Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 10/15/19: Who has been the team MVP thus far?

Episode Date: October 16, 2019

On today's episode, George Bremer of The Herald Bulletin returns to go over all the latest news along with his thoughts on many Colts-related subjects.First up, it's Texans week, and it's once more a critically important matchup. Should we expect Colts DC Matt Eberflus to play heavy man or zone scheme concepts versus Deshaun Watson? Also, will Jacoby Brissett air it out more this week?Speaking of Brissett, does George believe he's seen enough from him to call him the long-term answer so far? And is this following a similar script to Kansas City, who won 10 games and still traded up for a QB (Alex Smith, Patrick Mahomes)?Who has been the team MVP? Is it Frank Reich, Quenton Nelson, or someone else? We also talk about Braden Smith, who is quickly becoming a top 10 RT in this league.Finally, we go over the 2019 rookie class before closing with how Indianapolis ended up in this situation five weeks in. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, everybody. Welcome back into Locked on Colts, probably Locked on Podcast Network. Today, as I was here with Evan Sider and Jumbayah, our weekly guest, George Berman, the Colts B-Ride for the Herald Bullets. How do you do, George? Good. How are you doing? Doing great. Thanks for coming on. I appreciate the time, as always. Love talking Colts football with you, George. And I want to hear your thoughts today. I know some listeners probably heard our thoughts last week on it, but as we get closer and closer to the Texans game now, and especially coming off the Texans being the Kansas City Chiefs,

has your opinion of this game changed? And I think the importance of this game has risen even more. Yeah, it's an incredibly important game. It's hard to imagine a game in Week 7 being bigger than this one, honestly. The winner of this game is going to be 2-0 in the division, going to have a head-to-head tiebreaker. Everything really on the line here at midseason. And it's been that way, it feels like, the last few years.

I mean, 2017, they were both down. But outside of that, it feels like every year since, I don't know, 2010 maybe, when the Colts and Texans have met, there have been big ramifications, at least for the division on the line. And when you look at the way things went last year with the Colts and Texans have met, there have been big ramifications, at least for the division on the line. And when you look at the way things went last year with the Colts winning two out of three, with the Texans winning the division, and then the Colts winning the playoff game, it's a rivalry, I think, that's really blossoming and should get fans really excited for this matchup

on Sunday. What do you think, George, with playing against Patrick Mahomes before the bye week now and then going against Deshaun Watson? It might be even hotter right now than Patrick Mahomes was going into the game in Kansas City. It seems like this game is going to test this Colts defense pretty good again. I'm wondering to myself, we're going to see, again, more heavy man concepts, or are they going to go back to more zone?

Yeah, I would imagine you're going to see man again because they said they're going to do game plan specific kind of schemes when it comes to the defense moving forward. And so I think the Texans bring a lot of the same challenges that the Chiefs do. I think the one thing right now that the Texans – well, the two things right now that the Texans probably have ahead of Kansas City. One is they're a much better rushing football team than Kansas City is right now. Carlos Hyde, Duke Johnson have done a good job back there of kind of reshaping that Texas

run game. And then, of course, you've always got to be concerned with Deshaun Watson in that area of the game as well. The other thing is they're much more healthy. I mean, for all the proper respect that was given to the Colts after what they did to Kansas City, that team was missing Sammy Watkins, missing Tyreek Hill. It wasn't the full complement of what Kansas City can bring. Now, granted, that was offset by the fact that the Colts didn't have

their full defense either. So I'm not belittling what the Colts were able to do in any way two weeks ago. That's still as impressive a defensive performance as I've seen this team have. But they've got to come up with the same kind of effort now because the two games that they won against the Texans last year, Will Fuller was not on the field. At least he wasn't healthy. And so to have to deal with him and DeAndre Hopkins and the run game,

it's going to be a huge challenge for the defense. I think you will see them get physical, play some man-to-man schemes again. And hopefully, fingers crossed right now, it sounds like everybody's optimistic about Malik Hooker coming back. We know Darius Leonard will be back. So it should be both Houston's offense and the Colts' defense should be at full strength or close to it. That's going to be a great matchup.

