Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Terrion Arnold is the Total Package in Round 1

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Super Bowl is done and it is officially draft season. And today we've got a special guest to discuss the Colts approach. Let's get to it. You are locked on Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. All right. Thanks for tuning in and making us 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.

Starting point is 00:00:47 And today's show is brought to you by FanDuel. Make every moment more. Right now, new customers, you guys get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 bet. That's $150 if your bet wins. Visit FanDuel.com slash Locked On to get started. What is up, everybody? I am Jake Arthur from HorseshoeHuddle.com. And joined today by special guest Damian Parson of the Draft Network and our very own Locked

Starting point is 00:01:11 on NFL Draft podcast. Welcome to the show, Damian. I think this is the first time we got you on. Yeah, man. It's definitely the first time, but I'm excited to be here, man. You know what I mean? You guys drafted one of my favorite players last year in Anthony Richardson So I keep a close eye on those Colts Yes, honestly, beautiful job by you

Starting point is 00:01:30 That'll segue us in perfectly Because last year the Colts had so many huge needs You had to get head coach first and foremost And then the Colts wanted to go The bright young offensive mind route And they got that with Shane Steichen They needed a quarterback They finally realized they were not just one veteran away. And the offensive line and the condition that it was

Starting point is 00:01:50 in wasn't really built to help an older quarterback like a Matt Ryan. So they got the bright young offensive coach in Steichen. They paired him with Anthony Richardson. Unfortunately, only made it through four games before injuries kind of took over and a shoulder injury forced him to have season-ending surgery. But nonetheless, he showed more than enough for the Colts to kind of put their eggs in that basket. Like Anthony Richardson is their planned future of the Colts. And so, you know, you got a left tackle on a rookie deal still. You have a defensive front that just had 50 sacks. So there's no enormous needs on this roster. They're kind of in a place where they can go best player available.

Starting point is 00:02:29 But that doesn't mean there aren't some sensitive spots on there that definitely need to be addressed. So, I mean, you're a national writer. The draft is your life, especially this time of year. When you look at this Colts roster, what do you think they need to do first? I think, you know, they have to look at, like, both sides of the ball. And for me, I think when I look at this roster, the two positions I think that they could absolutely, like, really put some talent into is getting another corner, right? You know, Juju Brents, who I was really high on, you know,

Starting point is 00:03:02 I know he battled some injuries as a rookie and everything. But I think with his height, weight, the arm length, the athleticism that he has, I think his competitiveness as well. Saw him down in Mobile last year at the Senior Bowl, and he was arguably one of the best players no matter what position or what side of the ball while he was down in Mobile last year. I think you got a high-ceiling guy with him. Getting another corner to go opposite side of the ball while he was down in Mobile last year, I think you got a high ceiling guy with him getting another corner to go opposite side of him.

Starting point is 00:03:29 Cause you always think about just kind of what you're dealing with, whether it's dealing with, you know, Deandre Hopkins and Traylon Burks in Tennessee, you know, whether it's Christian Kirk, if they bring back Calvin Ridley, or if they decide to draft the receiver for the jacksonville jaguars right like you know just looking at this division of course tank dell nico collins if they can get john metchey going like you want to have you want to have the ability to say you know what i have i always talk about this like building the right wide receiver room like a basketball team

Starting point is 00:04:01 having that point guard all the way through the center, you want to have your cornerback room similar. You don't want a bunch of fours trying to guard a point guard. We've seen, we all watch basketball at some point, whether it's the March Madness or the NBA playoffs, you don't want Nikola Jokic on Steph Curry on the three-point line. That's not what you want. So I think that's what you want to have, that versatility, where you can mix and match if you go man to have that versatility where you can mix and match.

Starting point is 00:04:26 If you go man to man where you can be versatile. Right. And I think adding another corner guy that is probably a little bit smaller, more twitchy, change the direction type of corner man to man guy would pair very well with Juju Brents, but also the tight end position i think when you look at what you have an anthony richardson a guy that can like his arm talent you defense is gonna have to cover every blade of grass right we just saw the super bowl where brock purdy couldn't connect down the field when you know kansas went man to man he couldn't make them pay for it well you got a guy like anthony richardson with that arm talent where it's like yeah no i no, I'll make you pay for that. Like whether it's up the seam outside, like, but you are adding a tight end to this offense. And I think the Titans that they have are solid, but if you can get yourself a game changer type of tight end,

