Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Jacob Eason vs. Sam Ehlinger QB Battle; Depth Chart Takeaways; Frank Reich + Chris Ballard Extended

Episode Date: August 12, 2021

On today's episode of Locked On Colts, Evan and Stampede Blue's Stephen Reed recap all the big news coming from the Indianapolis Colts. First up, what's happening with the current QB battle behind Carson Wentz? Sam Ehlinger is now splitting starting reps with Jacob Eason. Who will impress more in preseason action?The Colts also released their depth chart leading up to the preseason opener this weekend. What stood out most, and who could be in trouble for a roster spot?According to ESPN's Chris Mortensen, Carson Wentz and Quenton Nelson could be back now for their regular season opener one month from now. If that's the case, how does the outlook change for a tough opening slate?Closing out the show, we go over head coach Frank Reich and GM Chris Ballard receiving 5-year contract extension through 2026. Of course, it was the right move to do. Now, what happens next from a team-building standpoint? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello everybody, welcome back into today's episode of Locked On Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Today's host is Evan Sattery, joined by frequent guest of the show, Stephen Reed of Stampede Blue. We are back here on a Wednesday evening to recap a busy week, a busy day for the Annapolis Colts. We haven't had the chance to talk about it on the show just yet, seeing as it was released around 24 hours ago. But the depth chart for week one of the preseason is officially out.

The Colts also had the Carolina Panthers coming to town a couple days early for the week one matchup on Sunday when they had these two scrimmage practices against the Carolina Panthers on Thursday and Friday. We've covered that throughout the week, closing out the week as well. But Stephen, how you doing today? We are less than three days away now from Colts officially hitting Lucasola Stadium. Hey Evan, I'm doing well today. How are you doing? I'm doing great. After months and months of waiting for it, we have finally arrived at a football week where we actually have a game to

recap here coming up here on Monday. So it was a long process, Stan, but it's been an off-season filled with a lot of ups and downs for the Colts. Most of the ups, I think the downs mostly just revolve around the injuries currently but we have an update too on the injuries that we'll get to in just a second but I want to hit on first the depth chart and also this QB battle whether it be QB1 or QB2 whichever way you want to go about the Carson wins which we'll cover in just a second but first time we actually saw it on Saturday or I believe it was Saturday Stephen it might have been Monday been Monday, actually. With these days currently, I'm losing track of where exactly it happened, but all these days are running together, honestly. But when you see Sam Ellinger, the sixth-round pick out of Texas,

start to take the first-team reps, split up with Jacob Eason, I kind of thought with the way Ellinger was playing in the first couple weeks of training camp, this could happen down the road. But to see it happen halfway through camp, the week of a game, is actually really intriguing to me, Steve, because one, that proves to me Jacob Eason's not impressing them. Two, Sam Ellinger's doing really well. And I think Frank Reich, we talked about this after the draft

when they drafted Ellinger, but he seems like a Frank Reich type of quarterback. He doesn't have the traits of a Jacob Eason, but he has the character. He's like a Jacoby Bursette as far as character, leadership, better mobility in the Eason as well. He can make things happen. He doesn't have the strong arm, but he has everything else except physical traits that Jacob Eason has. I think he has everything above Eason in terms of physical traits.

If you combine both those guys' traits together, I think you'd have a really, really good quarterback in the NFL. But alas, that's not what happened there with those two guys potentially battling for a QB1 and QB2 spot. Ellinger actually took the first reps today inside the bubble as it was raining up in Westfield. So Ellinger took the first team reps. He actually has struggled the last two days since getting with the ones. Not too surprising as he adjusts to that. But what's your opinion right now of this battle now it's for sure it can't battle now steven with this news of ellinger

leapfrogging into the qb1 discussion with isan what's your opinion of this whole situation i take it with a grain of salt to be honest um i've said for a while that the interesting thing with jacob eason and sam ellinger is Ellinger is going up against the two. This is, this just kind of reminds me of swag Kelly and, and the whole idea with him, he was just crushing it against the second and third team. Whenever we would get up against the ones, he would have some issues. That's exactly what happened here is the Colts have a really, really good

defense. And we've talked about it several times on the podcast that they've probably got a top five defense, potentially top, definitely got a top 10 defense, potentially a top five. They had a top five scoring defense or top 10 scoring defense last year. So when you have Jacob Eason practicing against the ones and it's his first reps really in the NFL in any kind of actual action, then, yeah, he's going to struggle. So that's what he did. And I said Sam Ellinger is doing well because he's playing the twos. He's playing the threes.

