Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts MUST Make Anthony Richardson QB1 | Xavien Howard Signed | Hunter Wohler On IR

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Indianapolis Colts must name Anthony Richardson the starting quarterback tomorrow. Let's get to it. You are Locked-on Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Thank you all for tuning in and making us your first listen of the day. It's your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked-on podcast. podcast network, your team every single day. Hello, everyone.

Starting point is 00:00:34 My name is Zach Hickshaw, resident Philnerd of Horseshoe.com. And I'm joined, as always, by Jake Arthur, our credentialed boots on the ground for the site. Thank you, again, for making us your first listen today. We're playing a really dangerous game of recording when we're in waiting mode for potential quarterback news. We know the insiders could come in and steal our moment at any second here. So we do appreciate you guys tuning in to us live here on YouTube.

Starting point is 00:00:58 and then obviously later on with recording. If anything happens while we're recording, please let us know and you'll get our live reactions to it here on the show. But today we have a full packed show for you guys. We're going to talk all about the quarterback decision. We're going to each go through what we think, you know, makes sense for the Colts and make our case for who the Colt should start out the gate this season. Then we're going to talk about the news in the secondary that include Xavier

Starting point is 00:01:22 Howard being signed and Hunter Woler being placed on season ending injured reserved, which is a big blow to this defense. And then we're going to dive into the can't battles, talk about where they ended up, what happened with them, and how much injuries played a part into it, because we can't really have any of these conversations without injuries right now. But Jake, let's talk about the quarterback dilemma here. The Colts have been riding this thing all summer. You know, they've been rotating the quarterbacks day after day.

Starting point is 00:01:50 The two preseason games, we saw one quarterback start each game. It seems like the Colts have enough information to make their decision on who they're going to start, and Shane Stuyken's going to speak to the media tomorrow, presumably to give all of us notion of who they end up on starting. So, Jake, make your case. Who do you think should be named the starting quarterback? We're not going to speculate here on what we think happens, but who do you think should be after everything you've seen this offseason?

Starting point is 00:02:17 Yeah, so, I mean, I will correct myself from earlier in the summer. I think it should be Anthony Richardson. Um, initially I did not anticipate this kind of a summer from Anthony, very skittish about the injuries. You assumed it was probably going to happen again just because this is a guy where it's kind of always something. Um, I didn't really anticipate with those injuries, um, with the expected injuries for him to kind of smooth out some of the issues we'd seen, but I don't know what else Anthony

Starting point is 00:02:49 could have done this summer to prove that, like he didn't blow Daniel Jones away by any means, but like if it's we kind of always said if it was relatively close that you kind of have to give the edge to Anthony he has proven that he is the one that's going to make the bigger plays and that he may not be as cerebral and recognize as many things as Jones does pre-snap and what defenses are doing but that goes into the development of it all like they said themselves that he needs more snaps in order to you know to kind of get that catalog and if he's if his play is just as good, if not a little better or more productive than Jones, then why would he not do it? And if, you know, we were led to believe this is a 50-50 battle, may the best man win,

Starting point is 00:03:35 well, we've seen pretty clearly that one of these guys is going to be able to help the team a lot more. And kind of something I've really thought about, especially since Saturday with the most recent preseason game, I was like, you know, this team is going to need to get bailed out of plenty of moments throughout the This is not like a great roster. They're not a roster where you can plop a Brad Johnson or a Trent Dofer or whatever in there and it is successful. This team is going to need a hero at times. And as much as Richardson can kind of get them in a hole, he's also the only one of the two that can dig them out of it. So I'm on board with thinking Richardson should be the guy.

Starting point is 00:04:16 Yeah, I'm in full agreement there. You know, we were pretty pessimistic coming into training camp and just because it was another injury heading into camp. And if there were any thoughts about him being held out of training camp, and that would have put him behind the eight ball. And we could have seen him pressing, and it would have led to more issues. So we were pretty pessimistic coming to camp. But he participated in just about every camp day. I think outside of the day after his pinky injury,

Starting point is 00:04:38 he was out there for every camp practice. Looked pretty good by your account, Jake, and a lot of these practices. A couple low moments here and there. But again, the expectation with Anthony Richardson isn't for him to be this 70% passer. because of what you get in the deep passing game, because of what you get in the rushing game from him. You know, he's such an explosive playmaker that an Anthony Richardson completing 58 to 60% of his passes is probably better than a game manager completing 65% of their passes, you know? So I think that you've got to swing for the fences to start a season. I just don't know if there's anything that can really make a fan base, like, just so, like, nihilistic towards how a season's going to go.

