Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Zaire Franklin Named to NFL Top 100 List

Starting point is 00:00:00 Didn't take long for the Colts to land their first player on the NFL Top 100 list this year, as linebacker Zaire Franklin came in at number 100. All right, Zach, so Zaire Franklin not getting loved nationally this year. Him and EJ Speed have some work to do before they make everyone's top lists. But this one, Top 100 voted on by the players, comes in at number 100. I mean, that's obviously the last on the list, but that's really respectable. That's voted on by his peers. Obviously, a guy who is one of the better run defenders in the league has broken the Colts franchise tackle record in consecutive seasons.

Starting point is 00:00:38 I mean, what can you say about this guy? He's pretty deserving, is he not? No, I mean, for sure. Absolutely is. I mean, again absolutely is I mean again it might not sound super complimentary say top 100 player but if you think about there's 22 positions on an NFL team you know by average that's a top four to five player your position if we're going by average in that regard but even if there are more than five linebackers on this list I mean

Starting point is 00:01:01 this is players voting on him as you know a top seven eight linebacker whatever this list. I mean, this is players voting on him as a top seven, eight linebacker, whatever it's going to end up being. And I think he's well-deserved in that. I mean, he's had some really great stretches to play the last two years. He's a tackle machine. He set franchise records for tackles the last two years for the Colts. Obviously, there's still some room to grow, and he's mentioned that on his podcast, obviously, with EJ Speed. But I think Zyra Franklin is just everything you want in an indianapolis colt he embodies everything the colts want embodies everything chris ballard wants and he embodies everything you know as a fan that you want to cheer for a guy who's very vocal on the field a very fun player to watch on the football field off the field always giving

Starting point is 00:01:39 back to the community big time locker room guy has a really fun podcast where he interacts with everybody as well. Like this is the second best Colts podcast, second best Colts podcast. Like once they do the daily content, they can pass. But I mean, all jokes aside here, they do a great job over there on the field and off the field. Love rooting for Zyra Franklin. We, you know, we've talked to him a couple of times.

Starting point is 00:02:01 We had an interview with him here on the channel and stuff. Does some great things. So it's awesome to see him get this national recognition. To see him go from special teams player, reserve player, to franchise record setter multiple times with the Colts and now getting this kind of accolade and respect around the league. Zyra Franklin, man, just, again, is everything that you want in an Indianapolis Colt. Yeah, one of the Colts' real success stories, you know, the first four seasons for him were special teams,

Starting point is 00:02:31 got thrust into a starting role when Shaquille Leonard began getting injured, and he really never looked back from there. The guy's been all over the place. And, you know, just real quick, looking ahead to this season, what to expect from him. You know, you and I have talked, you know, his his tackle for loss numbers went down pretty drastically. 2022, he had 12, just three last year. Now, you mentioned the absence of Grover Stewart was a big part of that. So what what can you kind of move ahead for this year? Yeah, I mean, as long as the Colts are healthy up front, obviously, that's a big part of it.

Starting point is 00:03:03 But if they're healthy up front and they can get Zyra Franklin back to playing more of a downhill, aggressive playing style like he was in 2022, I know he still was doing that last year. Like, don't get me wrong. He's an aggressive, he's a hard hitting player. But when you have a player like Grover Stewart out there for all 17 games in front of you, you have DeForest Buckner in front, you have these other guys that allows you to play, you know, a lot faster and a lot more fluid. And again, at the end of the day, Zy franklin was also dealing with an injury himself last season he

Starting point is 00:03:29 wasn't 100 himself at the halfway point last year his tackle number started to fall a little bit because of that i think it was a neat injury that he suffered uh so yeah i think we're going to see like an even stronger season from him in 2024 and that's crazy to think because again even with the injury and without Grover Stewart, he still set a franchise record for tackles last year. So yeah, I think we're going to see some great things from Zyra Franklin, especially as a blitzer, as a run defender, as a vocal leader out there. I mean, I think we all know what we kind of get with him.

Starting point is 00:03:58 And I do think we're going to see in some ways a bounce back season. Again, I don't know how much better it really gets at this point, but we're going to see in, you know, in some ways a bounce back season. Again, I don't know how much better it really gets at this point, but we're going to see kind of that bounce back season for so to speak there. Still very breakable record for a third consecutive year to like 179 is great. That's what he had last year. But there's been several guys hit 200 tackles like he could feasibly do it. So I think that's it for us. I mean, stay tuned. Hopefully there's think that's it for us. I mean,

Starting point is 00:04:25 stay tuned. Hopefully there's more Colts players for us to talk about in this top 100. Other than that, follow along locked on Colts Monday through Friday on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Indianapolis Colts' Zaire Franklin Named to NFL Top 100 List

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