Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts, Zack Moss Set to Sweep the Tennessee Titans?

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Colts have a big in this Sunday on the road in Tennessee as they look to sweep the Titans for the first time since Andrew Luck was catching all of our hearts. 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. What's up, everyone?

Starting point is 00:00:40 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. And today's show is brought to you by GameTime. Download the GameTime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Last minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. What's up, everybody? This is Jake Arthur. You know me from horseshoehuddle.com. And today it's our final preview of Colts and Titans. It's a late season matchup. The Colts are still battling for their playoff lives. They need this division matchup pretty badly. The Titans really, really faltering. Not exactly in the mix, as you would say. But now we know the final injury report. So we'll go over that, what to expect there, some keys to the game,

Starting point is 00:01:26 and then I'll play you a chat I had with Titans coach Tom Manning this week, as well as Titan Drew Ogletree, who's been kind of an exciting young second-year player as well. But let's go ahead and start it off with injuries. Least surprising of the bunch, of course, is Jonathan Taylor and his thumb injury. While he's not going to go on IR, it's mandatory that we notify you that he is not going to be playing on Sunday, obviously. Had surgery on that thumb, so he's expected to be out at least a couple weeks.

Starting point is 00:01:55 I believe two to three was the initial timeline given by owner Jim Ursae. So obviously in his absence, Zach Moss is going to get the start with Trey Sermon serving as the backup. So Moss obviously, you know, he has been playing at a starter level already. So while you hate to lose a player like Jonathan Taylor, the Colts are losing their starter and just replacing him with another starting level player. Once Jonathan Taylor got back and took over the main roles, Zach Moss was still a top five leading rusher in the NFL for a few weeks. In fact, Moss was still number five or six in the NFL at a point where he didn't even have a 10 touch game for like three weeks.

Starting point is 00:02:43 So that's how far of a pace he set ahead by the time that Taylor actually got in and started getting work. And so, I mean, don't be surprised if over these next few weeks, Moss starts racking it up again and climbs back up into that top 5, 6, 7 rushing. He's still right there around the top dozen. So Moss has been a really productive player for the Colts this year. It's, again, it's not a huge deal that they're losing Jonathan Taylor. He is a home run hitter. He's an outstanding player, and he's starting to look like Jonathan Taylor again. But Zach Moss is just fine.

Starting point is 00:03:20 I'm interested to see a little bit more of Trey Sermon. We talked to him this week as well. That's on our YouTube. I do want to see a little bit more of Trey Sermon. We talked to him this week as well. That's on our YouTube. I do want to see a little bit more of him. Obviously, you're going to see him almost not at all when it's Moss and Taylor out there. But you give him maybe five, six touches or so. Let's just see how it goes. He's capable of catching the ball.

Starting point is 00:03:41 I believe, if I'm not mistaken, he can do a little something, something in pass protection as well. They wouldn't entrust him to be out there if he couldn't. So we'll see how that goes. Now with that said, Moss and Sermon are the only two healthy running backs on the roster right now. You have Tyler Goodson and Xavier Scott on the practice squad. So expect to see one of those guys elevated on Saturday for the game.

Starting point is 00:04:04 Whoever holds more special teams value is likely going to get the nod there. Juju Brent's the cornerback. He has also been ruled out. Now, he's been out for like five weeks now, five games since the Cleveland game. It's his quad. Now, Shane Sikin has been asked, you know, why didn't you guys put him on IR? Was there consideration to put him on IR? And I just don't think they anticipated it going this long

Starting point is 00:04:29 or they just couldn't know that this would be the timeline at the time of his injury. Quads are kind of a tough one. You kind of have to wait and see just how it heals. Some guys obviously quicker than others. Steichen did say that he's getting closer. But in Steike and speak, I mean, that's still not much of a timetable. That could be one week, two weeks, three.

