Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS -12/23- Jam Packed Friday Show: Stats to Know, Colts Top PFF Grades & Josh Wilson (@JoshWilsonSB) Weighs In On Saturday's Matchup

Episode Date: December 23, 2016

After looking deeper into this matchup, the #Colts have an interesting opportunity to steal one Saturday. Matt gives you some interesting stats to know heading into the matchup, goes through the Colts with top-20 PFF grades and Josh Wilson from Stampede Blue joins the show to weigh in on what we could in Oakland Saturday. 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 we are all set. This is our Friday show. We are getting set for Saturday's game against Oakland Raiders, and I'm telling you, the more I look at this, folks, the more I think that the

Colts actually have a shot at stealing this. So I'm going to run you guys through some stats that are, you know, you can take stats for a grain of salt. You actually see what you see on the field with both of these teams and you kind of know what to expect. But I'm going to take you through some stats that I think are going to be pretty important come game time Saturday. As we know, the Colts this week, you know, in the past couple weeks, it's been good offense for the Colts against bad defense for the opposition. And kind of an awkward setup with bad offense and bad defense for the Colts and the opposition on the other way. So tonight we're looking at a little bit different. We've talked to Bremer and we've talked to Ted Wynn and we've talked to these guys about this. This is two

offenses playing two very suspect defenses now. So it's a little bit of a different outlook this Saturday. But this, you know, it is a huge game for the Colts, obviously. But it's a big game for Oakland, too, and they're at home. And that's, you know, that's a little scary in itself. And I'll tell you guys a little bit about that. But let's look at it first. You've got Derek Carr, Amari Cooper, Crabtree, Murray. They've got their playmakers. They've got one of the best offensive lines in the league. The defense for the Indianapolis Colts is going to have to do a couple things. They're going to have to stop the run first and foremost.

They're going to have to be able to D up on Crabtree. They're going to have to be able to more than likely put somebody over the top to help on Amari Cooper. And they've got to be able to help in the slot, and we've got to be able to cover like we have been. Darius Butler is going to be important in this game. You've seen him lay a couple licks playing that safety role, and that's what he's doing well at.

I mean, that's something he's going to be doing in the future. So this is something that we need to be excited about and accept, and I'm all for it. And so he's going to have a big role, and this may be a breakout game for Butler. I mean, when you look at it, like I said, they're going to have to have somebody over the top on one of these guys to help out, whether it's Crabtree or Cooper. And whoever it is, it doesn't matter. If it's on Butler's side, I think their Colts are going to be in good shape. Opposite that, we're going to have Mike Adams. He's probably going to be helping a little bit more in the running game. They'll have TJ Green there. He's looked pretty good as of late, especially in run support. It was a really big game this past week for the Colts

and they showed what they can do despite as many negatives as this defense has shown us throughout the season so far. Henry Anderson looked like he came back to play. T.Y. McGill was fantastic. The linebackers looked pretty good. I mean, Morrison looked decent. Edwin Jackson looked pretty good. It was something that we would love to see every week, you know.

But this is going to be a huge test. Carr is as good as anybody at reading the field, diagnosing pre-snap and post-snap. He's definitely improved in all those areas. This is going to be a workload, you know. Conversely, the Colts offense against this defense, this is going to be one of the most dynamic pass rushes the Colts have seen all year. I mean, probably since the Denver Broncos game or even, you know, or even maybe, you know, what would have been, would have been the Chiefs, you know, or something like that. But this is going to be a big, a big, big, big, big challenge for this Colts offensive line. And a couple things. Since week nine, the Colts have allowed 54 quarterback hits.

That's 9 a game. Previous to that, weeks 1 through 8, they only allowed 57 hits on luck. That's just over 7 a game. So they're actually not blocking quite as long, but it looks like they're blocking enough to give luck time to release the ball. And this proves it here. They've given up only 9 sacks since week nine. That's just at one and a half a game, whereas previously, weeks one through eight,

they'd given up 31. That's almost four a game, 3.87. So something, and those two, you would think those two stats would kind of coalesce and would go together, but they certainly don't. Another thing, and this is where the Colts' defense is so important right here, is that at home, the Raiders have been fantastic. They have only been held under 27 points one time at home this season. Okay, the Colts can't give up 27 points and expect to win this game, I don't think, especially with that pass rush, because if that's the point and the Raiders are getting 27 points against the Colts, that means the Colts are going to be passing a lot and that means the Raiders are going to be

