Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Triple Play: Most Important, First-Time Pro Bowlers, and Vets On the Hot Seat

Starting point is 00:00:00 Is it fair for the title of most important Colt to be placed on a 21-year-old rookie in 2023? 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, party people. Thanks for joining us 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 the day. This is your daily podcast covering your Indianapolis Colts, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. I am Jake Arthur of HorseshoeHuddle.com. I am your local credentialed media member there bringing you the live scoopage from

Starting point is 00:00:57 OTAs lately, letting you know what the players and coaches are up to. But yeah, on today's show, got an interesting one. I'm already right off the bat. I want you guys to start commenting what you think. So we've got some interesting topics. First, we're going to go ahead and tackle who are the three most important Colts players for 2023 right now. And then we're going to move on to three players who we think might make their first Pro Bowls in 2023, which there was a whopping none for the Colts last year after having seven or eight the year before. So take that with a big grain of salt. And then last, we'll follow it up with

Starting point is 00:01:36 which three Colts veterans are on the hot seat this summer. So first off, let's go ahead and tackle which of these guys is the most important. And I think you got a lead off with Anthony Richardson, don't you? The fourth overall pick in the draft, the Colts new quarterback face of the franchise. Now you got kind of two sides of the coin here. First, the Colts are going to be patient. The pressure isn't necessarily on from the team themselves. They're not going to put him out there until isn't necessarily on from the team themselves. They're not going to put him out there until he's ready. I do think they're going to try and get him as ready as possible

Starting point is 00:02:11 to go by week one. But really, I mean, he's the next in a lineage that includes Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck, and then hopefully him being the next guy. And if you want to go back even further, we could talk about Johnny Unitas. You can throw in Burt Jones in there as well. So there is a lot of pressure on this kid to be the guy. The Colts haven't really been in quarterback purgatory as long as some other teams. I know it's felt like forever here since 2019, but I mean, there's

Starting point is 00:02:42 other teams that have gone 20 years and they've been looking for their quarterback. But still, I mean, this is a team that has had a lot of recent success pretty much anytime they've had a quarterback. And it's just, you know, in the last few years, kind of gone off the rails. So I do think he is the most important player, even regardless if he's the starter week one? And that's because the future rests on his shoulders. If it winds up not working out with him, they'll be back at square one. And here's the thing. This next draft is supposed to be an awesome draft with Drake May and Caleb Williams and everything. But if things don't go well with the Colts, I don't think they would already be ready to pull the plug on Richardson

Starting point is 00:03:27 and go with one of those guys. So it becomes a kicking the can down the road type of thing at that point. But we're going to be optimistic about it because, I mean, we've been tooting the Anthony Richardson horn all offseason here at Locked on Colts. And I think we are under the impression that it's going to be a success. But again, he is the most important. He's got to show progress. He's got to look like he is capable of being an NFL quarterback.

Starting point is 00:03:56 And there's a lot of hype. I mean, he was the most athletically gifted quarterback prospect to ever test coming into the draft. So there's a lot of high expectations. So that definitely makes him, in my eyes, the most important Colt heading into 2023. And the guy who he's going to be the most involved with arguably is Jonathan Taylor. And that's my next guy here. Now, one stat that so many people hated on Twitter was going into the end of 2021. It was anytime Jonathan Taylor rushed for 100 yards, the Colts won.

Starting point is 00:04:31 A lot of people mocked that stat, which, you know, you take it at that face value. Sure, of course. But what it really meant was when the Colts were able to control the game and establish the run and really get Jonathan Taylor going, that usually was really advantageous for them they were able to control the game that way they had a home run hitter and at the time the best running back in football just totally controlling things and being an explosive element on offense and him being the guy, you know, the live wire that kind of controlled everything. I think there's a lot of merit to that. I mean, that's what the Colts' identity was on offense.

Starting point is 00:05:13 They didn't have much to show of quarterback play with Carson Wentz a lot of the time. In that second half of the season, the Colts had to hide him a bit. And we saw what things looked like last year when Jonathan Taylor wasn't at his best behind a porous offensive line and a bum ankle. So, I mean, the Colts 13, one and one in Taylor's career when he rushes for a hundred yards. Again, I know on its face, that's a dumb stat, but what it really means is when they get him going, they're successful. And I think he's going to be an integral part to getting Anthony Richardson ushered into this. So for two big reasons, I think Taylor is the second most important Colts player.