Starting point is 00:04:52 We don't know. But in Brent's absence, Daryl Baker Jr. has rebounded to start playing some pretty good football. Obviously got off to a rough start in that Cleveland game with the two key penalties. But just looking in the last three games out there for him, he is allowing just an 84.7 passer rating when targeted,

Starting point is 00:05:13 has not given up any touchdowns, doesn't have any penalties to his name either ever since that Cleveland game. So Baker's been doing pretty well in his absence. The first big test was obviously last week with Mike Evans and Chris Godwin had a steady game, like didn't get torched really. Mike Evans obviously had a pretty decent performance that, but that wasn't necessarily all Daryl Baker jr. I think the brunt of that was Jalen Jones,

Starting point is 00:05:38 but those two young guys have been doing a really good job. If you look over at horseshoehuddle.com Jones is actually on, on a historic pace in. If you look over at horseshoehuddle.com, Jones is actually on a historic pace in terms of what he's allowing in coverage over, I think it might be ESPN, but whatever era they've been covering. But Jones is far and ahead in comparison to a bunch of other rookie cornerbacks, not just from this year, but for the last several years. So Jalen Jones, Daryl Baker doing well. You want to see Juju Brents back in there as soon as possible, but they're in decent hands until Brents gets back. Ryan Kelly, he has been removed from the injury

Starting point is 00:06:19 report. He had his concussion. He was a full participant in practice last week on Thursday and then on Friday didn't practice it's kind of the same story he had early in the year he had a concussion earlier in the season you know progressed through the practice report but by the time Friday got there he was absent didn't play until the next week so it looks like that's happening again. Wesley French, who had been filling in, I think he's got six games worth of action this year. He's filled in for Ryan Kelly and has done a really nice job. I don't really have any gripes about their performance from French, but Kelly is having a really, really good year. Pro Football Focus has him with an 81.2

Starting point is 00:07:03 grade on the season, which is so far the best of his entire career. He's had a strong performance both as a run and pass blocker. He's well above average in grades at both of those. So really big season from Ryan Kelly. You want to see your team at full strength when you're going against Jeffrey Simmons and T.R. Tartt and those guys because Tennessee is not doing well right now really offensively or defensively in a you know a the grand scheme of things but they do have some guys up front obviously that can that can wreak havoc and if the Colts want to run the ball successfully which T.R. Tartt was not in the game last time when they did, then Ryan Kelly is going to have to be on his game now. So otherwise, Drew Ogletree was also removed from the injury report.

Starting point is 00:07:52 He is back. He had a foot injury, missed a couple weeks there. He is, and again, I'm going to play for you my conversation I had with him earlier this week. So he has had a nice little season, only nine receptions, but he's got 147 yards on those and two touchdowns. Of those nine receptions, he's got eight first downs and two touchdowns. Again, his average depth of target this season is 13.6. So they've been looking for him downfield and he's been, been converting. He's been a big play threat for them. Also no drops.

Starting point is 00:08:27 So Ogletree being back is good. That probably means Will Mallory will probably go back to the inactive list because now with all your tight ends healthy, again, with the exception of Jelani Woods, Will Mallory has been kind of that next guy up, but first man out when the injured Titans come back. So coming up next, we're going to look at some of the keys to this game. Because again, the Colts should definitely be favored on paper.

Starting point is 00:08:53 But there are some areas where they could struggle as with any opponent. And plus with the AFC, you never know. Any team could beat any team any week. But yeah. As the weather gets colder, the NFL offers stay hot on FanDuel, everybody. Right now, new customers, you guys get $150 in bonus bets with any winning $5 Moneyline bet. That's $150 if your team wins. If you've been thinking about joining FanDuel, there is no better time to get in on the action than right now. The app is super easy to use.

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Starting point is 00:09:59 Very exciting things. Locked on sports today is here for you 24 seven covering the top sports stories of the day with the local experts of locked on plus our national shows that cover every league. So go to locked on sports today on YouTube and subscribe to the first ever national sports 24 seven streaming channel. Okey-doke folks. So looking at this game, I do kind of compare it to the Patriots and Panthers games.