Put him up against the ones and see what happens. They put him up against the ones, and I think he went, like, what, five for 11 or four for 10 or something like that two days ago or yesterday. Like you, the days are kind of just molding together on me. And Jacob Eason went nine for 10 when he got swapped into the ones and just played markedly better than Sam Ellinger in that situation yesterday. And then today, Sam Ellinger took some first-team reps.

The beat reporters said the same things, that he struggled. He was picked off by Bobby O'Keefe or Darius Leonard on the play that Kutipay got hurt. He was one for four in the red zone. Jacob Eason, on the other hand, was two for four, so not much better, but still better. So I think that this is Eason's one to lose. I think that people are trying to make a story out of this

that maybe isn't a huge story. I think they're just trying to give him some rest at the ones and see what happens. I know that the Colts are really high on him, on Ellinger. Otherwise, Chris Ballard doesn't take him in the draft in the sixth round. But, yeah, I think this is Jacob Eason's job to lose. And I think it was partly to try to light a fire under Eason to see if maybe like this would bring out the best in him and so far it looks like it has so I'm excited

for it I think that it's going to be a moot point when the regular season comes around because based on some of the the photos we saw today I don't think Carson Wentz is going to be out for that the 12 weeks I think he's going to be closer to five. Let me say this, though. Let's say that, I mean, Easton's supposed to play around the first half. Ellinger, I imagine, plays a quarter, quarter and a half. Then Brett Huntley probably gets the last few possessions in game one of the preseason.

If Ellinger does well in that sense and Easton kind of bombs out in week one, are you more intrigued heading into week two of the preseason? Or do you still feel like it's really, unless Easton just full-on collapses or gets hurt, that it's going to be his job either way? If it does get to that point. I don't think they're going to, like, hand it to him and say, you've got it no matter what. But I think it's his job to lose.

So unless, like you said, he goes through and just absolutely collapses and basically can't function in the first half of the preseason game. I don't think that they're going to leapfrog it. They might end up giving Sam Ellinger some snaps in the second or third preseason game to see what he's got against the ones from another team. But I think that it's going to take just a big collapse from Jacob Eason for them to feel more confident with Sam Ellinger because Sam Ellinger, he's a quality prospect. He doesn't have a big arm, even though there is a YouTube video or a Twitter or whatever video it is of him allegedly throwing 77 yards.

I've yet to see the vantage point that actually shows him throwing 77 yards on it, and there's some questions with that. But he doesn't have a strong arm from everything we've seen. He takes care of the ball, which is important. I mean, if he doesn't turn it over and if the Colts sole goal is to make sure that the quarterback doesn't turn the ball over, Sam Ellinger is probably their guy. Um, and he's not going to win you games, but he's not going to lose them. Um, Jacob Eason has the arm to win you some games if he has to. Uh, but he's also got the arm that might lose you some games too.

Yeah, and I was able to look that up, Stephen. Last night when I saw that video, Pro Football never tweeted that out. I think kind of half-heartedly joking because that field is actually only 35 yards long. 35 yards. Yes, he went about 20 yards over that. So he got about a 5-6 yard head start before he threw the football and he maybe got it 55 yards. That kind of just shows you what kind of arm he has. It's definitely three tiers or more

below Jake Eason, who we saw in preseason games, or not preseason games, but in practice before games last year, casually chucking football 60 yards and warm up. So this guy definitely has a lot more juice in the arm category compared to Sam Ellinger, but going to be very interested what happens throughout preseason here and see if this battle even gets to a point where it's a legit conversation, which it might have already been between Easton and Ellinger. But let's go ahead and cover, like you mentioned, Stephen, the injury update for Carson Wentz and also you can hit him Quentin Nelson as well

