Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Receive High Praise for 2023 Draft Class

Episode Date: May 2, 2023

The 2023 NFL Draft class is looking good for the Indianapolis Colts. Anthony Richardson is the big land, but the Colts adding Josh Downs, Darius Rush, and Julius Brents is massive as well. Ian Cumings of The Pro Football Network joins to rave about this Colts' draft class.Find and follow Locked On Colts on your favorite podcast platforms:🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOColts?sid=YouTube📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQLocked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNFLFollow Jake and Zach's written work on HorseshoeHuddle.com, and give them a follow on Twitter @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOnFN!This episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook, Official Sportsbook of the NFL. Make Every Moment More. Visit Fanduel.com/LockedOn today to get started.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Built BarBuilt Bar is a protein bar that tastes like a candy bar. Go to builtbar.com and use promo code “LOCKEDON15,” and you’ll get 15% off your next order.FanDuelMake Every Moment More. Don’t miss the chance to get your No Sweat First Bet up to ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS in Bonus Bets when you go FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

An NFL draft expert joins the show to rave about the Colts 2023 draft class. Let's get to it. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast your first listen of the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. This episode is brought to you by FanDuel Sportsbook, the official sportsbook of the NFL. Make every moment more.

Visit FanDuel.com slash Locked On today to get started. I'm Zach Hicks, not joined by Jake Arthur today, but you guys still know and love me, obviously, from this podcast here at Locked On Colts. You know me also from HorseshoeHuddledle.com where I am the random adjective film analyst there. You know, Jake always loves to throw a little bit of flavor on top of that, but nefarious, notorious, whatever. I'm the film guy at horseshoehuddle.com. Jake is a credentialed Colts member of the site and of our beautiful podcast. Today though, I'm joined by Ian Cummings, the NFL draft analyst over at the Pro Football Network. I was looking at his stuff today and well over a thousand articles to his name over there at the

Pro Football Network. I mean, Ian, before we get into this draft talk, man, a thousand articles, you got to calm down just a little bit. Like you got to chill out over there. I know, dude, I swear. Sometimes I, you know, I look back and I'm like, wait a second. I wrote that much. Like, oh my God, it piles up, man. You don't really have time to sit back and look, man, but swear. Sometimes I look back and I'm like, wait a second. I wrote that much. Like, oh, my God, it piles up, man. You don't really have time to sit back and look, man. But it's been fun. You know, started out there as an editor a few years ago and then ended up writing an emergency draft piece about Chase Young because he was declaring. I said, we got to get this out. And it's like, hey, maybe you should write a little bit more.

And it's all kind of cascaded to where it is now. So it's been fun. You know, this cycle especially was very fun. I feel like a lot of twists and turns all the way to the very end. cascaded to where it is now so it's been fun you know this cycle especially was very fun i feel a lot of twists and turns all the way to the very end i'm just glad we have results to go back on man because i i wrote way too many mock drafts to get to the point i'm like i need to mix it up deliberately mix it up just so i'm not repeating you know it's like but it's fun you know it's we live for every cycle it's the grind i'm gonna try and i was telling you before the call gotta try and decompress a little bit before we get on to 2024 but it's a fun time always yeah yeah for sure so we're talking nfl

draft class we're obviously talking and indianapolis colts 2023 nfl draft class and we really can't talk about this class without saying anthony richardson like we have to spend time on anthony richardson i know there were a few people in media that were lower on Anthony Richardson compared to the majority and stuff like that I think Kuyper had him as like QB4 there were other people had him QB4, 5, 6 whatever and stuff like that Ian I know you were one of those people who viewed him as a top 10 pick in this class someone who believed in those traits so Anthony Richardson fourth overall to Indianapolis Colts what do you think about that pick? Yeah I love it you know I think that was one.

