Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Jonathan Taylor stars as Colts training camp is in full swing

Episode Date: August 20, 2020

On today's episode, it's time to talk Colts training camp! Evan and Stephen Reed from Stampede Blue discuss the five biggest topics coming out of West 56th Street so far.Jonathan Taylor sounds like the real deal. From explosiveness breaking tackles to elite speed, could Taylor be primed for a bigger role than even we expected?Michael Pittman Jr. and Parris Campbell have had solid moments so far, too. Is Campbell poised to be Philip Rivers' security blanket early on?Speaking of Rivers, he's in total command of this team. This bodes well for the Colts' chances to hit the ground running for a hot start in September and October.Finally, Tyquan Lewis is on the hot seat for his job. However, he's shining per head coach Frank Reich. If Lewis is able to be a rotation piece on the defensive line, what impact will that have in 2020?All of this, plus so much more, as we go over all the latest from training camp! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello everybody, welcome back into your latest episode of Locked on Colts, part of the Locked on Podcast Network. Today's audience is your host Evan Siderian, joined by a very special guest on today's show, Stephen Reed of Stampede Blue. We are back to discuss the latest inklings we're hearing out of training camp. Of course, no public this year. It's at West 56th Street, the Colts Complex. And we're just getting tidbits from the local guys on the ground there,

like Kevin Bowen, George Bremer, Zach Heeper, Stephen Holder the rest of those guys as well as the daily reports on Colts.com. Stephen, how are you doing today? I'm doing well, Evan. How are you today? Doing good. Doing good. And we are here today, like I mentioned, to talk through the latest we're hearing out of training camp.

And for those wondering, I think the top subject to hit on first, Stephen, is Jonathan Taylor because he's been the talk of camp so far, whether it be power bulldozing over Tavon Wilson, his 4-3-9 speed on display multiple times via some big runs or big receiving catch from Bill Cruz on double passes. Jonathan Taylor looks like the real deal at West 56 or 9, Stephen. Yeah, that's what everything you're hearing, everything you're seeing the reporters write,

it's saying Jonathan Taylor, like you said, is the real deal. He seems like a solid three down back. His last year at Wisconsin, he focused on trying to catch passes out of the backfield. And it seems like that's really paid off for him. And it's one of those things where you kind of expect him to fight for that starting spot relatively quickly if he's able to do all these things like they're saying he's doing. It's really – it's something that you just, as a fan,

are really excited about. And it really goes to show, given how quickly these rookies are getting acclimated to the Colts and to the team, the importance that Chris Ballard put on character and guys that are going to sit down and learn the playbook and keep their bodies right and not slack off. And it's really going to show, I think, for the Colts early on this year with their, with their rookies and Jonathan Taylor, Michael Pittman Jr.

Both of them are, I think are going to have some big years that might be unexpected by a few, but given Chris Ballard's track record, it's one of those things. You just kind of expect him to draft high-character guys, and it seems like that's exactly what he's done again, and it's really going to pay off for the Colts long-term. Something we've seen out of camp so far, I of course saw via Jonathan Taylor working out in the offseason here. We've seen it via pictures and videos too, but it just bears mentioning once more, Stephen, that Jonathan Taylor does not look like a running back. He looks

like a linebacker out there. Five foot ten, 226 pounds. He's ripped to the gills. He doesn't have any muscle or fat on him, excuse me. He looks like just really rocked out there, and we've seen it throughout camp so far with him being able to bounce off Tavon Wilson and deliver some punishment to that he's a player that is a physical specimen Steven he might be a player where like you mentioned a three-down running back eventually he's going to share due to the course of Marlon Mack this year but a player maybe in that Derrick Henry Saquon Barkley mold where he could be able to be a perfect sort of addition in January February football where he could really use him to just wear down defenses. Yeah, exactly.