because they both had surgeries on 24 hours apart on the same injury in their foot. Honestly, Stephen, great news. We heard from Chris Mortensen at ESPN Insider, very much plugged into the Colts organization over the years, even since the Peyton Manning days. I think Mort was actually the first to report about Peyton Manning getting cut way long back ago, around 10 years ago at this point. But Mort mentioned that, according to who he's talked to at the Colts,

that they are very confident in Kirsten Wentz and Quentin Nelson to be able to suit up in week one. We saw Wentz and Quentin Nelson to be able to suit up in week one. We saw Wentz and Quentin Nelson court and Olivia Ray of which TV to put out the photos during press a couple days ago, have been out there on the field without any boot on their foot, which is a great sign for the surgery going very well. And we're going to know more next week as more did mention in his story. But I have to imagine at this point that it's going to be a lot closer to the five, six week timeframe than it's a to imagine, Steve, at this point that it's going to be a lot closer to the five, six-week time frame than it is the 12-week time frame. And at this point, especially Quentin Nelson, I'd be shocked at this point if Quentin Nelson misses any games,

but if Kirsten Wentz misses any games, I imagine it's no more than maybe two or three tops, potentially none. Yeah, I mentioned that on my podcast, a very stable pod, just to throw a little clip out there for myself. So yeah, I saw that too. And I looked at that and I go, okay, these guys aren't limping or aren't noticeably limping from anybody's scene. They don't have a boot. They don't, it's not taped up. They're out there on the practice field wearing their jerseys. So, and I just thought that that was a great sign for them because they're going to be really cautious with these guys. They're not going to sit there and haphazardly throw them out and put it out there like that.

I don't think the Colts are doing any kind of bait and switch with this, trying to make people think that these guys could be coming back sooner than later. I think that this is genuine. They're really comfortable with where they're at. Everything we've heard, the surgery went clean. There wasn't any major complications. So they'll know more officially next Monday and Tuesday

because that's going to be your two-week mark where they're going to go back in, take a look at – they're not going to go back into the foot, but they're going to have some imaging done, take a look to see what's going to be your two week mark where they're going to go back and take a look at, they're not going to go back into the foot, but they're going to have some imaging done, take a look to see what's going on there, see how everything's healing and really kind of get a better idea of what the timetable is, whether it's going to be three more weeks or whether it's going to be 10 more weeks. And that's really what we're looking at right now is we're going to, we feel confident and the Colts say that they feel very confident with,

with their, where they're at and everybody looks confident about it, but we're going to know for sure coming up on Monday and Tuesday, respectively for Carson Winston and Quentin Nelson. Bet online is the fastest and easiest way to bet on all your sports action. Baseball scenes and full swing or check all the action over at BetOnline. You'll get all the latest news, odds, and info about your sporting needs, including MLB,

NBA, NHL, and all your UFC and MMA action. Before the next pitch over at BetOnline, your laptop or mold device, check all the great sporting news, sign-up bonuses, and contest information. Don't sign out of signs anymore. This is your chance to get into the game as teams prep for their runs to the playoffs. Head to the website or use your mold device right now to sign up today and receive a 50% off of your first deposit.

Again, it's 50% off your first deposit to bet online when you use the promo code LOCKEDON. L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N. Bet online. You're online sportsbook experts. Let's go ahead and dive over to the depth chart. We'll obviously cover more on Big Q and Carson Wentz when the new updates come out next week. And like we mentioned, great signs for their potential availability in week one, the season opener.