able to dial up a ton of blitzes and a bunch of stunts and everything else and that's not going to be good for this offensive line. On the defensive side, the Raiders have 12 sacks since week 11. The past five weeks, 12 sacks. That's over two a game. So I mean that's an area that the Colts absolutely have to take care. Lutt can't get smashed regardless whether he's getting sacked or not, but we can't have, you know, three and four sacks in this game because if we do, the Colts are going to lose. I mean, they just can't because that all, I mean, that just brings so many of the things to the surface. That brings interceptions, fumble opportunities, everything. That means that the Colts wide receivers are not getting open. That means that the offensive line is not blocking well, or a combination of the two. But there's some

things here on the Raiders that will allow us to see that the Colts offense really does have a chance if they can dial up the right packages, the right game plan, and everything else, especially on offense. Basically on defense, we just have to hope that the team can stop the run just a little bit and not give up a bunch of big plays. So let's check this out. The Raiders are allowing 6.1 yards per play. That's worse than the NFL. They're 39% on third down conversion rate defensively. That's average, nothing great. There's a lot of teams that are around that area. It's pretty average for the league, so they're susceptible on third downs.

Now, the Colts obviously have to be really good on first and second down. We've talked about that almost all year. It's a necessity. They have to get six, seven yards a lot on first down and second down. That's just a need. It's a no-brainer. Defensively, the Raiders have given up 54 20-plus yard plays. Also, they've given up 14 plays throughout the season of 40-plus yards. Those are both league's worsts. So the Colts definitely have an opportunity here, and we talked to Ted Wynn. He said he thinks that going into that quarters

coverage where they leave the two safeties deep is going to be key for them trying to stop T.Y. Hilton and the Colts receivers. The Colts receivers have to be on their P's and Q's. They have to run great routes. The offensive coordinator, Chudzinski, he's got to dial up some really interesting route combinations and packages and try to deceive the secondary of this Raiders team because they are a team that can turn the ball over. That's

no doubt. I mean, they've shown that in the past, but they have a real susceptibility to the deep ball and they have real susceptibility to big plays. So something the Colts and this offense is known for, and if they can do it and they can block and they can do what they need to, then the Colts have a real chance here of drawing up some big plays. They've given up 23 passing touchdowns this year. That's 19th in the league. That's actually tied with Indy. So, I mean, whatever you think of the Colts' secondary

and their passing defense, this Raiders defense is just as susceptible. They've also given up 16 rushing touchdowns throughout the season. That's 24th in the league. So they're air or ground. This Colts offense should be able to eat. You know, I mean, in theory, this Colts team is going up basically against a defense, despite the pass rush differences between the two, very similar in passing and rushing statistics. So this is definitely a team that they can eat on for sure. Also giving up 109.6 rushing yards per game. That's 25th in the league. Not only that, but they're giving up 4.6 yards per rush. So, I mean, this is a team, this is a defense more than anything that the Colts can exploit. I mean, they can exploit them

deep. They can exploit them for big plays. They can exploit them on the ground. They can beat them on third down conversions. And their first down and second down plays are really what they really need to focus on. And that third down rate will come. Other than that, I mean, it's hoping for the offense to be on cue, and it's hoping for this defense just to create a few plays and be able to stop the run. They basically have to shut down Latavius Murray. If they can stop that first and foremost, they'll force Carr into a situation we've seen so many times from Andrew Luck where he has no choice

but to sit back and try to pass. That's when accidents and incidents happen. That's when turnovers come. That's when bad things happen. When you have no running game, you're not a serviceable offense, and you have to be one-dimensional. That's something that the Colts have seen and we've seen as fans for so long, and that's something that basically we're going to see on Saturday, or at least we hope that we do. You know, every team's capable of pulling the switch, the Jekyll and Hyde. The Colts have been great about that. And the Colts have certainly had their days where they've played really well,

and they've had their days where they've been just awful and just needed to get off the field. So we've got a couple different things going right now. It's going to be very interesting to see what we're going to see on the field. So we've got a couple different things going right now. It's going to be very interesting to see what we're going to see on the field, which team is going to show up. The Colts have been better on the road this year than at home, and the Raiders have been better at home than they have been on the road. So it's going to be two teams that are really playing in kind of the better of environments, you know. It'd be strange. I'm excited for this

game. It could be an absolute one for the season. Could be one of the better games that the Colts have this year, and let's just hope that it's not a stinker. I mean, we don't want to see that from really either team for the most part, but don't get me wrong. I'd love to see the Colts just blow out the Raiders. However, I think we both know that that's not going to be the case. Let's jump into some pro football focus grades. I'm not going to go through all of them right now, just kind of go through where the Colts are, where some one of the Colts are in the top 20 or so. Andrew Lux still at number two with a 91.8 overall grade, only behind Tom Brady, and he's right above Matt Ryan. What can you say? Lux