If everyone's at full strength, especially Malik Cooker, that would be a quick comeback from his slight meniscus, Terry, at surgery on a couple weeks ago. And let me ask you this, George. Going into that Houston game on Sunday, do you think they're going to do the same on the offensive side as far as controlling the clock and keeping Deshaun Watts off the field? Or do you trust maybe Jacoby Brissett and Frank Reich to air it out more in this game?

I think you're going to see them air it out a little bit more. I mean, for one thing, we know this is T.Y. Hilton's week, right? I mean, every year when the Texans show up on the schedule, it's a 100-yard game for T.Y. Hilton, 150, 170. You know, this is his team. I think that that's been a vital component of the Colts beating this team in years past. It was something that they were able to do with Jacoby Brissett in 2017.

Down there, I think the biggest game T.Y. Hilton had that year came at NRG Stadium. As many years, that's the case. But I think that you'll see him get involved again. I think it's where the Texans tend to have some struggles on that deep ball. And I don't know if they're as easy to run on as Kansas City is. You knew going into that game, the Chiefs had a lot of trouble stopping the run. So it made sense for the Colts to kind of focus on that. Texans a little bit more stout on the run defense,

but it'll be interesting to see because last year Houston, I think, they were top three in the run defense, and yet the Colts went into their place in the long card round and ran the ball right down their throat. So I'm sure that'll still be a part of the game plan, but I'd be surprised if Marlon Mack gets 45 carries again. Yeah, I would certainly agree with you there, George. I think that it's going to be more of a balance.

Like we saw maybe like the Atlanta game where the second half of the game we saw Marlon Mack kind of get going, and then the first half of that game is most of Jacoby Bursette in his arm. But as we get closer as well, has your opinion of this game changed as far as your prediction goes, or are you still sticking with the Colts there as far as it being a close win? Yeah Yeah I think the Colts have matched up well against Houston we just go through recent history the games have been close but more often than not Houston can't figure out T.Y. Hilton and that tends to be one of the big differences in the game

I think it's going to come down to what it will probably most of the rest of the season, and that is which version of this Colts defense shows up. If the one that played the Raiders shows up, then it's going to be a really long day, and the Colts are going to have a lot of trouble even finding a way to stay close on the scoreboard. If the one that played Kansas City shows up, then I would expect it to be chalked up as a Colts victory. With a home game and coming off a loss the last time you were out there, having the momentum, coming off the KC win, knowing what this game means to this team and its immediate future

and getting at least Darius Leonard back and maybe Malik Cooker as well. I'll still stick with the Colts, but I think it's going to be a really, really close contest. Yeah, if you want to hear more, George and I discussed the Houston game last week, but on today's show I wanted to discuss more with George about his own thoughts of the season so far. We're five games in, about to be entering week seven against the Texans coming off the bye here.

Who would you say is your MVP of the season so far, George? I know many say Frank Reich, some say Quentin Nelson out there. What would you say? Those are both good choices. I think Reich's done a tremendous job this year, as he did a year ago, just in terms of making sure that things are changed up every week

and that this team's ready to go. Really, the Oakland game's the only one you can point to and kind of something went wrong there. They were a little flat. Other than that, they've been competitive. They've had a great game plan every week. But my MVP is Quentin Nelson. I just think what he's brought to this team, not just on the offensive line

and through the running game, but just the mentality that he's brought into this locker room, it's really kind of worn off on everybody. And you just see this team with a different kind of swagger now that I think really comes from the idea that they know their physical team. They're going to go in and they're going to punch the other team in the jaw and see how that team responds. And that's been a really different style than we're used to seeing in Indianapolis. So I think a lot of that comes back to Nelson and his unique abilities at guard.

And you see it every week. The way they're able to run the ball when they really need to run the ball is really a remarkable thing to watch. He's only played 23 games so far in his career, George, regular season starts. And thinking back to the offensive linemen over the years of the Colts, I mean, Jeff Saturday, Ryan Deem, a couple guys, Tariq Glenn. Do you think Quentin Nelson's already the best offensive line the Colts have had in the Indianapolis era?

