Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - INDIANAPOLIS COLTS Q&A: Daniel Jones' Next Contract, How D-Line May Look Different Next Offseason

Starting point is 00:00:00 Have the Colts off-season priorities shifted? We'll discuss how some players should be re-evaluated after the season ends. 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. Hello, I am Jake Arthur, Indianapolis Colts, beat writer from Roundtable. sports welcome to locked on colts part of the locked on podcast network now the number one sports podcast network and today's episode is brought to you by game time download the game time at

Starting point is 00:00:42 create an account and use code locked on NFL for $20 off of your first purchase welcome back to the show everybody today we are going over the rest of the Q&A session that we had earlier in the week we had one early weekend at the 25th and you guys had sent us so many questions that we wanted to make sure we got the rest of these in for you before the next game. So it's game day morning. So we're going to go ahead and do some game day Q&A for you. A lot of focus on the offseason priority list for the Colts here and how some things may have changed within the last month or so for certain players. So we'll

Starting point is 00:01:24 go ahead and dive into that now. This first one is from Ethan Callahan. We're starting to see the bumps in the Daniel Jones Road with a multi-year extension basically already a foregone conclusion. Is there a belief that he can improve with more time in the system? Or is this what you see is what you get at this point? So I do still think a multi-year deal is it's likely. It's still potential. You know, if you rewind six weeks ago or so, you say, well, yeah, obviously it's looking like this guy. They're going to block him up for three plus years at this point. point. But with him coming down to earth a little bit, and then when you've got the

Starting point is 00:02:05 injury as well, the fibula, which again, they think it's going to kind of get better and heal on its own as the season goes, I don't think that's necessarily the, you know, slam dunk that we might have thought recently in the season. You might want to be strategic with it and go with the one-year franchise tag after this year if Jones and his representation open to it just because this is the best we've seen jones play maybe in his career but certainly since you know 2022 and you know the giants rewarded him with a huge i think 160 million dollar contract extension after that season and things kind of went south so you kind of look at two sides of the coin here have the cult seen enough and they're like yeah this is the long-term

Starting point is 00:02:57 marriage we want with Shane Steichen go ahead and give him three years four-year extension on top of this or do you just say you know prove this wasn't a fluke let's go one more a year on the franchise tag and then basically say to him you know if this goes well if he keeps winning you keep playing well then we'll do you know a multi-year extension after this this franchise tag so we'll see what they want to do again the at least two three-year deal seems likely But I do think in recent weeks, the franchise tag, or even if you just figure out a price on just a regular one-year deal that everyone is happy with, I think that certainly has probably come more into the discussion recently. This next one from Stephen Shepard, assuming we re-sign Daniel Jones and Alec Pierce and maybe Nick Cross, who will be the starting edge opposite Laotu after the season? or how will that spot be filled, has JT.2M a low hour shown enough and has limited opportunities to be given the role?

Starting point is 00:04:03 So that one is, that one's interesting because I think the edge group might be one that undergoes the most transformation in the off season. Latu and JT2 and a low hour are really the only edge guys under contract after this. Samsonevicon, Tychoin Lewis, Quiti Pay, they're all free agents. and the only guys you're confident you want to bring back who are under contract are Latu and JT Tuamolo. I don't think they've seen enough from Tuamolo out to just kind of pencil him into the starting role next year without some competition.

Starting point is 00:04:44 So certainly Latu will hold down one spot. I think Quiti Pay is unlikely to be able to be brought back for the price he's probably going to get. Now, he's not like a start pass rush or anything, but he is a very startable edge rusher who gives you seven, eight sacks a year. He's going to give you really good run defense. He's always been one of the best run defending defensive ends. That's going to get him at least 10 to 12 million per year on the market.

Starting point is 00:05:15 And I just don't think that's going to be within the Colts price range, especially when you mention Jones, Pierce, maybe net cross as well so you kind of maybe early but you know cross pay off the list i think they're going to line up getting maybe two three bargain edge rushers to add to the group with latu and with two molo guys maybe of that of that samson ebucom level you know ebicom was a guy that's about 10 million a year so probably not quite quite as high. But if you can find two or three guys that you've signed between six, seven, eight million and kind of just piecemeal it together and make it like a really good

Starting point is 00:06:04 rotation of edge rushers, I think that's probably what they'll do. They will probably prioritize it early in the draft if they can. Obviously, they don't have the first round pick. But edge rusher is definitely, I think, going to be one of the most interesting spots that they address over the off-season. This last one for the top of the segment. It's from Ethan Callahan as well. Neville Gallimore has been solid in what he's been asked to do and seems like a great locker room fit. Could we see him brought back next year with a lot of the defensive line turning over? I think so. The Colts have been kind of on the hunt for reliable backup defensive tackle play, especially at 3 Tech for a while now. You know, Pave and Brian was what he was.