Starting point is 00:10:27 When you look at it, and the Buccaneers game was at the end of that stretch. This one falls right in line with those. A lot of those teams are just kind of comparable. The Titans don't rank exceptionally well in anything offensively. Even running the ball with Derrick Henry, they're below average in everything. Scoring, total offense, rushing offense, passing offense, all of it. To their credit, they're not turning the ball over a lot. They're near the top of the league in that, only 12 turnovers so far. But you got a rookie quarterback there in Will Levis, who

Starting point is 00:11:02 the Titans fan base is kind of trying to paint this as a revenge game of sorts for will levis uh because he thought there was a pretty good chance he could be here with the colts rather than they obviously took anthony richardson uh richardson was the plan for a while leading into this one and levis was probably the fallback plan so there there really doesn't need to be any extra juice to this it It's kind of being built up that way, but whatever. So he may have a little extra motivation coming into this one. He's had a fine rookie season so far. I mean, he popped off red hot in that first game, I think, with like four touchdowns.

Starting point is 00:11:38 But he's got a decent touchdown to turnover ratio this year, completing 60% of his passes. But the Titans offense in general is just not great. Main thing I worry about really is the Colts defense has allowed everybody to run on them, whether they're good at running the ball or not. And now they have Derrick Henry that they're facing with Grover Stewart being out finally for the final week. He'll be back against Cincinnati. Gosh, this is one where it's going to take all hands on deck.

Starting point is 00:12:11 The defensive backs have to be ready. Julian Blackman, Ronnie Thomas got to be ready. The cornerback's got to be ready to tackle. So this is going to be a big one. If they don't want Henry to totally kill them up the middle, to me, that's the recipe if tennessee wins this one is they would it would have to be just through derrick henry getting 150 170 yards you know what i mean and that seems unlikely but considering it's derrick henry and he's done

Starting point is 00:12:39 that throughout his career and he's going against a pretty vulnerable run defense that i mean the buccaneers can't run the ball they were they were dead last in the league and they still put up like 50 more yards than their average uh the colts have given up well over 100 yards per game you know since grover's been out uh they were given up like 154 yards per game going into last week against the buccaneers the buccaneers still had over 120, which was uncharacteristically good for them. So I don't feel great about that. But just the Colts offense, I think, I don't want to say gets a break because I'm always going to be a little wary of Tennessee's defense. They've got Mike Rabel and they've just still got some

Starting point is 00:13:24 really nice players there. This is the first time they're not facing Kevin Byard in forever, it seems like, and Byard is always a thorn in the Colts' side. But Tennessee, defensively, they're almost last in takeaways. Only eight takeaways this year. They rank 31st there. Only three picks. So that was with Kevin Byard for a good chunk of this and now they don't have kevin byard so for a colts offense with a quarterback that can be turnover prone in gardner menchu he is facing a defense that does not take the ball away so that's kind of a relief still no reason to not be on your p's and q's and take care of it. But it's just not a defense that takes the ball away. Tennessee's defense is fourth in red zone scoring.

Starting point is 00:14:12 The Colts have been pretty good there. I mean, having Jonathan Taylor helps, having Zach Moss helps. And then Menchu has been pretty decent in the red zone. He's able to kind of scramble around and get himself in there as well. He's got three rushing touchdowns uh so yeah tennessee's defense only allowing 39 and a half percent touchdowns in the red zone so of course that's kind of tough but in general you know they just they rank middle of the pack and against actually they're they're not very high up at all against the pass run defense overall they rank near the middle,

Starting point is 00:14:47 but they are pretty high up, still in yards per carry. Now, that was the case when they faced each other back earlier in the year, but the Colts absolutely smashed them in the mouth with that one. Jonathan Taylor was recently back in that game, and I believe him and Zach Moss combined for like 170 yards. It was a huge game. It was when Zach Moss had like a 56-yard touchdown. The Colts obviously don't have Taylor in this one, but they do have Moss.

Starting point is 00:15:15 They've got a decently healthy offensive line. So while I don't think they're going to have that gaudy performance again, I do imagine the Colts' offensive approach is going to be through Zach Moss. And then for Gardner or Menchu to just kind of take what the defense gives them from there. Get the short stuff. Lots of Josh Downs. I think probably another heavy dose of Michael Pittman Jr. You might see it being similar to what we saw last week.