I think he's the most unique. I think, you know, there's still some things he has to do to get into that Tariq Glenn neighborhood, some accomplishments that need to be checked off. But when you look at his ability, and we all marvel at his ability to pancake people and shove guys around and some of it's just flat out ridiculous but he's also extremely athletic in a way he's able to pull and get out in front of the running game and open things up on the edge just as much as he is

on the interior uh i don't know that there's ever been a player like that in indianapolis i don't know there's been too many of them come through the NFL. To have that combination, to be both as powerful and physical and as much of a bully as Quentin Nelson can be, but also to be that athletic and quick and able to be a lead blocker on a jet sweep or something like that, I just don't know how many of those guys there have been through the history of this league.

Yeah, he certainly puts up highlights every week for the offensive line position, which before Quentin Nelson, I can't remember much of anyone doing that around NFL Network and ESPN. But Quentin Nelson is certainly one of a kind here, George. But on the offensive line there, I feel like another guy going under the radar here a little bit is Braden Smith. And are you surprised by how he's kind of like stayed where he is this rookie year and kind of taking more steps forward, even as a former guard at Auburn now playing the right tackle spot looks like he might be a Pro Bowl caliber right tackle here in a year or two yeah I've been surprised by by Braden Smith really throughout this run that we've had with him I

mean people tend to forget it was right about a year ago this time he went into the starting lineup at New England on a Thursday night game, literally because they ran out of tackles. There was no great design, no genius move by anybody here. They just simply ran out of tackles. He had that body type. He'd done some work at tackle in the spring. And so they said, well, there's really no other choice.

Let's throw him out there and see what he can do. And from day one against New England in that atmosphere, I think he had a problem on that opening snap, as one might imagine. And then after that, he's shown that he's belonged and he's just got better and better every week. And I thought this was a big test for him because you look at last year, you kind of come in in the swing of things. Other teams don't really have a lot of tape on you uh there are some advantages there's some disadvantages too you don't know the league and you're trying to learn on the fly but the league's trying to learn you too and so you always kind of wonder okay when they when a guy like that comes back as the starter the next year he's got

the expectations other teams have an idea of how to attack and what's it going to look like and braden smith's gone out there and shown it's going to look like it did a year ago he's going to do his job you know the one the play that stands out for me right now for him this year we know he's done great in pass protection he has some trouble with speed rushers still and i think that's going to be probably something he's going to deal with throughout his career he's a big guy and the taller defense tackles tend to have trouble against some of the smaller speed guys because they've got to get down initially to win that battle, and it's hard to do.

But he's done a more than adequate job, far more than adequate job in pass protection. But the way he's able to open up things in the run game is also important to this team. And I think that fourth and – was it two, fourth three against Kansas City uh right towards the end of the game I think shortly before the field goal uh that that clinched it he's blocking and Marlon Mack is running literally right up his back and you know that's that's the trust that that both Matt and this coaching staff already has in in Smith here's a play that's critical to this team's success.

And where do they go? Literally right on Smith's back. I think it says it all. The folks at Roman, a men's health company, are changing the game with Roman Swipes, the secret to longer-lasting sex. Get $10 off your first order of Swipes and free two-day shipping at getroman.com

slash lockedonNFL, L-O-C- at GetRoman.com slash LockedOnNFL. L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-N-F-L. GetRoman.com for your $10 off your first order. Yeah, he's certainly taken a step forward this year and year or two. I think he should have a lot of Colts fanxed out with that draft class with him and Quentin Nelson. They're going to be pillars up front for a very long time on this offensive line. But I want to put a second, George, to the rookies.

And Paris Campbell, he had a good start, I would say, to the season, but he got injured. And then after that, we saw Kari Willis really take off. Bobby Okereke settled in a little bit. EJ Speed's getting more playing time. Ben Banigou, we're going to know more about him after this week and beyond with Kamoka Ture out. What's been your impression of the rookie class so far?