been fantastic this year and earlier. If you guys listened to the interview with George Bremmer, if the Colts were 10-4, those three games that we've talked about so often recently were flip-flopped. Andrew Luck would be in the MVP conversation like every single day, and he would have certainly made the Pro Bowl. I just don't think that's something that would even be second-guessed. Now, we're going to keep somewhere within the top 20 here, but Frank Gore's

at 22nd. He's hopped up a spot, so that's mainly why I'm going to him for the running backs, but he's been fantastic this year, in my opinion. He's only 109 yards away from 1,000. I think he's going to get it, and he deserves everything he gets, as far as I'm concerned. At that guy's age, still plowing through people, still making big runs when it counts, still giving the Colts that extra dimension to the offense, allowing the, uh, the running game to be something that people actually have to at least pay attention to. Um, and, and, you know, they have to game plan for him because he's a big bruising guy. So, uh, moving on to wide receivers, TY Hilton, he's fifth now, uh, now with an 86.4 overall grade. It's great to see him having such a great year. He's also on the line for a bunch of career bests this year. So it's

kind of a weird year for the Colts as we've talked about so many times. Among tight ends, Jack Doyle is 17th with a 74.7 overall. Great, great season for Jack Doyle. We want to see him a lot. We want to see him in the future. We want to see him a lot. We want to see him in the future. We want to see him a lot in the next couple weeks, too, just tearing teams up. Ryan Kelly's 19th overall was among the centers with an 80.7 grade. That's a really good spot for him as a rookie, and we've seen how well he's done this year calling the plays. He's ultimately going to be Andrew Luck's, you know's twin, and they're going to have to work together for the next several years, at least we hope so. Darius Butler,

17th overall among cornerbacks with an 82.6. Great season for him this year. Like I said, we've said several times, especially with him playing a lot of the safety role. He's a ball hawk. He's somebody that we want to see come back and almost be signed as a safety. That to me is something that needs to happen and would be a great addition to this team, especially if they can improve in their cornerback cores in the offseason. Mike Adams is 13th among safeties with an 85.3 grade. Again, what can you say about that guy at his age? I mean, what a guy, what a player, what a big time help for this team, for him to stay healthy and to make plays. And it's just something that we haven't seen, you know, from a guy from that age. We've seen Mathis drop in

productivity. This guy seems to be just continuing to do it. Racking turnovers up. Just amazing. So that's our pro football focus grades, at least our top of the line Colts right there in the top 20 for the most part. And we're going to get set for this game Saturday against the Oakland Raiders. And we're going to bring in Josh Wilson of Stampede Blue from SB Nation. We're going to talk to him here in just a second. We're going to see what he's got to say about this game Saturday

and where his thoughts are at with the game. And we have Josh Wilson on the line from SB Nation's Stampede Blue covering the Indianapolis Colts. Josh, how you doing, man? Thanks for joining us. I'm doing well. Thanks for having me on. Absolutely.

Anytime. Appreciate you stopping by. Now, as you know, this is a big game for the Colts. They're in a real sticky situation here with only two games to go, sitting at.500. They have a chance to get in, but, you know, they need a lot of help. And this is one of the AFC's top teams they're going up against. But I've noticed and I've kind of pointed out some of their weaknesses on defense and so on.

But what are you getting? What are your thoughts, your first initial thoughts behind this game? Well, I mean, my first thoughts are the Colts really don't have any business winning this. I mean, you look at what the Raiders have done this year, especially offensively. They're 11-3, leading what might be the toughest division in football. I mean, when you look at it first glance, you're like, okay, this is just a loss for the Colts. But I think you look closer at it, and I think this is actually a more winnable game than even I thought coming into the season or early in the season.

Because you look at Oakland, and like you were saying, they do have some weaknesses, particularly on the defensive side of the football. And that kind of plays right into the Colts' hand because their offense is their strength. I mean, you know their defense is going to give up some points. So they're going to give up some points to Oakland no matter who it is, whether it's Oakland or Houston with Brock Osweiler. I mean, defense is going to give up some points, so they're going to give up some points to Oakland no matter who it is, whether it's Oakland or Houston with Brock Osweiler. I mean, they're going to give up some points, so if you put them against a defense

