the season. And I'm also a member of the PFWA. Zach, why don't you tell our new guy and gal pals here a little bit about yourself? Yeah, no, I mean, I've been working at Horseshoe Huddle now for the past year. Before that, I kind of made my name in the indie market through Stampede Blue with SB Nation.
Starting point is 00:01:24 Big film guy, big draft guy. I've worked with DraftWire, Cover One, Locked On before this, actually, back in the Washington market. So I'm sure you guys see me around, especially with all the, you know, I got all 22 for the preseason. So I'm sure you guys have seen a lot of my clips there on social media the last couple of days. So, you know. You know, people in southern Indiana, they call it Washington. So if you ever come and visit, you just know that. That's what Washington is, if you ever hear it.
Starting point is 00:01:55 We've got a packed show for you guys today. First, it's finally time to talk about Mike Strawn as he makes his return from the pup list. I will also discuss Kenny Moore and DeForest Buckner's placement on the NFL top 100 list. And we'll tell you what we're looking for out of the Colts joint practices with the Lions on Wednesday and Thursday. So Zach up first,
Starting point is 00:02:18 Maggie Strawn's back, baby. He is. He is. No, I'm excited, man. We need it right now because I i mean we're looking at this wider
Starting point is 00:02:27 c or five competition desmond padman's kind of been i mean you can attest to this more than i can but we haven't really seen much from desmond padman this offseason you know a little bit in practice he had that one nice catch in the game but that's kind of it uh and then kiki cootie you know the guy that we've been hyping up as wide receiver five all offseason, did not have a great game at all. Left the game with an injury. Might have been his fault on that Nick Foles interception. I'm hesitant to say it is his fault because I have no clue.
Starting point is 00:03:00 I don't want to just assert blame without knowing, but it looked like it could have been a miscommunication or maybe just a bad throw, but he was targeted on an interception. And then there were some plays where the effort really wasn't there. So, you know, right now that wide receiver five spot, you know, if Mike Strawn was going to stay out on the pup to start the season, like we kind of expected and we thought was going to happen, I would have said that the Colts wide receiver five maybe would have not been on the roster. But now Mike Strawn has a couple practices, a couple of joint practices, a little bit of preseason games to kind of earn that wide receiver five spot. Yeah, so to give you guys a little background on the situation,
Starting point is 00:03:40 Strawn had a procedure on one of his knees back in the spring, missed the vast majority of all that. He wasn't out there for the mandatory mini camp, started this training camp on the physically unable to perform list. We were curious, like Zach just said, if he was going to get out here for training camp. But this timing is exactly what he needed. We said if he can have like a week or two of training camp
Starting point is 00:04:05 and get back in there, have a couple preseason games, that's how he can get back into the thick of it for this race against Desmond Patman and Kiki Cutie for wide receiver five and or six. You know, previously we didn't think the Colts would keep six. Now they may be compelled to do so again. Patman and Strawn could be five and six again. The biggest difference, I think, is how he could look with Matt Ryan. I don't know. I'm sure he's going to have, they're going to ease him in a little bit because you're not just going to go from zero to a hundred. But once he gets out there catching passes for Matt Ryan, I'm really
Starting point is 00:04:42 intrigued because I think with his blend of size, speed, athleticism, that's something Matt Ryan can utilize. Yeah, we have to assume that at least for the time being, like in these joint practices, he's going to slide in alongside Desmond Patman. Like what we said a lot throughout camp is your first tier of guys that we've seen have been Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce, Paris Campbell. And then Ashton Doolin's kind of been tier like 1B, you know, like right behind them. And he's safe for sure, obviously. But tier two has kind of been Desmond Patman, Kiki Cudi, DeMichael Harris, even though he's been dealing with injuries as well. You've got to think that Mike Strong kind of rotates in with there and he's going to be running a lot with Nick Foles during these joint practices. And yeah, I know he's going to have a lot of opportunities to
Starting point is 00:05:32 make a name for himself. You know, he had a great camp last year, had a great preseason, had some run early in the season, but it just, you know, in that early season run, you could tell that he was a player that was kind of in over his head, didn't really know the playbook, was kind of making some mistakes out there, and it led to him not really seeing the field the rest of the season. So I'm curious to see, you know, mentally just to see how far he's grown. You know, do the coaches actually trust him? Do the coaches trust him to run these plays? Even if it is just preseason, it's just vanilla, you know, can he carry over that preseason success he had last year to this year? And can he show that he's kind of grown in the mental aspects of playing wide receiver?