If there was one coach QB fit that I wanted to manifest, it was Richardson to Shane Stuyton. I think that's a phenomenal fit. I think you look at what Stuyton did with Jalen Hurts, you know, a tools-rich quarterback who, you know, even he doesn't have nearly the tools that Richardson does. That's the exciting part, right? So, hey, you know, he's a viable running threat, you know, enough arm talent, and he was able to build an offense around him and really create a productive attack, so you know i look at that scheming him in the right ways i think that he can do that for richardson too you know i think if there's any situation

where he was going to land that's going to be right for him it was the colts i think and the tools just you know pop out to me that's one reason you know that's that's what lifted him up but i think any time you have a quarterback with the tools that richardson has right the question that you always ask next is does he show enough promise on the operational side for me to invest in that because we've seen quarterbacks very tools rich before not work out so does he have the necessary foundation beyond that too I mean the tools are you know you don't even have to say you don't have to speak on that we know it's there on the tape but you know beyond that to the pocket navigation that he has the feel to extend plays

in the pocket you know evade rushers habitually instinctively and keep his eyes up to you know the flashes of anticipation over the middle of the field right you know he's shown that he can process the field it's just a matter of you know accuracy sometimes you know his mechanics can be a little out of sync at times but i think more work with a qb trainer and we know he's been progressing there as well you know you go back to the combine he looks pretty crisp there so you know i think he's trending up he's still very young and then the tools are you know it's it's viable to say that we haven't seen a quarterback with this kind of ceiling right so if you if you have an opportunity to take a guy like that you got

to invest in it if you have the proper infrastructure I think the Colts definitely do right right so I did want to ask you because obviously everyone here following me knows exactly my thoughts on this quarterback. Anthony Richardson has been my guy, my QB1 throughout the whole process, the guy where I'm willing to bet the house on. But for you as a draft analyst, you know, you've been doing this for years. You've been comparing guys like Anthony Richardson to much cleaner prospects like Bryce Young and CJ Stroud. And again, when you look at that completion percentage and you look at the experience, it is so, so rare. Like it's hard to really compare Anthony Richardson, even to a Josh Allen type because Josh Allen started multiple seasons. We have one season of Anthony Richardson. So with that, I know you kind of touched on it in your first answer there, but how did you feel comfortable projecting this guy as a top 10 pick when we really just didn't have like any film on him? Yeah, you know, and that's the tough part. I think, you know, just as that is a source of uncertainty, it can also be a source for excitement.

He only has one year as a starter, right? You know, so it's still very early in his developmental track. You know, I would be a lot more concerned if we had two years and he hadn't shown progression, right? Or maybe he had one year where he showed promise, another where he regressed, right? So on one hand, you'd like to have a larger sample size to go off of, but you're seeing a guy who, you know, has so little experience and you'd like to think, you know, let's get him into the NFL right away. Let's get him with that NFL supporting cast and those coaching, and we might be able to really expedite this process. So I look at that, you

know, doesn't have very much tape, doesn't have very much wear on his tires at that, you know, doesn't have very much tape doesn't have very much wear on his tires. But you know, I feel like there's an opportunity here to really take it to the next step. So I think that was part of it for me. That wasn't the whole thing, because that's more of a conceptual one. Like it's just kind of like saying, there's not a lot to go off of. But, you know, look again, looking at the film, you know, and looking for those little operational instances where it's like, all right, he does have the capacity to go off of I look back to, you know, last cycle, a lot of people early on in this cycle were maybe comparing Richardson to Malik Willis because, you know, similar archetype there, you think with the creation capacity,

the arm talent for sure. But Malik Willis was a guy who started multiple years. And even going back to that final tape that he had, the field vision was not there. You know, a lot of times, you know, with the creation capacity, he definitely had that, the short area athleticism, the the explosiveness he's a rocked up runner for sure but you know a lot of times he was getting into those chaotic situations because he couldn't process adequately in the pocket right and because he was you know waiting too long right not seeing windows so you know

