Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS -12/16- Indianapolis Colts Updated PFF Grades; Colts Points of Attack on Vikings

Episode Date: December 16, 2016

As the season comes to a close, some #Colts are showcasing their skills consistently while others have fallen off completely. Also, Matt narrows down a couple specific points of attack on this #Vikings team in which the Colts can increase their chances of another NFC North victory on the road. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

That's for my crazy day. My packed commute. All those unread emails in my inbox. But I'm getting stronger, faster, and pushing myself further every day. I don't care if I'm not like everyone else. This punching bag is the best way to end my day. Fearless is knowing yoga isn't your style. That's the power of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Federal Employee Program.

Learn more about our healthy benefits at fepblue.org slash getmore. No, I'm not for sale. You are lockeded On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back to Locked On Colts, ladies and gentlemen. I'm your host, Matt Dainley. And welcome to our Friday show for December 16th and if you guys didn't get a chance to hear the Locked On crossover with myself and Sam Ekstrom from Locked On Vikings,

please go back to Thursday's show and check that out. Pretty good stuff there. Sam does a good job and it was interesting to see kind of his take on both the Vikings and the Colts as they head into this matchup. Today we're going to do a little bit of a different, we usually do the pro football focus grades earlier in the week, but I decided to wait until Friday, kind of do that, and then maybe give you guys a little bit of insight on what my points are as to how the Colts need to attack the Vikings on both sides of the ball. A couple key areas there, and there's just a couple areas there where I think the Colts can really, really take over that game if at all possible. So let's get to this first. Right off the jump, Andrew Luck, number two overall still, even though after a bad showing this past week with a 90.7, he's number

two on the list. As you guys have noticed that Andrew Lux got a little dinged up with his shoulder and his elbow? I wouldn't look too much into that. Although you are going to see the fact that his, uh, shoulder, like I said, is, is a weekly thing pretty much, but that, uh, that elbow, I mean, the dude got hit 13 times. He's going to have some dings and scrapes and some bruises. So there's no doubt about that. That's not a good thing, but it's definitely not something that we wouldn't assume would happen when you get knocked to the ground 13 times. We go over to running backs.

Frank Gore still at 23rd with a 70.8 overall, right behind Ty Montgomery. Ty Montgomery's been pretty effective for the Packers. And Spencer Ware kind of surprises me that he's sitting above him. Spencer's a really solid back as well, but, you know, Frank's done his job this year. He's getting his yardage when he's needed. He's also been a capable receiver out of the backfield, got four scores this year already, and that's encouraging when you know that the Colts absolutely need a receiving threat out of the backfield. I think they've got a couple

other receiving threats on the roster there, but Frank's doing his job making him multi-dimensional, making it kind of hard for defenses to pick and choose what he's going to do. If he's in the game, they're not necessarily assuming he's going to be running the ball. So that's nice. We get over to wide receivers, T.Y. Hilton. He's number fifth overall with an 86.6 grade. T.Y. has continued to show that he is, despite his stature and physicality, he is one of the top receivers in the league.

And he'll continue to show that uh throughout his uh career i believe he's got six touchdowns on the year almost he's almost guaranteed seven touchdowns on a year it seems that's about his average and he's on pace to have his most uh his highest receiving yard total this year so uh ty definitely deserves the accolades for that and he's uh he's a threat no matter what. He's going to be awful important this week, too, and we'll get to that after the upgrades. Dante Moncrief's at 33rd overall with a 77.2. He's right in between Michael Crabtree and Jamison Crowder,

another couple of capable wide receivers. That's a good spot for him to be in. The rest of the Indianapolis receivers are pretty low. However, Chester Rogers is 97th overall with a 54.1. I'd like to see Chester get some more looks this week. I'd like to see him get more looks in general. And I think that he definitely has deserved it. And I think he's definitely one of the – I think he's the third best receiver on this team as we've seen when you look at how bad Dorsett has been this year. He's just been pretty terrible.

So I think that's definitely something that we need to focus on. Hopefully that they can use Chester a little more judiciously and get him in. One of those underrated guys that people won't expect to take over a game. Not that he could necessarily, is at that level yet. But he is certainly a guy who can take some pressure off of the top two guys. Jack Doyle's number 18th overall with tight ends with a 73.5 grade. Jack Doyle continues to impress. He deserves to be where he's at.