At least soliciting it's the Seattle Seahawks. But the depth chart is officially out for week one of the preseason. We have officially reached that point, Stephen. And honestly, the biggest takeaway for me, and we'll go through all of it here in a second as far as biggest takeaways go, but to me, not a good sign for cornerback for especially their 2019 top draft pick Rocky Asena at Temple he's currently their cornerback four and TJ Carey has even with the COVID-19 issue that he had at the start of camp has already

leapfrogged again above Rocky Asena who struggled throughout camp and Carey's absence it's Xavier Rhodes and TJ Carey's the boundary corners. Kenny Moore as your nickel corner. Rhodes and Moore are not going to come off the field at all in any three of those downs, but we knew TJ Carey and Rocky Asin was a big battle to watch for. Carey kind of took his job last year, and now we're seeing a situation again where it seems like Rocky Asin hasn't taken the leap, Steven, and that's a really bad sign for potentially him. We might be going on the road here. We thought Ben Banigou would go down this time last year where he might be a guy that's traded in the 2022 draft for a late-round pick. And if Rakia Sin's going on this point now where he can't beat out a 30-year veteran,

T.J. Carey, who obviously has bad starting experience in the league, he's a versatile guy who can play inside and out. But for a top draft pick entering year three, this is not a good sign for Rakia Sin. And I'm getting kind of worried about him. Yeah, it's not a good sign for Rock Yassin, and I'm getting kind of worried about him. Yeah, it's not looking great for Rock. He's – yeah, I mean, you obviously knew Zagreus and Kenny Moore were going to be your one-two, and then that battle between T.J. Carey and Rock was going to be your three-four.

I guess the positive thing for Rock is that he's ahead of marvel tell on the depth chart um tj carry is also listed as your second nickel um but i i don't know what to do with him um you know tj carry has played well he's at a solid camp um so far and rock hasn't flashed just yet i hope he does but right now he hasn't and so it's tj carry has has taken it over and taken the reins and you know for the the colt's sake i hope that both of them end up doing well. But it looks like that jump, that leap that we talked about several times with Van Banigou and the year before with Tyquan Lewis, those guys look like they've both made that jump. Rakia Sen just

doesn't seem like he's making it. Yeah, it's unfortunate too because Chris Bauer had high hopes for Rocky Sennett entering this year. He's a guy I mentioned at the end of the season press conference where he felt like this is a huge year for Rock to take a jump, and unfortunately, that's not happening for him. So I'll have to follow Rock throughout preseason action and see if he can eventually get back over TJ Kira, but at this point,

he's not looking good for the 2019 top pick in the draft for the Colts. But let's stay in defensive backfield for a second, Stephen, because this is another interesting note on the smaller margin here of importance, but honestly, looking at safety right now, this is very interesting because they have George Odom above both Sean Davis's. The rookie Sean Davis actually lasts on the depth chart safety, and you also have Andre Chachere undrafted. He's bounced around Tennessee and Detroit's practice squads. He's now with Indianapolis, and he's actually the back of free safety to Julian Blackman, so he looks like he's bounced around Tennessee and Detroit's practice squads he's now with Indianapolis and he's actually the back of free safety to Julian Blackman so he looks like he's in the top four for safeties as well it's getting it feels like to me Steven it's either one or two things

or potentially both that both Sean Davis are cut the veteran Sean Davis eventually cut or you cut the rookie Sean Davis and he makes your practice squad. Because Sean Davis, I know he was hurt. He just practiced for the first time. But it's going to be a big preseason to get that fifth-round pick on board here and get him caught at the speed because he's currently at the bottom of the depth chart. It's a tough climb up to get a roster spot in this loaded position. Yeah, it's going to be tough.

The Colts have been noticeably high on Cheshire, maybe. That's my best guess for it. So I'm going to go with Andre. They've been really high on Andre so far this camp. His positional versatility has really made him a guy that's probably going to stick on the roster. But, yeah, seeing him over – seeing him over Ibrahim Campbell doesn't surprise me. But I'll be interested to see what they look with Sean Davis and Sean Davis.