Starting point is 00:05:22 If you come out the gate saying, like, yeah, Anthony Richardson, we just saw him have a pretty good preseason game. We've seen him have some pretty good camp practices. We're going to go with the option, though, that is just kind of safe for our team. And I think the thing with Daniel Jones, too, is you're always going to happen. He'll be there on the back burner. If Richardson just spirals like he did last season in the middle of the year and just start stacking poor performances, you always had that safe thing behind you, relatively safe thing

Starting point is 00:05:49 behind you that you can just throw out there and really call it there. But I think if you essentially throw the towel to start the season on the more flashy and the more upside pick and go with the safe option, you're kind of signifying to the rest of your fan base that like we're trying to squeak into the playoffs maybe here. We're not trying to go boom or bust. We're not trying to go for the option that could put us over the top. I don't know how it's going to go if they start Anthony Richardson because again, it's such a volatile experience. with him. It could be really high. It could be really low, some really bad moments, some really good moments. But I do know that this is the swing for the fences. And I think that's how you have to

Starting point is 00:06:27 start a season, especially when he didn't have an awful camp. Like if he clearly didn't put the work in this offseason and had a camp, I don't even want to say a camp like last year, but like a preseason performance, for instance, like he did against the Cincinnati Bengals last year, where he just looked overwhelmed by the Bengals back of defense, then I could understand going to a Daniel Jones here. But by all accounts, he had a pretty good. off season. Outside of one gaff against the Ravens and a couple of red zone moments in practice, he had a relatively good off season. And then we saw in the game on Saturday that, like, yes, both these quarterbacks have the ability to move the ball up and down the field, but only one of

Starting point is 00:07:05 these two guys can make those big flash plays when backed up third and eight plus. I mean, we saw Anthony Richardson scramble for a first down for a 10-yard gain on 3rd and 10. We saw him deliver the throw of the preseason to Anthony Gould. That, was called back unfortunately i just don't think you get that upside with daniel jones so if it were me i just don't think i could settle for the the perfectly fine of daniel jones out the gate now again if richardson implodes in the first four games and you go oh and four or one and three and it's just looking awful then you have daniel jones to put him in there but i think if you're starting the season with daniel jones you need production immediately and you need wins out the gate or

Starting point is 00:07:45 you're going to have your fan base just completely turn on you yeah and They've been making moves throughout the odd season that indicate they plan on winning games. You don't sign Charbarious Ward and can bind him and now Xavier and Howard if you're not planning to be relatively successful this year, you know? And Daniel Jones, according to them, can be fine and, you know, do this and that. But for me, when I say that I think Anthony should win it, most of that is because of Anthony. But a good chunk of that is Daniel himself. like I don't think he showed this summer that like he would be this safe guy that'll give you a nice base line every week like he'd probably be fine like he wouldn't be a disaster it's probably not going to turn the ball over four five six times in a game but like there were just things I saw where you know he targeted Tyler Warren three times I think on on Saturday two of those were hospital balls and that included the one the big play down the left side and then the other one he missed him wide open down the right side.

Starting point is 00:08:46 Like he's just not this like guaranteed layup player that that has been kind of doled out to us. You know what I mean? Like I don't think if they go with Jones that he's just going to guarantee them wins or being competitive all the time. I think Anthony at least gives them a shot at being competitive most weeks. And you did say we're not going to speculate, but like I've seen this a lot on Twitter and stuff.

Starting point is 00:09:09 So like on behalf of the Colts beat, a lot of us are kind of, you know, saying we would go with Anthony, but there's a decent chance that Colts may see it differently or Shane Steichen may see it differently. And this is kind of further after Jim Bob Cooter spoke today. The things they have said they covet in the starting quarterback, the consistency and the mastery of all the small things, getting guys on the same page, being able to read things pre and post snap, all that. The way they describe that player that they want, they use a lot of the same language when they talk about Daniel Jones. Right.

Starting point is 00:09:47 And while we all still think Anthony should be the better option, they may think that they have more of a sure thing, someone they know what they can do with with Jones. And that's kind of the reason for the speculation. You know what? Maybe we should drag this into the second segment, Jake, because we do need to get to our second segment. So we'll probably, we know what we'll do. We'll push the Xavier Howard and Hunter Woller stuff to say.