that's not that great, odds are you're hoping that Andrew Luck in that offense is going to be able to score, and then they might be able to outscore them, because even you look at Oakland recently, they haven't been scoring a ton, and it all goes back to, I think, Derek Carr's injury ever since then. He hasn't exactly been the same guy. I mean, they haven't been scoring a ton. And it all goes back to, I think, Derek Carr's injury. Ever since then, he hasn't exactly been the same guy. I mean, they're still a very dangerous offense, to be sure,

especially going against this Colts defense. But I think you look at it like that, and you say, the Colts should be able to score some points against Oakland. And the question is, are the Raiders going to be able to score enough? And that kind of sounds crazy because of how good they've been offensively. But I think that's the question going in. With Carr and his injury and their offense, are they going to be able to score enough to outscore the Colts? And of course, we don't know what to expect from Indy's offense. They've been inconsistent all year, really. But

they are the strongest unit, and Oakland's defense is their weaker unit. So I think on paper, this matchup actually could wind up being closer than some might think just looking at the records. Yeah. And I, and I tend to agree. And you know, for some crazy reason, I tend to, I haven't been putting Derek Carr's finger injury into the mix here, but they've, they haven't scored less than 27 at home all season, the Raiders, and they're giving up 6.1 yards per play. I actually alluded to this in the earlier portion of the show, and they've got some real weaknesses in the secondary. They're giving up both the 20-yard and the 40-yard play situations. They've given up the most in the league in that area.

So this is definitely a defense that can give up some big, big plays, and they're going to be a suspect when it comes to Andrew Luck in this offense, depending on, like you said, which, which team shows up? Is this the team where they spread the ball around where they're getting four and a half, five yards of carry out of the back field between Gore and Turbin and those guys? Or is this the team that where they force feed, you know, Dwayne Allen, the ball, and, you know, there's no consistency up front on the defensive line and they're just, you know, kind of going at will. Oh, absolutely.

And I think the thing you mentioned, too, with Oakland giving up a lot of big plays, that could be huge for the Colts because we know that their offense is at their best when they're hitting those big plays and when they hit a couple of those per game. And T.Y. Hilton is as good as it gets on those deep plays and when they hit a couple of those per game and T.Y. Hilton is as good as it gets on those deep plays so I think if the Colts can really get those going and you're going to have to give luck enough time you're going to have to run the ball well enough to buy that time and things like that but I think if you can get those big plays going which we've seen Oakland be susceptible to sometimes this year I think that could be huge for the Colts often because of how key that can be to them really thriving offensively.

And I talked to Ted Wynn earlier in the week, and he was saying that it's kind of a crazy situation because they're not a poor tackling team. They just get beat deep, and he said that basically they don't trust their corners. And this could be a huge week for that. Something else that I wanted to talk to you about and kind of get your brain active, you know, kind of pick your brain on is the Colts offensive line. And since week nine has only given up nine sacks, that's about a sack and a half a game. They gave up 31 between weeks one and eight, which is almost four a game. But the real thing here that just kind of throws me off is basically they're still giving up more QB hits

in that same span of the only given up nine sacks than they were earlier in the year. They only gave up 57 quarterback hits. What would be your explanation for that? Because I can't really relegate which it is. Is it that they're just not blocking quite long enough and they're allowing too many hits? Or are they just allowing just enough time or is luck escaping the pocket? You know, it's hard for me to really get my mind wrapped around that. Yeah, definitely. I think it's a complex issue, I think, because there's so many aspects of it that have to go into the equation. I mean, you've got this offensive line on the one hand looks like they're doing a better job because they're not getting up the sacks.

And then, like you said, they're also giving up quite a few hits still. And you look at the Houston game as a perfect example of that just two weeks ago. So they're a work in progress. And I think the best way to describe it is they're going to have some moments where they look like, OK, this is a good unit. And then they're going to have some moments where it's like, oh my goodness, Andrew Luck's running for his life. And there's going to be everywhere in between from those. And I think last week kind of showed a good example of some of the things they've been doing a little bit better and some of the things they can still work on.

But I think you see that the linemen are gelling. They're getting better. They're getting more experience, especially the young guys. I mean, you've got Ryan Kelly starting in there at center all year long, and he's been a very solid player. You've got last week Lil' Raven Clark stepping in for the first time. You've got several of his rookies, Joe Hagan, there every week. So I think you've got guys keeping on getting better, and they're not great.