And, you know, people make a big deal about him bulldozing Tavon Wilson because he's a pretty good player. And so it's not like he's getting some undrafted free agent that we all kind of know isn't going to make the roster. He's doing it to somebody that's a legit NFL player. He's got, you know, seven, eight, nine years experience around there. So it's not easy to just truck those guys. And Jonathan Taylor coming in and being able to do that. That's, that's huge. And I think you're right. When it comes to January football,

you want that guy that defenses are going to, they have to respect him. And if you give him the ball behind this offensive line, you expect four yards at least. And that's, you're looking for three to four yards every single run. So you can just run it down people's throats. And that's kind of what Frank

Rake really likes to do is just to run it down their throats and take advantage of that defense's weakness. If it happens to be their run defense, it's going to be a long game for them. And having the combination of Jonathan Taylor and Marlon Mack really gives the Colts a lot of options and a lot of ability to kind of ease Jonathan Taylor into the NFL, which I think is good too. Something, one more note on Jonathan Taylor before we move on to another player really shining so far in Colts camp is, I think Tom Rathman was the best coach possible for Jonathan Taylor because from what we've seen so far, we've heard from Jonathan Taylor too. He's holding the ball with two hands whenever he's running with the ball. Tom Rathman's really drilling into into him he didn't have much fumbling issues at Wisconsin because I think

it was kind of overblown with how much carries he had if you just combine the percentages up with some few players who've had less carries than him it's almost the same but definitely notable fumble problems at Wisconsin for Jonathan Taylor but we've seen throughout camp so far that Tom Rathman really might be the perfect coach for him to get rid of that. Yeah. And that's exactly what we've said. Once they drafted Jonathan Taylor, a lot of us have said Tom Rathman will work to fix that fumbling issue. And like you said, there are reports coming out that he's holding the ball high and tight,

that he's keeping it really close to himself. And that's a direct correlation to Tom Rathman's coaching. And you're not going to see those same fumble issues from Jonathan Taylor here in the NFL with the proper coaching as you did in college. And like you said, there weren't even that much of issues. It was, if you look at it, like you said, if you look at his percentage of fumbling, it's not crazy high. And so I think that was overblown to begin with.

Tom Rathman's going to make that even less of an issue. And so I think from here on out, Colts fans are going to be really excited about Jonathan Taylor. Before we transition on, Stephen, I just want to get your quick thoughts. If we're hearing what we're hearing correctly out of Colts camp so far, Jonathan Taylor's kind of blowing everyone away right now. Do you think that he's primed for a bigger role even than we expected originally? Yeah, I do. I think that if he's showing that he is acclimated to the playbook and that he's not going to skip a beat, I think that Marlon X is going to get the start for the first handful of weeks, but I think you're going to see Frank Reich lean on Jonathan Taylor a little bit earlier than what we expected because Jonathan Taylor sounds like he's

going to be the hot guy and he's going to be the more versatile guy. And the Colts in the past have had that issue where like, if you had one running back in, you kind of knew what they were doing. Jonathan Taylor kind of takes that away, takes that little bit of a hand tip away, especially if he's worked on catching passes out of the backfield. If he can, he can put his hands into play and they come along with the rest of his game. He's probably the best running back in that class. And one of the better ones in the past couple years. Like Saquon Barkley level, he can be that good.

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B-U-I-L-T-B-A-R.com. Yeah, which is crazy to say. Jonathan Taylor is that kind of superstar running back venture for this Colts team behind that offensive line. It's going to be really fun to watch, but also for defenses, too. It might be unstoppable here as we get Phillip Rivers on board in Indianapolisapolis and we see him kind of acclimating himself very well so far but let's sit on a second year pro entering into i think he had a tough rookie year last year a lot of hype and expectations for him but those are kind of returning now as he's back at full strength and he looks very healthy so far his 4-3-1 speed has definitely been on display multiple times

person riders there on the ground at Colts camp. And Paris Campbell is one player, Stephen, we saw at the beginning of camp last year, was creating a lot of buzz as kind of being a player who could really take an immediate leap into the Colts lineup and be a focal point of their offense. But unfortunately, like I mentioned, the injuries kind of piled on a little bit for him throughout the year. So far in West 56th Street, Stephen, Ray reviews Paris Campbell. I know he had a rough day today as far as punt returns go.

He had a drop pass from Phillip Rivers today, recording here on Wednesday evening. But I think the first two days in pads, Monday, Tuesday, and the days without pads too, Campbell reportedly looked like a star out there. He was beating guys left and right down the field. His 4-3-1 speed helped him beat on multiple screens and slant routes to the house.