Starting point is 00:10:14 segment three and we'll get on roster battles later this week because I think coming up guys we're going to talk about what the Colts ultimately do do at this quarterback decision and we'll go back and forth a little bit where yes a lot of the beat guys are thinking that this could be Daniel Jones but I kind of have a different take on how I've interpreted Shane Steichen's recent comments and Jim Bob Cooter's recent comments so yeah we'll talk about that a little bit more in segment two here coming up in just a second this episode is brought to you by a better help These days, it feels like there's advice for everything, cold plunges, gratitude journals, screen detoxes, but how do you know what actually works for you? With so much information online about mental health and wellness, it can be overwhelming to figure out what's true and what will actually help.

Starting point is 00:10:59 That's where talking to a licensed therapist who better help can make all the difference for you. You get real personalized guidance instead of just guessing based on something you saw on social media. Plus, having a trusted professional to talk things through with can actually help cut through the noise. and keep you focused on what matters most with over 30,000 therapists better help is the world's largest all-night therapy platform serving more than five million people it's easy to fit into your schedule just click to connect and you can even switch therapists anytime if you want to because as much as getting stuff off your chest and just talking out as important having the right person to bounce all that off is just as important to be honest with you so talk it out with better help

Starting point is 00:11:38 Our listeners get 10% off of their first month at betterhelp.com slash locked on. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P.com slash locked on. All right, Zach, so let's continue this here. So just to kind of regroup through all this, we both think after what we saw in training camp in the preseason that Anthony Richardson is the logical choice to make. We don't, you know, it's not a foregone conclusion that the Colts make that choice as well. kind of the language Shane Steichen and even Jim Bob Cooter have used kind of, you know, for my

Starting point is 00:12:13 vantage point and those on the Coltsby, kind of indicates that that could be Daniel Jones that they see. However, you said you have kind of a different view on that. Yeah, I think for me, my understanding of Shane Steichen over the last couple years, being able, maybe not being in the boots on the ground like you guys, but just from my understanding of him is he does like to muddy the waters a lot when it comes to the media. So when he has decisions to make, he does have a certain way to talk about things, but also a lot of stuff is kind of hidden in what he says because he really likes to just cover up everything that he doesn't like giving anything to the media whatsoever. But the way that I kind of have interpreted his last couple comments about the

Starting point is 00:12:53 quarterback decision is more so in the framing of I think everyone expects it to be Anthony Richardson and it's more so like not talking down on Daniel Jones. You know, being like, you know what, we also like a quarterback who can get the ball out and move the offense and do the little things and do this. I think it's kind of just preparing Daniel Jones and people who support Daniel Jones like, hey, look, we still like Daniel Jones. It's just we're going to go with the upside guy and Anthony Richardson. That is kind of the way I've interpreted.

Starting point is 00:13:23 And even if we want to take Shane Steichen's words at face value, then he say in a, I mean, in a press conference a couple of days ago, I think, or last week even talked about Anthony Richardson. He said how Richardson's beginning a lot better at the small things. And he has been showing the ability to grow as a leader and take the small things. And that was where he saw big time growth from Richardson this offseason. So we can either take this one of two ways. One, it being at face value where if we take all of Shane Steichen's comments and words to heart,

Starting point is 00:13:51 meaning that he's speaking truthfully, I still think Richardson could be in play when we're talking about the underneath stuff and the little things with the quarterback because those are specific things that Shane Steichen has praised about Richardson this offseason. And then even if we're reading between the lines, I do think it's kind of like a soft landing for Daniel Jones, where it's like, look, we know this guy's got to play games for this year. Like whoever, like, we can just get that out of the way too here, Jake.

Starting point is 00:14:16 Whoever's named the starting quarterback is not going to start all 17 games for the Colts this season. And it might not be because of performance. Neither of these guys have shown the ability to stay healthy through 17 games, really, in the NFL. So I think we're going to see both these guys on the field at some point this season. So you don't want to just leave one of them dejected. So to me, the way I've interpreted Shane Steikens and people can disagree all they want,

Starting point is 00:14:39 this is just my personal interpretation. It's kind of like a soft landing for Daniel Jones where it's like, look, we're going to go with the high upside guy here. But like, we do value quarterbacks who do these certain things. We do value Daniel Jones, but Richardson has shown enough progress in those areas to where we're going to roll with him that i don't know maybe maybe i'm going to be proven completely wrong i hope i'm not i hope it's anthony richardson but that's the way i've interpreted those jane stiking comments i would also now they've had a full off season with

Starting point is 00:15:07 with daniel but i would also feel like they would be more inclined to go with the guy they know inside and out with anthony because this whole thing kind of bit him last year with flacco so they you know they like flacco from his comeback player of the year season with the browns they bring him in. They're like, oh, okay, this is like a really great insurance policy for Anthony. Anthony is a disaster to start. They pull him, bench him, and they assume Joe Flacco is going to give them some kind of spark that he did with the Browns as well.