They're not perfect yet by any means, but you've got them continuing to get experienced that's one aspect of it i think you've also got the aspect of the play calling and it's been up and down this year in terms of protecting andrew luck but earlier in the year if you remember there's a huge debate about if andrew luck holding the ball too long and i think part of that was they're running an offense that's long dropbacks or longer developing plays, but he's going to get hit some. So I think, especially last week, you saw the Colts go to a quicker passing game, for the most part, that helped Luck get the ball out of his hands faster

to help that offensive line. I think they've been doing some more of that recently. There's still, you know, you can complain or debate how much of it they're doing, how much of it they're helping Luck, because they do need some of those deep balls. But I think there's been some sort of shift, at least to a certain degree, in play calling to help get the ball out quicker. And I think you have to add in the play of Andrew Luck. And last week, I was writing about this a few days ago, about the play of the line,

and there was a few plays where they did allow quite a bit of pressure, and Luck got out of it. So I think you have to acknowledge that Luck is, I think, that's one of his best attributes. One of the biggest things he brings to the table is his pocket presence, his ability to evade pressure. And I mean, there would be so many more sacks if you take Luck's ability to maneuver the pocket out of the equation. So I think Luck plays a big role in it as well. So I think when you add all that together, you add the line gelling together,

and really they haven't had much continuity at all. So they're not getting the chance to gel together, I guess, but they're getting more experience. I think that's an aspect of it. I think Rob Jasinski is starting to learn a little bit how to protect Andrew Luck a little bit better, and we saw that last week. And then I think you add Luck into the equation to say he's going to be able to get out of some of the pressure that they allow.

And I think that's probably the biggest thing when you're pointing to the difference between hits and sacks. I think Luck might be the biggest part of that because he's able to get out of it somewhat. But overall, it's a work in progress. They're not going to be perfect. They're not going to be great. And you're going to have a game like you had against Houston, and then the week after have a game like you had against Minnesota,

and that's just who they are. They're going to be inconsistent. They're going to give up some plays, but I think overall you can start to see a few signs pointing toward progress. And like you mentioned, Chudzinski's really, it feels like he may be starting to grab a hold of where this Colts offense can really accentuate their strengths. And I think that no other – I mean, if route – what word am I looking here for? If the construction of these routes is any indication at all, the slant and go, slant and flag, whatever kind of slant and corner combination you really want to call that, touchdown to door set. That was a beautiful route and it worked fantastically against a two safety look. You had Frank Gore out into the flats.

Dorsett runs off his initial coverage, basically looks like he's taken like a deep slant and the safety comes up to take the flat. And then you see him break that out into a corner route. And it just completely made force the opposite, say the safety to the opposite side of the field have to come over and cover. And that is a lose-lose situation with Andrew Luck's vision and the speed of Dorsett, as long as he catches the ball, of course. But that was, I think that was one of the best designed pass plays of the year for the

Colts. And they've had some really, really nice ones. But that to me, just watching that over and over again, I just could not believe how perfectly it worked against that defense. And especially a Vikings defense for no other. I mean, granted, they were without Harrison Smith, but that was a fantastic drawn-up play, and it just really showed me that he's paying attention to how to get these safeties to bite on other coverages as well. Another thing that I wanted to point out is the Colts have been up and down with their scoring, too, and it's just kind of been mind-boggling. You know, 31 against the Packers in week nine 24 against the Titans then they dropped to seven and then 41 against the Jets

granted it's the Jets 17 against the Texans which was ridiculous and then back up to 34 against the Vikings and it just seems like it they absolutely need that continuity in play calling, and they need the intelligent design, and so on and so forth. Luck has to be good at the line of scrimmage, and so many things have to come together for this offense to really flourish. And it looks like as long as we can get Moncrief back to full health, that he's more of just, I mean, because he almost seems like he's been relegated to just a red zone threat this year. It just seems like this offense is so much better than it's performed if you look at week one through 15. The last several weeks, they've definitely

shown some signs of just exploding, and that's just a wonderful thing to see. Conversely, this defense, it almost looks like Monachino might be starting to get his wheels and gear as well, especially without DeQuell Jackson running the middle of the show. I really thought that Antonio Morrison and Edwin Jackson played a fantastic game inside linebackers. And that's something that the Colts haven't seen for the majority of this season as far as in coverage and being a wholesale inside linebacking core. What are your thoughts on them? On the inside linebacker, I agree with you.

