Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts offseason deep dive with IndyStar's Nate Atkins

Episode Date: March 25, 2022

On today's episode, it's time to review an already interesting offseason for the Indianapolis Colts. Joining Evan to talk about Indy's moves is IndyStar Colts insider Nate Atkins. Evan and Nate dive into a multitude of Colts-related topics.How will Matt Ryan fit within the Colts' offense as their new QB1? Will Yannick Ngakoue take their defense to new heights? What's next for the Colts in terms of offseason additions?All of this, plus so much more, in a jam-packed episode with Nate. Make sure you tune in, Colts fans! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello everybody and welcome to your latest episode of Locked On Colts. I am your host, Evan Cedary, joined by a first-time guest of the show, Nate Atkins, the Colts beat writer for the Annapolis Star. Nate, how are you doing today? Because I know over the last probably 10 or so days, you probably haven't gotten a lot of sleep.

Yeah, it's been a crazy 10 days. It's been a crazy 10 weeks. That's really about how long it's been since the season ended on that fateful day in Jacksonville. It's kind of crazy to think about just all that's happened since then. I've decided to move off one quarterback, releasing him, or trading him, I should say, trading for another one, and finally getting to a point where we can talk about something other than who the next quarterback's going to be. I never thought that day would come, but finally it sounds like we're here. Yeah, what a crazy turn of events it was. The Colts trading curse of Wentz for a third round pick and what is likely to be as well a second round pick in next year's draft, but somehow

they fall upwards, Nate, into Matt Ryan when the Falcons flirt with Deshaun Watson. They don't get Watson, and then Ryan explores his options, and he ends up wanting to come to Indy, and that's how he ends up as the Colts quarterback. So, Nate, how in the world do you diagnose what happened with how Chris Bauer kind of maneuvered the chips, upgraded a quarterback, saved money, got a future draft pick that could be a goldmine next year if they want to trade for a quarterback? It seems like just a home run, what Chris Bauer pulled off there

with the quarterback position. Yeah, it really fell together nicely in an offseason where I think they went into it really without much of a plan other than to move off of Carson Wentz and get back to some of the roots that they had before last year when they traded for Carson, which is patience. That's always been Chris Bauer's MO of letting the markets play out, hunt for value, don't panic, don't overreact to what somebody else does. They didn't really do that last year when they decided to trade a first round pick for Carson Wentz, who had led the NFL in interceptions, and they paid for it. But they

were able to find a way to get value out of that trade by going to the Washington Commanders, who had tried swinging on other quarterbacks. And again, we're in a league now where quarterbacks are the guys who have control and not enough of them wanted to go to Washington to where Carson Wentz all of a sudden was one of the more intriguing options. So Washington trades for him. And Chris Ballard was able to read that situation and what it said about the league and the power of quarterbacks. And he just believed in his roster,

which he always has and believe that eventually someone would come through and pick Indianapolis to be the team that, that they wanted to play for. For a while there was looking bleak. We didn't know who that person would be. Jimmy Garoppolo was coming off a shoulder surgery and they were a little bit nervous about that. There weren't really other trade options they were excited about. I know they were not that into Baker Mayfield as much as maybe some fans were because it felt too much like a repeat of the Wentz experiment,

trying to take a draft pick back to what he used to be rather than what you just saw last season and hope the scars disappear. So they had to wait for a while to do it, but eventually exactly what they wanted happened, which was one quarterback who fit what they were looking for, and Matt Ryan decided that he needed a new start, and he saw Indianapolis as the place that was one quarterback away. And because he saw them specifically as that place,

and he told the Falcons to trade him, they didn't have a lot of leeway unless they wanted to anger one of the stars of their franchise. So they decided to do it for a third-round pick, which you add it all up, and it certainly is a steal to get Matt Ryan in an additional third-round pick while moving off of Carson Wentz. When looking at the Matt Ryan trade more closely, obviously get up the third-round pick, they still have Washington,

so they moved up nine spots in the third round. They moved up also in the second round too, but looking at Matt Ryan the quarterback himself last year just watching some games over the last few days I've noticed just his ball placement his accuracy it's kind of the little things Carson Wentz didn't do and it's really a more souped up version of Phillip Rivers is that a fair assessment to you Nate too as far as what we should be looking forward to with Matt Ryan under center as far as the style of play? Well, Matt Ryan, you know, has a, he's played 14 years in the league, so it's a large sample and he's got a career completion percentage of almost 66%.