Starting point is 00:06:07 Because that was the only thing that held him back a season ago. Because early in the season when he played, he had some production. It's just that the mental side kind of held him back. But if he's shown growth in that area, there's nothing really holding him back from being, you know, wide receiver five or maybe wide receiver four, receiver four, rotating snaps with Ashton Doolin. Yep, you're exactly right. And I liked what I heard from him when I talked to him in the spring. He said he knows this is a big summer for him.
Starting point is 00:06:36 It's a big opportunity. He needed to work on being more consistent in practice, and he really wants to get involved in special teams because he knows that's like the X factor in a fringe roster guy getting onto the 53. So he knows that. But the reason this is a big deal and we're leading off the show with it is obviously the receiver group, it's unheralded. There hasn't been much coming from it to inspire more confidence from people.
Starting point is 00:07:04 So this could be a nice shot in the arm. Mike Strong, for those of you who don't know, he's like 6'5", 225, something like that. He's a guy where if he was any slower with that frame, you'd say he'd make a great tight end, you know, but he does have terrific speed and athleticism. So he's essentially the smaller Drew Ogletree, if you want to look at it that way. So he's, he's essentially the smaller drew oval tree, if you want to look at it that way. So the Colts could really use a guy like this. You know, that people say they've been struggling with separation, getting open, things like that. A guy with this wingspan and size is always open and he's got the, the strength and quickness to get some separation.
Starting point is 00:07:46 So, I mean, he's not a finished product by any means. He's farther along than I think we thought he was going to be last year. But like Zach was talking about, how much of the mental side has he been putting into it? Like, are we going to see this big jump from him? Because he had a terrific training camp last year just based on his athleticism and being bigger stronger faster than the guy covering him in one-on-ones most of the time so um if we see if we see the kind of stuff we we've seen from Ogletree where he's like making catches and traffic and doing damage in seven on sevens and 11 on 11s that could be really encouraging
Starting point is 00:08:25 because it's more of a game setting. Yeah, yeah. The last thing I'll say, because I know we have to move on here in a second, but I think there's a Gunners, there's a one or two Gunners spots that are still wide open for the taking because, you know, maybe it's just a gut feeling,
Starting point is 00:08:39 but just watching that preseason game, watching everyone else kind of run at Gunner and not seeing Ashton Doolin do that. And then all off season where the coaches have said, Ashton Doolin is going to be part of the offense. I think they're going to take Ashton Doolin off of those Gunner roles, or at least not have them out there as much. As of right now,
Starting point is 00:08:55 I would say the leaders for Gunner are Isaiah Rogers and, and Tony Brown, but Isaiah Rogers is going to miss most of this week. So this is a big week for Mike Strawn to earn that wide receiver five or earn that wide receiver six spot by playing special teams. Can he come out there and be a gunner and show his ability there? Because like you said, he's a big body guy, but he also runs 4-4. He's got burner speed for a guy with his size.
Starting point is 00:09:19 So if he can prove value as a gunner and he can run alongside Tony Brown out there at gunner and show like, hey, I belong here. One, that's great because you can get Isaiah Rogers value as a gunner and he can run alongside Tony Brown out there at gunner and show like, Hey, I belong here. One, that's great because you can get Isaiah Rogers off of that gunner because I don't want him getting hurt in any other way. But two,
Starting point is 00:09:32 you know, that's how you prove your worth and that's how you make a roster. So this is a huge week for him, not only on offense, but also on special teams, because as we've seen with Ashton Doolin, Doolin continually made the roster as a special teamer. And now he's going to get a real chance with the offense. If Mike strong can continually made the roster as a special teamer, and now he's going
Starting point is 00:09:45 to get a real chance with the offense. If Mike Strong can take that same route as a seventh round pick, that's optimal for those kind of guys. Yeah, I'm going to have my eyes glued to him this week. I'm going to be on strong watch. I got to know special teams and offense, but just like the Colts adding strong to the receiver group is a healthy move. Our next partner has a product that's always a healthy move for Zach and me. I started taking Athletic Greens AG1 because I struggle balancing the time to prepare healthy stuff in my diet throughout the day. And it's just really easy to do with them. Now I've been on it for a few weeks and I love it.