with richardson yeah there's some inconsistency there but you do see the proper field vision the processing and i do think you know you have one one of the highest drop rates among quarterbacks too so i think you know the accuracy people like to point to the completion percentage that is one of the rougher areas of this game i also don't think it's nearly as bad or as detrimental you know he definitely needs to improve but i don't think it's gonna be a liability early on i think it's more you know he needs to keep honing that skill and then another thing too know, a lot of people talk about athleticism and arm talent as ceiling traits too, but that can raise his floor. I think there's a viable path where if you're Stich and you can build an offense around that early on, well, he's still growing as a passer because he can make you miss with his agility. He can

explode into space too. And if you try to tackle him one-on-one odds are, you're not going to be able to, I mean, the guy is just an elite running threat. It's hard to stop that and you can build an offense around that you can make a create a tug of war for that defense between the run and then his explosive arm I think there's a lot of ways to use it early on and down the line when he develops as a passer so I think that ability alone opens up so many avenues for you yeah yeah for sure I'm excited to see him in this offense with Shane Steichen and I really think a lot of what those two are gonna be able to do like again we've said a lot on this podcast you need an alien to compete in this league nowadays because all these quarterbacks are just aliens pat mahomes josh allen especially the afc that's where they all are especially in the afc and i

think in this draft class the only one who i think can really get to that alien level is the greek god prospect and anthony rich Richardson, the one that they just took there. Coming up, guys, we're going to talk about non-Anthony Richardson draft picks that the Colts made. But first, make a fast break to FanDuel during the NBA playoffs because right now new customers can get a no-sweat first bet up to $1,000. That's $1,000 back in bonus bets if your first bet doesn't win. I don't know about you guys, but I'm kind of liking the Miami Heat. You know, you could have made a lot of money betting on them earlier in the playoffs, but now with the East Wide Open, I'm thinking about putting some money down the Miami Heat, and there's no better place

to put all that money down on playoff action than America's number one sports sports book at FanDuel visit FanDuel.com locked on and get a no sweat first bet up to $1,000 that's FanDuel.com locked on FanDuel official sports betting partner of the NBA and every dayers don't worry we'll be back bright and early with you guys tomorrow to keep talking about Anthony Richardson and the Indianapolis Colts. We're done with Anthony Richardson for today, but don't worry. Tomorrow, I'll have a special guest, Fran Duffy from the PhiladelphiaEagles.com site. Phenomenal analyst, a legend in my eyes.

We'll have him on tomorrow to talk all Anthony Richardson. So if you guys want a full episode of just Anthony Richardson, that's going to be tomorrow morning. So set your alarms. We love you every dayers, and we're going to bring that really cool content to you. All right. But Ian, we have you today. We don't have Fran Duffy yet. We don't want to look too far ahead. And I'm very happy to have you here as well. I'm not trying to look ahead to the future. We're talking other draft picks here besides Anthony Richardson now. And the Colts made a ton of picks, a lot of value picks where some people were saying this guy that the Colts made a ton of picks, a lot of value picks where some people were saying

this guy that the Colts got in round three or round four should have been in the top 50. This guy they got in round five should have been maybe in the top 50. So of their day two or even day three picks, what was kind of your favorite addition to this Colts team? Yeah, well, I think all the cornerbacks, they drafted three corners if I remember correctly.

And I was a big fan of all of them. I mean, Julius Brandt's first off, he was the one we expected to go where he did, right? I mean, explosive, super high energy, twitchy athlete, but then an albatross with his 34-inch arms. Incredibly physical, both in press and in run support. I mean, he can lay the wood coming downhill. A little uncontrolled with his technique at times. I think that's where he stands to improve. But again, you're working with a very, very complete palette of trades with him.

And I think that's super exciting. They got Darius Rush from South Carolina as well, who I'm very high on as well. He was just outside my top 50. I think they got him in round four. So I was a big fan of his, I think, five. Round five. Dude, I forgot. I knew a lot of corners fell, man.