Because the draft pick Sean Davis is – I always thought was more of a free safety than a strong safety. And the free agent Sean Davis I thought was more of a free safety than a strong safety. And the free agent, Sean Davis, I thought was more of a strong safety. So I was a little interested to see the draft Sean Davis be listed under the strong safety rather than the free safety spot. But yeah, it's going to be hard to make the roster as a DB because they don't have – Ky kairi willis and julian blackman are are great starters um same thing with the the rest of the dbs like xavier rhodes

and kenny moore are two of the top cornerbacks in the league at their positions um but they don't have like that elite corner they don't't have that elite DB just yet. Julian Blackman, I hope can, can develop into that. Kenny Moore is an elite nickel, but they don't have like that shutdown guy that you just don't throw to. But they've got a lot of really good, like second tier guys. And it's going to make it really hard for the rookie um to really crack that that group just because he's been a little dinged up i believe and i think today today or

yesterday was his first action on the field i think um i might be wrong about that but he's just going to have a tough time at this point if he can't get snaps in um because george rodham's going to be on the roster he's an all pro special teams player he's he's going to make it so you gotta you gotta figure out a way whether you make it as a fourth or fifth safety if they keep five then um you know you might be able to make it because andre's should just shares versatility puts him at two spots so maybe they don't keep an extra corner and they keep that extra safety who knows but it's going to be tough that's for sure final point here on a defensive depth chart staying for a dive or the offensive takeaways for this depth chart and to me we're kind of getting a

clearer picture before preseason week one of who exactly holds the edge at certain position battles in the defensive line. We have Ben Banigou as the fifth defensive end and potentially the fourth, I would say, maybe above Al-Khadi Mohamed. But for the left side of the defensive line, you have Kody Pei, Kamoko Ture, Ben Banigou, and Demontre Moore. On the strong side, right side, you have Taekwon Lewis, Al-Kadi Muhammad, Isaac Rochelle, Cameron Klein, and Ndiaye Odenbo. To me, the biggest takeaway off the edge rush list is that Isaac Rochelle looks like he's on the outside looking in here, Steve. We covered this last week on the podcast, but I think Rochelle might be DN6 or 7 at this point.

Vanig is taking a leap in camp, which is a great sign to keep his potential roster spot open. And then also Al-Kadi Muhammad has proven to be a reliable guy over the years. And then also Trey Pei. Those guys are locks to make the roster, too. And Tyquan Lewis is a starter. So once Dio is back midseason, especially someone else could be off the roster. But if I had to guess one surprise cut, if it's even a surprise at this point,

Steven, I think it's going in the direction of Isaac Rochelle being the odd man out of this rotation that we covered last week. Yeah, I don't even think that's much of a surprise at this point. Because you're going to keep, I mean, Quidipe, Kamokitore, Van Vanegu, and Taequann Lewis have all had great camps so far. Al-Qadi Mohammed has been solid. You know, I don't know if they'll keep Isaac Rochelle at this point because I just don't see him being better than the other options that they have. And then especially once Dayo Adango comes back,

until Dayo, he might be able to stick on. But once Dayo comes back, Rochelle's off. Like, unless there's an injury there and he's able to stick on, but once Dio comes back, Rochelle's off. Unless there's an injury there and he's able to hang around. But yeah, I just don't... He's been kind of a disappointment. If you can say that, he wasn't even a big free agent signing. Colston spent a lot of money on him, but he was one of their first ones that they signed. He'll count against the compensatory pick, but he just hasn't

done what I think they wanted him to. With the emergence of Ben Danigou and him playing really well, Kamoku Ture looks like he's all the way back from his ankle injury. You run out of spots. It's a blessing and a curse for the Colts and for this franchise is that Chris Ballard's really, really good at what he does. It's why he got an extension. And because of that, you've got a roster that's got a lot of really good talent. And if you can't cut it, you can't cut it. And Isaac Rochelle just hasn't been able to cut it

so far. Bilt Bar is the best tasting protein bar ever. Built Bar has nine delicious flavors plus the occasional limit time flavor as well. There's something for everyone over on Built Bar. Most of the flavors have 17 grams of protein all within 130 calories and only 4 grams of sugar. That's a great tasting snack to touch throughout the day while being very healthy for you as well. Order today and get whatever flavor you like over on BiltBar.com

