Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 12/27/19: Listener mailbag on the 2020 Draft and free agency

Episode Date: December 27, 2019

On today's episode, it's time to answer your Twitter questions! From draft talk, free agency, and much more all of these are answered!What should we expect the Colts to do in the 2020 Draft? Will they go QB early, and if so who? Which defensive tackle and wide receiver prospects make the most sense?Will the Colts sit out free agency at wide receiver? It's an intriguing thought to ponder over, plus other notes.What has gone wrong with the Colts' defense over the second half of the season? Also, what about Jacoby Brissett? Listen in for a fun solo episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello everybody, welcome back into the latest episode of Locked On Colts Party, Locked On Podcast Network. Today's host is Evan Sidery, and I'm actually doing a solo show today as we were just getting off the holiday season. Had three days off, so I appreciate the time being away. I hope you guys enjoyed your Christmas holiday. But today we're going to go through your mailbag. You sent in questions last week, a couple Twitter followers did, so we're going to go over those questions today in a little shorter episode. But again, I hope you guys had a great holiday. We actually got some new equipment coming in for the Christmas holiday, so be sure to tune in for that next week when we have our new audio set up, and it's going to be a lot

better than this one, I assure you that, but we're going to kick things off right away talking about these questions in our mailbag via Twitter. Go ahead and follow our account, TheUnreadyDoneSo, at LockedOnColts. Appreciate the support over there, as always. Let's kick things off here with our first question in the mailbag. Can I get some Lucas Robbins, at RobbinsLucas. Appreciate the support here, Lucas. You sent a couple questions, and we're going to go through all of them real quick, because

we have the time on our hands here. Rank the needs of the team, quarterback, wide receiver, tight end, kicker, right guard, defense tackle, defensive end, and cornerback, and where do you see Bauer addressing them? Do you think Bauer will pass up a bigger need in round one for best player available, or is there a guy he likes in round one who fits his biggest need and will pull the trigger? Very interesting question here to kick things off, Lucas. I'd probably rank the team needs. If you guys follow the Twitter account, I've been very adamant about Jacoby Brissett not

being the long-term answer expect a written content on that more and more as we get closer because this upcoming weekend mobile next month of the senior bowl is going to be really big the colts love drafting senior bowl guys jordan love utah state will be there we do not know if jacob eason will be there yet he did declare for the draft yesterday so we'll definitely see if he is going to be there he's a fourth year junior so he is eligible for the senior yesterday, so we'll definitely see if he is going to be there. He's a fourth-year junior, so he is eligible for the Senior Bowl if there's people out there who are wondering. I'd rank the needs overall for this team going up and down the board here. Quarterback, defensive tackle, wide receiver, and I'd probably go tight end after that because

Eric Ebron played such a big role. Malik Coxman kind of disappointed this year in more of an Ebron-esque role. I think they need a new type of guy. Hunter Bryant of Washington makes a lot of sense there in round two. So I'd go quarterback, wide receiver, tight end. Excuse me, quarterback, defensive tackle, wide receiver, tight end.

That'd probably go defensive end and corner. You always need Ed Rush as a corner in this league. I actually think the Colts are more better off defensively than a lot of people think they are right now. They have a lot of young pieces they just need to develop a little bit more. And I'd probably go right guard and kicker on that list. I think Mark Lewinsky has definitely regressed this year,

but I think it's not like a severe downgrade to have him there for the next year or two as the worst link on the offensive line. If you have guys like Costanzo, Nelson, Ryan Kelly, Brad Smith surrounding him, I think the infrastructure is there and the continuity is there to keep Lewinsky there, but at least Brian Smith surrounding him. I think the infrastructure is there and the continuity is there to keep Glowinski there, but at least bring it to competition.

I think kicker is something that you shouldn't draft. I think the Colts should go with free agency to get kicker. Someone like Greg Zerline makes an awful lot of sense for the Rams. They can't afford him. If they can't get Greg Zerline, no, I think Chase McLaughlin is a guy that the Colts should keep building around here because he's done really well for the Colts in his stint so far, and I think Chase McLaughlin has earned the right to go in the camp as the starting kicker of the Colts team.

So I'd probably lean McLaughlin as the kicker next year, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Colts got aggressive in the kicker market this time next year. But next question here from Lucas. Which DTs in the draft, Divette's tackles, do you like for the Colts? I'm a huge fan of Javon Kinlaw's game, but the freak athlete Neville Gallimore is available in round two. He'll be tending to pick up DeVille. Derek Brown likely won't be there, I agree with you there.