Starting point is 00:15:43 Now, Pittman had 10 catches over a hundred yards. So I don't, it's hard to forecast someone duplicating that because it's pretty high numbers. But that's probably what I would do. Honestly, like Tennessee is vulnerable through the air. I think I would get the tight ends a little more,

Starting point is 00:16:01 you know, get drew a, which Ray Kylan Granson going over the middle up, up the seam. i think that'd be pretty dangerous for the colts to be able to do against tennessee but we'll see i mean i doubt what worked last time is going to work this time it just it seems too easy to say that's how it's going to go uh again tennessee is going to have tear tart this time around. They're generally pretty healthy. The only person on their injury report that's in question is Traylon Burks,

Starting point is 00:16:30 the receiver. He's not a game breaker by any means. He's been fine, but he's also banged up quite a bit. So we'll see. Coming up next, I'm going to play for you guys a conversation I had with Titans coach Tom Manning, as well as Titan Drew Ogletree. Buying tickets to your favorite events shouldn't be stressful. Game time is the fast and easy way to buy tickets for all the sports, music, comedy, and theater near you.

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Starting point is 00:18:14 But when you really look at it through, you know, 13 weeks so far, how has your tight end group that's pretty on core, how have they developed from the start to now? Yeah, you know, I think overall they've done a really good job. You kind of alluded to there's been a lot of guys that have, you know, just with some injuries and different things, there's been a lot of guys that kind of have had to carry a lot of roles. We've been very impressed with their professionalism

Starting point is 00:18:40 and their ability to go in there with whatever we've asked them to do. In terms of offensive scheme, they've done a very good job. I think Mo's done a great job of leading. We do have a lot of younger guys in that room, and he's done a really good job of just kind of embracing those guys and helping them from a week-to-week basis in terms of their preparation. So it's a really good room of guys. I think the guys have taken it very seriously, and guys have prepared the right way, and they've done a good job overall. Guys like Kylan and Drew have really grown as blockers as well this year. It wasn't really their niche coming into the year, I guess you could say.

Starting point is 00:19:19 What have you noticed specifically with those two and how they've grown as blockers? Yeah, I think, you know, obviously at the tight end position, you typically are at a disadvantage in terms of the matchup, in terms of blocking. So I think before anything, it comes down to their want to. If you can find a guy that is willing, that's one thing. To be able is another thing. And I think both of those guys have great ability and they certainly have a willingness to. So really the credit goes to them in terms of their development as blockers. I think they've embraced some of the roles they've been asked to take on and

Starting point is 00:19:53 they've done a great job. I asked about the play. So I guess when we get to the decision to utilize Zaire and kind of the Mo'Ali Cox player, I guess Shane said it was your idea and kind of the Moelle Cox player. Shane Saban, was your idea to kind of go with it? What gave you the idea to roll with it? Yeah, you know, I don't know if I can take all credit for it. You know, as we're planning for short yardage things,

Starting point is 00:20:16 you kind of scour the videotape and find the best things and the best situations. And, you know, really, I think kind of saw a look and really workshopped it with Tony, you know, hey, what are the problems if we did this? And I think, you know, his help just in terms of the protection, we tried to find the best way to do it. And really, to me, I think the process that we have on offense, it's really a credit to Shane and Jim Bob where, hey, you can bring an idea in

Starting point is 00:20:50 and it will kind of help tweak it and find the best way possible. I take no credit for putting Zaire in. I think that was really Shane kind of said, hey, I think this is probably the right fit. And really, in all honesty, I mean, your game plan plays every week. You always try to put your guys in position. But I think, you know, to call it in the situation when you call it, I think it really goes to Shane and having enough confidence. And Jim Bob as well, just to make that call when they did.

Starting point is 00:21:22 That was a great job. What have you seen out of Will Mallory? He's kind of got to make his impact in little fits and spurts, but he's done a good job. Yeah, you know, Will came in, you know, he was injured, and he got dinged up in, I think, working minicamp and really didn't get a ton of the spring stuff and then got a little tweaked up again in fall camp.