Starting point is 00:15:37 And again, he took a, like, Flacco took a lot of snaps last summer. Like, they thought they had Flacco pretty well figured out, and he was not that great. Like games he started, he was not that great. He was not the guy they thought they were getting. And then they're like, oh, my God. like, okay, like Anthony has done enough behind the scenes to say he's earned this thing back. So it almost to me feels like, and you mentioned this earlier, go with Anthony off the jump. Like you have seen these positive changes that he's made behind the scenes off the field.

Starting point is 00:16:10 And you've seen them kind of paying dividends, at least on the practice field. And his preseason wasn't really a disaster either. Like he left way early in the first game, but he didn't, you know, he didn't look overwhelmed early on. I guess you could say for how small the sample size that was. But yeah, go to Anthony and for some reason, things like just totally take a nose dive. You do have this guy in Daniel Jones. And to some extent, I've got to imagine Anthony thinks, you know, as long as I have improved and done all the right things, this is my job still. Like, not that it's owed to him, but like, how else would it have been sold to him?

Starting point is 00:16:49 You know what I mean? Like, show these improvements, do the things. we want to see from you and this is your job, whereas with Jones, like, there's no way he should have felt guaranteed the job coming in here. So if we're talking about maintaining whatever mental edge each guy has, that's also probably the best way to do it. Now, you're not going to make your decision if you're Stuyken based off that alone, but like, go with Anthony, you know, right off the bat and ride that out to see how it goes. I mean, if Chris Ballard and Shane Stuyken are being given another chance to write this thing before things could all.

Starting point is 00:17:22 hit the wall next off season. Anthony probably deserves that as well. And then, like you said, you have Jones to go to if it's week nine, week 12, whatever, and you're a game below 500 and you feel like you need to change something to get you into the playoffs. Go ahead. Yeah, and I think also part of Shane Steigant's comments that a lot of the beat reporters keep referencing here saying that this could lead to Jones, I think part of it's also just

Starting point is 00:17:47 holding Anthony Richardson to that standard. Again, maybe again, just me reading too much between the last. lines, but I think it's just holding Richardson to that standard where it's like, we value quarterbacks who could do the little things, who can do what is typical of a quarterback in terms of leading the film room, in terms of moving the offense up and down the field, in terms of hitting the short stuff and taking the layouts when they're there, I think it's just holding into that standard to where like, even if we do name you the starting quarterback, if you are not doing these things, we have another guy who can't do these, at least in their opinion. So I think, again,

Starting point is 00:18:20 part of it, again, maybe just me reading too much into it. I've gone back and forth when I've been seeing a lot of the beat guys really saying that they think it's going to be Daniel Jones. I just, part of me just thinks that this is them trying to hold Richards into a standard because they didn't, like you said, Jake, they didn't really do that much last year. Last year it was, Flacco's coming in here to be the backup. The only semblance we got of a competition was when Kirk Herb Street mentioned it in like preseason week two saying the Colts could go to Flacko if this Richardson thing isn't

Starting point is 00:18:47 working out this year. but aside from that it was like you're our guy don't worry go out there and do your thing and just improve now it's we're holding you to a standard that you have to meet and if you don't hit it we have this guy behind you that we that we like we like to run a fairly similar offense to you so yeah i think a lot of it's smoke and mirrors i think a lot of it is just trying to keep the waters muddy and keep richardson just on edge and and at the top of his game because we've seen that the pressure this offseason has pushed him to a better training camp than what you've ever seen, according to you and a lot of these beat guys.

Starting point is 00:19:22 So I think a lot of it is just like, hey, even if we name him the starter, he needs to be doing well in these areas or we will go to Daniel Jones. So I think part of it's just keeping that pressure on him. I agree with that. And I do want to be clear that, like, although there is some pushback and like some of us on the beat think it could be Jones, I'm not going to say we think it will be. I just, I think most of us see that it should be Anthony. and it's kind of like, oh, wait a minute, there's a very good chance still that it's Daniel.