Any others to keep an eye on? I think you got those two around the money there, Lucas. I think Javon Kinlaw is definitely best player available in round one. He will not be there in round two, for those who are wondering. He's a top 15, top 20 prospect. He will be at the Senior Bowl as well. That stacked lineup in Mobile is going to be very awesome to watch. On NFL Network, I think Colts fans, if you want to watch that all week, be sure to do so because

there are going to be a lot of Colts that are actually drafted out of that Mobile event for the Senior Bowl. But Javon Killaw is definitely my top guy. Keeping Derek Brown off the list here, he's going to be a top 10 pick. The Colts will not be picking a top 10 now after winning against Carolina. And presumably going to win on Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars, move to 8-8, be in that 15-18 range, most likely the 16-17-18 range. So I'd go Javon Kinlaw at one. Then I'd probably go Neville Gallimore at two. I think he just fits a lot of the freakish measurables that Chris Bauer wants to do.

And I think it makes awful lot of sense to maybe do him early round two, or maybe even mid-round two if he's still there. Then Marvin Wilson out of Florida State. I really like him a lot we're going to talk probably more about him when Zach kicks Stampy Blue this time on Monday because we're going to be getting more and more into the draft as we get closer and closer to these draft events but I'd rate my top three right now as Javon Kinlaw, Neville Gallimore, and then I go Marvin Wilson two sleepers to watch though though, maybe for round three. Rashard Lawrence of LSU, he's just a space eater.

I think he'd make a lot of sense in this system. And also Lake Hayfoto of Utah. So I think those five are very much intriguing for the Colts and could be options for them round one, round two, or round three. So like I mentioned in the first question, defensive tackle is going to be one of the top needs for this Colts team. And I think they do address it either day one or day two of the draft. What is your prediction for the Colts' annual one-year rental wide receiver?

Anyone in the market catch your eye could pique your interest. I really actually don't see the Colts going into free agency for the draft for the wide receiver this year. I think the draft is more realistic. Chris Bowers talked about this time over a year ago how much he liked this 2020 wide receiver class per Albert Breer. If you guys go back into the archives and read Albert Breer's story from this time last year, Chris Bowers already hyping up the 2020 wide receiver class. And I expect them to actually do a wide receiver in round one or round two. Names that I like though, T. Higgins, Henry Ruggs, LaVisca, Shane Ault, Brandon Ayuk is a really big sleeper in my opinion. I think he could go round one. I really like Ayuk's game.

Those four, I think, are really the top ones to watch there. I think Den of Funches won't be back, so I don't see him re-signing here. Robbie Anderson has too much character risk for me. I think he's a very intriguing fit with T.Y. Hilton, but I just don't see Chris Bauer paying Robbie Anderson. And then another one, like Amari Cooper, I just don't see him heading the market either because the Cowboys trade a first-round pick, but if he does hit the market,

I would be very intrigued there. So I would actually say the Colts stay out of for a super wide receiver and go in the draft instead there. Today's show was sponsored by Breaking Tea. If you guys want to get some late holiday gifts or if you just want to get a t-shirt to support whatever team you're following,

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With the Colts' recent string of rough defensive performances, should they switch to a more aggressive man scheme and more frequent blitzing? Little to no pressure is being generated by the front four, and we can't force the secondary to cover forever while QBs get in clean pockets. I do agree with you there, Lucas. It's the final question from Lucas. We're going to move on to our next questions here. I appreciate all these, Lucas.

It's really helped question from Lucas. We're going to move on to our next questions here. I appreciate all these, Lucas. It's really helped out a lot. But as far as this question goes for defense, I think Ibraflux's scheme makes sense. I think we need to see more of a variance. We saw it in Kansas City and we didn't see much of it after that, where Tyreek Hill and Samuel Watkins both got hurt. So Ibraflux is more confident playing man coverage. Desir, Rakia Seen, Kenny Moore, they all held up pretty well. I just want to see more variance there. I don't know why Ibraflux went away from that game plan. Kansas City showed us that the Colts could handle themselves in man coverage, but unfortunately we didn't see much of that as the season went on.