Yeah, I think it's been really solid. I don't know if they've been as spectacular as the rookies were a year ago, but you kind of figured that coming in. A lot of those rookies last year still have starting jobs. The better that Chris Ballard continues to do his job, the harder it's going to be for rookies to contribute every year. But injuries, again, have opened up opportunities for these guys, and I think a lot of them have stepped forward and taken that guys and I think a lot of them have stepped forward and taken that opportunity I think with Paris Campbell it's very similar to what happened with Malik Cooker obviously his injury is not going to be as long term so hopefully we'll

be able to get a look at him again before this year is out it certainly sounds like it that will be the case probably within the next couple of the three weeks here. But you saw what they saw in him early on. You know, you can see the speed. You can see that there's more there than what was on display at Ohio State. You can see that he's kind of a perfect fit for this offense. The big question with him is can he hold up? You know, he had that hamstring injury in training

camp that slowed his development and then he was just really starting to get his feet under him in the regular season and he got hurt with the abdominal injury against the Raiders so much like Marlon Mack when he was a rookie too you know people wondered at that point will he be able to get this shoulder injury play with that whole year and uh you just never know some of the young guys that's always a box that has to be checked off, and that's one that's still kind of out there with Campbell. I thought Rocky Seen had maybe his best game of the year against Chiefs, but all the defensive backs did, and it's not just him.

The defensive secondary played as well as it has at any point in the year. But I think you're starting to see Rock, the benefit, they kind of threw him into the fire and said, we know there's going to be mistakes. We know when you put a rookie out there, there's going to be some bad with the good, but going to let him learn through some of his struggles. And I think you're starting to see some of the fruits of that

start to be realized a little bit. You see him, he's still making some mistakes. He's still a very young corner, but I think you start to see him understanding some things he wasn't maybe understanding week one, week two, about positioning, about how to use his hands, about being physical, but doing it in a way that doesn't draw a flag, these sorts of things. You're starting to see him come along with that. I think he's going to be a bigger and bigger part of this defense as the year goes on. Kari Willis, probably the most impressive of the rookies so far. There isn't anything that he's been called upon to do that he hasn't been able to do. And I think his ability to

get his nose in there and come up and stuff the run is something that this defense has sorely been lacking for a few years. Now you see that with Willis, hopefully for years to come. I think he's a very exciting talent, somebody they're going to want to keep an eye on for a while. And then, you know, I think Banigou is the guy that you really are very interested in moving forward. They had the luxury of bringing him on pretty slowly with the depth of defensive end and the way Kamoko Ture was playing.

And now all of a sudden, there's a chance for him to step forward and maybe increase the process of his maturation. And I think it's going to be really interesting to see how he deals with that these next couple weeks because that role that Ture had, that third down sort of pass rush specialist, wide open now for Banigou to go in and make it his own. Bobby Okereke is a guy I thought early on struggled a lot. The first couple games that he was out there

while Darius Leonard was on the sideline, they were not good. A lot of rookie mistakes, a lot of out of position moments. And then like just about the rest of the defense in Kansas City, you saw him really kind of put it all together and make his best performance of the year. I know he had one pass coverage in the end zone in particular that sort of was the highlight that made the rounds. And I think with him, you see the athleticism, you see the length,

you see him being the body type that they like among those linebackers. And so it'll be interesting to see with Darius Leonard back into the mold here, how that all fits with him. Will Bobby Okereke continue to see a decent amount of playing time? Will he see some time at Sam now? I think they like him in sort of nickel packages when they can bring Anthony Walker off the field and bring Okariki on. I think you'll see more and more of that happening as the year rolls on.

This rookie class certainly has been impressive, George, and not like 2018. I mean, we saw like superstar debuts from guys like Quentin Nelson and Darius Leonard, but this 2019 class certainly is bearing the fruits of their labor so far. I think long term, it's going to be a really solid class for this team. But another player I want to end with you, George, is Adam Vinatieri, who we were talking about a couple weeks ago at this point. The Falcons game might have been his last stand. He missed a couple kicks in that game.