I thought they played very well last week after a very rough game the week before. So I think, again, going back to what I said about the opposite line, they're a work in progress. I think that's the same thing with these inside linebackers, with Edwin Jackson and Antonio Morris. And I think both of those guys, I mean, especially you look at Jackson, I mean, he can be a thumper. He can be a guy that's going to rack up those tackles

and kind of be a force there in the middle of the field. But I think both of those guys are solid prospects, if I can use that word. I think those guys are guys who, if they continue to work with, they can develop into decent players, but you're going to have to give them time. And so that's what I think, going back to last week's game, that's what was encouraging to see is that they were able to play there when it was really their second week playing in that huge role together. I think it was encouraging to see is that they were able to play there when it was really their second week playing in that huge role together I think it was encouraging to see that in just their second week and I think that you got to give credit to Ted Monachino like you said and some of those other coaches because they were doing well and especially I think you've got to look at the aspect that you

lose with DeQual Jackson of the communication on the field and I think that could be an underrated thing that isn't really talked about a lot because DeQual Jackson's kind of helping them getting the right player making sure they're doing the right things they're out there on the field and so now these young inside linebackers have to step up and fill that role and we can't know for sure if they're really getting the calls right on each play but for the most part last week it looked like the guys were knowing their assignments knowing what they're supposed to do and I think that also has to has to go to the coaching staff and to these young players to say they know what they're doing they know what their role is and they're going to make some mistakes at times I mean they're going to show some of that inexperience or that youth but I think you've got

to give them time you've got to know they aren't they aren't going to be great right away you look at the Houston game and then they they were not great at all. They gave up quite a few plays in the run game. And then you look at the week after, and they play well. And so you're saying there's something here we can work with if we keep developing it. And so I think that's really encouraging to see for the Colts. And I think you've got to give a lot of credit to the coaching staff

being able to say this obviously isn't what we were hoping for. We weren't hoping to have the Cole Jackson suspended here, but we're going to make do with what we have and try to get the best out of these players, and last week they did. I totally agree with you. And one of the things that I think that we noticed, or a couple things that we noticed, even from as early as camp, was how much Edwin Jackson looked like a player.

And then on the other hand, how absent-minded Morrison could be at times and how he just completely loses his assignment and loses his mind, it seemed like, out on the field. He's always been, since we've seen him anyways, a fantastic run defender as far as being able to put a lick on somebody. But the question has always been, is he going to be in the right place? And I just think that they really showed out this past weekend. I just hope that wasn't a mirage. I really want to see that from those guys, because that not only leads to, you know, we're going to see two more good games out of the inside linebacking core, but hopefully that leads to, look what we've got next year. Regardless of how they draft or how the free agency goes or who they cut or who they don't,

that leads to depth at a very minimum at that position, and that's something that the Colts haven't had for a while. Oh, absolutely. That would be huge. I mean, if you can go into next year knowing at least we have these two guys that we can count on, and no matter what else happens, we at least have these two guys that are reliable there, that would be huge. And you're right, going back to camp, we kind of saw this too. I mean, Edwin Jackson was the guy that really stood out.

And even listening to Chuck Pagano talk, even throughout the summer, you could kind of tell this was the guy they had their eyes on. And then Morrison, obviously, they liked him in the draft too. And we saw earlier this year, even when Morrison had to step in, some of what you were talking about too, there was a lot of mistakes earlier. And so I think even looking at the comparison between Morrison early in the year and where he was last week, you can see a lot of improvement. And you can see, especially he knows, it looks like he knows more what he's doing. It looks like he's become more used to the defense. It looks like he's able to see his role. And so, again, don't want to make too much out of one game, but it was impressive, and especially comparing to where he was earlier in the year,

I think that's encouraging to see. I agree. It's just something you're hopeful for at this time because of what we've seen from that position over the past several weeks and at least for that matter the past couple years. Now, I know what my thoughts are. I think this has become almost pretty popular, or I wouldn't say popular, but at least an accepted thought that Darius Butler needs to be back in Indianapolis next year,

but he needs to be in a safety role. What are your thoughts? Well, I agree with that. I think absolutely you've got to bring Butler back. And you look at the cap space the Colts are going to have or are projected to have, and you look at really the other free agents they have to sign, and you can make a solid case, Butler's at the very top of that list with a couple others you could argue.

But I don't really think there's any way you shouldn't bring Darius Butler back. And then you have a guy who this year has played phenomenal football from the slot in the cornerback position, and a guy who's shown the ability to play safety. So you've got that versatility that the Colts absolutely love I mean how many times we heard them talk about versatility from their players they love that um so you've got you've got a guy who can play as a slot corner and play as a safety and I think next year especially you've got some questions in the secondary are you going to bring back Mike Adams you know what's going to go on there how's TJ Green going to

develop what about Patrick Robinson how's he going to do at corner? I mean, you've got some questions there in the secondary. And so having a guy like Butler who can play there in the slot at the cornerback position and who can play there at safety, and that's probably where he would be slotted if they do bring him back, at least initially, because you'd have, again, depending on what happens with Mike Adams, you'd have Clayton Gethers at one spot.