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Starting point is 00:12:19 All right, Jake. So we have to talk about the NFL 100 players. Now, we have to throw out a little stipulation before we talk about this, because we've seen players in the past. Like, I think Andrew Whitworth came out or Andrew Whitworth or it was some retired offensive lineman came out and said, a lot of players don't take this seriously. They don't. It is the NFL rankings, you know, for anyone who wants to get upset, like, oh, why is this the player not on here? Or why is this player so low? Or why is this player so high? Take it with a grain of salt. Just being on the top 100 is the honor itself, not really where you are in that top 100. That being said, we have two Colts that made the list. Kenny Moore made his debut at number 82. It's his, you know, he made his first Pro Bowl last year and now he's making his first NFL Top 100 list. He had a lot of, there's a lot of great things said about him too on there from Tom Brady. Chris Godwin, I think was on there. Cooper Cup was on there saying that that was, you know, one of the best players in the league. So what'd you think about Kenny Moore's inclusion on the list at number 82?
Starting point is 00:13:28 You know, so he was ahead of another corner. I think he was ahead of like Denzel Ward, which I thought was, that was a little wild, even though I love Kenny Moore. What'd you, what'd you think of his inclusion on the list and being, you know, right there at 82? Yep. So I think it was what the top 50 or yeah, top 50 were released last night.
Starting point is 00:13:46 I can't argue with that. You know, Kenny just being on the list, I think was necessary anywhere he would have landed on there. I think I would have been fine with it just as long as he was included. He's one of the, he's gotta be one of the top hundred players in the league. You know, he's, he's widely considered the best slot defender, so that counts for something. Just the way he affects the game, he just does some things that not a lot of other guys do. I've said before, the Colts have a few players on their team that just kind of leave me in awe with the things that they do and blow my mind, and Kenny is one of them. You have Shaq Leonard, Jonathan Taylor,
Starting point is 00:14:26 DeForest Buckner occasionally does that, but Kenny does stuff that I just don't think other people are capable of mentally and physically sometimes. And yeah, kudos to him that the first Pro Bowl was overdue last year. Top 100. I dig it. It comes from the players, so they're acknowledging he's one of the best in the league. So no complaints from me. Yeah, my favorite inclusion about his selection on that list there was when they mentioned that Tennessee Titans interception. I think yeah, they had Anthony Walker come on and talk about it because I guess Anthony Walker and him have been texting about the Titans or texting about that kind of look. But this was a play where when me and Jonathan
Starting point is 00:15:07 Hagler had the Hicks and Hag show throughout the season, we broke down defensive back play and we ranked every single defensive back moment of the season. He picked Isaiah Rogers' interception against the Buccaneers as the number one play. I picked Kenny Moore's interception against the Titans because to me, in my years of covering the NFL, of watching film, of covering the Colts, covering Washington commanders and stuff like that, it was the greatest defensive back play I've ever seen. I have never seen a play where a guy completely left his assignment with that much confidence and he made the perfect read, jumped a route and had an interception. I mean, they talk about in the video so if you guys want to check it but he basically had man coverage on the slot receiver carries a slot receiver up the seam but he was so savvy enough to know exactly what route
Starting point is 00:15:55 combination that the titans were running that he peeled off of his guy that he was supposed to cover which i think was aj brown too he left, too. He left A.J. Brown uncovered. It could have burned him if it didn't work. Right, right. But he knew the Titans loved to attack that backside dig on that route combination, that he left A.J. Brown, you know, a Pro Bowl receiver, uncovered to jump the backside dig to Marcus Johnson and got a pick and nearly had a pick six on the play. And, you know, that put the Colts ahead 14 points in that game.