It seems like Phillip Rivers and that early work he had with him they're getting an early rapport and he could be a player I think maybe we realized too it could be kind of a safety blanket for for um Philip Rivers this year yeah everything you hear about Paris Campbell thus far has been just great uh with the exception of the the muff punts earlier today. But everything else you're hearing is he's fast. He's got a much better concept and understanding of the playbook, which for wide receiver is really a huge deal to be able to go out and know exactly where you're supposed to go. And then the quarterback knows exactly where you're supposed to be.

And that building that rapport and building that trust with Phillip Rivers is huge with any wide receiver. But, yeah, you're seeing people talk about how he's got great hands. Like you said, though, he did have a drop today. But for the most part, he's been playing like a superstar. You put him in that slot position, and he's a mismatch all day no matter who they put there because if they put a linebacker there he's gone they put a safety there he's gone they put a corner there then who's your other corner gonna guard then you've got michael pitman jr on one

side and ty hilton on the other he's gonna have himself if if he keeps growing in and keeps pushing like everybody's saying he is he could have a just a huge breakout year especially given the quick passes that they're likely to start going with and philip rivers you just get him the ball and let him run and he's faster than 98 99 of the people on the field at any given time. And so you get him an open space, you let him run, you get him the ball quickly and just see what happens. And most of the time it's going to be good. Yeah, with Campbell too, like you mentioned,

I think he's going to be in prime for a role this year if he does stay healthy, health permitting, that he should be, we talked before on the show about whether Michael Kimmel Jr. or Paris Kimmel have more targets, more yards this year. I think it's fair to say, like you mentioned, Rivers' ability to run this offense, that Campbell might be in line, like you mentioned,

have a breakout year as it could be more of a position where Campbell's in the slot and you have a lot of double pass, a lot of slant routes running for him. And we saw against Tennessee last year, Stephen, that play against Logan Ryan, one of the better nickel cornerbacks in the NFL. He blew him off the field in about five steps, and he had about 10 feet of separation when he caught that touchdown. Then from there, it kind of went downhill for the rest of the year with his injuries.

That was kind of just a flash of what we could see consistently this year. Yeah, and that Logan Ryan play, it was just a microcosm of what he can be. Like you said, he didn't get a lot of space there, but it was five yards beyond him. You know, three to five yards beyond Logan Ryan, like you said, a great cornerback in the league and it was catching the ball easy. And then injuries derailed his season. So hopefully he came back healthy and can really show,

show Colts fans what Chris Ballard saw in him last year. And I think he can. He's got that superstar potential. And he really, he could see a lot of targets and a lot of opportunities, which is exactly what you want in a guy that can be a playmaker like Paris Campbell. Another young receiver here, the third of our five takeaways so far from camp, the first few days of pads, as well as the first week plus of camp. Mike Piment Jr. looks like the real deal too, Steve, and a good sign for the first rookie selected by the Colts in the 2020 NFL Draft, 34 overall.

Frank Gregg mentioned just he's a little bit behind as far as mental ability and learning this complex scheme the Colts run, but outside of that, we've heard a lot of flashes from him and big chunk plays, very reliable hands that we saw at USC, rarely drops the ball. He's a big body.

Rivers is obviously going to love him as he gets more implemented in the offense. I think from what we're hearing so far out of camp, Stephen, that MPJ might be a player from day one who is your ex-receiver opposite T.Y. Hilton and you don't look back. Yeah, and I think he will be that opposite, that ex-receiver opposite T.Y. Hilton on the outside he just seems to make a lot of sense in that role he's got everything you really kind of look for he does everything well he's a blocker he will make those tough catches he goes

up and fights for the ball he high points the ball on things and he'll be a huge red zone threat which is something that you've got a couple of guys on the Colts that could be red zone threats. But Michael Pittman Jr. Is going to be one that I think really, really shines this year and probably takes over a lot of those catches that Eric Ebron had two years ago when he played with Andrew Luck is that that's the type of numbers I kind of expect from Michael