And it's actually gone up as he's gotten older. He led the league in completion percentage in 2012. And that's where it's kind of been ever since. He's been at least 65, 64.7% or better every single year since 2012, and that's even some years when he led the league in attempts like in 2020. So accuracy is just kind of his deal at this point. He will still hit some downfield throws. What I'd say is a plus arm, but not maybe a Carson Wentz level arm strength,

but certainly better than Phillip Rivers. But accuracy, precision, that's how he's always gotten by. That's why he's been able to play with superstar receivers like Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley and Tony Gonzalez and Roddy White and now Kyle Pitts and get them to produce at the highest, highest levels that they could hit all pro seasons. And for Kyle Pitts last year, a thousand yards as a rookie. So that's just kind of his style. He's just that high level point guard. And I just view him as sort of the happy medium between Rivers and Wentz because he comes with a lot of Rivers'

personality and leadership traits and pre-snap understandings of matchups and where the ball is going to go. He doesn't have the experience in Frank Gregg's playbook, but certainly seems like a guy who could learn it. But he also is a little bit more nimble than Phillip, navigating throughout the pocket, turning the very occasional run in for a first down, and has more natural arm strength than always has, you know, so he doesn't match Carson on the traits, but he's closer to Carson than Phillip is, and then he comes with all of Phillip's sort of pre-snap intangibles and leadership, which obviously became an issue for Carson, so they've had, you know, five starting

quarterbacks in five years under Frank Reich, and this is the second best one, in my opinion, behind Andrew Luck, which is a nice thing to say when you consider that they started this offseason and it looked like they just had no clear direction, and now they kind of do. Nate, the Colts have desperately needed stability at the most important position with quarterbacks since Andrew Luck retired, and when seeing Matt Ryan's contract, especially today after he restructured a little bit, and his cap number next year, according to Over the Cap, is $35.2 million now, this seems like a firm two-year pack where the Colts have, like you mentioned, five quarterbacks the last five years.

But it feels like Matt Ryan and the way he talked, especially in his press conference, that this could be a two-year, maybe potentially even three or four, if all goes well, the ceiling of this team could be reached. Yeah, I knew that was really what was getting the ball rolling on him moving out of Atlanta was he had two years left on his contract, and he wanted to find a situation where that felt guaranteed, locked into sort of a starter rate. And Atlanta wasn't willing to go there because they're looking at quarterbacks in the draft.

And I think Indianapolis is because Indy does not have – they could take a quarterback this year, but they don't have a first-round pick, and it's not considered a great class. And, again, they don't want to just have a new one every single year. So it makes sense to go with sort of a two-year window for Matt Ryan that'll take him to when he's age uh it'll be age 37 38 and then he'll be 39 which is the age that Phillip Rivers was when he signed here and it gives him a chance to in 2023 to draft a rookie and sort of groom him if they want or they could put it off to the next year they can just kind of play this for however it turns out because quarterbacks age at different levels all the time. We saw Peyton Manning kind of fell off a cliff once he had some injuries. We've seen that with some other trade space players like Ben Roethlisberger.

It happened to Eli Manning, who's less of a trade space player, but guys who've been able to stay healthy have sometimes even risen up as they've gotten older. Aaron Rodgers has gotten better in the last few years. You could argue that happened with Tom Brady. And so they're going to have to see kind of what these next two years look like for Matt Ryan. Talking to him the other day, he feels confident that he's got time left, that this is not a one-year, two-year sort of deal. And I just feel like I know he's motivated to chase a championship I think

he's also motivated to not have this be his final contract uh this would so he has a chance where he's again he he follows a lot of what he does off of Matthew Stafford one of his closest friends in the league and Matthew just went to the Rams for one year and won a Super Bowl. And then he just signed for 130 million guaranteed. And he's a few years younger, a couple years younger than Matt Ryan is. But Ryan knows that if he goes to Indy and he plays really well and they start winning and it looks like they're going to take a clear step back to go with anyone else, then he's got leverage there. So I think he definitely wants to stay here.