And then if they don't bring back Adams, you'd have Butler and TJ Green at the other spot. So at the very minimum, you can't go into next year expecting T.J. Green to be the sole starter at that one position. No matter how much you hope he develops, you've got to have another option, and I think Butler could be a very solid guy right there. So I think there's no way you shouldn't bring Butler back.

I mean, he shouldn't get a ginormous salary in free agency or anything like that, and the Colts have the money to bring him back. And so I think if you can add a guy in that secondary, especially with some of the questions they're going to have, who can play those two spots and who has done a solid job at safety this year. I mean, he's been impressive. I mean, you look at the play he made last week. Was it the one where he ended up getting penalized for?

Yeah, he caught up on that. That big hit. Yeah. Oh, that was a great play. That was phenomenal by Butler. And unfortunately, he got penalized for it. But, I mean, you look at some of those plays like that that Butler has, and I think absolutely you've got to bring him back next year,

wherever he's going to play. Or if you're just saying he'll just be a defensive back and wherever we need him most, I think he's a very valuable guy to have there. I all right i got one more for you and um this is you know we're getting to that time of year it's been talked about for oh man how many years now but um i i personally i'm hearing that it's bad news for the fans that want uh pagano out as coach uh the things that i'm uh and i'm not much of a name dropper at all. In fact, I hate doing this, but it's a great conversation

and it's something that makes sense to me. I'm hearing basically that Pagano and Grigson are here and they're not going anywhere, at least not this year. And the main reason for that is because it's the age-old question. If you're going to get rid of him, who are you bringing in? And I'm hearing that Irsay doesn't trust another guy to come in. There's not a guy that's available to step in that he would trust to be better, basically, than what the Colts currently have. What are your thoughts on that, and where do you stand on that? Which camp are you in, at least? at least well i think first of all i i don't anticipate changes being made i think um i'm not going to

pretend to predict anything after last year i mean everyone was shocked last year so i don't know what jimerson is going to do and we could see if they get embarrassed here in the next two weeks and we could see him making a change for sure yeah that could all change really quickly oh absolutely and we know how much owners hate being embarrassed i mean if you get blown out here or especially you get blown out to the jaguars at home in week 17 anything's on the table i think but man um but at the moment i don't i don't anticipate changes being made because i think for us to say after one year and let's just let's just assume they go eight and eight have another eight and eight year for us Ursa to say after one year, let's just assume they go 8-8, have another 8-8 year. For Ursa to make a change after one year of going 8-8 and say, oh, I made a mistake last year, I think it's going to take a lot more

than an 8-8 season for him to do that, especially because the issues we've seen from Pagano and the issues we've seen from Griggs in this year are the same ones we've been seeing for years. So I think it's time for a change to be made. I thought that last year as well. I think the Colts would be better suited to move on. But like you said, the question is who do you bring in?

And right now, you've got to look at who's available. Jeff Fisher's not enough grade. Gus Bradley's not enough grade. So you're going through the options. And so it's just that question that Ursa's going to have to weigh. I think you could do a lot better in Griggs than Pagano, and I think you'd be better suited to try, because there are some

and if they make a change, I would be in favor of them going with the offensive mind to try to maximize the talent offensively with Andrew Luck. And there are some really good names out there that you could go after. But again, it's just going to be that question of does Ursae trust these guys more than Tagano and Grayson?

And I think for everything we've seen, the answer is no, because he's in this for the long haul. And he's thinking, OK, with continuity, we're maybe going to get there. But the question that I would then pose to Ursae is, if continuity is your big issue, you've got to make sure you have the guys right in the first place. He keeps looking back to the previous regime and saying, well, this regime actually has more wins than the previous one, but he doesn't take into account that in those first five years of the Peyton Manning era, he did make a coaching change.

And so he didn't say right away, oh, well, let's just keep this continuity going. He made a coaching change, found Tony Dungy, and then that's when they went to continuity. So I think there's something to be said for continuity. I think some teams move on from coaches way too fast, but I also think there's something to be said for sticking with the coach too

long when he's not going to get it done. And I think that's kind of where the Colts are now, which I think what you've seen from Pagano this year is kind of what you're going to get. I think what the Colts have seen this year, 8-8 or whatever they end up finishing, is kind of what Ursae signed up for last January when he brought him back. So I think the Colts would be well-suited for a change, but like you, I'm not expecting that change to happen because I just don't think –

I think it's going to take a lot more than what has happened so far for Ursae to admit a mistake after one year. Right. And the thing – and I would agree with all of that, to be quite honest with you. In fact, I do agree with all of it. But the offensive guys you got out there, you got Shanahan and McDaniels. And, I mean, theoretically, those are great guys that you could put Andrew Luck behind as an offensive mind, as an offensive head coach. But do you trust the supporting staff that they would bring in?