Starting point is 00:06:50 They had, you know, some lower-level guys, some younger guys over the years, try to get there. Atatomi, Atabwari, is getting better now. But Gallimore, for my money, is certainly the best backup three tech that they've had in the last several years. And you're seeing him play reasonably well with the Forrest Buckner out on IR. So is he a guy that you want, like, starting all the time? No. However, you know, Buckner's 31. He's coming off two seasons now that he's been on I.R.

Starting point is 00:07:20 you know he'll be there next year but you're going to want to probably lighten his load a bit and then you've got a guy like gallimore who is getting a little older as well those guys can kind of play off each other and kind of give each other an ideal workload i think uh galamore may see a little more playing time if buckner has to maybe ratchet down his snaps and you've got at aure as well who might see his snaps increase because he's been playing a lot better in his third season. So Elmore's definitely a guy I would look into bringing back as long as his price doesn't really get too high. All right, guys, that was a great first round of questions. Coming up next, we've got some more things that are kind of concerning you guys a little bit

Starting point is 00:08:06 and more talk about Daniel Jones. You know, the offseason chatter is not over either. So we're going to get to that in just a moment. All right, the World Cup is coming back to North America for the first time since 1994. And with 48 teams for the first time ever, it's going to be massive. Well, let's be honest, getting tickets is usually the hardest part. That's why GameTime app is clutch. It's finally given the fans a real advantage when it comes to snagging seats. With GameTime, you can track price drops in real time, get alerts when great seats open,

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Starting point is 00:09:33 make an account and use code locked on NFL for $20 off. Swipe, tap, ticket, go. Game time. All right, welcome back every dayers. It is a Colts game day morning. They are taking on the Texans at Lucas Oil Stadium here this afternoon. Thank you for making us your first listen of the day. And thank you for making

Starting point is 00:09:55 locked on the number one sports podcast network now. We're very, very proud of that and is, of course, all thanks to you guys, the fans. We're going through your Q&A this morning. And up next, more Daniel Jones chatter. This one is from Latamuk. Should we expect Daniel Jones fibula to linger throughout the back half of the season? If so, what are the implications for this offense. So I did do a kind of a whole episode on this yesterday morning, for those of you hadn't seen it yet. The Colts are optimistic.

Starting point is 00:10:26 This will kind of improve, actually, as the season goes along. It's not something they feel they're like throwing him to the wolves and risking further injury by going out there and playing, and it should get better. Now, the implications for the offense is, you know, you're dealing with a slight dip in mobility for Jones. you're probably not going to run stuff like the QB sneaks that had been so effective early in the year. You may not see as many things that ask him to like get out and be quick, like bootlegs and all that. So things that are really reliant on driving his legs or beating defenders to certain points, you're probably not going to see.

Starting point is 00:11:07 Now with Jones, as we saw against the Chiefs last week, if he sees an open lane still to run and get a first time, he's going to take it. He did that twice. So I don't think his mobility is totally out the door. But as far as like the Colts being intentional with doing that, I don't think you're going to see too much of that. Next question is from Zachary Bichon, who fills in for Ashton. The loss is bigger than many think, in my opinion,

Starting point is 00:11:33 which I agree. Doolin, for my money, again, I think he was certainly having an all pro year at special teams. I think he was perhaps going to be getting the special teams not. Look at everything the guy had been doing. As far as coverage goes and being a gunner and all the coverage teams, he's been playing lights out. He's been making tackles.

Starting point is 00:11:53 He's been affecting the lanes in which returners run. But also as a return man, he's been lights out. Offensively, I know it has nothing to do with special teams, but when voters see guys contributing in different ways, it just affects how they think and how they vote. Dool and make a big place on offense. He had that one play on defense. where he went and blitz Jacoby Brissette. So I really think Doolin was on his way to an all-pro year.