Starting point is 00:21:47 I've been really pleased with Will's continued growth throughout. I think sometimes as a young player you come in, one, at tight end it is a different, you're asked to do different things, it's a different game from what you probably have done in college. So there's a lot of learning involved. And then two, the physical aspect is very different. And then the length of schedule is different. And I think a lot of times as young players to continually grow and develop throughout a year, I don't think you see it all the time. And I think I've been really pleased and excited about, you know, Will has the attitude of every day is going to get a little bit better.

Starting point is 00:22:26 And he has just continued to improve and grow. So we've been real happy with Will. He's a phenomenal guy. Takes it real serious. His approach and process is phenomenal. And he's continuing to get better. How hard has this season been on your mind? Man, it's hard.

Starting point is 00:22:41 You know, you feel for him, you know. I think it's been any time you miss an extended period of time and you get injured, it's hard. But I think he thought he was close, you know, and I think that's a tough deal, you know. And certainly, you know, Jelani is a really good football player and a great young man, and it's been tough for him.

Starting point is 00:23:07 What's been his engagement level behind the scenes? Because obviously he can't play, he can't be out there, but I assume he's still around and mixing up with you guys. Well, I think the thing about Jelani is, one, he's a great human being. He's got a great spirit about himself. He's a great teammate, and that's a really close-knit room, which I think has been helpful to us and just in terms of, you kind of asked earlier about fed a lot of guys have to play and

Starting point is 00:23:31 those kind of things. I think he's a big part of that, just the tightness of that group. I think a lot of those things come into the character of the people in the room and Jelani is a big part of it. Obviously last year he had to sit on the sidelines, kind of soak everything in. You've been able to play in spurts this year, injuries, what have you. But how do you evaluate yourself from making your debut really at the beginning to now 13 weeks in?

Starting point is 00:23:58 How do you feel about your growth? I feel good. My growth as a player and also as a teammate and just myself as a person. I feel like getting into the as a player and also as a teammate and just myself as a person, you know, I feel like getting into the groove of things definitely helped me out. And now I feel like I'm rolling and I can think fast. I can move fast. I can play faster. And you and Kylan, you guys were more known as like pass catchers, big play guys coming into the year, but you've both really proven your chops as blockers. How much emphasis have you put on that and coach manning

Starting point is 00:24:26 i was just talking to him he said you know he commends you guys because you have to want to do it and be able to do it so what's your approach to block yeah no block is really just a willingness to block and then you can worry about the foot the footsteps and the hand placement after that but you just got to want to block at first but i kind of try to, big emphasis this summer in my training with my run blocking and pass blocking just because I wanna be that complete tight end at the end of the day, I wanna be up there with George Kittle and all those guys. So I definitely wanna work on that. Nice. And last year,

Starting point is 00:24:56 obviously I'm sure that's quite frustrating, but now you've been able to play. What are you most proud of from yourself for this season? Not quitting. You know, there's a lot of tough times, a lot of dark times last season, and even just this season. Just always believing in myself, and I got to say thank you to my support staff and my teammates for that one. So always keeping my head up high and staying positive.

Starting point is 00:25:18 And the foot's in the right direction. You're getting closer. Is that right? Yes, sir. Cool. All right. All right. All right. Thanks to Coach Manning and Drew again for their time this week.

Starting point is 00:25:28 We'll be keeping an eye on those guys throughout the season. If you guys don't already, follow at LockedOnColts, at JakeArthurNFL, and at ZachX2 on Twitter. Also, be sure to subscribe on YouTube and wherever you listen to podcasts. We would also love your guys' ratings and reviews as well. I saw our stuff on Spotify. Rat for our podcast, firstly. Very, very thankful for you guys. We would also love your guys' ratings and reviews as well. I saw our stuff on Spotify, rat for our podcast, personally,

Starting point is 00:25:48 very, very thankful for you guys. Very happy with, with how things look with that. So let's keep it up in this next calendar year as well. And with that, we will see you guys after this game.

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Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts, Zack Moss Set to Sweep the Tennessee Titans?

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