Pittman Jr. to be able to play with in the red zone. And so I expect him to be highly involved in this offense. And once he gets that grasp on the playbook, this goes back to what I talked about earlier about Chris Ballard drafting guys that are high character players. Once again, Michael Pittman Jr., his father was in the NFL. He knows what it takes. And so I have no doubt that he's going to get up to speed rather quickly. And I think that the comment was, he had already learned more from Philip Rivers in like the first three days of practice than what he thought he would learn the entire time that they played together, which shows he maybe undersold what he was gonna learn,

but at the same time shows that he's like a sponge in absorbing all of that information. And he's a guy that is a smart player that will take it, absorb it, use it, and take advantage of his opportunities. So I think Michael Pittman Jr. has got a great opportunity to really show out this year. Yeah, and take advantage of his opportunities. So I think Michael Pittman Jr. has got a great opportunity to really show out this year.

Yeah, and like we mentioned before we move on to our fourth point of the takeaways we've seen so far in camp, that like Ryke mentioned that Pittman's a little bit behind as far as the mental, like the playbook side of things. Do you think maybe we see early on in the year, I know Taylor might be a player that just hits the ground running right away and just an impact stud for this Colts team, but let's say Pittman does drop a little bit slow,

like we saw at Paris Campbell last year. Do you think we see more maybe Zach Paschal reps than we might expect early on in the year as Pittman gets to learning this offense and the intricacies a little bit more? I think so. I think you could see either Zach Paschal, and I'm going to throw this name out there for you

as a guy that could surprise fans, is Reece Fountain, as a guy who could also see those reps for Michael in place of Michael Pittman to at least start the season while Pittman gets himself acclimated to the NFL and the speed at which they play. And so I think either of those guys could maybe take some snaps, but I think, you know, once you get to about a quarter, third of the way in, I think Michael Pittman should be really kind of locking down that wide receiver two position for the Colts.

Definitely agree with you there. I have really high hopes for Pittman this year. It seems like already the first two picks for the Colts in this year's draft class, Michael Pittman and Jonathan Taylor, are going to be studs in this offense. And that leads us into Phillip Rivers, who from all indications so far, Stephen, is the captain of this team. He's already telling people where to go on offense, and he already has his playbook down. Not surprising with the relationship he had with Frank Reich and Nick Sirianni in the

past in San Diego, but I think it's an awesome sight to hear and see that Rivers really is in control of this entire team already. Yeah, it's great to see somebody just step in and take over. And people maybe underestimate the importance of that and the difficulty of that. When you've got somebody that has been with another franchise for, what, 17 years, 14 years, 17, however long Phillip Rivers has been in the league, long enough to have like 18 children.

But he's been in the league for a long time. And to be at one franchise and then come to another, yeah, you've got got certain level of respect, but that doesn't mean you have the locker room. And so he came in, won the locker room over immediately. It sounds like, and was able to step in and become a leader. And that's what you want from, from your franchise quarterback. That's what the Colts, you know,

everybody talked about how great Jacoby Brissett was and how much everybody respected him. But I don't know if anybody ever considered him a leader, like they already consider Phillip Rivers on this team. And so I'm really excited to see where Phillip Rivers can take this. And hopefully he can get back to, to form that he was in 2018 when he was an MVP candidate. And from all, all standpoints that we see and hear from people, he's, he's an MVP candidate. And from all standpoints that we hear from people,

he's playing pretty well. I think he had one overthrow in practice today. He was like 14 for 18, one over one interception where George Odom just made a good play on the ball. And it was like a deep ball to Paris Campbell, I think is what it was. But anyway, Phillip Rivers has been playing relatively well. He's got command of the offense.

And that's one of those things where another underestimated standpoint of Chris Ballard bringing Phillip Rivers in is, since Phillip Rivers already knew the playbook, he already knew Nick Sirianni's system. He already knew Frank Reich's kind of play calling. And the way that he goes about it, it makes a seamless transition for the Colts versus a lot of teams that are going to bring in other quarterbacks that maybe didn't have that same experience they're going to have a lot slower learning curve than what the Colts

are going to have so the Colts should we expect them to to hit the ground running in week one and and not fall into that lull that we've seen them go for the past I don't know eight to ten years where they lose that first week because they're just kind of getting into it. I feel like this team should be able to hit the ground running and it shouldn't be an issue. Between never ending laundry cycles and incoming emails, you've got plenty on your to-do list.