He might have been cut the next day. And ever since then, he's only missed a 57-yard field goal attempt for a 46-year-old. I'm not going to blame him on that one. So he's pretty much been perfect so far since the onslaught Chris and me, he rightfully took over the first two weeks of the season. Are you impressed by how Vinatieri's rebound so far? Yeah, I'm not shocked because I think, you know, this is one of the best kickers, if not the best kicker in the history of the NFL. So you knew he had a lot of pride and you knew that if anybody could do it, this was the guy that could. I thought Kansas City was a major, major step for him

because a lot of those other games since the early struggles came at home. I think both of them actually came at home. And you know the conditions in Luke's Oil Stadium are going to be a little bit more favorable. So you don't have to worry about wind or rain or anything like that. Go out to Kansas City, a stadium that he struggled in in the playoff game. You know, that's really where a lot of this started.

A lot of questions about him began. And they absolutely needed every one of those kicks Sunday, two Sundays ago, obviously, to win that game. And I don't think there was even one that there was a question about. There wasn't even one that snuck in. They were all pretty much right down the middle. That's a big, big moment to check off for him because now you know, okay, he can do it in the elements too in the primetime games.

I don't know if everybody takes a deep breath quite yet, but definitely things trending back into the Adventurary that we've known for the rest of his career here in Indianapolis. Yeah, he has to keep this up the rest of the season because as we know with this team now, without Andrew Lockett quarterback and Jacoby Bursette there now, not really much mistakes could be made anywhere else. But speaking of Bursette, George, through five games so far,

he's averaged about 215 yards per game. He's kept the ball clean most of the time outside of the Tennessee game. It was probably his worst game in the turnover department. Oakland as well, he had a critical fourth quarter turnover there when they could have tied the game on that drive. But he's had some good games too. The Falcons game was a really good game for him. Maybe we'll see another one here soon.

What's been your thoughts on Jacoby Bursette? And do you think through a five-game sample size, do you think he's shown enough to this team where they can feel confident about maybe him being the answer? Maybe this time next year they might be having a guy like an Alex Smith patch for home situation a couple years ago where they're grooming their quarterback they drafted in the first round. Yeah, you know, that's going to be something that's going to be really

interesting to watch moving forward because we know what Chris Ballard's mentality is. We know that he's all about competition. We know that he's constantly looking to improve his football team in any way that he can. And, you know, I think even when Andrew Luck was the quarterback, he did things like go and trade for Jacoby Brissett and go and pick Chad Kelly up off the waiver wire.

You know, just things that maybe when you have a quarterback of Andrew Luck's stature, not a lot of other GMs would do because, oh, we got that position taken care of. We don't need to worry about it. If he did those things when Luck was here, I can only imagine what he's going to do with Perced or whoever else may be the quarterback in the future. I don't think you ever look at any position with Chris Ballard in charge and say it's salted away, that they're not going to do anything there. That being said, I think Perced has come out and been exactly the guy that they thought he would be.

They talked about, you know, from before Andrew Luck retired, how much respect they had for Jacoby Brissette, how much this locker room loves him, which is a real intangible thing. I mean, that's not just, a lot of times you just hear sort of, oh, everybody loves the quarterback, and it's just sort of everybody saying what they're supposed to say. You can see in so many different ways. Locker room is very much behind its quarterback. They really love Jacoby Bursette. I think a lot of that has to do with his competitive nature.

I mean, he's just a fiery kind of guy. I don't know if you saw the team's highlight video from the Chiefs win, but he goes walking, running in the locker room after that game and pretty much is screaming in Jim Irsay's face. That's Dakota. He's going to be that sort of emotions on his sleeve guy. And I think that the team has really responded to that. I think there's things you still need to see from him. I don't know outside of the Atlanta game. I don't know if he's really made a lot of big time throws, those sort of drive changing

throws where the offense is stalled and they need a jumpstart. Most often we've seen that come from the running game. It doesn't mean that you probably can't do it. I think he's got the football intelligence. He's got the arm strength. He's got all those things that you need. Some of that's just been that he hasn't been called upon to do it a lot. But we haven't seen a lot of that. It'll be interesting to see if we see more of that as the year goes on. And I think, you know, anticipation is the other thing.