I think he deserves to be a little bit higher. And if the Colts start using him like they should and start, you know, making sure that he's getting the touches that he deserves, then he'll climb. He's a fantastic tight end. He's a guy who's going to be one of the featured guys in this offense next year, I think. And if he's not, he should be. And so it's hard to be one of the featured guys in this offense next year, I think. And if he's not, he should be. And so it's hard to tell what the coaching situation is going to be next year, but I think anybody who sees how effective he is in every aspect of his play,

he's definitely a guy I would feature in my offense personally. Dwayne Allen's 53rd overall with a 48.6, uh, below average, most definitely. And, uh, I think we can all agree that he is a below average tight end at this point. It's just a shame at how quickly he's fallen off, uh, fallen off the hill. You know, it's just, he was definitely a guy that we all had high hopes for. He's definitely a guy who's not going to be a guy that I think that anybody can really rely on at this point. He's just not consistent enough. We get to the tackles. Anthony Costanzo's 23rd overall with an 81.4 grade. I've said this before, and I'll say it again, only because it

seems to resurface every so often, but this offensive line, if you guys think it's bad now all the people that want Anthony Costanzo gone you have no idea how pathetic this offensive line would be without him I mean he's definitely been the best offensive lineman for this team until Muhort came into the picture and that's not even I mean it's not even close and he's still the second best or the first best. I mean, they're just right there. Left tackle is a position that is going to get a ton of the best. You're going to be facing the top pass rushers on that side every week. I mean, you know, they move and they rotate, but that's a demanding position,

and he does a pretty damn good job a lot of the time. So I think that we need to reel it back in a little bit on asking for Costanzo to go. There's a lot of people on this team that deserve to go. I don't think Costanzo is one of them, despite some of the shortcomings he shows sometimes. But Jack Muhort is 22nd among guards with an 80.3. He obviously is not going to be playing anymore, but that's something that we'll probably be able to avoid talking about is Muhort with these grades. And Joe Haag is at 65th with a 51, and Jonathan Harrison's at 70 with a 48.8. Denzel Good's at 74 with a 45.1.

A lot of those guys need to get better. I don't see any of those guys not being on this team next year, especially Harrison. I think I wrote a piece for FanRag Sports talking about how I think Harrison will be a guy they bring back despite his being a UDFA and not being a starter. He's quality depth at this point unless the Colts can severely upgrade their offensive line, which is going to be hard for them to do in one draft

unless they do phenomenal things within the offseason. You know, that's just something that the Colts have not really been able to do just in the blink of an eye. So let's take a quick break from that real quick. I want to talk to you guys about my man, Mike Ernest. Are you in the market to sell your home? If so, call Mike Ernest of Century 21 Sheets. Mike is an expert in the greater Indianapolis area real estate market and has helped people just like you achieve their real estate goals. As a professional realtor, Mike will not only help you navigate the real estate market, but he guarantees that he will sell your house for full market value or he'll pay you the difference. If you live in Indianapolis or any of We'll be right back. Listen, when it comes to selling your home, knowledge is power. The first step you need to take is figuring out exactly what your home is worth. Call Mike Earnest at 317-285-9691 for a no-obligation, hassle-free market analysis of your home.

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Not far. I think he was as high as 16th at one point. He's been as low as 27th or so, but he's kind of right in the middle there at 24th with a 78.2 grade. He's been pretty effective this year. I mean, when you consider everything, especially that he's a rookie, he's been a fantastic help, you know, among a bad offensive line. He's had his fair share of days as well, you know, like pretty much everybody on this team. But you have to assume and understand that he is the guy who's running that offense. So when it's he and Luck, these two guys are going to be linked together for quite a while, I think. And that's definitely a fantastic place to start. You can't knock Grigson

for taking him, regardless of where you drafted him. He's a quality center. He's a quality offensive lineman, and he's going to get significantly better year to year. So something to look forward to. Although, just like I said, he, among all the other linemen, have also had bad days for sure. When we get to the corners, Darius Butler is 21st with an 81.9. And I think, like I said, he continues to climb a little bit. And I think his is a lot due to his play at safety. I can't really, you know, at first I thought maybe that they were separating the two. But they haven't been because he continues to climb.

And he's played fewer snaps at cornerback over the weeks so I mean he he's far and away the Colts highest rated corner and he's a guy that the Colts I think need to bring back next year for that safety position period he's lost a step on the outside obviously I mean he's he's not going to cover a first or second wide receiver, and his slot coverage has gotten kind of spotty as well. So he's not a guy that I think that the Colts could bring back at corner, but he's definitely a guy they can bring back at safety. He's done fantastic back there. He has the traits at safety. You want a ball hawking guy. He's not a big hitter or anything like that, but he definitely can track the ball and definitely does a good job staying deep and keeping the receivers in front of him. Rashawn Melvin's the next guy at 70th with 71.2 overall.