Starting point is 00:16:25 That's just the impact that Kenny Moore brings, you know, that intellect, that savvy. And just to see him rewarded with that, you know, Pro Bowl this year, and then obviously with the NFL 100, I think that was great. But jumping to another player, DeForest Buckner, obviously well-deserved to be on this list. You know, some people might say he had a bit of a down year last year, and the NFL kind of shows it, but he was still an all pro, pro bowler last season. He came in at number 66 last season. He was at number 27. So we dropped a little bit, but again, DeForest Buckner being on this list, I mean, he's definitely one of the NFL's best 100 players. Yeah. 27 was perhaps a little rich. I mean, I wasn't going to argue with it i mean if
Starting point is 00:17:07 players think he's you know that good then and as far as i've seen like jeffrey simmons was ahead of him this year which is fine by me because right simmons buckner and and uh and aaron donald are you know you could absolutely say that's the top three and arrange Simmons and Buckner however you want, but no, I mean, Buckner is kind of in that, that tier after Aaron Donald, you know, there's the Aaron Donald tier. Aaron Donald is a tier. Yeah. Right. Right. Aaron Donald, the greatest defender ever potentially.
Starting point is 00:17:38 But behind that, you have a bunch of defensive tackles, you know, you have Buckner, you have Cam Hayward, you have, you have Simmons, you have Fletcher Cox, you know, guys like that. So Buckner's definitely in that tier. So wherever you rank him in there, you know, I'm cool with it. Yeah, 66 is fine as long as he's not like the fifth or sixth ranked defensive tackle, you know, but it looked, you know, with Simmons being right there, it looks like it'll be appropriate. Like 66, I guess could be a little low, but 27 was probably a little too high. So somewhere right there in the middle is fine. I mean, he has two all pros to his name, two pro bowls.
Starting point is 00:18:12 It's fine by me. I think this year he'll probably, you've talked a lot about this. He'll probably outperform even what he's done before, what people expect from him. Because of the attention the other guys on the line are going to command, and Gawkway's going to get double teams. Quitty is going to take advantage of that. DeForest commands double teams. So you can't double team everybody.
Starting point is 00:18:35 So Buckner's probably going to feed off that a little bit, and maybe add another all-pro to the mantle. Oh, I think he will. Yeah, just from watching some of the preseason film and from some of the stuff you said in camp. I mean, I think he had like five pass rushing snaps the other day and he had two pressures. He's just, he's just about average for him. Yeah. He's not pro, but you know,
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Starting point is 00:22:03 and get 15% off your order. Use promo code LOCKED15 and get 15% off your order. Use promo code LOCKEDON15. All right, Jake. So since we're getting past me mispronouncing Elias or Elias or however the heck I was saying it. I only know it from SportsCenter back in the day. That's the only reason why. You know, I'm borderline illiterate. So I think this is good.
Starting point is 00:22:28 You're doing great, sweetie. Thank you. Thank you so much. But getting to the more important topic here, joint practices. And I think you guys have heard us hype up joint practices more than preseason games or practices in general a lot these past couple days. days you know we're not very doom and gloom we're not very over reactionary but these joint practices are going to be the most important practices of all of camp this is the time of the year where the coaches can actually put what they want to see out there against a real
Starting point is 00:23:02 opponent you know it's not against just your guys in camp. And they can have it in a very controlled environment where they want to see these things. So that's what makes these this area that, you know, these joint practice so important. So, Jake, what are you looking for? Because you're going to be there for a lot of these practices. What are you looking for in these joint practices? What do you want to see from the Colts against an opponent in this controlled environment? Yeah, so it's important to note that the starters are not going to play in these two sides' games on Saturday.
Starting point is 00:23:31 Yes. Because Dan Campbell with the Lions, and I know you hate the preseason. I hate starters playing in the preseason, so I'm all for it. So Dan Campbell with the Lions, Frank Reich with the Colts, they've just, well, I don't know about the Lions, but at least for the Colts, they've decided the starters aren't going to play. They're going to focus all their attention on these joint practices. Reason being, you know, there's probably less chance to get hurt.