They did more and more and more of zone coverage. And I guess above average, even elite quarterbacks, that just won't work. You just need to have more variance. Offenses are picking up in the Colts' defense pretty easily now over the last month of the season. I just think moving forward, the Colts need to have more of that. And I think a lot of that will have to do with adding in more pass rushers, as Lucas is saying. Drafting one or even signing one, like Yannick Ngakwe stealing from end division from Jacksonville Jaguars would be a coup in my opinion. I think you could pay him whatever you want. I think he makes an awful lot of sense opposite of Justin Houston and Kamoko Ture. So I think doing one of those two options there,

either signing Yonk and Gokwe for a big contract or drafting one in round two, like let's say Julian Acquara of Notre Dame or round three, like Jonathan Grenard of Florida, who will be at the Senior Bowl, by the way. I think those make an awful lot of sense because I don't see Jabal Shear coming back this year. I know that might be a hot take for some Colts fans, but I just don't see Jabal Shear coming back with probably what he'll want for his final big payday. And the Colts would be smart not to go over one or two years for an extension for Jabal Shear. I would not mind a one or two year extension, but anything outside of that for a third-year-old pass rusher, I think is very risky. So I see Jabal Shear going elsewhere. I think the Colts do go in the same direction there and get a compensatory pick for 2021.

Next question here from Traver at Traver2019. More likely to draft or sign another wide receiver behind T.Y. Hilton? Like I said in the last question, I would probably say they draft a wide receiver. I think it makes an awful lot of sense. And the tiers are going to be at, unfortunately, C.D. Lamb and Jerry Judah will be off the board by then. There's a lot of buzz about C.Dee Lamb really rising up the boards right now, maybe possibly WR1 ahead of Jerry Judy,

which would be crazy to say a couple months ago, but it definitely seems like momentum is going that way per Daniel Jeremiah of FN Network. So I would go CeeDee Lamb and Jerry Judy as unrealistic options for this Colts team, but Tee Higgins, Eclipson, Henry Ruggs of Alabama, LaVisca, Shane Hall of Colorado. I think those are three names you should watch for as far as round one targets go. As we get into round two, I'd probably say Brandon Ayuk of Arizona State

is my top guy for that range. Then after him, Jalen Rager of TCU. I think those are two names to watch for there, of course. So those five names I think are very intriguing for the Colts here. I'd say they stay out of free agency entirely unless they get a really bargain-bid deal for a guy who has a lot of potential. I just do not see Devin Fulch returning here. It just went really bad. I know he only played three quarters in one game for the Colts this year in LA, but at that point, I just think you just got to cut your loss and move on and get that comp pick and see what happens after that. Next question here

is from Cab Hill. I haven't watched any fill-out on the new QBs beside Jordan Love. Is he your number one choice for the Colts, or is he the quarterback in the draft? Personally, I would say Tua Tagovailola, if he's still on the board, or if the Colts trade for Tua. That's who I would have as my number one quarterback as far as realistic options for the Colts in this draft. Joe Burrow, of course, is going to go number one overall to the Cincinnati Bengals. That's a four-yard conclusion at this point. But I really think that Tua Tagovailoa makes an awful lot of sense. Albert Brewer wrote a story this week that the Colts actually make an awful lot of sense too because the scheme they run, Frank Reich and what he does with Andrew Luck this time

last year, even Jacoby Brissett this year. I think Tua fits like a glove in that system. You can have Tua rehab an extra year behind Jacoby or even just a few months. Have him take over for Jacoby Brissett at that point. I really think that Tua would make an awful lot of sense there. And also Jordan Love. Like you mentioned, Jordan Love is the guy that I'm really honing in on here. I guess sky-high upside in Frank Reich. If he can grow for a year or two, have him take over the reins for Jacoby Brissett.

Only 22 years old. Remember, he's only 21. He just turned 21 a month ago. So that shows you how young he is, truly. He's one of the youngest quarterback prospects in this entire draft class. So the upside is there. I know the turnovers are there, but if I'm going to throw a comp out there, I think

his ceiling is Patrick Mahomes, but I think his floor is Jameis Winston. That's a very, very wide variance there, but if you blend Mahomes and Jameis Winston together, I think that's what Jordan Love is. I think that's a top 15 quarterback, and that's an upgrade of Jacoby Brissett long term. I think Jordan Love is definitely my top realistic quarterback behind Tua Tagovailola. If I wanted to rate them real quick, though, I'd go Tua, Jordan Love, Justin Herbert's right behind them,

and then I'd go Jacob Eason as far as my top options for the Colts in round one or early round two. Next question from Zach Rossi at RossZ88. Who will be more in the hot seat next year, Chris Bauer or Frank Reich? Personally, I think neither of them. I think this Colts team has done really well constructing this roster over the last three years. Overhauling it. Frank Reich's done an awesome job. Scheming open receivers constantly, but Jacoby Brissett cannot hit them. I think Frank Reich's done an awesome job scheming open receivers constantly,

but Jacoby Brissett cannot hit them. I think Frank Reich's done an awesome job. He's a top five head coach. Chris Bowden's a top five GM. You did not cause any sort of friction between those two. Let those guys develop the talent here and let them find the talent too. So I personally think, Zach, that neither of those guys will be in the hot seat next year. I think maybe two or three years down the line, if the Colts are still an 8-8 team, maybe we can talk then. But I think right now, Frank Reich and Chris Bowder have earned the grace period for another couple years as far as even approaching that hot seat.