Starting point is 00:12:23 So when you talk about who replaces him, literally when you look at the roster spot, the Colts filled for him, they brought George Odom back up from the practice squad to the active roster. So I think Odom has two all-pros to his name, one first team, one second team to replace the all-pro in Ashton-Dulun. so just as far as the roster spot goes George Odom will do a lot I think as far as Gunner goes

Starting point is 00:12:51 you're probably looking at Chris Lamont's so all in all look at guys like Chris Lamons Mackay Blackman George Odom and then in the return game Amir Abdullah is probably going to take more of the load Anthony Gould obviously probably leans

Starting point is 00:13:07 into more of the kickoff return game even further and then Tyler Goodson maybe as well in the return game So offensively, the Colts like to do a lot of gadget stuff with Duelan, which I don't think they'll continue to do. Maybe if they get a wild hair about Gould, they can do that. But otherwise, when they need another player to just literally play receiver, Lequant Treadwell will be the guy there that steps up. Now, this next one is from Jay Aduna.

Starting point is 00:13:35 The more film that's out there, the more teams can find weaknesses in the Colts' offense. Has Shane Stuyken made adjustments since the Steelers game to compensate for that? Daniel Jones was really good against pressure early on. Why is he struggling now? And is there a way to address that in practice? So, as Shane made adjustments since the Steelers game? I think you probably leaned into more 12 and 13 personnel, tighter groupings, bringing in more tight ends to help with blocking and pass protection.

Starting point is 00:14:05 I have seen that a little bit more. I noticed with the Chiefs, when they were successful offensively a lot of the time, they were doing it in those bigger packages when they spread things out it wasn't really going well obviously daniel jones injury has is probably going to affect things a little bit with with how they move him around like we talked about earlier um why is he struggling so i i think the steelers game was probably very influential um the fumbles all the hits all that stuff like I don't want to say he's seeing ghosts, but I think he's way more cognizant of pressure and the issues that can come from that rather than just playing freely and letting it rip and standing in tall and taking hits like he was early in the season. And then obviously right now he just can't escape as well as he did earlier in the season because that leg injury.

Starting point is 00:15:00 So you said, is there anything they can do in practice? Unfortunately, I don't think so because they can't hit him in practice and he knows that. So he's probably going to look like a stud in practice because he can stand in tall and not get hit about it. So, I mean, they can simulate as much pressure as possible, maybe, but otherwise I don't think there's anything they can do to compensate for that in practice. This next one is from Price. A lot of things seem to get cleaned up from the two weeks prior from the buy. No sacks, no turnovers on offense against the Chiefs. Special teams look great.

Starting point is 00:15:35 The defense looked improved. If the offense can get back in rhythm, do you think we can actually see a better version of this team than earlier? I do think so. I think the Colts have to, you know, just not be stubbornness. I don't want to say the Colts. It's really a Shane Steichen thing. Shane Steichen and Daniel Jones, as long as you can acknowledge what your shortcomings are and your limitations are and work around it rather than trying to slap some fix on it or, you know, just keep hammering away at something that clearly isn't. working. If you evolve a little bit, I think that will work. You certainly want to pursue the

Starting point is 00:16:14 run game a little more. I know that can be a little tired because, you know, the Jonathan Taylor thing and not running him in the fourth quarter, like for me, I'm just the type of person where I'm like, you have to give your best players a chance to, you know, carry you. Like, even in non-advantages situations, I know the chiefs were really doing a lot to stop the run, especially the Colts wanted to try and run it outside and the chiefs weren't allowing it. Chris Jones was really good. There were some assignments that allowed linebackers to run free. But I mean, you really have just got to give your best players a chance to bail you out.

Starting point is 00:16:55 Like, I'd rather go down swinging using Jonathan Taylor and failing than wondering what it would have looked like by not using it. So certainly, you know, look to, you know, get rid of the ball quickly and accurately, which they did acknowledge they need to get rid of the ball quickly against the chiefs. I think it was Jones quickest time to throw all year. It just wasn't always accurate in the fourth quarter. That one's really tough because I thought Jones actually looked really, really good in the first three quarters. And if that would have carried into the fourth quarter, we're not talking about a loss whatsoever. cover. So again, whenever Shane tends to bail on the run game, I don't think it works super well for long stretches because there's been times where Taylor doesn't run the ball a ton

Starting point is 00:17:44 in a game, but it's really effective still. Like he had the game where it was like 12 carries but a million yards. Like it's just about the timing of it. Don't bail on it for long stretches. And then just, you know, get where the ball accurately if you're Jones, you know what I mean? stand tall you're going to take some hits just you know stand in there and deliver because that's what the team needs you to do you know it sucks because of the injury but it kind of is what it is last one for this segment is from the insider program only question i have is how long do we think the offensive staff is going to take to see the limitations of this offense against elite defenses that have sufficiently prepared for them yeah so that kind of that goes along with the last one a little bit

Starting point is 00:18:26 So I'll just kind of put it from this perspective. Teams know about the injury with Jones. Teams know since the Steelers game that if you blitz the hell out of Jones, you're probably going to succeed in some facet. So the Colts did improve a little bit against the Chiefs with no sacks, no turnovers. But clearly, teams are going to load up the box, try and stop John and Taylor. They're going to bring pressure at Jones, and they're going to make him beat them with his arm. So what are the Colts going to do to get them?