He's another guy. Impressive for what he's brought to the team, and I just think that he may be a guy that they may want to bring back to as depth. Hopefully they can upgrade their cornerback core but you never know and if they can't significantly he might have to start or he may be a third or fourth guy on the depth chart. You just never know but I definitely like his chances to come back and be a depth guy at a minimum for the Colts next year. Mike Adams, he's 18th overall at safety with an 82.7 grade. Mike Adams, he's old, man, but he continues to play well. And he's a guy that if they bring him back,

they're going to have to bring him back on a short contract or a cheap contract. He's just getting too old. It's not that he hasn't played well, because he has. It's just not feasible to consider that he's going to continue to get older and not get hurt or be out for the season. The chances are just too high for that possibility. Obviously, Clayton Gethers is still in the top of the group. He's at 26th. there's several guys here all tied you know and he's literally two points behind some guys in the top 15 so I mean this is all very very close but we obviously aren't going to see Clayton anymore this year I'm excited for his future though and hopefully his injury isn't too serious and they just were being cautious by putting him on IR.

I'm excited to watch what he brings in the future. Now we get to linebackers. Edwin Jackson is a top guy, and he's 74th with a 46.3. And then DeQuell Jackson, who's done for the season with a 43. The Colts linebacking core is something that the Colts absolutely have to upgrade on. And I think they need to upgrade on it, upgrade it, rather, through the draft and in free agency. I don't think that they can afford not to take care of that linebacking core. It's just something that's too weak, too consistently bad, and they don't have enough coverage guys and they need a guy who can be both

a coverage guy and a guy who can plug holes and stop the run and they definitely don't have enough of that. We get to the interior defensive line and T.Y. McGill's top for the Colts with at 39th overall with a 75.3. Again not a guy you're going to see a bunch in the stats category, but he's a guy who continually does his job, continually is taking up multiple blockers. I'm really excited about his future. Hopefully the Colts keep him around because he's one of the guys who have done their job consistently up front. Hassan Ridgway, he's looked fantastic lately. I mean, we should all be excited about this guy's future, to be honest with you. He's at 59th overall with a 55.6. Fantastic draft pick, as far as I'm concerned at this point. I just hope that when we look at defensive draft picks,

that Henry Anderson's fallen off quite a bit. Hopefully that's resulted from injury, you know, from the beginning of the year and stuff like that. Maybe he's just not back all the way, but he looks so good last year and he's really been virtually unnoticeable in this season. So hopefully Hassan Ridgway continues to point upward, doesn't have a fall off in his sophomore season like a lot of guys have and I'm excited about that guy I mean right now I'm applauding him as another fantastic draft pick there hasn't been enough of those for sure for the Colts so let's hope that that continues for him and that he can become something that is a mainstay up front in that front four for the Colts because they absolutely need it. We get to the edge guys and it's Akeem Ayers at 59, 73.4. Again, a guy who

was brought in not at the beginning of the season, but during the season, and he is far and away the Colts best edge guy. This is, you know, you can applaud for bringing him in, but it's hard to be happy about the fact that they were so passive on it in the offseason and didn't do anything to make any legit moves, you know, with bringing a guy in like that. Again, another position, probably with free agency and the draft. They have to solidify this position, most definitely. Eric Walden's at 102nd with a 42.1, leads the team in sacks.

Definitely a guy who has outplayed his expectations at the time. $4 million a year was a lot for what he was going to bring. Right now, $4 million a year is probably a pretty good price for what he does with the rise in salary cap. So if they want to bring him back, I have no problem with that. Although he is getting older too. I think he's going to be 31 next year. Something, you know, not a long-term contract, just another guy. Hopefully Eric Walden will be depth next year. I would like to see a team in Indianapolis and especially an edge position where Eric Walden is at depth and not a starter. Robert Mathis, he's probably gone this year. He's very quiet. He's getting way too old to be effective and he's getting injured too often.

He's 107th with a 40.5. I think he's done for the year. I'm sorry, I think he's done in Indianapolis after this year, and that wouldn't surprise me or upset me. He's just not the same guy since his big year, and you just have to wonder how much whatever he was putting in his body actually had to do with it, regardless of the reason for what he was, that he was doing it or otherwise. So, well, there's our PFF grades for the Colts as they get ready to head into Minnesota. And so now let's get a little more in depth about this matchup. I'm not going to go into several different areas or anything like that. I'm going to give you a point on each side of the ball where the Colts can attack and we'll go from there. Now, as far

as offensively, the Colts obviously are going to have to put up some sort of a protection wall against this defense because this defense is the real deal. When the Colts go in and try to take these guys out, they're going to have to come up with some plays to where they can both be moving the chains, and they're going to have to be constantly looking to strike on this defense because they can't do the 3, 4, five, six yard pass every single time and expect to continue

to move the chains. They're going to have to use Doyle. They're going to have to have a really consistent game plan, first of all, and it's going to have to be a solid game plan. It's going to have to be intelligent. It's going to have to be able to be applicable for what their goal is. And their goal in this game, offensively, should be to attack the middle of the field 15 yards down the field with T.Y. Hilton. It could also be with Moncrief. It could also be with Chester Rogers. I don't know, and I don't care who it is, but my guess is that it'll be T.Y. because T.Y. can get behind anybody, and without Harrison Smith back there patrolling the middle of the field headhunting, this is going to be a vulnerability in this defense.