I didn't know he fell that far. But yeah, Darius Rush, man, he's another one who I got his RAS up right here, but I know the six foot two, 198, almost 34 inch arms again, too. Then he ran a 436, 438, somewhere in that range, too. So he's got legitimate speed down the field. It's a blanket, guys. Incredibly fluid for his size. Some of the routes that he was running against at the Senior Bowl, I mean, he's snapping

his hips down right away and decelerating with just three steps. I mean, super amped up, flexible flexible but incredible reaction to stimulus too so and then he's a former wide receiver so he's got really good ball skills as well so i think he could be a very good value deal and then they got jalen jones around seven if i remember correctly too i was a fan of him too man i mean coming out i think he can improve as a playmaker right i think the production at the at the catch point it's still, there's still room to improve there. But again, he's 6'2", 200, very strong frame for his size, lean, compact.

But I think a lot of times, guys just weren't thrown as wet. I think he's one of those guys who, again, he didn't run very fast. I think he ran like a 4, 5, 7, but he had a 6'8", something, 3 cone. That shows up. I mean, he's got very good short area agility,

corrective athleticism for his size and actually pretty good discipline in his technique for his age. He can use his feet first. He can match guys off the line, use his length to direct. So, you know, I thought I expected him to go a lot earlier too.

So getting him around seven, you know, you do have a little clutter in that CB room now, but that's never a bad thing. I mean, especially for the Colts who have, you know, a lot of guys up for contracts and next year.

So, you know, I think that was a great trio. And then you gotta, you gotta bring up a dead on me while a bad thing. I mean, especially for the Colts who have, you know, a lot of guys up for contracts in next year. So, you know, I think that was a great trio. And then you got to, you got to bring up Adedomiwa Adeboware in round four too, man. That was a guy that I wanted to go very early. You know, I think his versatility that he provides, right. I mean, you know, and I know Tony Pauling tweeted that, you know, some teams passed on him because they didn't quite know where to play him. Right. But I think that's the benefit with him is that he really can play wherever you want. Right. I think,

you know, he can still refine his hand usage. You know, he's still for the most part traits rich right now. You know, he's not super disciplined all the time. Sometimes he'll overshoot plays and run defense when he should just hold the line.

But, you know, I do think he has the traits to be that three down defender who you can put a five tech on early downs to hold the line. He's got the strength to leverage the length, but on you know later downs to alongside grover stewart man put him at three tech and this guy can plow open lanes with that six foot two 282 449 speed 34 inch arms this guy's a build a three tech man so i i love that upside i love the versatility the flexibility that he provides and you know i think getting him around four is a phenomenal value pick

and then even other guys like you know blake freeland that was a round where i would have taken him around four so i think they got the right value there but another guy who's very traits rich again i think at his pat at his height pad level flexibility those will be issues for him but i do think again 37 inch vertical you can't teach that explosive incredibly powerful um i think they really you know where they needed to swing for the fences they swung with the fences they got great value great value. I was a big fan of their entire class. Yeah. And I told you guys at the top of this draft, Ian was coming on just to rave about this Colts draft. And he just went for like four minutes there raving about a couple of the other picks in the class. But to add some context to what you're saying about Jalen Jones, the Colts seventh round pick,

19 targets last season, just 19 targets. That's one in like every 14 coverage snaps for him he was actually targeted last year so very few targets very roccusin-esque i'm going to invoke that beautiful name right there for you guys listening but adi adi man from northwestern i'm calling him adi adi i think it's more fun i've had some pushback on that from i liked it i liked it yeah adi adi northwestern i love this fit in Indy because, like you said, some teams were scared about where you play this guy. Look at Indy, though. They love taking these type of guys. Dayo Adangbo, Taequann Lewis.