Starting point is 00:23:56 There's going to be some hitting and thumping, but they're not going to be doing much live tackling. And like you said, it's a much more controlled environment. So I want to see the starters in general how they perform uh wide receivers especially that's been in the line group so far how do they get how do they get separation are they gonna have the drop sees again like what what are we looking at so first and foremost i want to see the colts wide receivers against the lions defensive backs because the Lions do have some talented guys. I can't, Jeff Okuda might still be banged up,
Starting point is 00:24:28 but like Amani Oruwari, I've always loved him. I think they have that other guy with the difficult name I can't think of at the moment. The Lions have the most difficult names in the secondary, but we're going to say we like them. Did he play for Syracuse? You know what I'm talking about. Fetty Melifanu, I think is his name.
Starting point is 00:24:46 He was from Syracuse. You're right. That is him. Yep. Yep. So I think that's the best I know. But I think that's a great thing to point out is, you know, as someone who kind of went back and now that I finally have the All-22,
Starting point is 00:24:57 I could see what the Colts receivers look like against press coverage because that's what the Colts are really testing in this preseason game. I think Alec Pierce did a good job. You he won some he lost some very solid outing but Paris Campbell Michael Pittman Jr. didn't look great you know I'm not I'm not scared about Michael Pittman Jr. he's gonna be amazing he's gonna be great like he's fine but Paris Campbell I want to see a little bit more because you know he missed a lot of last season he missed a lot of the year before I want to see how he performs against an opponent here with the Detroit Lions but I think yeah seeing the receivers I know that's what everyone's going to be focused
Starting point is 00:25:28 on but for me I want to see how this edge group does against the Detroit Lions offensive line because we can we can laugh and joke that Detroit Lions aren't this great football team they have a very good offensive line I I really really like the offensive line. I mean, from, from, I mean, across the line, I know off the top of my head, they have Taylor Decker, Jonah Jackson, Frank Ragnow, who's one of the best centers in football. Penae Sewell over at right tackle. I think they have Vitae at right guard. I think you're right. So that's a really nice. Five note, all five guys are notable.
Starting point is 00:26:01 Right, right. That's, I mean, honestly, off the top of my head, that's a probably top 10, 11 offensive line football, you know, however you want to stack it. So that'd be a huge test, not only for, you know,
Starting point is 00:26:11 the Colts star players like the forest Buckner, Yannick, the Gawkway, but for the guys like Quitty pay, Dio, Dang, Bo, Ben,
Starting point is 00:26:17 Ben, and goo Taekwon Lewis. If he is an active participant throughout this week, you know, we saw these guys play well against the bills backups, but it's a different animal playing against a pretty good starting offensive line. So I really want to know how those guys are going to do and see,
Starting point is 00:26:33 you know, does the success they just had in this preseason game carry over to these joint practices against again, a very solid offensive line. Yeah, totally agree. I want to see what's what's fact and what's fiction kind of, uh, like you said that the Colts first and second wave of, of defensive line has done
Starting point is 00:26:52 pretty well, both in the preseason and in camp. Like they've, they've been consistent performers, but they know the tendencies of the guys they're playing every single day. Like they go one-on-one with these same blockers every day pretty much. So they know what to expect. So how is it going to look against a totally different animal, against an above-average offensive line with a few guys that are really, really good? So I'm wanting to see that.
Starting point is 00:27:17 You know, someone like Ben Banigou, he's really good at getting by with athleticism and speed, and he can dip the edge pretty well. He's still working on getting some moves together. We talked about the cross chop that he's kind of adopting. But that's a guy, you know, I want to see some of these guys win with mechanics and things like that and not just skirting by with some athleticism. So that would be a good group to watch.
Starting point is 00:27:44 Another one i was looking at colts defensive backs against the lions wide receivers and tight ends because that's another group for the colts it's been really good but do they look really good because the colts wide receivers have struggled or how is it you know i'm on ross st brown is very good um josh i think Um, Josh Reynolds, I think DJ, DJ has eaten no pun intended against the Colts in the past. Is it Josh Reynolds? Is there other, he played, he played with golf in the rain with the Rams. I don't know if Reynolds is there. I I'm, you know, I, this is us completely on the top of our head with the line of that.