and use promo code LOCKED15 at LUCKED15. You get 15% off your next order of Bilt Bars. Use promo code LOCKED15 at LUCKED15 for 15% off at BiltBar.com. Let's go to left tackle, the biggest question for this Colts offense right now, outside of quarterback and left guard with the injuries. But like we covered earlier, it sounds like those those we got that Carson Wentz and Quinn Nelson be back a lot sooner than we expect left tackle now is the biggest question and fair to say I think Colts have seen enough to Sam Tebby Stephen he is now the backup left tackle over the last

couple days he Will Holden is now your left tackle he did start last year against Pittsburgh Steelers when Braden Smith and Anikistanzo were out. But you also look here at right tackle Julian Davenport is the backup right tackle to Braden Smith. It feels like to me, Steven, that I need to cold-take a mention of seeing enough of Sam Tevey after he's really had a really poor camp. And I honestly wouldn't be surprised, Steven, if Eric Fisher comes back soon enough, maybe Sam Tevey, like Isaac Rochelle, is another free agent who gets cut before the season even begins. Yeah, the left half of the spot's kind of wild right now. Like, Tevey's been up and down.

Davenport's been all over. Like, it's not been good so far. Holden's, like, you got to hope that Eric Fisheric fisher is able to come back uh sooner than later and that his rehab is on schedule to put him ready to play week one because that would be ideal to be honest uh otherwise you're you got to pray that quentin nelson comes back and can help out at that left guard spot um to be able to help out the left tackle because if he's not then it could be put it this way if Quentin Nelson's not back week one there's no way that they're bringing back Carson Wentz because the left tackle spot is so it has not looked good so far

so I don't think that they're going to risk Carson Wentz back there it might be one of the reasons why they're giving Sam Ellinger some time, to be honest, because he's a much better scrambler than Jacob Eason as a potential starting quarterback week one, just because they know that the left tackle spots might not hold up. Just kind of randomly thought of that on the fly here, but it could be in their minds just to see what he can do. Last point here on the offensive side of the depth charts,

before we close this show, talking about the extensions that happened today for Chris Bauer and Frank Wright keeping you here through 2026. Wide receiver. It's really interesting how they have this stacked up right now. T.Y. Hilton's WR1. Pittman is WR2. Zach Paschal is above Paris Campbell.

He's WR3, Campbell's WR4. And then WR5 is the Colts' seventh-round pick, Mike Strawn, out of Charleston College, D3 school, freak athlete. He showed up once again at camp today with a highlight play in the red zone. I think it's awesome to see Strawn really progress to this fast of a rates team because he's leapfrogged guys like Ashton Doolin, Desmond Patman, who's at this point in camp and other undrafted free ends in this position as well. It's fair to say,

I think Strachan's locked in a roster spot unless he just, like you mentioned collapsed and increased or something like that. But I think Strachan at this point, how much he's flashed throughout camp, I think he's not, he's not a Deion Kane. He's not a Deron Carter. He's a much better athlete than both those guys. I really want to see maybe if he keeps this up throughout preseason, Steven, you put Mike Strawn in legit game situations in the regular season as a red

zone threat, whether it be a decoy or an actual jump ball threat. This guy's six foot five, 230 pounds, freak runner of his position. It looks like an impressive route runner that does actually roll at that position. He looks like he's actually not that raw in terms of his position. Looks like an impressive route runner. They thought he was actually raw at that position. He looks like he's actually not that raw in terms of route running. I'd be stunned if Strawn doesn't make the roster now, and I'd be kind of disappointed, Stephen, if the Colts still have Strawn in red zone situations throughout preseason and into the regular season.