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Will we go for Yannick Ngakwe? Like I mentioned before, I think Yannick Ngakwe makes an awful lot of sense. I think he actually is the highest paid free agent that the Colts can go after as far as really pushing your chips all in. Ngakwe stealing him, especially from in-division, lot of sense. I think he actually is the highest paid free agent that the Colts can go after as far as really pushing your chips all in and Gakue stealing him, especially from in division. I think that matters because in Gakue playing the Jaguars twice a year would be a motivational factor. The

Colts have oodles of cast bases we know, close to $100 million. I think it's around $95 million currently behind the Dolphins, their second in the NFL. So I think Yannick and Gakue makes an awful lot of sense, pairing him opposite Justin Houston, Kamoka Ture eventually too. Just imagine if you signed Ngakwe to a four-year contract, Justin Houston expires over this year, you can let Houston walk, then you'd have Ngakwe, Kamoka Ture, and Ben Banigou for your next five to six years as your edge rushers. Just speed on speed on speed, freakish athletes.

And I think that's what Chris Bauer really wants to do at the edge rusher position. And having Ngakwe opposite of Toure and Banigou, I think is a good recipe of really accomplishing that. Next question here is from Pedro Podrowski at Podrowski. What's happening to our defense? We were very solid weeks 5 through 12, but the last three weeks to back coach or back execution. I think it's a little bit of both.

I'd say Ebert Flusch is not mixing things up right now, which is disappointing. And I think that's probably what's been happening with the injuries too. Kenny Moore being out really changed his defense. And without Kenny Moore, as we've seen the past month or so, this Colts defense looks an awful different. And that's really intriguing to me because I didn't realize how valuable Kenny Moore was to this defense. I know Kenny Moore is a great player.

Top five player on this team, in my opinion, now with Andrew Luck being gone, but I just did not realize how valuable he was because I feel like this Colts defense actually did fine without Darius Leonard for a couple weeks, as you saw him beat Kansas City without Leonard. But when Kenny Moore went down, the defense kind of just went off the rails for a little bit, especially in the secondary. And that just shows you how valuable Kenny Moore is and why he's the highest paid slot coordinator in the NFL. So I'd say it's a little bit of both and I hope in 2020 that we see Iberflues mix things up do more 50-50 as far as man versus zone compared to like 70-30 zone versus man this year next question here is from 88th the goat vj appreciate the support as always vj if two is

available in the first round do we take him even with his injury history to me it's a yes but we'd like to know what you think totally totally agree with you there vj i definitely think that to a tug of a little if he's there on the board makes an awful lot of sense i would even trade for him at this point if i could i would i'll actually give up a lot for to a tug of my law i know people are scared out by his injury history but if there's an opportunity to get to a with this offense line, with adding in more skilled guys, T.Y. Hilton especially, I think that's a recipe for a top team in the AFC for the next 10 plus years. I mean, throwing Tua into the mix here, if he's healthy, I don't know how, he's the type of quarterback, I've been saying this for a while now, the Colts need a quarterback who can go toe-to-toe with Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes, and Lamar Jacks for the next 10 years. Jacoby Brissett is obviously not that. And I think if you were to move on from Brissett, which I think is the plan,

after 2020, I think Tua makes an awful lot of sense to do that because he is the highest upside quarterback in this draft class. He is Drew Brees-esque when I watch film of him. He's a lefty, too, which I like. It's unique. And I think he's mobile. He's so mobile. We've seen when he's healthy how much too which I like it's unique and I think he's mobile he's so mobile we've seen when he's healthy how much of a dual threat he could be I know he doesn't run that much but just the threat of his legs really presents problems for defenses and how accurate he is especially on these these routes Frank Reich likes to do like slants and curls and outs

Tua's perfect made for that he's a carbon copy of what this offense wants and I think Tua Tagovailoa is the number one realistic option for me. And like I mentioned before, I'd go Jordan Love after that, then Justin Herbert, then Jacob Eason for my realistic options after Tua Tagovailolo. But Tua and this offense, with this offensive line, that is a scary sight for opposing teams. I think Tua on this Colts team could go toe-to-toe with the Lamars, the Mahomes, and the Watts of the world. And that's going to do it as far as our questions for this mailbag.