That would be something. McDaniels was a head coach once, didn't pan out, but a lot of guys have been successful their second time around. Shanahan, on the other hand, who's he bringing in? That would be something that I think would take a lot of consideration. You know what you've got with Pagano and Griggs. And granted, the accuracy of the fact that you could do better is true. But it just, man, you know what?

I don't want Pagano as a head coach anymore. But I also don't want them to spin their wheels and bring in guys just for bringing in guys sake. And it just, you know, last year I was on the fence. I think a little bit about, uh, wholesale changes this year. I'm all for it, but you know, man, you've got to, you've got to trust that this guy, whoever it is, is going to bring in a far better supporting staff and that you're going to have basically a far better, uh, GM, whoever you bring in somebody that you know is,'re going to have basically a far better GM, whoever you bring in, somebody that you know is going to make all the right calls, draft all the right players. And for all matters sake, for as much as there is to poke at Griggs,

and this last draft's turned out to be pretty good so far. So it's kind of something that really would weigh a lot and i think if everything comes down to a push i i don't think that uh anything gets done about it to be quite honest with you well and i think to go on with that because you're you're talking about who would they bring in as the other staff you're talking about shanahan or mcdaniels i think that's that's the million dollar question who's their especially i think who's their defense coordinator going to be they're going to be fine running the offense. Who are they going to get as defensive coordinator? And I think, really, if we have to boil it down and just guessing here,

I think that's what Ursa sees in Pagano. He sees a guy that can lead his team, and you can argue how he's doing at that. But I think he sees in Pagano a guy that's a leader, whereas I'm not sure there's questions about how are those guys going to do as head coaches, how is McDaniels going to do as a head coach. We know he's an offensive coordinator. He can do a lot there. We know Shanahan's an offensive coordinator.

He can do a lot there. Can they lead a team? Can they run that whole thing? And so I think that's the biggest strength Pagano brings to the table. And, again, this year they've lost division games and they've dropped them. So is he really motivating them? That's a whole new question. But I think that's what Ursa sees with him.

He sees a guy that can lead the team, who can corral his staff together, corral his team together. And so to move on to a hot up-and-coming coordinator, I think is going to take a lot for Ursa because he wants that guy that can lead the team, and I think he thinks Pagano's that. And just kind of to add to that, both those guys, if we're just kind of just talking about Shanahan and McDaniels here, those guys have had often some, whatever you want to call it, personal issues within their organizations where they have been in the past.

So is that something you want to bring in, the possibility of, you know, some structural issues just to upgrade a head coach. You know what? There's a lot to think about with that, and that definitely brings about another question as well. But, Josh, I'm going to end this on getting your prediction for the game Saturday night. What do you see happening?

Well, I think we're going to see some points. I think Andrew Luck and the offense are going to be able to score against this oakland defense which we talked about earlier is not that great and i think derrick carr and the raiders offense is going to be able to score against this colts defense which is not that great so i think you're going to see some points and i think we're going to see a closer game than some might think when you look at the records raiders are 11 and 3 colts are 7 and 7 looks like the Raiders should win this one at home. I think we'll see a closer game.

I do think the Raiders are going to win it, but I think Colts are going to be able to keep it close. And then if they're close in the fourth quarter, you can just throw everything out the window because you never know what Andrew Luck's going to be able to do there in the fourth quarter with some magic. So I'm picking the Raiders in a close game with quite a few points, but you never know what Luck can do in the fourth quarter. I agree. I'm going to go. I just can't get myself to give the Colts this win. And for a couple

reasons, it just, like I said, the Raiders are at home. And, you know, to be quite honest with you too, every time I've picked the Colts in some of these games, they definitely should have won. They've lost, and their two biggest wins against Green Bay and the Vikings, I've picked them to lose. So I'm going to stand back, and I'm just going to go 30 to 26 Raiders here in this one, and hopefully the Colts can prove me wrong again. I would be thoroughly happy with that. But, Josh, thank you for coming on. I appreciate your time. You guys out there, all, thank you for coming on. I appreciate your time.

You guys out there, all you listeners, I appreciate you guys listening every single day. Subscribe to the podcast. Hit me up at LockedOnColts on Twitter, MDainleyNFL on Twitter, the Facebook page and everything. Josh, where can everybody find you on Twitter if they're not following you already? You can find me on Twitter at JoshWilsonSB.

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