Starting point is 00:05:58 One, because of how important he's going to be for Richardson's development to take pressure off of him, not only as a rusher, which will allow Richardson to do his own thing and be creative with his feet, but every young quarterback's best friend is a strong running game. And we've seen just two years ago, Jonathan Taylor absolutely took the league by storm. He ran for over a thousand yards as a rookie, but then he ran for 1800,800 yards and led the league in rushing by like 500 yards in his second season. Had arguably the best rushing season a Colts running back has ever had. That includes Marshall Falk, Edren James, Lenny Moore, Eric Dickerson. So you're

Starting point is 00:06:37 dealing with a guy here who is a truly special running back, and as good as he can be, that is going to help Anthony Richardson and his development just that much more. And then I hate to beat the offensive drum here, but it's really important to see offensive growth. And for that reason, I think the third most important Colts player this year is going to be left tackle Bernard Ryman. So last year, he got off to a rocky start when he got kind of thrown into the mix. He had that really bad Broncos game where he had a bunch of penalties. There were a couple gaffes throughout the season where he gave up a sack late in the game that really kind of killed any chance the Colts had. But we saw steady growth throughout the season, really. From the time he had that really terrible first start to the end of the season,

Starting point is 00:07:30 and the Colts are really confident that this guy is their left tackle. They didn't do anything in the offseason that would indicate that they're not confident in him. Blake Freeland, so far, that wasn't a move that they made in the draft to really push Bernard Ryman. Sure, if Freeland is awesome and Ryman starts slipping, then that could change, but that's not why they drafted Freeland. But man, Ryman, that's another one. We've seen how bad the Colts offense can be when there's not an effective left tackle. I mean, looking at Matt Pryor last year, if you look at pro football focuses metrics, he ranked 87th out of 89 NFL offensive tackles

Starting point is 00:08:14 and pass blocking. He started the first four games of the year, but that is so, so bad. And the Colts were one, two, and one in those matchups. So essentially just one win in the first four games. The whole thing was on him, but he definitely appeared to be the weakest link in the chain at the time when he was out there. And then the year before that with Eric Fisher. Fisher wasn't nearly as bad, but even still, he ranked 64th out of 88 qualifying NFL tackles and pass blocking. And the Colts fared better there

Starting point is 00:08:54 because he was a pretty good run blocker. But together with those two not great left tackles, Colts combined for 10, eight, and one. So it's important to get a solid presence at left tackle again. We kind of have become, you know, Anthony Costanzo was a player where you always thought there was someone better because the NFL had Dwayne Brown and Trent Williams and guys like this. But you really come to appreciate a guy like Anthony Costanza,

Starting point is 00:09:26 who you can throw out there and then just forget about it and not really have to worry about much. That's what the Colts are looking for. Again, Bernard Ryman doesn't have to be spectacular. Doesn't have to be an all pro. He just has to be not a detriment and give them average to slightly above average tackle play. And I think they'll be all

Starting point is 00:09:46 right. But obviously, again, this ties back to Anthony Richardson. Once more, a young quarterback, you do not want his blind side being harassed constantly. Yes, Richardson was arguably the best quarterback in the draft at avoiding pressure, but you don't want to make him have to test that constantly. Plus, why is Andrew Luck retired right now? Because he got absolutely pummeled and beat up and had injury after injury. And pretty much unanimously, everyone thinks the offensive line and coaching and GM, how the roster was constructed is what led to the demise of Andrew Luck. So let's not happen.

Starting point is 00:10:29 Let's not let that happen again. Right. So before we move on, we're going to look at three Colts who stand a pretty good chance of making their first Pro Bowl. But first, we're going to hear from our friends over at Built. If you guys are looking for a delicious snack but don't want all the sugar and the calories, then you need the best tasting protein bar ever,

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Starting point is 00:11:44 Zach will be back with us and we're going to look into the offensive line next. What does the tackle depth look like interior line? What guys are truly on the hot seat who are long shots, but could make it. We'll dive into all of that next, but moving on to a few guys who could make their first pro bowl in 2023, again, take it with a little bit of a grain of salt because the Colts were not well represented in Vegas last year. But when I'm looking at guys who could make their first one, I got to look right away at Jelani Woods, the tight end. Obviously you've got Travis Kelsey and everything, because that's another part of it. Like, you have to look at the rest of the league.

Starting point is 00:12:27 Is it loaded at certain positions? Like, quarterback, Anthony Richardson could have a great season, but you have Patrick Mahomes, you have Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen. The AFC is loaded. But when you look at tight end, I think there's room there for a guy like Jelani Woods to sneak in. We see guys, you know, tight ends, if they get eight, nine, ten touchdowns, that's going to be a huge factor. We don't know if Woods is going to necessarily get that, but he definitely looks like a guy who could take a big step forward and be one of those super, super dangerous pass catching tight ends.