Starting point is 00:05:14 it can really take this offense over the top. And I would say the one other position, it's not a huge need. Cause I know Mike, you know, Mike Whitman jr is on the I expect him to either get tagged or get a long-term deal done this offseason. But I would say a true deep threat. And I know Alec Pierce being a 6'3", 6'4", big-body build-up speed guy, I know that he's always going to be able to take the top off defense at times. But if you can get yourself a guy that has that 4-3 speed,

Starting point is 00:05:47 and it's not so much buildup. It's instant, right? Because you think about with Anthony Richardson and JT in the backfield, the RPO game, the read option game, the QB keeper, stuff like that, it's going to be hard to play too high. It's going to be hard to sit with too high safeties 10 to 15 yards back and try to take it with a deep ball when you've got a potent rushing attack in your backfield. So I think getting that other receiver that can really, okay, you want to go single high or if they,

Starting point is 00:06:17 dear God, you go cover zero, we're going to make you pay for that, right? We have a speed threat that can run that bang eight, a speed threat that we can run the goal route, and he could absolutely take off. So I think those are the things that the three positions I look at most that I would love to see them address this offseason. Yeah, and that pretty much mirrors what they've even acknowledged as soon as the season has ended. They want to get more explosive on offense and they know they need it on defense as well. So offensively I'm right there with you. I don't really see an instance where Michael Pittman jr. Isn't there.

Starting point is 00:06:52 Josh Downs looks like a dude, you know, that that's a slot guy you can really rely on. It's like, you wish you knew more about Alec Pierce to this point. Cause like you can see he is growing, get a little, getting a little more well-rounded,

Starting point is 00:07:03 but without Anthony Richardson back there, you know, for two seasons now, he he's a, he's a downfield specialist and he just has not had quarterbacks that do that. Gardner Minshew, Matt Ryan, all those guys there, that's not them. And so you wish you knew more about him at this point, but in the NFL, you don't have time to sit around and wait for everybody. So I'm with you. If, if a field stretcher falls into their lap, I think they would be open to that. They do want to get more explosive. Now I think they'd be probably willing to find that in rounds three, four, five, but again, we don't know what's going to happen in this draft. If,

Starting point is 00:07:39 if one of these top few guys is there, it could happen. That's why even with tight end as well, going into camp, it looked like arguably their biggest strength on the whole roster, at least the deepest group. Jelani Woods wasn't able to get on the field. He had hamstring injuries that kept him from ever getting on the field. Drew Ogletree has shown some stuff, but he's on the commissioner's exemplars. We don't know if he's even going to be on the team. And then Kylan Granson is a nice yards after catch guy.

Starting point is 00:08:08 And then Mo Alleycox is a blocker. So you lack that dynamic player. And not everyone has to be a George Kittle or a Travis Kelsey, but someone to just be a consistent part of the offense and kind of move the chains. And then cornerback, exactly. Juju Brintz is kind of like Anthony, where injuries kind of dictated the season,

Starting point is 00:08:27 but you've seen enough to know you want that guy out there all the time. Jalen Jones was nice on the other end. I mean, seventh round pick, you don't get that much production that often. So that was great. But that's not why you drafted him. You didn't draft him to be the starter there all the time. And they need more playmaking in the secondary. They really do.

Starting point is 00:08:47 Kenny Moore and Julian Blackman are your biggest playmakers in the secondary, but they're both free agents. I mean, Blackman is a little younger, mid-20s, but Kenny is going to be on the wrong side of 30 very soon. I think he might already be 30, if not by the start of the season. So that's definitely a few areas I think we can all agree on that they need to add. And I don't know if the offense will happen in the first round, but it feels like this is a special draft for them or defensively, they should be able to have some really quality

Starting point is 00:09:17 players right there at 15. And maybe such a large group that they like that they could even trade down a little bit and get one of those guys recoup some assets. So coming up, we're going to, you know, we've kind of identified those needs. Now, which players in this draft early on kind of fit those needs the best. We'll chat about that in a minute. DoorDash went all out for game day and they DoorDashed stuff from all the ads to one lucky winner, cars, snacks, snacks even tax software somehow they pulled it off i'm a little salty that it wasn't me i did not win but i gotta hand it to him it was one heck of a delivery if you didn't have the chance to hit the grocery store last weekend after all the big

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Starting point is 00:10:31 your door to more. Head to DoorDash app to get everything you need delivered. All right, so now we're going to talk about some specific players in the draft that fit, and we might as well go ahead and start with your uh brand new fresh mock draft that came out after the super bowl so uh there's been some some common names we've seen mocked to the colt so far just because again we've talked about there are a couple areas where you can really see that they can add to the roster and there's some really quality players there uh one of my favorites is someone you added to him terry and arnold the cornerback out of alabama at 15 man terry arnold like he you know corner slate safety a guy that really took a step this year right and i remember listening to him uh i think it was either practice press conference or after a game where early in the season I think he made some mistakes