Starting point is 00:18:56 counter that you know play action run the ball keep it fresh keep it to threat uh get rid of the ball quickly and accurately they didn't push it downfield very much last week against the chiefs um they had one throw of 20 plus yards and that was successful the one to pierce on the the deep right side uh and then i think only have like five throws that were beyond 10 yards so you certainly can't just play half court like that you have to you have to you have have to have the threat of the run you have to have the threat of the downfield throw it doesn't mean you have to paint the yard with the ball but like it has to be a threat that you're going to push the boundaries a little bit otherwise everyone knows that everything they're going to defend is

Starting point is 00:19:40 right in front of them and they can they can get really physical that way they can be really instinctive that way and confident so you certainly don't want to give defenders more ammo to play as confidently as possible because that's just almost never going to work into your favor Unless, of course, you have something in your back pocket to counter that aggressiveness later, like a nice big play action shot or like a trick play or something. But you obviously, you just don't, you don't want to be stubborn. You want to know what your shortcomings are and work over those things. Once you can admit some of that, I think that is the next way to kind of evolve your offense a little bit. All right, guys, coming up next, we're going to wrap this up.

Starting point is 00:20:24 and you guessed it there is more more Daniel Jones questions we got some good ones coming up on a little bit of a game day morning question question and answer session all right this episode is brought to you by prize

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Starting point is 00:22:25 This one is from Cody. Should we be concerned about Daniel Jones becoming the New York Giants, Daniel Jones? So obviously that's kind of the elephant in the room right now is his play has regressed since the Steelers game. He had like 12 turnovers or 12 sacks, like seven turnovers in those first two games, and then even though he had no sacks, no turnovers against the Chiefs, he still kind of melted down in the fourth quarter when the Colts needed him the most. So I am not overly concerned that we're just going to see bad Daniel Jones the rest of the way. I do think the leg, if it doesn't improve and get healthier like the Colts think, then that could be a problem. Daniel Jones, even when he's not

Starting point is 00:23:13 running the ball bunch is mobility is a big part of what makes him successful um so i just some things that give me a little comfort in knowing like that guy's still in there the falcons game down the stretch when they needed him he made some big gutty throws made some big gutty plays just in general um i think even even if it hurts the guy's going to run the ball we've seen him make some really tough plays down the stretch uh but yeah he's He made great elite throws in that game, I thought, in order to help the Colts win. I mentioned against the Chiefs, the first three quarters, even though he was hurt, dealing with the fractured bibula.

Starting point is 00:23:54 I thought he looked great in the first three quarters. Made some plays that even got called back or, you know, plays that didn't wind up being converted. You know, on the first drive of the game, that wound up being a punt. He had that throw up the seam to Michael Pittman, Jr., but the Braden Smith illegal formation calls. called that back, had a couple plays in the third quarter that likely would have been touchdowns or resulted in touchdowns later in the drive. So that guy is still out there playing good football. He just has to sustain it. It doesn't look like it did early in the season. But when I go back and I watch him again after games, I'm not incredibly discouraged that all is lost. So, you know,

Starting point is 00:24:42 don't fret. I mean, keep watching. There's going to be some tough defensive matchups, but I don't necessarily think the Colts are cooked by any means. This next one is from Frank M. Cook. As good as a play caller as Shane Steichen is, should he delegate that job to Jim Bob Cooter? I believe being a head coach is a full-time job on game day. I know Frank, not Frank. She took a lot of heat in the Chiefs game for the fourth quarter and how that was called and there was a little lack of aggressiveness on some fourth down stuff i get that i understand the frustrations i don't agree with everything you did in the chief's game either but shane's been largely excellent all season uh as a play caller and we don't know how jim bob