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obviously all these teams now, like 12 or 13, you can argue, are going forward this year. How do you view the Colts now with Matt Ryan at their center instead of Carson Wentz within that? And really, I feel like the fair argument to be made now is not really to compare the Colts to their AFC team, like elite teams in the AFC. It's more so just compared to the Tennessee Titans because it feels like that's the only way a team from the AFC South this year is going to get in is by winning the division.

And the Wild Cards is going to be too stacked against them. That's the interesting thing is I think it's easy to get down on the situation the Colts are in because you look around the AFC and there's just Titans at so many different spots at the quarterback position. These guys who have traits that Matt Ryan just can't live up to and has never matched in his whole career. You think about Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Russell Wilson, Deshaun Watson, not even, you know, Justin Herbert, Lamar Jackson, not even to mention Joe Burrow. The list just keeps going on and on, but none of those guys play in the Colts division. And they're,

a lot of those guys are playing in the AFC West. And then three others, Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson, and Joe Burrow are all in the AFC North. And so some of those teams are probably not going to make the playoffs. And either way, if the Colts are able to win their division, and if it comes, if this truly becomes a quarterback league where the best quarterbacks are usually the teams at the top, then I think the Colts have the best quarterback in the AFC South. And so if you're able to get that home playoff game, you know, and you're able to win that home playoff game, then all of a sudden it's sort of who knows, you know, teams have gotten in the playoffs many different years and it's been sort of a crapshoot.

I mean, last year, I don't think anybody thought that the Cincinnati Bengals would be going all the way to the Super Bowl. But what they were able to do was they were able to win a division title, get a home playoff game, survive that home playoff game, take pressure off for having not won in recent years, build momentum around their quarterback and get a whole team believing in him. And then they got lucky a little bit along the way. They got a bad game from Ryan Tannehill the next game out

where they survived with nine sacks to Joe Burrow. And then they got an off half from Patrick Mahomes with a great defensive plan. But it was also a team that believed that they could come back down 21 to three, even against Patrick Mahomes. So things just have to break right in a certain way. And the Colts though, at the very least, they just want that chance. Like they were crushed last year because they felt like they had star players who could go into different teams, buildings and really have a chance to knock them out. Even teams with great quarterbacks. And if they didn't, if they lost because of that,

they at least wanted to live in a world where they took their shot and they live with the results. They didn't get that chance last year, but this year if they can win the division, I think it's all the chance that they can hope for at this point in time, and I think they'll live with those results too. Nate, just in your opinion, how big of an upgrade is Matt Ryan from Carson Wentz as far as everything rolled together

and what the Colts are looking for with a franchise quarterback? Well, when it comes to the play on the field on Sundays and sort of the numbers and how they're going to shake out, it might not look to the average fan like the biggest difference in the world because there are moments when Carson was able to roll out and make some plays happen. He did a great job extending plays, getting out of pressure, and kept some drives going for that reason alone. But Matt Ryan is just going to make things come together much better. He's a guy that, like, you know, it's easy to say that Carson didn't have all of the weapons beyond Michael Pittman Jr., but Matt Ryan just found a

way his whole career to get the ball to players wherever they're at. If that means a five-yard pass to a slot receiver and he gets tackled, that happens. If it's a dump off to a running back like Naheem Hines, it happens. It's a more just consistent way to live. And so I think because of Matt Ryan's – the age he's at, it puts a little pressure on having a good defense in a running game, but they already have those.