Starting point is 00:11:25 in the game. It might have been a Texas game if I'm not mistaken. And then I think he got berated by Saban. Saban doesn't go for the mistakes. So Saban got on him and the professionalism, the maturity of this young man to take that coaching and take

Starting point is 00:11:42 it in stride and be like, no, I know where I messed up. Coach is right. Like, I made my mistake. And just watching him evolve and grow. Out of all the corners in this class, I think he is the best mover in terms of speed, agility, transitions, hip fluidity. A guy that can play man-to-man very well, be be in the hip pocket be a sticky cover corner but also zone coverage right there's reps of him in the slot him out wide him playing cover three

Starting point is 00:12:12 out while him playing the cover three kind of that hook curl defender or you know whatnot um out of the out of the nickel guy that baits quarterbacks in the throws he's got really good ball skills but that twitch and explosiveness especially driving and clicking and closing downhill man I think he's such a scheme versatile player and the thing I love about him most Minky talked about this he's a he's physical right like you don't see corners that want to play at the point of attack in the run game or the screen game right defeating? Defeating stock blocks, those receivers, those big receivers want to work up to him and block him off, let the, you know, whether it's a running back screen into the flats,

Starting point is 00:12:53 flare out, or just a bubble screen. He does a tremendous job of destroying those blocks, deconstructing them, meeting those guys at the point of attack, but also making a play. I think it was the SEC championship game where Georgia tries to, I think they ran a tall sweep to his side on like fourth and one. And he triggered downhill, evaded the block, and then made a big hit on the running back in the backfield for a loss

Starting point is 00:13:18 and gave his offense the football back. So you're talking about walking in to the NFL with that type of coverage ability, the ball skills, but also the physicality where, you know, those type of plays get defensive coordinators amped. Because it's like, yeah, we can stop the run on the outside, on the perimeter, inside. We got backers, defensive line, because typically what do you do? It's like, man, if I can't run between the tackles, I'm going to pitch it outside. Let's take advantage of these corners who don't want to tackle. Terry Arnold wants to tackle. So I think pairing him with Juju Brents, like it was a situation where I was like, all right, if Brock Bowers falls, that's what a discussion would be for me.

Starting point is 00:13:59 It's like Terry Arnold or Brock, do I want to give them a stud corner or do we go with the elite caliber pass catching tight end at 15? I think that's where that – I think, honestly, I think Brock could be there at 15 potentially, the way that things could shape out and shake out. So getting Terry on Arnold, I think that was like a huge get for this defense and then allows them to in second round, second, third round, like you said, finding that explosive receiving threat, whether it is. I mean, heck, you can come by adding another tight end, a Jatavian Sanders from Texas, a guy you can put at that tight end spot, put them out into the into the slot, put them out wide and kind of funnel the passing game through as your kind of number one type of tight end. He's a very, very talented pass catcher as well.

Starting point is 00:14:51 But, again, if you're looking at receivers and, you know, whether it's Jacob Cowan, you have a lot of different body types and athleticism traits at the receiver position. So I was like, you know what, let's go Terry Arnold here because I want to give them two young booking corners that you can really allow to live on the island and everything else would be a lot easier for your defense. Yeah, that feels like the most likely scenario if available for the Colts.

Starting point is 00:15:18 I think he fits that Gus Bradley and Ron Milas mold for the cornerbacks really well. We saw them really hammer that last year with Brents, Darius Rush, and Jalen Jones. I think Arnold fits that Gus Bradley and Ron Milas mold for the cornerbacks really well. We saw them really hammer that last year with Brents, Darius Rush, and Jalen Jones. I think Arnold fits that. I like that you mentioned his aggressiveness because that's the thing they've talked about. You cannot be a good run defense unless your corners want to mix it up too.

Starting point is 00:15:38 And Brents definitely does. And Arnold doing that as well would be huge because we've – I mean, Grover Stewart was gone for six games last year, which was the biggest issue to their run defense at times. But then when you had cornerbacks out there, when Brents was hurt too, that didn't want to tackle as much. That was a huge problem. So if your three corners are Juju Brents, Terry on Arnold and Kenny Moore,

Starting point is 00:16:03 three corners who love to hit and love to snip out the screen game. That's huge. I mean, Kool-Aid McKinstry and Nate Wiggins are a couple other common guys we see mocked to the Colts at 15. But Bowers, I think, right now is the fan favorite. You know, he's flashy. He's a pass catcher. It's the sexy pick.