Starting point is 00:25:27 kuder would be as a play caller but i'm i am not by any means willing to get beyond shane stiking to see what it looks like largely Shane has been just lights out as a play caller and I mean execution from the players the big part of it too when the players execute it looks great but when they don't you kind of have to call a play call into a question now if you're talking game management and whether you think he's too aggressive or at some point it's not aggressive enough I get that but I mean if you ask football people around the league who some of the top play callers are Shane is almost always going to be in that conversation so no I mean I like Jim Bob Cooter and maybe he goes on

Starting point is 00:26:10 somewhere that i mean he's probably going to be in some head coaching conversations uh this off season as well as lou anorumo but like the chain's surrounded by some good coordinators but i i don't want to see what it looks like with him not calling the plays you know uh this next one is from alex smith 3459 uh do you think the colts sweep any of the other teams in the division besides the titans or do you guys see it like last year when the last couple of games is more impactful. So they got four AFC South games coming up. They oversee have the Texans later today on Sunday, and then at Jacksonville, and then

Starting point is 00:26:51 I think the last couple of games of the season is, or two of the last three, is home against Jacksonville, and then in Houston. So they got four tough AFC South matchups still. I don't think they sweep it. I feel like it's more going to be three and one. The Jaguars are unpredictable. They can be really, really good any week. The Texans in that defense, incredible defense.

Starting point is 00:27:16 So I cannot say the Colts are going to sweep both or either, you know. They could go two and two in that stretch with the AFC South, which might be enough to still be, you know, still pulling the division crown. But I feel most likely like it's three and one. I don't know which of the four games they lose, maybe week 18 on the road in Houston. It seems like a good recipe for a really, really, really tough matchup. But, yeah, I don't know that they'll, you know, obviously, if I say three and one,

Starting point is 00:27:48 they're probably going to sweep one of them. But I can't say which of the four is going to be the loss. You know what I mean? It's just hard for me to see that they're going to sweep every team in the division this year when there's some really tough matchups included in there. All right. And then our last one here is from the insider program. I have a feeling of impending doom,

Starting point is 00:28:07 What do you see on this team that can restore my hope? So I do think a lot of their issues are fixable. You know, Jones, I do think, like I mentioned, played really well in the first three quarters last week. The Colts think his injury is going to improve. You have Jonathan Taylor still on your team who, despite the not-so-productive game last week, and then the bi-week is still leading the NFL in rushing. You've got a nice cast of pass-catchers. the offensive line, we've seen it play better.

Starting point is 00:28:40 So if they get back to how they were in the early portion of the season, I think that's really good. And then defensively, there's nothing not to like here. You got the two cornerbacks now, Soss Gardner and Mooney Ward. You should hopefully get DeForest Buckner back before the season's up. Things are looking good there. You know, he's traveling with the team.

Starting point is 00:28:57 They say he's moving around well. So Buckner should be coming back at some point. And if he gets back with a few games left, And, you know, Jalen Carlyze is coming back as well. You're getting a healthy team with some really good players in it, like a great secondary. Buckner comes back to help the pass rush. Suddenly you've got Layatulatu who's playing well. DeForest Buckner comes in with the pass rush.

Starting point is 00:29:22 And then you have to deal with throwing at Sauce Gardner and Mooney Ward with Cambina behind them. And then Nick Cross coming in and blowing guys up inside the sticks. So super encouraged about the defense. special teams coverage those teams will return game too has been playing really really well I'm not the most confident in the world with Michael Badgley but I mean largely he's been good he's just had a couple hiccups not the strongest leg in the world but overall special teams I feel pretty good and that's always an X factor like a lot of times the teams with the better special teams make those hidden plays which wind up being the matter of wins in the league like

Starting point is 00:30:02 look at the Atlanta game with all the good returns they had in that one. So I'm overall still very encouraged by this team. We've seen them play better than they have in the last month, so we know it's in there. If this new look defense can marry up with what the offense will look like early in the year, then that's not even a question. Like, that gets back to being the best team in the NFL, I think. So all right, guys, thanks for hanging with me on this game day morning. Again, Colts and Titans later.

Starting point is 00:30:29 Be careful driving to the game. Thank you for making. that's your first listen of the day. The NFL season is obviously in full swing. We're getting in the home stretch of the regular season. So for your next listen, get a double dose of the Lockdown NFL podcast. Tyler, the Madman Roland, gives you a shot of espresso to start your football day, while Tony Wiggins takes you into the barbershop for the smoothest breakdowns to end the day.

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - INDIANAPOLIS COLTS Q&A: Daniel Jones' Next Contract, How D-Line May Look Different Next Offseason

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