This is the Chris Ballard mold of pass rusher. And, yes, I'm not saying either of those guys have been, like, perfect hits or they've been 10-sack guys or something like that in the NFL, but keep taking shots at this. Keep taking shots at that type and you know again with daio dai was a phenomenal athlete taekwon lewis was an insanely explosive athlete adi adi is like more athletic than those guys like 281 449 like he's pretty close to the maximum right you know it's it's really absurd and it's exciting to think about the different things you can do with that yeah and then when you get a scheme like gus bradley's scheme where it's so attacking it's just gap shooting like you're

basically gap shooting and they're now bringing in guys who can kind of do that gap shooting you know samson abukam they got from from the 49ers who can do the gap shooting Tavon Tavon Bryan where that's the only thing he can do is gap shoot he can't do anything else another freak athlete though and then Adi Adi just mixed in there as well along with Dio Dangbo Taekwon Lewis look the Colts pass rush might not be amazing this next season but they're going to be explosive and they're going to make offensive linemen freaked out about these gaps every single time next season but another draft pick I want to ask you about, because I know opinions on him were kind of all over the place. Some people had him as a first round prospect. Others had him as more of a day three guy because of his size. But Josh Downs in round three, where did you fall on Josh

Downs in this draft class? Yeah, so I loved that value. I had him as a top 30 player. I want to say maybe top 35, but I was a big fan. I think the size is definitely going to be the biggest question for him around 171, right? So 5'9", 171, not one of the biggest guys, and that's going to be, you know, difficult for him. But I think especially for the Colts who have size on the boundaries with Michael Pittman Jr., Alec Pierce, you know, I think there's an avenue for him to go to the slot right away. You know, and I think especially for Josh Downs, you know, whenever a guy is an outlier, whether it's size, athleticism, you know, any trait, you ask if they have other traits to counteract that and compensate for that. And I think Josh Downs certainly does. He's very explosive. That's one thing that really stands out on his tape. The athleticism is not an issue. Not only explosive, but flexible as a route runner, too, can carry that acceleration through transitions, right? He's got enough speed to threaten vertically, he's also very flexible very nuanced when it comes

to using his spacing to manipulate defensive backs and that's very important for me you know i think there's a lot of ways you can use them with that right away and then on top of that too for a smaller receiver very consistent at converting at the catch point right i think he had one of the highest contested catch rates this past year you know he's a guy who's very coordinated when it comes to reaching beyond his frame and kind of hands catching you know securing the ball with his hands and not letting it get into his into his body uh so i think when you look at all that you know he attacks the football for his size i think all of that really culminates to a very complete profile with that size right i think and then he's a really good rack threat too you know at north carolina they could use

him in motion you know give him the ball and on little drag routes and mesh routes and let him go to work in space. Right. He's got the burst to do that. So, you know, I think there's an avenue for him to be a very, very good playmaker. And I think he complements what the Colts have perfectly right now. So, you know, I'm excited to see. I think that was one of the better QB wider sea repairings for me, you know, getting him and Anthony Richardson.

That's an explosive combination. And when you have a lot of size to work off of, too,'s fun to think about my comp for him was Doug Baldwin you know I think he's got the same explosive athleticism not quite top end speed you know they're both high four four low four five but you know a guy who can attack space can separate with that combined nuance and athleticism and then a guy who for his size actually attacks the football converts very well to catch point you know I think you're you're working with a lot of good things with Josh Downs. Yeah. Yeah,

for sure. I'm really excited about his fit and just, you know, again, Shane Steichen, you're going to have an offense that is so predicated on three by one sets, bunch sets, empty personnel.

You need a weapon like this. You need your quick winner, a guy who can win really easily on either on the backside or as innermost receiver on these sets. But also like you mentioned there on like the mesh concepts and stuff like that if you're running if you're running bunch you need to have that receiver who can just slip under the bunch and has that explosiveness and the quickness to create after the catch i'm really excited for his fit in this team with this team especially again you have the trees on the outside you even have a tree in jelani woods on the middle as well adding a josh

downs to that along with obviously this this unicorn of a quarterback I think it's going to be a really great fit but coming up guys we're going to talk about some undrafted free agents yes Ian has also watched some of these undrafted free agents I told you he's a wealth of knowledge we're going to talk about these undrafted free agents coming up in just a second all right guys so we're talking undrafted free agents. The Colts, I think now because they missed it one season, I think it's been, I want to say it's like 24 of the last 25 years they've had an undrafted free agent make the roster. I think it's 24 or 25. You guys can correct me if I'm wrong.