And so if they're able to deliver on those ends, I think Matt Ryan's going to just steady the ship in a much better way. And, you know, they had high moments with Carson Wentz, like when they went into Buffalo and destroyed the Bills. They still had moments where they looked really good. The difference, though, is I think the floor will be a lot higher with Matt Ryan, where if they get in a situation where they go down two scores against the Jaguars, they're not freaking out because they don't think their passing game's broken. They aren't afraid of whether that quarterback

can bounce back from being in an adverse situation, have the spotlight on, because Matt Ryan's done that his entire career. So then you bake in what he does Monday through Saturday in the building and getting practice organized and translating that to the field. It's just going to kind of take a culture that's pretty good and make it even better, especially on the offensive side of the ball. And I think all that's going to kind of culminate in a team that when they get into the playoffs, they may not have the record and the resume at that time

that stacks up with the very top of the AFC, but they might hit their stride at the right moment with the right quarterback to where they're more dangerous than anyone realizes. Let's move on now, Nate, to kind of the underrated move of the offseason now because obviously quarterback takes main priority here, but the Colts a couple weeks ago addressed their pass rush need, getting Yannick Ngakwe

from the Las Vegas Raiders for a rocky Sen, just a straight player for player swap. What was your assessment of that deal from the Colts side of things, Nate? Because it feels like to me, losing Rakia Sen, who was developing a lot last year, is a little bit of a blow. But adding Yannick Ngakwe alongside DeForest Buckner and Quidipe is going to make it, I think, easier for everyone on that defensive defensive line where it's confident you can say you can chalk in Ngakwe around eight to 10 sacks for the next year or plus.

And that's something that Colt truly haven't had in a while on the outside. And that's the problem. As you look back to last year and the pass rush and specifically that edge rush just killed them down the stretch of games, the games they won, they often had to survive and usually get something more out of Jonathan Taylor to put it away. I think about like the Patriots game was exactly that way. And some of the games they lost, they would blow double-digit leads and they just couldn't put any team away with what that pass rush was like.

And it got to a point where if it's that lopsided between the skill you have at the pass rush and what you have in the coverage, then the coverage ultimately isn't going to matter. And Rocky Stanton had a really nice year if you look at the advanced numbers. He did not pick off any passes, but he became one of the lowest targeted cornerbacks out there, and he just was kind of a guy who would take his guy out of the mix.

But again, when a quarterback has time to maneuver and go to second and third progressions eventually he's going to find somebody else and that really doesn't matter that much so they had to balance it out a little bit anyway but also the scheme that they're moving into just kind of shifts the priorities because Gus Bradley's scheme which is the Seattle style cover three defense that they perfected and that Seahawks run to the Super Bowls. One of the unique approaches to that is he has a position called the Leo, which is a defensive end that plays in the wide nine stance and is just a full-out athlete getting after the quarterback on every play.

If you look at Gus Bradley, his defenses that have worked have had that player who's been proven and developed at it. The ones that have fallen apart haven't had that because the whole rush plan is built around that. So he needed to go out and get somebody who he felt was sure was going to be able to do that because if he can get that, everything else can kind of fall into line, including the cornerback spots because they're going to play

a lot more cover three. They're going to play press and zone. It's just a little easier to find replacement-level players there than it would ever be at the Leo spot, which is super high levels of athleticism. So Yannick Ngakwe comes in. He's a guy that's played with Gus Bradley in Jacksonville, in Las Vegas. Now he's coming to Indianapolis.

He's got 55 sacks already in six Vegas. Now he's coming to Indianapolis. He's got 55 sacks already in six seasons. Just kind of been that consistent edge pressure at that spot. And he's also a very durable player. So I really liked the move because they were able to do it and not give up draft capital. You know, Rock is a nice player, but I don't think by any means he's a player you can't replace, especially if you're able to get the pass rush. I think it makes that job a lot easier. And so I thought that was a really nice move. What do you feel is the potential of this defensive line next season, Nate, where you have Quiddie Paye, who's really starting to come on the last month of the season, entering