Starting point is 00:19:51 You know, not to say that it will be, but I so very much see an avenue where Shane could be on board with Daniel. And again, I mean, Daniel's not been like the healthiest guy in the league, but he might just want a guy who there's not going to be something different injury-wise every other week, too. We can't really know. I mean, if Shane does announce it tomorrow, we surely will have a million questions for him, regardless of what the choice is. Yeah, we'll have the full breakdown tomorrow, if that is what tomorrow's press conference is about. Again, we're hoping on this show that's going to be Anthony Richardson. We think it should be Anthony Richardson. But to your point, Jake, I'm not ruling Daniel Jones out by any means.

Starting point is 00:20:29 I could totally see a world where they go with Daniel Jones. It's just a world where I would kind of disagree with that decision to start a season. And it would put a lot of pressure on this team to, like, start fast, went out the gate. And what have we seen from this Colts team in the last, what, 15 years? they don't really start fast. They don't really win out the gates. So we'll see exactly what can become of this team, regardless of who the quarterback decision is.

Starting point is 00:20:54 But coming up, guys, we are going to transition away from quarterback for at least one segment on today's show. Jake handled that curveball. I threw it him pretty well. We're going to talk about the defensive backs. We're going to talk about some signings, some transactions, and the loss of a very important key rookie,

Starting point is 00:21:08 another very important key rookie before the season even started. This episode is pretty good. presented by Yahoo Fantasy. It's the best time of the year. NFL kickoff is almost here, and that means fantasy football season is back in full swing, and this year, Yahoo! Fantasy is turning things up with a fantasy football experience like never before. This year, Zach and I, Alan and Derek over, Colt Squad as well, we're all playing on Yahoo

Starting point is 00:21:34 fantasy, and you should too, whether you're a first-timer or it's your millionth league. We've all had, I would imagine we all have leagues who've been in forever. for my home league, you know, we're, uh, you know, we've, we've been playing Yahoo. We're actually doing something really cool this year. We're doing our draft. We always do it in person. We're doing it on pontoon boats this year. So whatever, if you got some cool sort of fantasy draft plans or whatever, drop them in the

Starting point is 00:21:58 comments we want to hear about them. Yahoo's got good things to celebrate as well. To celebrate 28 years of fantasy football greatness, they're dropping 28 big new features over 28 days throughout August. To kick it off, they just drop Yahoo! I see guillotine leagues. It's a killer new way to play fantasy football on Yahoo, where the lowest scoring team each week gets eliminated

Starting point is 00:22:19 until there's just one team standing. We've all had those games where he scores 60, 65 points, even though we have a stacked team. Well, tough. You're out in that instance. But the season around the corner now is the time to get your league together and give this new mo to try. If you're more into the classics,

Starting point is 00:22:36 you could still play head-to-head private leagues or join a public league with a bunch of randoms. We've all done it. but just stay tuned for more killer announcements and start playing Yahoo! Fantasy football now at Yahoo!Fantasy.com slash lock on NFL. All right, Zach, so it's been a busy newsday for the Colts. So we talked about the quarterback stuff. There's no news there, but we all kind of anticipate this quarterback decision is coming tomorrow morning.

Starting point is 00:23:03 But, you know, it started out with a name that people have been called for for a couple years now, finally landing here. Zavian Howard, former Miami Dolphins, two-time All-Pro, four-time Pro Bowler. The Colts were in grave danger of trotting you and me out at cornerback pretty soon. I don't think they were in that grave of danger, Jake. That would be awful. I've been in contract talks. They've seen what I could do to practice. But no, they finally bring in Xavier and Howard to replace Justin Wally, Jalen Jones, Juju Brents, Kenny Moore. Now Kenny Moore is in the nickel, but you get it. Jonathan Edwards.

Starting point is 00:23:40 Jonathan Edwards as well. They're all hurt. Concussion. I forgot about that one. Concussion the other night. So yeah, there's been a laundry list of issues at cornerback. So they signed Xavier and Howard.

Starting point is 00:23:51 They also grabbed a couple UDFA linebackers, Jake Cheney and Joseph Vaughn. But the saddest news is that they have placed our king, Hunter Woller, on injured reserve ending his season. Same thing with Blake Freeland, but we all knew that as soon as we saw that, play. And then Jacob Phillips as well, another linebacker who maybe wasn't going to make it or might have been on the practice squad is one of the kind of veteran additions there. But this is tough.