I think there's been a couple, three opportunities for some deep balls, two of them with Deion Kane one in the Tennessee game the one against Kansas City that became pass interference calls one to Paris Campbell against Oakland where the receiver was open early and I felt like if Brissette threw the ball sooner and got it out there and let him a little bit more you could have the big play all three of them he kind of held on the ball a beat too long two of them ended their pass interference obviously one of them gets broken up you know that sort of thing i think that comes with experience though too you know i mean it's easy to forget he only has 23 starts as well he and he and quentin nelson have played the same

amount of games right now as far as that goes. So I think that we'll see how that evolves and how he's able to grow as a quarterback. I think you've seen a lot of good from him, a little bit of bad. But I still think the draft and free agency and that sort of stuff, it's going to come down to Ballard's feeling. I don't think he's necessarily out there prioritizing a quarterback i don't think if he's drawing up a list quarterback is one or two on his needs but i guarantee you if he sees a guy and frank reich sees a guy that

they feel like fits this scheme and can be a special guy they're not going to hesitate to pull the trigger and bring that guy in. Speaking of the draft, George, I'm glad you brought that up because we have just the last few questions for you before I let you go. And one of those is going to be on the draft. And through five games so far, what would you say are the biggest needs for this team in this draft class? Because that Redskins pick all of a sudden is looking really good. It might even be like top 35 in this draft. And maybe if the Colts have two top 35 picks that's a lot of ammunition for a trade-up or even for it to get to really quality maybe even day one starters yeah it's interesting when you look at where that Redskins pick falls right now because that's right in that

range where they picked up Darius Leonard where they picked up Braden Smith where they picked up Rocky Seen and I think it's going to be really interesting to see how they feel like they want to use that pick because there's very well could be a player there that they like a lot. And somebody I think that they feel like they can get a lot of production from. But as you mentioned, you know, I think if they want to trade up, they've got a lot of ammunition to do that this year on paper.

And we'll see how it all plays out. Obviously we're not even halfway through the year yet but um clearly they the redskins look like they're gonna hand over a pretty high pick the colts pick looks like it'll be towards the middle to later part of the round so there is ammunition there to move up if that's what they choose to do i don't know that you'll see a lot of moving up, though. I think with Ballard, if he's going up for somebody like he did for Kari Willis, it's going to have to be somebody that's just blown him away. He is very much of the put more bullets in the gun kind of mentality. The more chances you get, the better off you are,

the more chances you have to hit, and the better talent you're going to bring in. So I don't really – I still think he's more likely to trade down in any given scenario than he is to trade up. Last one here for you, George. Appreciate the time as always. And looking at the record, the Colts are 3-2 on the season. But if I told you in August, in mid-August, before the Andrew Luck news happened, that the Colts would be 3-2,

Andrew Luck hadn't yet to play, that they'd be starting to cover set and Darius Leonard would be missing over half those games what would you say yeah I would not have believed that especially with the Leonard part you know I think coming in when when no one was really certain about what the situation might be with Andrew and how much time he would miss I remember kind of looking at the schedule I'm thinking well if he misses the first month they two and two and two would be a good run through there. If Jacoby could split those four games, that would be good. Obviously, they got that done, but then to come back and beat the Chiefs, I think that's just, even though Houston went and did it as well, I think that's a big accomplishment that kind of lets you know that this team can play with some of the better teams in the AFC.

So I think what's interesting about the Colts at this point is we saw their ceiling against Kansas City, and that gives you the idea that they can go out and beat anyone on any given Sunday. But you saw their floor the week before that when they lost the race. So you understand this is a team that can do very, very good things, and it's a team that if it's not right and it's not ready, can go the other direction.

And I think that's what makes the last 10 games of the season so exciting to kind of wait and follow. Yeah, this upcoming Sunday against Houston, Texas, is going to be the game of the year for this team. I think if they win this game, they control their destiny for a division. And at this point, I believe if the Ravens lose to the Seahawks on Sunday, the Colts actually be the number two senior AFC at this point, if the Ravens lose and the Colts win.

So that'd be a pretty impressive start to the season for them. But until then, George, appreciate the time as always. You can follow him on Twitter at GM Bremer, read his work over the Harold Bulletin. And we'll be back with you guys tomorrow for next episode.