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a 7-0 start for this team with the schedule they have and with Rivers being quickly acclimated to the system. I think that's definitely on the table for this team if Rivers does keep the turnovers down. We mentioned before the offensive line how much that's going to impact Rivers too, but I think we should hit on, before we hit on our last topic of the show, through our biggest takeaways through camp so far,

is that Rivers, it seems like, from all indications, his ability to process the field and read the field quickly, unlike Jacoby Bursette, is going to make a huge difference for this offense because we saw all last year that Bursette really struggled. I'll tell you, a few games against Houston and Atlanta, where it seemed like if he didn't have a wide open shot, he wasn't going to take that aggressive shot. And Phillip Bruce, for all indications, is doing the exact opposite there.

He is being very aggressive. He's making the right reads when he has to, and he's being quick with his decision making too. I think that's going to make this offense so much more efficient than we saw last year. Yeah, I think you're exactly right. And that was one of our biggest concerns with Brissette last year is that it didn't seem like he was processing things quickly enough. And when you do that, you wait to throw until you see the guy open. And the NFL, that's too late. In college, you can get away with that. But in the NFL, if you're throwing it to a guy that you see is open and you're waiting until you see him open, you've already lost your window.

So Phillip Rivers, being able to throw with anticipation, make those zip line throws into spots where the receiver hasn't even turned his head yet because they know exactly where they're going to be. It's going to be huge. And you see Phillip Rivers take those gambles, which I think Colts fans are going to be. It's going to be a gift and a curse because there's going to be huge and you see philip rivers take those gambles which i think colts fans are going to be it's going to be a gift and a curse because there's going to be some turnovers when that happens you're going to have a lot more opportunity for the offense to click and make some big plays in that that regard too and so you take the the win you take the loss uh you know

that it's going to happen sometimes but at least you know the guy's going to try and make that throw and try to thread that needle, which for Colts fans, you know, we'd have that with Andrew Luck, and we had that for Peyton Manning. You haven't had it in any of the times in between, and so it's going to be nice to get back to the type of quarterbacking that the Colts really, really appreciate and really kind of expect. Last thing on Rivers here, Stephen, is that I've done this before on the show with you before, but I wanted to just hit on it once more for those out there just listening to us again as we're in the thick of training camp right now. I think Colts fans should not be shocked at all if they see the turnovers really be cut in half by Rivers this year. We see his efficiency overall as a game

manager just go way up because I think we're in for a year, maybe like 2018 or even better than that for Phillip Rivers' team because even though the playmakers are maybe less talented, no Keenan Allen, no Mike Williams, you have Mike Coleman Jr. to take that Mike Williams role. You have as well T.Y. Hilton playing the Keenan Allen role. You have Paris Campbell as the X-Factor. You have Jonathan Taylor and Marlon Mack in the backfield. Jack Doyle, all reliable.

They're a tight end. I think it's all in place of this offensive line too, where is it crazy that this could be a career year for Phillip Rivers entering into his age 38 season? I don't think so. I kind of, given his familiarity with the system and the playmakers that he has around him, I expect Phillip Rivers to have a huge year.

And that's, yeah, I am a Colts fan, but also you kind of see it. You know, when he was 36, he had a huge year with San Diego, or I think it was San Diego at that time, but with the Chargers. And so you know he can do it, and he's done it recently. It's not like he's this journeyman quarterback that did it seven years ago at one time like that. He did it recently. He probably could have done it last year, if not for the offensive line being terrible with the Chargers. set of wide receivers and depending on how philip river or how paris campbell develops he could arguably have a better set of wide receivers here in indianapolis than what he did with the chargers because the chargers really only had those top two guys and then you just kind of after that you've got a guy with paris campbell that will be able to philip rivers be able to dump that ball off to and i think you're going to see Phillip Rivers get a lot.