Starting point is 00:13:04 I mean, last year he entered the season as really the third option at tight end, came away overall as the top pass catching tight end and got phased out a lot of this season, 25 catches for 312 yards and three touchdowns. Those numbers in total, along with 40 targets, that was really the best among Colts tight ends. And I mean, we've, we've talked about this a couple of times recently. There's really no reason for Mo Alleycox to be the tight end one over Woods right now. All Woods has to do this off season and do the rest of the summer is just show that he's getting better. Plus, if he can look any better as a blocker,

Starting point is 00:13:46 that's going to be huge for him because that's going to mean you're not going to take him off the field as much. Moving on to the next guy. This player needs to stay healthy for sure, and I think he's got a pretty good shot at it. That's Quidipe going into season number three. Last year, kind of like Taylor,

Starting point is 00:14:05 he had an ankle injury that just kind of nagged him the whole, really the second half of the season. In 12 games, he finished with six sacks and 10 tackles for loss. If you move that over to 17 games, it's eight and a half sacks and 14 tackles for loss. The tackle for loss numbers are actually really, really good. But this is a guy who was really their most consistent defensive end. Yannick Ngakwe did have the nine and a half sacks, but Quidipe when he was out there was just doing things more consistently, especially helping in

Starting point is 00:14:40 the run game. If this guy can stay healthy for 17 games and just play a full slate, I think he'll be a 10 sack guy. And those 14, 15 tackles for loss should not be a stretch for him by any means. I mean, that's what, that's basically what he was already on pace for. Uh, but again, defensive end for the AFC, uh, edge defenders, it's, it's kind of open, so he should be able to get there. I don't think that's too much of a stretch for him to be able to do it. This next guy, I think a lot of us are rooting for it. That's Zaire Franklin, the linebacker. Going into his second season now as a full-time starter.

Starting point is 00:15:20 Last year just blew up, broke the single-season franchise record for tackles with 167, added 12 tackles for loss on top of that. There's not much reason to think he can't duplicate that this year. For starters, Shaquille Leonard, we still don't know if he's going to be back, what percentage of strength he's going to be back at. Bobby Okereke is not out there this year with Franklin. He's with the New York Giants now. So let's say Leonard's not out there yet and it's EJ Speed. EJ Speed is not near as experienced as Okereke was.

Starting point is 00:15:58 So Franklin might have to clean up a little bit more around him. Even more than he had to last year. So I really like that one. Voters seem to really pay attention to tackle numbers when it comes to linebackers. He's not necessarily been a guy that's put up a bunch of interceptions or sacks or even necessarily forced fumbles and all that throughout his career. But again, he's really just had the one season of full-time starting experience. So I think it's just a matter of time for him. Even if he takes a dip and it's like 150 tackles, but adds a few sacks, gets a couple interceptions or something,

Starting point is 00:16:39 I think those stats will really grab voters' eyes. Plus, I think he's pretty well respected around the league and player and coach votes count just as well. Um, so they may be willing to throw a guy in there as well. So I really liked that one. I know Zach would echo that as well. Uh, but moving on, which Colts veterans are on the hot seat this summer coming up next. Okay. So this is one now where I think we're used to going into the summer and there's some long season Colts veterans or like important players who might just be on the hot seat, but that's not really the case this year. I'll be honest with you. This shouldn't really be all that hot takey because

Starting point is 00:17:26 the Colts are pretty young already as is. They have very few 30 year olds on the team. They're just clearly going with a youth movement. I don't think anyone is going to argue against it. So some of these guys who are on the hot seat are kind of just depth really. First guy, I'm just going to depth chart order. Running back, Deion Jackson. We talked about him the other day in the running backs episode. So basically, it comes down to Deion Jackson versus Evan Hull, the rookie out of Northwestern. They just are, they've kind of got very similar specialized roles.

Starting point is 00:18:04 I think we're pretty confident that Zach Moss is going to make it behind Jonathan Taylor and be that RB2. But then you look at Deion Jackson, you look at Evan Hull. They're both quality between the tackles runners. Their best asset probably is pass catching. Deion Jackson, actually, last year, his 30 receptions were fifth on the team. And that's probably not something you would have anticipated going into it. It's probably not something you might be caught by surprise right now. But again, Hull, he caught 55 balls with Northwestern last year.