Starting point is 00:24:18 So let's start first, Zach, with the Zavian Howard signing. How do you feel about it? And then if you want to transition to the old Hunter Wooler deal, you know, that's not the first one that we've had to pour one out for this summer and probably won't be the last, but this one's tough. Yeah, my heart is already broken from Justin Wally. I don't have a heart left anymore to be upset about Hunter Woller, but I am pretty bummed about that one. But starting with Xavier and Howard, yeah, it's interesting on paper. I'm sure this was one that Lou Anirumo was saying, like, look, I need to get a veteran in the room. I just don't have anything at corner. And I coach this guy almost 10 years ago at this point. But coach this guy before, know what he can do. He's had

Starting point is 00:25:02 production in the NFL. And I think, you know, if anyone's expecting Xavier and Howard to come in and be all pro Xavier and Howard, I think we're going to be a little upset come regular season because he's just not going to be that guy. He hasn't played in over a season. He had some injury issues. He's a 32-year-old corner. And typically when corners hit that like 30 plus age season and they're already not super fast guys, like Xavier Howard was a 458 guy back in the combine as in his draft year, I don't think we can really have the expectation he's going to come in and be a star, but I think you can grade him somewhere on the Brandon Faison to Xavier Rhodes type of scale in terms of veteran free agent that just knows a system.

Starting point is 00:25:44 And I think he's going to fall somewhere in between that. Like I don't expect him to hit the highs that Xavier Rhodes hit here in Indy, but he'll probably be like a Faison-ish level player, which is like good enough to be a replaceable starter that knows the system, can make some plays on the ball. And that's fine. I mean, as of right now, the Colts just had nothing at Corner. They needed somebody there at Corner.

Starting point is 00:26:06 Now, the concerning part of this, and we're not going to go too much into it just because we don't. We're not specifically involved, but the off-field stuff with Xavier Howard is certainly a little concerning. So I'm hoping the Colts did their due diligence there. Chris Ballard did address that in a comment to the athletic, and James Boyd put that out there. So I appreciate the due diligence there from Boyd to really check what the Colts on. that. But yeah, Howard, I think he can be a middling floor, low ceiling type of player for you, which, again, the Colts are trotting out there, me and Jake. This is better than putting me and Jake on the field. So they needed some kind of bodies at corner. I'm fine with just getting

Starting point is 00:26:48 a guy in here who just knows the system and knows the coach. And yeah, I think it'll be okay. I don't think it's going to be like a game-changing move. There's a reason he's available in the middle of August, but just getting in somebody that's above the level of a undrafted free agent at this point is something, you know. Yeah, and that meter, of course, stretches from Antonio Cromarty on the low end to Stefan Gilmore at the high end. You hope there's somewhere around the middle with, you know, Xavier Rhodes, like you mentioned. But no, this move is, this move is fine for me. I think, honestly, it's a good one. And to me, it's an indicator that, again, like I mentioned at the top. They do plan on having some success this year, which, I mean, is good.

Starting point is 00:27:32 You sign a guy like that because you don't want to have to rely on Samuel Womack and Alex Johnson and stuff to fill in the gaps until Jones and Brents are back. So to me, this is a move to be taken somewhat seriously. Now, on the other hand, he is 32 years old. He hasn't played since 2023. And in those last two seasons in Miami, he missed like six games combined. So like you mentioned, kind of had some injury issues there. But I mean, at his peak, this was one of the best ballhawks in the NFL. And that's what Lou Anarumo said today. I asked him, I was like, you know, this guy's a little older, hasn't played since 20, 23. What are you getting in him? And he's like, well, I mean, the reason he got drafted so high is because he knows

Starting point is 00:28:12 how to go get the ball, which is true. I mean, he has seasons with four, five, seven, and ten interceptions. I think he was like third and defensive player of the year voting that one year because he had 10 in that year. But yeah, I mean, he's he's been a very good player, one of the most handsomely paid players at quarterback in his prime. I don't think they're going to be getting prime Zavian Rhodes, but hopefully they get at least an average level corner who has awesome ball skills. I mean, I've seen him intercept the Colts multiple times. Like the guy can make really tough grabs. And I mean, if that's what he's able to give them without getting burned constantly,

Starting point is 00:28:49 then I'm cool with that. Like, if he works his way into the starting lineup without having to get yanked from it, I'm cool. Was Xavier Howard the corner in that infamous like Andrew Luck final minute of the like second quarter experience where like each team threw like two picks in the final minute? I think so. I think Howard had it.