It's going to be like a Tom Brady style offense and that Phillip Rivers is going to get a lot of dump downs, check downs, things like that. There's going to be a lot of yards after catch and they're going to put the position, the players in a position to win their matchup. And that's going to get Phillip Rivers a lot, a lot more yardage than necessarily he throws through the air, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's probably exactly what Frank Reich wants, but I kind of expect Philip Rivers to have a career year this year just because of the weapons

that he has around him and the fact that this is the best offensive line in the NFL and certainly the best Philip Rivers has ever played with. Last bullet point here, Stephen, before we close today's show, appreciate the time as always. Wanted to hit on Tyquan Lewis here because it's a player we, and you talk about a lot in the show and also I've had on throughout the offseason area. He could be on the super hot seat here as far as even making the 53 man roster.

He's been up and down throughout his two years in the NFL, was in the doghouse all of last year as he was not performing well, had some flashes in his rookie year. I remember that Dallas game he had a few good plays. But outside of that, Taequann Lewis might be on the outside looking in for this roster. But from all indications so far, Stephen, through the first few days of pads as well as the first week of training camp, Taequann Lewis is like a very motivated player, and that's a great sign for his defensive line because if he wasn't on the outside looking in already,

he might already be cracking the door and maybe pushing himself in to that defensive line rotation this year. Yeah, and that's something we mentioned is Tyquan Lewis could be one of our surprise cuts this year if he didn't put in the work and really go out this offseason and have a great offseason, have a great training camp. Obviously, from what we're hearing, that's exactly what he did, is he put in the work. They say that he looks better than he's ever looked, which is fantastic, and I'm so excited for him. And he is playing up to the level that the Colts expected him to.

And this is one of those times where he's getting that opportunity because you've had guys that are sitting out with some injuries. Sheldon Day hasn't played yet in pads, hasn't practiced really yet at all because of an undisclosed injury. You've got DeForest Buckner will sporadically take a step back or Justin Houston had a day off. And so Tyquan Lewis is getting that opportunity and he's seizing it. And that's exactly what we wanted him to do. And so I'm glad to see that he's doing that and taking that opportunity. And he really can play that three technique really well or move over to that Jabal Sheard role on that defensive end, playing opposite Justin Houston.

He's got some opportunities to make this team, and I really hope he does. So I'm glad to see that he put in the work this offseason, and he's playing very, very well thus far in training camp. Speaking of defensive line rotation, Stephen, before we close out today's show, Tyquan Lewis seems like he's playing a lot of three-tech, but as well as that defensive end,

it seems like Danico Autry and Al-Qaidi Mohammed are going to be the guys at defensive end that replaced Jabal Ashir. What's your quick thoughts on that? I think that's probably – what Brian Baker is trying to do is likely get his best four pass rushers on the field. And so I wouldn't be surprised if Danico Autry ends up being that starter on that defensive end position. And you've got Justin Houston on one, DeForest Buckner at the three technique, and Grover Stewart there at the other defensive tackle. Now for the backup positions, I really like Al-Kadhi Mohammed.

I'll be interested to see how that battle plays out with him, Taequann Lewis, Robert Windsor all in there. Ben Banigou and Kamika Torre are both going to make this roster. So I'm not really going to harp too hard on those. But then you've also got Sheldon Day. So one of those defensive tackles is going to get cut. I'm not sure which one. I'm just glad to see Taequann Lewis really come out and make a play and really kind of show what the Colts really wanted him to show.

And you just kind of hope the injury bug doesn't come back and bite him because that's been his issue the past few years is that that availability just hasn't been there for him. So I'm excited to see what's going on and see how it all plays out. No, yeah, those are great points to bring up there with Autry and Muhammad because I think those guys are very underrated, and I like Autry even better at defensive end on the rundowns, bringing Ture on the pass downs. Ben Banigou also be a rotation player. I like this defensive line, and DeForest Buckner is the crown jewel addition of this defense, and he should help improve everyone on that defensive line

as we get into this season. But, Stephen, appreciate the time for coming on today's show. You guys can follow him on Twitter if you're not already at NiceRead. Steve, you can read his work as well over at Stampede Blue. Appreciate the time, Stephen. All right. Thanks, Evan.