in the year two. DeForest Buckner is an all-pro level defensive tackle. Yonkin Gokwe has flashed to the Pro Bowl level as well. If all three of those guys could go at the same time, Nate, this kind of feels like a very high upside where if Pei does indeed take that year two jump, this defensive line really could be something to watch out for in the AFC. Yeah, it should be interesting to see because Quidipe did have a, I'd say a solid rookie year, but it wasn't, you know,

it wasn't the flashiest. He finished with four sacks and he had some nice pressures. And the problem was they just didn't give him any help on the other side. That's where they really messed up, not bringing back to Nico Autry. So he would rush players away and they just get out of it. And it's hard to train a pass rusher that way, because he's still a young player who's very, really raw as a true edge rusher,

and he's trying to rush in a way that marries with the rest of the rush plan, and that was an incomplete rush plan last year. So this year, you flip it around, and he's now rushing to where Yannick Ngakwe is going to be on the other side, and that's a much better help. So I think it's going to be a better situation for Quidipe. It should be a better situation for DeForest Buckner because he's going to be up against – should be lined up right next to Yannick Ngakwe.

And, you know, if you double-team DeForest Buckner like he was more than any player other than Aaron Donald, then it's going to give Ngakwe some one-on-one matchups. The other sneaky thing to watch is because they got Yannick Ngakwe, it frees up Dio Adangbo to where he doesn't need to start. And Dio has this size where he can play on the outside at that big end spot that kind of takes on the tight end and multiple blockers and rundowns. And then he can slide inside on passing downs and play next to Buckner on the inside. And that's a

much better matchup for him, I think. Last year, he's, again, a guy coming back from an Achilles tear, so he's not a guy that you expect to just kind of dominate all these pass rush settings. But if you can line him up against guards and more athletically inferior players, they've got a good chance. So I like the potential of it. We're going to just have to really see how Quidipe adjusts to now he's going to move to that big end spot.

So he's more taking on double teams more than he did last year. And to see what Dio can bring moving inside. And really, it's kind of like a rookie year for him because he only played about 25 percent of the snaps last year. So there is potential here, but we also kind of have to see how it goes before we can get too crazy about it. How do you feel, honestly, Nate, because we knew the two biggest needs for the Colts entering into next season was a quarterback and also adding a pass rusher.

That could be on an elite level. With getting Matt Ryan and Yannick Ngakwe on board, Nate, how do you feel about the idea of how much the Colts have upgraded those two spots that we've talked about all episode long where they really were consistently lacking all season? Those were the two spots that,'ve talked about all episode long where they really were consistently lacking all season. Those were the two spots that for the most part killed them in these close games. And when teams would come back on them, those are usually the two areas that they fell short against those other teams. I think Tampa Bay, I think Baltimore, both of those games certainly felt that way. You could say Tennessee to a level.

And it just made it feel like if they got in the playoffs, I don't think they were going to be that big of a threat because of those. So they've raised their floor, and I think they've done something that made them a playoff team. Again, though, I think they should not be complacent with that because winning the AFC South is the most comfortable route to the playoffs, but you still should want to give your guys a chance to do something while you're in the playoffs. And the one area where I think right now there, there's a couple areas where I think they're

in a little bit of trouble is that the back end of the defense is incredibly young and incredibly thin. Almost every player back there other than Kenny Moore is about 25 years or younger. And, you know, in some of these, it's a passing league in the chaos of the playoffs. That could be problematic. And then I think you have to give Matt Ryan more weapons. Michael Pittman Jr. is a great, you know, number one type potential option, but they just have nothing at tight end that's proven. They have, and really almost no other receivers. I expect the receivers to come in the draft, which is a good way to go, but I don't know where they get the tight end at this point.

And so they certainly addressed those two positions they had to find. Now their challenge is to find some of the connective tissue around that to where you can let those guys really raise the ceiling of the team and not just the floor. The Colts have $22 million now in cap space after the Matt Ryan restructuring today, freeing up $6 million more for the Colts to spend right now. Nate, we were just referring to it there. Do you feel like there's any moves out there that make sense for the Colts?