Definitely call me out on Twitter if that is wrong, but it's something like that. They've missed it once in the last 20 something years. I think there's a good chance this season though that they continue that trend of undrafted free agents making the team and obviously the main one is Emile Key or junior guard out of Alabama Ian this was a guy that we I you know consensus wise this was a like a top 150 top 200 guy who slipped to the undrafted free agent range why do you think teams kind of passed on him and do you think he has a good chance of making a roster in indie where you know a guard it's kind of wide open yeah and that was the first thing that stood out to me when i was looking at

the undrafted free agent class and like where guys have the best chance to break onto the roster like their interior depth is is fairly wide open you know i think it's one of those things where they have guys but there's not not a lot solidified there you know and correct me if i'm wrong ryan kelly what's his long-term situation looking like too yeah we don't know because there was rumors about him being traded potentially this offseason i think he's got two years left on his deal you know they're what they were kind of talking about it a little bit so like i think he'll be here this next season it seems like that's for sure and we'll see see kind of how, where that goes. But I love that you brought that up because yeah,

we don't know what his long-term situation is. And if he's going to be the center of 2024, 2025 for this team. Yeah. Cause like, I remember there were trade rumors, right? You know, nothing really came of it at the time, but it's one of those things where it's still kind of lingering there. Like how long is this guy going to be here? And it's one of those things, ideally, you're not in a position where an undrafted free agent has to be relied on to compensate for that.

But it is something to watch. Emile Ekior, for me, was the top 200 prospect. I thought he was safely draftable. That's the thing with the draft, man. I mean, once you get into that day three range, it really is up to the individual team's board. And you see a lot of players fall who in the media are very much worth the pick just because other teams, teams. I mean, first off, teams have way bigger staffs. They have a lot of room to differentiate and kind of vary across the board, a lot more reach. Right. So, you know, maybe there's a guy from like Southwest Oklahoma State that you didn't get a chance to watch that this one team really likes. So it's one of those things where once you get to day three,

the variability is much higher and good players go undrafted every year. They do. I think Emil Ekior is a solid player. You know, I think the build for me is the most exciting thing. Around 6'2 and a half, I want to say 314 pounds,

near 34 inch arms, 33, 34. So, you know, whenever I look for trench players, I'm partial to guys who have that combination of natural leverage and proportional length. Natural leverage is just a safe way of saying he's a little shorter, right? But hey, short kings unite, right? But, you know, I think, yeah, you know, football is a game of leverage.

It's a game of pad level. You know, you've got to be able to get under guys too. But then also having the longer arms to make contact first to drive more power, you know, I think that's very valuable. And on Ekior's tape, that shows up as a strength where he can really get under guys. He can drive through, channel that power with his lower body as well. He's got pretty good anchor strength as well. I think he's a decent athlete, too. Maybe not elite, but I think straight line burst into contact is a strength of his.

And then at the same time, physical finisher, right? I think his profile, that size profile that I mentioned, you know, he played a guard, but there was some talk among evaluators this cycle that he could maybe be a candidate to move inside the center too so I think you know looking ahead to the future you know he could be a guy who you look at in that depth wing for the Colts and it's like hey if we need to play him a guard he can but if we need him to slide to center he could potentially do that too I think having that versatility you know whenever your team and you're making those roster decisions how can can we, you know, how can we coalesce it from two players to one

in this spot, you know, get a guy who can play guard and center that roster efficiency, I think could be an added bonus for him down the line. Yeah, yeah, for sure. I still think the Colts are candid to add a free agent at right guard, you know, obviously Dalton Reisner type could be added in there. But as of right now, I think he has a good chance competing with Will Fries to be the starting right guard, which is crazy to think of an undrafted free agent. Who knows what the Colts ultimately do to? They might put Blake Freeland at left tackle and Bernard Ryman at right guard. Like there are a lot of different options here for the Indianapolis Colts.