Starting point is 00:16:21 And I can see the Colts doing it. You know, they love to use those multi-tied- end sets when they've got guys they feel can fit those roles. But I think the biggest question people have about him is we know he's a playmaker with the ball in his hands, but what is his likelihood of being a solid blocker in the NFL? How much have you put into that so far? That's the biggest concern that I have outside put into that so far that's that's the biggest concern i have outside of like georgia made things easy for him you know i mean in college where he didn't face a lot of man press man-to-man even though he played a lot in the in the slot like playing detached from the

Starting point is 00:16:57 line he didn't face a lot of tight man-to-man coverage and when he did it wasn't i felt like it was like man he's not used to it so like release packaging using his hands to to clear guys i was like he just needs more reps against this and he'll be fine but the run blocking is probably the bigger thing because he's also a little on the undersized you know on the spectrum he's like what's six three six four two thirty so yeah he's not going to be a like the rep we saw i think it was the nfc championship game where george kill takes aiden hutchinson for a ride we're probably not getting that out of brock bowers i'm gonna be honest with you excuse me i don't think we're going to get that but i do

Starting point is 00:17:35 think that he can to me he's more of a space blocker a climber um you know getting up to the second level where he can deal with nickels, safeties, and pick off some linebackers. You're talking about putting them in line and having to deal with Trayvon Walker from Georgia, who is his former teammate. I don't really like those odds. I think Trayvon's going to be able to win that matchup and win it fairly easily. Josh Allen from Jacksonville, right? Do you want him against Will Anderson Jr., trying to block him in the run game i'm not too sure about that right so it's like in that situation that's where you kind of have some

Starting point is 00:18:11 drawbacks okay what is how do we still effectively run the ball with him on the field right and i think that's what you look at him as more of a like i said climbing to the second level but also with so much split flow action in the NFL now, him coming back size, that slice blocker on like split inside zone, split wide zone, things like that, where he's not having to deal with the man to man down blocking, trying to move a guy off the spot, reset the line of scrimmage. He can just come right underneath the, right behind the offensive line,

Starting point is 00:18:44 take out and, you know, whether it's chop block that backside defender, whether it's a stand-up defensive end or outside linebacker, take their, you know, chop their legs and their knees out, take them out of the play and allow the running back to be able to gain or quarterback in this situation because you can always do QB keeper off of that and allow whoever's a ball carrier to have an advantageous box count, right? Because when you take out that backside defender, it makes it a lot easier. So I think that's where you can get some more out of him as a run blocker.

Starting point is 00:19:12 But that's going to be the biggest thing is like, all right, how do we effectively run the ball with him on the field if he's tight end one? Now, it's different if you're talking about 12, 13 personnel, 21. OK, it's a little different, right? This is more jumbo sense. But you're in 11. He's the only tight end on the field. Where are you putting him in the run game to where you could be really effective? And I think that's going to be the biggest question mark.

Starting point is 00:19:37 Yeah, I think with Shane Steichen and how exotic he makes things, uses a lot of motion and stuff, I think that could probably help him out a little bit. But, I mean, we have seen this coaching staff has been able to get some quality, I guess, progression from some, because they only really have one tight end on the roster who you can consider a solid blocker. That's Mo Alleycox. But even he took a step back two years ago. They brought the Colts brought Tom Manning back as the tight ends coach

Starting point is 00:20:05 under Syken. We saw progress from Kylan Granson, Drew Ogletree and Mo Alleycox kind of got back to it as a blocker. So maybe that helps Brock Bowers a little bit, but he's kind of a player where you draft him. You're not drafting him to be your stud blocker. Anyways, you can take time in that first year to kind of get his feet wet. So, Damian, that was really good stuff. Thanks a lot, man. We're definitely going to have to have you back. Zach and I will see you here in Indy for the combine, I'm sure. Absolutely.

Starting point is 00:20:31 Yep, we've got a lot more cold stuff to do. Again, no quarterback this year that we need, so kind of a wider pool of players to look through that. You're going to have to help us out over these next couple of months. Absolutely, man. All right, thanks, man. Appreciate it. Yes, sir. All right. Thanks again to Damien for his time.