Are there any rumblings you're hearing on your end as far as what the Colts might be doing with this extra money they added? Because it feels like to me this might be used for depth signings, but I know you mentioned on Twitter before, Tyron Matthew makes an awful lot of sense for this Colts team. Maybe like a Julio Jones type, just as his chemistry with Matt Ryan can make some sense. Do you feel like they make a couple splashes here, or do you feel it's more so just moves along the line of depth?

I think the way they're looking at it right now is that they went out and they traded for a Pro Bowl level edge rusher and they traded for a former MVP quarterback at two of the premium positions. And I think they think those are their splash moves and everything else is gravy. So that doesn't mean that they're not willing to make another one because Chris Ballard, again, is all about value. And I'm interested to see how much he opens that up. Is value just getting low risk or is value understanding, you know, even if you pay up to a certain level, you can get something that could have so many more effects than just his position.

So I think about a guy like Tyron Matthew, whereas I'm talking about this is a very young secondary. You've got young safeties, one of which Julian Blackman's coming back from an Achilles tear, but you also have young cornerbacks, and some of these guys have not played that much. Brandon Fasucin, the guy they just signed from the Raiders, he's kind of started one season. Isaiah Rogers stepped in for about half a season as a starter. Like to have those guys in the playoffs and to try and go far with them is risky, but you can make it a lot easier when you have, you know, the most prolific traffic cop in the game and Tyron Matthew back there

and a guy who can play two different safety spots, lets you use Julian Blackman and Curry Willis more for what they're best at rather than just what you need. That's the kind of signing I think would have, you know, so much more value than just what he does at his one position, especially when you add in the leadership and the culture elements. I think he's a great fit for just everything they seem to be about with letting players be more than just football players,

letting them talk about mental health, being big in the community, and just kind of making this, you know, more of a brotherhood than just a place where guys, you know, collect a check and go find work elsewhere. So that's the one that I think they could justify doing that on. You know, another one that I think could have not quite the same effect, but that there's a little bit more meat on the bone is a guy like Jarvis Landry. He's also brought a lot of those leadership characteristics. He's so good before the snap and finding mismatches. There's a way to sort of pair him with Matt Ryan and get more out of Jarvis Landry than maybe his body would normally have.

Again, though, my feeling, though, is they're going to go to the draft for receivers for the most part, unless they get one at a price they really like. The receiver market's gotten kind of crazy. The draft is strong, and that's just usually how Ballard goes with that position. What's your overall opinion now of this offense, where it's really based around Jonathan Taylor, which we already know is a high-ceiling and MVP type of running back. But you also add Matt Ryan to the mix. But outside of that, it's Michael Pittman and betting a lot on young guys like Kylan Branson at tight end and whoever you get in the draft as well, Nate.

What's your overall opinion of that offense where you're betting on Matt Ryan and betting on Jonathan Taylor to have a huge season again? And maybe this is all based around the Colts' belief in Michael Pittman Jr. as well, where he might be taking a huge year three leap as well, because we know Matt Ryan loves giving those guys on the outside an opportunity on the ball. I like a lot of the fit for the most part. They thought long and long and long and hard about this Matt Ryan fit.

It's the one advantage to waiting as long as they did. And there's some parts of it that are really cool to think about. So, for example, in two of the past three seasons, Matt Ryan has led the NFL in completions. He's throwing more than 600 passes a season. That is just not optimal for a guy that's on the back of his 30s to be trying to carry a team that way. But that's where Atlanta's been.

Jonathan Taylor, meanwhile, led the league in rushing attempts last year and obviously led it in rushing attempts last year and obviously led it in rushing yards, and they were running too much. That's just not the way to win the passing league either. They were doing that to cover up the absence of a passing attack. So now you combine those two, and you can create a lot of balance within an offense and an offense that can pivot either direction if one team is really good at stopping one of those and the other, or they decide to sell out on the run or vice versa. So I love that fit. We have not seen Matt Ryan with a Jonathan Taylor type runner since maybe Michael Turner in his early days in Atlanta, but certainly not this

cerebral, highly experienced level of Matt Ryan, who can call audibles and kind of switch to mismatches. I also really like the fit with Michael Pittman Jr. because one player he's studied and really wants to be like is Julio Jones. And I think he just – last year he had moments with Carson on some of the deep balls, but he did not have those precision passes across the middle of the field that Phillip Rivers would hit like in that playoff game against Buffalo that spring him for yak opportunities. And so now he has that in Matt Ryan. Those parts are all great. And I also like the fact that they're built well in the middle of the offensive line to keep that interior pressure away from an aging quarterback. All that's great. The part that concerns me is the tight end spot.