Yeah, I think Strawn's won his job, to be honest. When he came in, he was just an intriguing prospect in terms of size, strength, speed, and his dominance at the D2 level over at Charleston. But every single day in practice, like every day you'd see a highlight from him beating Xavier Rhodes, like not beating Jalen Collins, like we've seen in years past, not beating some second, second, third tier guy or a practice squad guy,

but beating your number one and making spectacular play after spectacular play, making the contested catches, making the red zone plays. I think Michael Strong's earned his spot on this roster. Assuming, like you said, he doesn't have just a massive collapse or have an injury similar to what Deion Kane had there in his preseason games. Just the way that he plays, it fits what Chris Ballard wants in a wide receiver. And I think he's passed Desmond Patman, too, in terms of the wide receiver depth chart it shows in that they've got him listed you know arguably wide receiver five wide receiver six I think he's past Ashton Dutland to

be honest um and he's shown that he can also contribute on special teams so Desmond Patman doesn't have could get bumped off this roster, which is surprising because the Colts are really, really high on him. And he's starting to come around and make some plays. But I just feel like Michael Strawn's got – he's made so many plays every single day. And maybe there's something behind the scenes that we don't know that could keep Michael Strawn from – Mike Strawn from making the roster over Desmond

Patman. But I feel like he's done enough to this point where he would warrant a roster spot. Let's close out the show here, Stephen, talking about today's big news as well around the Colts finally getting the extensions done for GM Chris Bauer and head coach Frank Reich. They are tight at the hip officially on new five-year extensions through the 2026 season.

Colts fans have to be rejoicing about this, Stephen. I know Frank Reich gets some criticism from time to time about his play calling, but he's a great quarterback whisperer. He's a great offensive play caller. We saw in 2018 with a legit franchise quarterback how good of a play caller Frank Reich is. He's a great motivator of men. Chris Bauer goes without saying an elite drafter, one of the best draft,

if not the best drafter in the NFL. 15 of the 22 starters currently, Stephen, if you include Carson Wentz and DeForest Buckner via draft pick trades, are starters that Ballard has brought on board via the draft since 2017. It's an incredible number right there. And then also he's just a no nonsense guy. He's a straight shooter too. The players love that. You keep Ballard and Reich together for five more years, Stephen. I think this is exactly the right thing to do. And with the way the Colts are building long-term with all these draft picks, all these young players, I think it's the right move for them to have Bauer and Reich through the next five years. I feel like the next five years could be when their window truly starts to open for the Super Bowl. Yeah, I'm excited. I think

they've earned it. Frank Reich right now has a record of 28 and 10 and 20 as a head coach it's something I talked about a little bit on my podcast um Chris Ballard 32 and 32 as a general manager but you have to remember that first season was Andrew Luck less um without any of his players all basically Ryan Grigson's players. And so that was a tough, tough year because you went obviously four and 12. So that it's really, really tough year in that regard. So, yeah, I just, I think it's so well-deserved. Frank Wright's just a perfect coach for this organization, for this city. He's really, he practices what he preaches. He's just a wonderful person and a great,

great person to be the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts. Chris Ballard is the same way. He's very family oriented and he understands how much it means to the city of Indianapolis and to the franchise to build a culture of guys that you can really get behind, and that's what he's done every step of the way. He's building this team the right way. He's not going out and throwing large amounts of money at mercenary free agents. He's building through the draft. He's paying his own guys that have earned their contracts.

It's refreshing to see in this day and age and i'm just really excited for the colts going forward to have these guys locked up for the next five years at least and through 2026 and i just i think that their window is going to open up during this time for the super Bowl. And I think every year, you know, potentially including this year, Pryson Wentz comes back and returns to form to the point that he was through the first couple days of training camp. Then I think the Colts have a legitimate shot to win the AFC South and potentially compete for the Super Bowl in the AFC. And if not this year, I think going over the next few years

that they're going to have a lot of opportunities to really take advantage of how good Chris Ballard is at evaluating talent. Steven, always enjoy having you on, man. Colts fans, go ahead and follow him on Twitter. You're not already at NiceReadSteve. And go listen to his podcast that just debuted last week as well, over on stampedeblue.com.

Steven, appreciate the time. I imagine we'll be having you back on again next week to finally recap some real football with the scrimmages and also the preseason week one games. Looking forward to it. Yeah, thanks, Evan. Have a great one.