I appreciate everyone chiming in here. We're going to close out the show talking a little bit about this 2020 season because it's curious to me how this Colts season just went off the rails, going from 5-2 to 6-8, excuse me, to 7-8, just how that happened in the first place. A lot of it's due to injuries, of course, but a lot of it comes to Jacoby Brissett. I want to read off some stats here. I did some digging over the last few days. It could be coming on written content via Forbes Sports

in the next 24 hours or so, but to give everyone a heads up here, as far as how Jacoby Brissett's fair, it's since week four, taking out the Chargers game, taking out the Titans game, where he did pretty bad anyways, and the Falcons game, which I think was the best game of the year for Jacoby Brissett. Since week four against the Oakland Raiders, where he just did not do well at all, the Colts could have won with a competent quarterback that day. It has been a very ugly scene for Jacoby Brissett

over the past really two months. I know the injury plays a part in it, but even before the injury, this was occurring, and that shouldn't be an excuse for those out there who are defending Jacoby Brissett as a top quarterback in this league because it just shows you that he hasn't been doing much. In his last six games, 188.5 yards per game, four touchdowns, three interceptions, only a 75.3 passer rating, and a 57.8 completion percentage. That is awful.

That simply is awful, and it's not going to cut it, and I think Colts fans should need to look for an upgrade here. I think the Colts are in a similar position that Chris Bauer was before he even left Kansas City, where they had Alex Smith. They dragged Patrick Mahomes. They had Mahomes sit behind Smith for a year. Smith went to Washington via trade. Brissette could go via trade, or he could go and free NC in 2021. Then you have your Jordan Love, or your Tua,ua or your Eason or your Herbert step in in 2021 with two drafts to build around them. I think that's the most realistic plan that could fall and really mirror what Bauer did

before he left, right as he was leaving to say, as far as Kansas City and their model goes. And I see that makes an awful lot of sense for him to follow that kind of method. And you look at Jacoby Brissett's numbers, if you look at them advanced metrics-wise, it is not pretty. Since week four, Jacoby Brissett's been a bottom five quarterback in important metrics, minimum 200 attempts, 82.8 rating, that works 24th out of 30th, 6.47 yards per attempt, 25th out of 30th, 58.79 completion percentage, 26th out of 30th.

11 touchdowns over that span, which is 27th out of 30th. And only 2,134 yards over that span, 28th out of 30th. So that really shows you he's a bottom five quarterback in the NFL right now over the last two months. And those high volume touchdown numbers in the first part of the season were all thanks to red zone drives. 15 of Jacoby's touchdowns this year have been in the red zone, which is an astronomical number. But when you get outside the red zone, Jacoby Bursette is a backup quarterback, simply put.

He is a backup quarterback outside the red zone. And you get your offense down there with some runs. Marlon Mack's been a huge help to that, so has the offensive line. But they're covering up a lot of holes for Jacoby Brissett. Frank Regas coaches offense this whole year. He knows Jacoby Brissett as a crutch to this offense, which shouldn't be a surprise to those out there over the last few months if you've watched the Colts closely, really since the Houston game in October.

It's really gone downhill from there. The New Orleans game on Monday Night Football a couple weeks ago was just an embarrassing performance as far as it was so obvious that the Colts were not really trusting Jacoby Brissett at all. And it's really shown the last couple weeks that they don't trust Jacoby Brissett. And that report from Ian Rappaport a couple weeks ago talking about the Colts and Jim Mercer's quotes about them moving off from Andrew Luck to Jacoby and the next draft, that should tell you all you need to know about the Colts and their future at the current position. But I just want to close on that because I think a about the Colts and their future of the quarterback position.

But I just want to close on that because I think a lot of Colts fans really still believe Jacoby Brissett could be the answer. He's 27 years old. He'll be 28 years old in 2020. I think we just know what we have in Jacoby Brissett and the Colts should move on after the 2020 season. And do that quarterback rally we saw in Kansas City with Alex Smith and Patrick Mahomes. Whether it's Jordan Love, Tua, Easton, or Herbert, I think the Colts have the ingredients in place for a rookie quarterback to develop on his own pace

and then eventually thrive with what they have in place. So I appreciate everyone listening in on this shorter episode today of Locked on Colts. Did a fun little mailbag for you guys and close my thoughts here on Jacoby Brissett and the offense as a whole. Appreciate everyone listening in. As always, make sure to subscribe, rate and review if you like

where you're hearing five stars, five stars. And we'll be back with you guys on Monday with Zachary Stampede-Blue talking more about the 2020 NFL draft as we approach the 2020 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama in about three weeks.