Starting point is 00:28:23 Yeah. They have someone of that tier, but Goff played well with them last year because they'd played together with the Rams previously. But no, it's an okay pass-catching group, plus TJ Hawkinson. Again, it's a fact or fiction thing for me. Are the Colts DBs been doing well because of the Colts receivers, or are they really good? Yeah, I'm not concerned about Stefan
Starting point is 00:28:45 Gilmore or Kenny Moore or even Brandon face on like, you know, a little concerned, obviously more about face on than I am about those other two, but I'm more concerned about the guys behind because, you know, Isaiah Rogers is going to be out for this whole week. You know, I mean, maybe by some miracle, he does get a cup, a little bit of practice in, but you know, he's in the concussion protocol. I imagine he's not going to practice this week. Because the guys behind that, though, after those top three and four with Isaiah Rogers, they did not look very good in this preseason game. Tony Brown looked fine on special teams, had a couple moments on defense.
Starting point is 00:29:18 But besides that, a lot of these guys struggled in the preseason game. So I want to see, can there be someone who takes that quarterback five or quarterback six position? Because right now I'm more of the opinion that the Colts cornerback six or maybe cornerback five. I don't know. I still don't know how I feel about Tony Brown might not be on the roster right now.
Starting point is 00:29:38 I think it might be a, you know, a waiver wire ad or a trade or something like that. But I want to see one of these guys really, really step up to that plate because there are some guys who have flashed you know again tony brown i just mentioned but dallas flowers had that one-handed interception in the end zone and a couple of nice moments but i want to see him take that next step i want to see him show out against the lions and
Starting point is 00:29:58 kind of earn a bottom of the roster spot because right now i don't think anyone's kind of earned those those spots at the bottom there now those seem to be wide open especially considering two guys who could have been corners seem to be pretty firmly set at safety and Rodney Thomas and Marcel Dabo they've both been pretty much exclusively safety so they're seem to be out of the cornerback discussion was that it as as far as kind of key groups you were looking at in these practices? I think so. I mean, some O-line depth things I'm kind of looking at. But, I mean, I feel like we have a firm grasp on who the O-line depth guys are going to be right now.
Starting point is 00:30:38 So just kind of seeing that solidified. But besides that, yeah, it's really just the wide receivers, the corners, and the defensive line. Those are really the spots that we are seeing some battles taking place and and you know mike strong like we mentioned at the top of the show is a big part of that wide receiver group so it's going to be interesting it's it's a huge huge week for a lot of these guys you know and and not to ramble here while we're running over on time but i put on twitter today the guys who i think are locks for the roster and i think i I came up with four. I think I came up with 41 guys. They're basically locked. It could be give or take like one or two of those there.
Starting point is 00:31:09 So it could be down to like 40 or 39. But those bottom like 12, 13 spots, you know, this week is going to be huge determining who makes the roster in those bottom 12, 13 spots. Yeah.
Starting point is 00:31:21 Last year we, we saw it be a total difference maker when like Chris Williams is a great example. Andrew Brown, they totally turned it on when the joint practices started. So this can be a real turning point with six practices left starting tomorrow. It could be big. I think that's it for us today, everyone. We'll be back with you tomorrow. The Colts have what I can only assume is going to be a lighter practice on Tuesday, followed by the Lions coming into town for the two practices on Wednesday and Thursday. They will then have their preseason matchup at Lucas Oil Stadium on Saturday. Make sure you guys are following at JakeArthurNFL on Twitter. Put those tweet notifications on,
Starting point is 00:32:00 get ready for a great week because, again, joint practice is super important. You can follow me on Twitter as well. I'm putting a lot of preseason stuff out there, a lot of film breakdowns. So that's your style, you know, follow me. You can follow our written work over at horseshoehuddle.com. That's where you can see all of my preseason breakdowns, all Jake's news and notes from practice. And then follow us on YouTube. You know, you hit that subscribe button, we're getting close to 1,000 subscribers, which means this is, you know, becoming a reality for me. This beautiful header here that might go on my Twitter.
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