And I just, if you look at Matt Ryan, he's always kind of thrived with a check down option. He's gotten the most out of some really talented tight ends like Kyle Pitts and, and, and Tony Gonzalez back when he had him, even Austin Hooper went to the pro bowl. I don't think they've really given him anything there. And to count on Mo Alley Cox to develop into something that he hasn't developed into yet to count on Kylan Granson, who you basically didn't see much of anything out of last year. That's just kind of difficult.

And they had an opportunity here in what I thought was a really good tight end class to go out and get one, even if he had to overpay by a couple million dollars because he didn't have a quarterback. There were guys out there. There were guys like Hayden Hurst or Evan Ingram or Tyler Conklin or CJ Uzoma or Austin Hooper. You could have gotten one of those guys for less than $10 million, and here would be the perfect quarterback to take advantage of them. Instead, they waited too long, and there's almost nothing out there, and it's a very hard position to go to the draft

for. So I would hate to see that one position hamstring this offense, but I think that's the one risk that they're really facing here by waiting this long. But for the most part, they've got most of the pieces that you put around a Matt Ryan to really get the most out of them, and I understand for sure why they went after that option. The last point here before I let you go, Nate, appreciate the time here tonight. what's your opinion of this offense now with Matt Ryan and Frank Reich it feels like now the playbooks could be fully open again for the first time since 2018 with Andrew Luck right well it'll be different because Frank Reich has always just thrown everything at getting that quarterback to play in his best style and so last year when they

brought in Carson Wentz that's when they moved to a lot of RPO looks, when they moved to three-step drops and play action, and they had to run the ball a ton to set up, you know, to get Carson in that comfortable position to do three-step play actions. And some of that's going to go away. I expect the RPOs to go away. I expect them to play a lot more under center, which I think is better for Jonathan Taylor.

And we'll kind of see how they adjust it. I can tell you when quarterbacks go to new places this late in their career, when they kind of choose out a destination, they almost always have input. Peyton Manning did that in Denver. Tom Brady did that in Tampa Bay. Matthew Stafford did that in Los Angeles. And sometimes that creates a little bit of lag time that first years are kind of fixing, figuring things out and then deciding

what to reduce. But for the most part, I think that this is going to be a really nice fit because Frank Reich has always found ways to limit the pressure on a quarterback, which I think Matt Ryan will really, really enjoy. And then I think they're just going to enjoy going to work every day as a staff with Marcus Brady and Frank Reich and Matt Ryan and kind of using their brains and all their experience to get somewhere. Keep in mind, Frank Reich is now in his 31st year in the NFL between playing and being an assistant coach and now a head coach who's calls the plays.

Matt Ryan's entering his 15th year as a starting quarterback. Outside of Bruce Arians and Tom Brady, they have more experience than any duo in the NFL at that. So they can find the right chemistry. They can find kind of the right mix of what they want to do. This is where I think later half of the season, they could really figure this out, get a bye week to really reduce it. I think the sky's kind of the limit as far as their tactical advantages out on the field and the fit that they can create for whatever players they have.

Nate, this was a lot of fun. Hopefully it gets you back on the show maybe later this offseason or during the season next year. You have great work you do over at the Indianapolis Star with you and Joel Erickson. You also have the Cover 2 podcast that you host with Joel. So if you haven't already, listeners, go ahead and subscribe over there. Make sure you follow Nate on Twitter as well if you haven't already.

Add Nate Atkins underscore. Nate, appreciate your time tonight. Yeah, no problem, Evan. Anytime.