Starting point is 00:18:39 So he is just as capable. You're looking at a guy who's a little younger. He's got a lot to prove as capable. You're looking at a guy who's a little younger. He's got a lot to prove as well. If he can go out there and show that he's a really good special teams player as well, which is really what got Jackson on the roster in the first place a couple of years ago, then the Colts may just go ahead and say, we're going to go with the young guy. Jackson's going to be a little bit more expensive. He got a contract extension after the end of the year. So if all is even and all's awash, just go with the younger, cheaper guy. I think the Colts have shown in the past that they're willing to do that. So Deion Jackson, as good as he is, I really like him more than a lot of people do, I think. But

Starting point is 00:19:22 it's hard to deny that he's not on the hot seat looking at direct competition with Evan Hall. And this next one is a little more obvious. That's wide receiver Isaiah McKenzie. So the Colts needed to do something at receiver this off season after they let Paris Campbell leave in free agency, especially the slot receiver, of course, because that's kind of where Campbell buttered his bread a little bit the past couple of years. So Isaiah McKenzie came in probably not as celebrated of a player around here as Paris Campbell would be. McKenzie, he was coming off a career year with the Buffalo bills, uh, over 40 catches, a few touchdowns, but in six seasons that he's played, you know, that I think it was 43

Starting point is 00:20:13 receptions. That's his career high. And that's in a high flying pass oriented offense, like the Buffalo bill. So that one gives you a little bit of pause. He also, I think, was credited with five drops, according to PFF last season, a drop rate of 10.2%, I believe it was. And that is just not great. And so you obviously have to have some competition to put him on the hot seat. And that is Josh Downs, who the Colts drafted in the third round. So they have similar size. Downs is a little guy, you know, 5'9", 170 pounds. But he is shifty, electric in the short field. But he catches everything. So I think almost unanimously, I think we all are under the impression that the slot receiver position is Downs to lose.

Starting point is 00:21:06 But not only that, you know, McKenzie can return punts and kicks too. So can Downs. So Downs is basically a younger version of everything that Isaiah McKenzie is, and perhaps projected to be an even better version of it, more steady version since he doesn't have issues with drops or anything like that. So again, I think McKenzie should stay on the roster, but I no longer think that the slot receiver position is his. I think it's only a matter of time until Downs has that under lock. Again, that's a lot to put on a rookie, but just what I've seen from him in practice,

Starting point is 00:21:43 what I know about his game, what I've heard from him in practice, what I know about his game, what I've heard from coaches and players alike. Again, I just think it's a matter of time. And then this last guy is another one we've talked about a couple of times lately. That's tight end Mo Alley Cox. He gets this new three-year deal last off season after Jack Doyle retires. And he just, you know, he didn't answer the call to be the guy,

Starting point is 00:22:07 you know, you're handed the tight end one spot, but then he comes in. And according to pro football focus is the Colts third worst blocker overall on offense, uh, only, only ahead of Kylan Granson and Danny Penter. So if you're a tight end, you're counted on to block and or be a pass catcher. So he was the third worst blocker on the offense. And then as a pass catcher was the least productive tight end. Jelani Woods and Kylan Granson both did more as pass catchers than he did. So you're the top tight end on the roster, but you're basically third in the pecking order as a pass catcher,

Starting point is 00:22:47 and you're one of the worst blockers on the team. Now, that's not his entire body of work in the NFL, but, you know, what have you done for me lately? That's the kind of league it is. And right now, he's a guy who very much underwhelmed last season and has an athletic freak with a world of potential breathing down his neck in Jelani Woods. And with as loaded as the tight end position is, again, if you haven't seen it yet, we just did an episode of breaking down the tight end position. It's a roster with seven guys on it, all very talented. You can make a case for any of them

Starting point is 00:23:23 to be on the roster, which means that it might not just be Woods that kicks Allie Cox off the roster if the Colts decide to make that happen. A guy like Drew Ogletree, if he comes back from this ACL injury and looks really good, if rookie Will Mallory comes in and looks really good, Farrell Brown or Caden Smith, if they prove to be capable blocking tight ends like they have been in their career, you just start to look at the guys you have and the money and cap space that they're eating up and saying, why is this, you know, why is option A on the roster over option B? And then you got to make tough decisions from there. Certainly not lobbying for it, but I think it makes all the sense of the world if the Colts do, in fact, decide to go that

Starting point is 00:24:12 way. So thank you guys again for listening today. Again, I want to hear what you guys think for sure, because I think these are some pretty interesting topics that we're probably going to have to dive into them again here in a couple months once training camp is upon us. Again, everydayers, thank you for hanging with us all the time. We're going through the positional episodes right now, looking at each position group. We've got quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, and tight ends. Zach will be back with us. We're going to break down the offensive flynecks as well.

Starting point is 00:24:45 Also, the Colts will be back at OTAs again for the Colts media session. That's on Friday. So keep an eye out. I'll have more videos from the media sessions with players and coaches there as well. And if you don't already follow at Lockdown Colts at JakeArthurNFL and at ZachX2 on Twitter. Also, be sure to subscribe to LockedOnColts on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts. We'd also love your ratings and reviews as well.

Starting point is 00:25:11 That helps get us up to charts, and that is very much appreciated. And with that, we will see you guys tomorrow.

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts Triple Play: Most Important, First-Time Pro Bowlers, and Vets On the Hot Seat

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