But I really like this guy's fit with the team. And yeah, I think long term or short term, he could be the right guard this next season. So we'll see what happens there. Some other undrafted free agents, some notable ones that I enjoyed on film, Cody Kress from Sam Houston State. I really think he should have been drafted. I really enjoyed his film.

I think he kind of looks like the FCS version of Alec Pierce on film, where it's like, everything's like a go ball yeah like a lot of go balls and a lot of just like one-on-one but you see the speed you see the explosion on film and you can see him go up and get it i remember just watching him just the other day and i was like oh just another alec pierce great awesome i love me some alec pierce there but what do you think of cody crest on phil yeah i mean kind of what you mentioned i mean he I mean, he's a vertical guy, but I mean, we, we talked about what Shane Steichen's offense is. It's vertical, very vertically oriented. I think having a guy like

Cody Crest who can convert on that, you know, he's a little smaller than, than Pierce for sure. I think he measured in at six foot one 98, I want to say slightly under 31 inch arms. So he's kind of wiry, but compact too. But I think I'm but i think um 438 speed which that's legit and especially the fcs that really stands out you know being able to threaten defenses vertically but then also converted the catch point to track the ball downfield kind of convert in that phase so yeah i think the speed is the biggest thing with him but then also i think he had a 6773 cone too so he's got the agility in that toolbox too is very exciting 38 inch vertical right so anytime you

know i love to isolate those wide receivers with those kinds of physical tools especially in the udfa pool uh because especially if you can get him into an offensive fit like this where like hey if he if he does make the roster and if he does get some rotational reps simply having that speed to to uh threaten down the field can be very valuable yeah yeah i love him as like a kez walkins type guy in shane steichen's offense. Just what he was doing, just long over routes, occasional deep shots, maybe only 15 to 20 targets a season, but that's all you need. That's all you need to make something happen.

I think that's more of a long-term fit. Obviously, again, an FCS guy, undrafted free agent has a journey to make the roster, but I was impressed on film. And I love that speed too, you know, especially for undrafted guys, you know, being able to make an impact as a was impressed on film and i love that speed too you know especially for undrafted guys you know being able to make an impact as a special teamer right if you have 438 speed get down field quickly as a gunner that can really help your chances yeah yeah for sure we have a great one in ashton doolin here currently on the roster and having another one like cody crest could certainly help uh last undrafted free agent i wanted to talk to you about is liam

anderson from holy cross i know a lot of people don't know this name because he wasn't on a bunch of mock draft simulators or anything like that, but I was told early in the offseason that the Colts like Liam Anderson, so I watched a couple of his games, and I get a very Forrest Ryan type of prospect in my head. I get Forrest Ryan, JoJo Doman type. This is going to be a good special teamer from day one, and he didn't really do too much of it in college, but I really enjoyed watching his film. I think there's some good playmaking ability there with Liam Anderson. What are your thoughts on Liam Anderson from Holy Cross though, Ian? Yeah, I didn't get to watch as much of him as I wanted to. It's more that I have an awareness of him, unfortunately.

So that's kind of where, you know, my scope ends. But I remember he had very good size, I want to say. You know, I want to say he was listed at 6'3", 230, a guy who was a tackling machine for sure. I think just having that size alone is very valuable. But again, I didn't watch as much of him as I wanted to, but that Holy Cross defense, I wanted to get around to it more because they got John Smith, a corner that I liked as well.