Now Jacksonville, we talked to Sam Ekstrom yesterday, and if you listen to what he said, Jacksonville did not attack that void in the defense very well. Although they were still somewhat successful on offense, they didn't attack the biggest weakness on the field that's the biggest weakness on the field also Trey Waynes he's been out this week so far and he may be you know we're either going to be facing a backup to him or we could be facing a less than 100 percent Trey Waynes this is also a point where they go so basically the way that the Colts are going to have to score is their receivers. Their receivers looked terrible last week.

They've got to bounce back and have a fantastic week, and they've got to be able to attack the weak spots in this defense, mainly where Harrison Smith would normally be roaming, and they've got to attack the second or third corner depending on who's in the game. Now, defensively, the Colts are going to be going up against an offensive line that's about as porous as theirs. This offensive line has been a major issue especially right over the top of T.J. Clemmings. This is where they need to get smart. The Colts have to dial up some things that they haven't dialed up much of the

year they if they have to go uh stunt off the one edge or the other to get TJ Clemmings but this guy has been beat hand over fist by sing I mean in man up you know what I mean he's been he just looks terrible when Lance Lewis played for, I remember watching him get beat every single snap. And I constantly was saying he is the worst offensive lineman in football at that time. Then he went to the Colts, go figure, right? But every time I watched TJ Clemmings, that's exactly what I think now of him. So hopefully he's not coming to the Colts anytime. I'm just saying that he's just a guy who is an absolute glaring, big, flashing red weak spot on their offensive line. Their offensive line is pretty bad in general, but Clemmings is the guy they need to attack that side because he just can't do it. I mean, even a decent edge rusher, he can't handle him.

His hand movement or his hand placement is terrible. He, I mean, one move, one swim move, and he is absolutely done. And his back is already to the rusher who's behind him. So that's a definite area they need to do. Not to mention, when they're using these linebackers that they have right now, we're going to have Antonio Morrison and Edwin Jackson probably starting again. Earlier when DeQuel Jackson was still in the lineup, they were using Edwin Jackson every now and again to jump the snap count, get up there and try to slip through the line. They need to do a little bit of that this time too. Try to get to Sam Bradford early, get a hat on him in a hurry, and try to just totally disrupt

him from the first five minutes of the game. It'll be crucial because he's an accurate quarterback. He's not a super big weapon going downfield or anything like that, but if they can get in on him immediately, early, and often, the Colts may have a chance in this game. I don't have the Colts winning as of now. I think I had them getting beat 28-24 because I just have this bad feeling that the Vikings are going to get a defensive score. Let's hope not. But those are two areas, not just their offensive line,

but specifically over T.J. Clemmings that the Colts defense can attack and the Colts offense can attack the middle of the field. They're deep, about 15 to 20 yards deep, whether it's some deep square ends or whether it's a post, you know, with TY where they're running off coverage elsewhere. Harrison Smith is one of the biggest parts of this defense, and without him in there, they have a chance. They may see an Anthony Harris backing him up or some other guys, depending on where they go.

But if they go single high, look for Andrew Luck and T.Y. to try to strike right off the jump in a big way. So that's where I think the Colts are going to go. What do you guys think? Please hit me up at LockedOnColtsPod at gmail.com. Get me on LockedOnColts. You can get me, myself, at mdanley__nfl. Thank you guys for listening this week.

I hope you guys enjoyed the shows. Thank you guys. I'll be here every week, five times a week. I hope you guys will join me each time. Please subscribe to the podcast. Go give us a rating and review. And let us know what you think of the show. I really appreciate it. When I say let us, I mean me. I want to know what you guys think. You like the stuff that we're putting up? If you like the interviews that we do, if you want to see more of something,

I've already gotten a lot of requests for more draft stuff and we'll get to that. I just feel like we're going to waste the offseason with these shows if we do it a little bit too early. We know the areas of need. We'll get into specific guys. We've got a lot of great talent that we can bring in and talk to that'll be a little more in depth about the draft than I will. I'll search out some certain guys in specific positions, but a lot of these guys that I plan to bring in in the offseason will absolutely have a bevy of guys that they'll want to talk about. So that'll be interesting. Can't wait to get into that, but continue to send me your suggestions. I really appreciate it and love to hear them. So thank you guys again

for joining me. This is all for this week for Locked on Colts. But I'll be back here on Monday to talk to you guys about the game. And I'll talk to you all then right here on Locked on Colts. You are Locked on Colts, your daily podcast on the Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your, every day. Napa know-how. It takes a lot to get excited about a bag, but most bags can't save you 20% on auto parts. That's 20% off headlamps, 20% off oil filters, 20% off virtually anything you can

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