Starting point is 00:29:08 Yeah, I think Howard had a game where we had two picks against the Colts at Lucas Oil. That's probably what you're talking about. Yeah, I know. I think it was that one where, like, it was like a six-place span where lucked through two picks to Howard and whoever the Dolphins quarterback was through two picks back to the Colts. It was a complete mess. But yeah, Xavier and Howard certainly has had some success in Lucas Oil and his career. Let's also talk about Hunter Woller, though, real quick, Jake, before we get out of here, just devastating news for the cold secondary. That's already just been dealt so many awful news. So much awful news. I mean, currently Justin Walley and Woller are out for the year. Nick Cross and and Kenny Moore, the second two veterans they were going to rely on are both not practicing due to injury. Jalen Jones and Juju Brents, we have no clue how long those guys are going to be out. Xavier Howard News probably means Jalen Jones is going to be on IR and on cutdown. That's just what I'm guessing here. So, yeah, Hunter Waller, which is another blow to the secondary that we were so high on coming into the off season.

Starting point is 00:30:04 But now we're looking at what Daniel Jones being the backup strong safety, Jonathan Edwards maybe being the fourth outside corner, third outside corner to start the season. Alex Johnson and Chris Lamonts being in there as well. Like this cornerback room, the safety rooms are just devastated by injuries right now. And the season hasn't even started. So they have two and a half weeks to get healthy because everyone's banged up. And unfortunately for guys like Woller and Wally, like their season's already over. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:30:34 So I think right now, until Nick Cross gets back, the strong safety. might be Daniel Scott. They'll probably put Thomas in for it, I'm guessing, at this point. Because that's what they did when Woller left the game. They put Thomas in there as the other safety, and they had him and Bynum kind of rotating back and forth. But, yeah. If they think they can cover what's in the box, okay.

Starting point is 00:31:00 But, I mean, I hope, regardless, I hope Nick Cross isn't out too much longer. Yeah. I mean, Daniel Scott had a nice interception. if it just didn't get pulled back the other day. Isn't that guy wrenching? It's like big guy's been doing enough. Give him the pick. It's ridiculous.

Starting point is 00:31:15 There were like 20 plays on Saturday where I was like, can you just let it go? Like chill, refs. Yeah. But yeah, it's unfortunate with this Colts defense right now. I think they have a lot of good ingredients. I think the front seven is in a pretty decent place when healthy. The back end has a lot of talent. And I think Louana Rumo is going to be an upgrade on defensive coach.

Starting point is 00:31:37 it's just everyone's hurt so we'll let to monitor the situation going into week one and you know if guys like cross and kenny and jalen jones are all out for week one that miami team is going to be tough to stop for this colds defense but as long as these guys can get healthy before week one all this overreaction and fear will feel like nothing so uh all eyes are on week one with this colts defense but another major blow just losing hunter wooler for the entire season certainly uh a devastating one here to Jake on this show because Jake has been a Hunter Whaler guy since day one and it's just been

Starting point is 00:32:12 brutal, brutal to see. Can't have nice things. Can't have nice things. I lost Wally, you lost Woller, we're both just going to be crying for the rest of the off season here. But to end on the sad note here, we do want to thank you guys for making Locked on Culture for his listen today.

Starting point is 00:32:26 And every day, next listen NFL fantasy draft season is here. So again, for your second listen, go find Locked on Fantasy Football Podcast with with host Vinnie Iyer and Michelle magic, magic. I hope I said that right, Michelle. Listen every day to prep for your fantasy draft to become most informed managers so you can take home your league's trophy this season. Find Lockdown Fantasy football on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. You guys want to come

Starting point is 00:32:51 on Lockdown Colts insider and chat list directly and get that insider scoop. Follow the link in our show notes. And if you don't already, make sure you're following at Lockdown Colts at G8 Arthur, NFL, and at Zach Hicks to all on socials. Also subscribe to us on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast. We love your guys, rings, reviews as well. And we'll catch you guys whenever this Colts quarterback news breaks. So that could be tonight at midnight or that could be tomorrow after the press conference with Shane Steichen. But we'll catch you guys next here after that quarterback news breaks.

Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts MUST Make Anthony Richardson QB1 | Xavien Howard Signed | Hunter Wohler On IR

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.