But yeah, I know the size has been the biggest part of his appeal. Yeah, size, he's got some decent speed as well i again just a special teamer but special teams matters i want to look up his pro day his pro day results now hang on yeah okay okay i'll keep talking while you're looking it up but yeah no liam anderson from holy cross again i was told earlier in the off season this was a guy where the colts were really looking at him they kind of viewed him in that forest ryan type role that they had last season again just a camp body guy who comes in and works hard and and maybe makes a little bit of noise but uh yeah that's how the Colts viewed him yeah here we go 6-3-2-26

4-5-5 speed that'll that'll play that'll play right there there we go 33 and a half inch 10-8 broad no yeah 10-8 that's him 10-8 so very good explosiveness too 29 and three-eighths arms though so two-eighths arms proportional he's got he's got he's like a t-rex out there but he's uh again the range the tackling ability the size again like i said you know yeah like you said i mean there's a role for him for sure and i think especially when you're on drive the free agent getting breaking in with that special teams ability can be really uh really big yeah yeah for sure i know we're talking on draft to free agents, but I did want to ask you about one more draft pick that we kind of ran out

of time in the last segment though. And this is a guy where I'm weirdly too excited about him because I just watched some of his film and I'm like, I know he's older, but like, this is a freak athlete. It's Daniel Scott. Oh my gosh, man. I was watching some of his film and I guess I feel wrong saying this, but he was my favorite watch of their day three picks. And I, and I love Darius Rush, like Darius Rush is a blast on film, but Daniel Scott, the couple of flashes, I was like, oh man, like this could be really good. What'd you think about Daniel Scott?

Yeah. It's one of those things where, you know, especially in this class, right. Just watching the safeties was really weird because there's so many niche guys who are primarily slot defenders or box, attacking box safeties. And Daniel Scott comes along, and he's a guy who's playing too high, playing single high. And he can come into the slot and play off men and mirror guys. He's shown that he can do that. But he shows legitimate range when he turns his hips and runs, man.

I think the reaction to stimulus for him is very appealing. Another guy who's pretty rocked up. I think he's like 6'2", over 200 pounds, man. I think the reaction to stimulus for him is very appealing. Another guy who's pretty rocked up. I think he's like 6'2", over 200 pounds, man. So he's big, he's strong. And then the way that he moves is just so fluid, so effortless for that size too, man. I was a big fan. When he tested, I was like, I got to get eyes on this guy because the testing numbers were really, really appealing. But he's got range, he's got ball skills, but then very functional in the way that he plays safety as well, managing space, very physical coming downhill. He's got ball skills, but then very functional in the way that he plays safety as well. Managing space, you know, very physical coming downhill. He's willing to tackle, you know, he's active in the contact box. So that was a fun pick for me. I remember that when you brought it up, but yeah, they got him on day three and I was like, okay, safety depth,

but this is a guy who can play a lot of different roles for you. Single high, two high playing in the box, you know, outside the slot too. I think that versatility is going to be valuable. But, yeah, I'm excited to see where he goes because ultimately having that versatility, especially with Nick Cross out there, you know, I think that's going to be a fun – that could be a fun pairing if he ends up getting on the defense. Yeah, those two plus Rodney Thomas, who was a star last year as well as a rookie. Like, a lot of really good, talented secondary players. A lot of young, talented secondary players here in Indy.

But, guys, that is all we have for today. Make sure all of you beautiful everydayers tune in again tomorrow when we have the legendary Fran Duffy on to talk about Anthony Richardson. But this was the Ian Cummings episode at IC underscore draft. I told you guys he's an encyclopedia of knowledge and my gosh, he definitely showed it on this film, this episode here. So make sure you guys are following him on social media.

One of the best draft minds out there. And if you don't already, follow us on social medias, at LockedOnColts, at JakeArthurNFL, and at ZachHicks2 on Twitter. Also, subscribe to LockedOnColts podcast on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcasts. We love your ratings, reviews, and we'll see you guys back here bright and early tomorrow on Wednesday.