Starting point is 00:20:49 Be sure to follow his work on the draft network. And of course the locked on NFL draft show with his teammate, Keith Sanchez follow him on Twitter X, whatever you want to call it at DP, underscore NFL coming up next, just going to kind of react to, you know, the, the conversation from, from Damien and I talk about a little bit more draft stuff, what we think still might be able to happen. Cause again, very common to see pass catchers and corners. So what else might be coming down the pipe? Get buckets with your first bet on FanDuel, America's number one sports book,

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Starting point is 00:21:46 Just visit FanDuel.com slash locked on and shoot your shot. FanDuel, official sportsbook partner of the NBA. All right, so I'm glad Damien mentioned on his own a lot of the guys that we've all been talking about for a bit, and that, Brock Bowers kind of being the bell of the ball right now. I think he's probably in most Colts fans, top two or three prospects that they would like to see land here in Indy. Terry on Arnold as well. You've kind of got a little mashup of corners there in the, in the middle of the first round cornerbacks kind of wide open.

Starting point is 00:22:24 I do feel like NFL teams are probably a little higher on Arnold and maybe They're in the middle of the first round. Cornerback's kind of wide open. I do feel like NFL teams are probably a little higher on Arnold and maybe even Quinion Mitchell from Toledo and another standout from the Senior Bowl. But again, you've got Nate Wiggins from Clemson. You've got Cooper DeJean from Iowa. There's a lot of guys in the mix here, so we'll see how that kind of all shakes out. Personally, I think Arnold really, really fits Bradley well. You look at his teammate,

Starting point is 00:22:51 Kool-Aid McKinstry, also as well. He's got bigger questions about his movement, his fluidity, his deep speed, but he's got the ball skills as well. He is also tough. He's kind of more like your Juju Brents, I guess you could say some of the, some of the same question marks you have about Brents. You probably have about McKinstry, but that's someone who can answer a lot of questions at the combine with his pre-draft workouts and things of that nature. So, you know, we focused on Bowers and the cornerbacks and stuff early on. You know, if you look at round two uh even around three i think that's where you really start to if you miss out on a bowers i think that's where you really start

Starting point is 00:23:30 to look into getting that explosive offensive playmaker he mentioned jatavian sanders from texas uh you know this guy's probably more around three four but like ryan florinoy the receiver from southeast missouri state i think a guy like that fits really well because you're not drafting him early enough and he's probably not ready enough to be a heavy contributor year one. And you're probably not ready for someone to eat into like Alec Pierce's snaps yet. But that's someone perhaps he could contribute in the return game and alleviate some of Josh Downs workload. And you just kind of give him a small role, like the Isaiah McKenzie role, for example, in, in year one.

Starting point is 00:24:12 And then year two, you really work him in. He's more of a field stretcher. You know, Damian mentioned not just work up deep speed, like Pierce has, but like instant speed and quickness. And that is definitely something that Flournoy has. There's several guys in the draft this year that kind of fit that downfield stretcher mold. So I think the Colts will be able to address that explosive playmaker in their first three or four picks. I think cornerback is another one they should be able to address as well. Defensive tackle is what I'm really interested in for them because how much longer is DeForest Buckner going to be in a Colts uniform?

Starting point is 00:24:50 You know, if the Colts aren't ascending like they want to by the time that contract is up, I mean, how much is he going to want to stick around? He's going to want to win that Super Bowl before his career is up. So it may not be such a slam dunk that Buckner resigns when his time comes up. Grover Stewart, I mean, he's a free agent. I think we're all pretty confident he'll be back. But again, you need help behind him. Eric Johnson hasn't really fulfilled that yet. Adetome Adobare is a very talented player, but we don't know how he's going to translate yet.

Starting point is 00:25:21 And again, we saw how it was without Grover Stewart last year in those six games. Taven Bryan, nice player against the pass generally, but you're not really wanting him to fill in for Grover Stewart against the run. Even when Grover was back but off of the field taking breaks, we know how it looks. So if you get like a Byron Murphy from Texas I think it's probably more likely than his teammate Tavondre Sweat uh Sweat just doesn't necessarily fit what the Colts have normally gone for with um with their defensive lineman before he's kind of a bigger less twitchy less rock bulked up type of player could be wrong I mean maybe they decide to

Starting point is 00:26:04 kind of buck that trend. We've seen Chris Ballard go for a Josh Downs type now for the first time. So we'll see how that goes. But draft season is just getting heated up. Zach and I are going to have a ton of stuff for you. We'll have guests like Damian coming on, lots more people to come on and just talk about their favorite draft prospects. Again, since the Colts don't have a quarterback need this year, they don't need, you know, left tackle. They've got a really good left tackle on a rookie deer and Bernard Raymond defensive ends. We really like them. I mean, although they could use an extra one, we're going to learn a lot about a lot of different players. And I think this can be a really big offseason for lockdown.

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts: Terrion Arnold is the Total Package in Round 1

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