Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 12/31/19: Colts 2019 year in review

Episode Date: December 31, 2019

On today's episode, George Bremer of The Herald Bulletin joins to discuss the Colts' 2019 season. What went wrong, plus what were the bright spots as we close out the year?There's plenty of questions ...for the Colts heading into one of the most important offseasons of the last 20 years. What are the holes still on the roster, and where should they be addressed? QB1 will continue to be a hot topic, but the defense still needs a couple pieces to take the next step as well.If George was in Chris Ballard's shoes, what areas would he prioritize in the draft and free agency? We also hit on the sudden report that left tackle Anthony Castonzo is considering retirement, which would rock the 2020 offseason before it even begins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hello, everybody. Welcome back into Locked On Colts, probably Locked On Podcast Network. Today's host is Evan Sutter and joined by our weekly guest on the show, George Bremmer, the Herald Bulletin. How are you doing today, George? Really good. How are you doing today? Doing good. Happy early New Year's to you. We're recording some New Year's Eve. And a very interesting season just wrapped up for the Colts here, 7-9 as they lost 38-20 in Jacksonville. Let's start off with that game first, George, and we'll talk a little bit about the season and look ahead to the offseason a little bit. A very interesting game on Sunday in Jacksonville.
Starting point is 00:00:31 It's always a weird game for them the last five years in Jacksonville. They still haven't won a game in the last five years there. They were up at halftime. They had 20 points in the first half of that game, but all of a sudden the Jaguars outscored them and they won by 18 points. A microcosm, I think, of the 2019 Colts season there is they couldn't finish that game, but all of a sudden the Jaguars outscored them and they won by 18 points. A microcosm, I think, of the 2019 Colts season there is they couldn't finish that game. Yeah, very much.
Starting point is 00:00:51 You saw a lot of the same things. A promising start. Things got a little wonky in the middle, and then they collapsed at the end, which is pretty much what we've seen from the season as a whole. And the problems, you know, one thing about it is I know there's a lot of coach speak's a lot of code speak and a lot of things coming out of the uh the headquarters there on on west 56th street right now that make people mad but I think one of the things that they've been saying consistently
Starting point is 00:01:14 that is going to be addressed this offseason and it just flat has to be you look at every stat out there you just watch the games with your eyes you know I thought the most telling thing Frank Reich said the other day was they've got to be better on both sides of the ball uh in the passing game you know offensively not enough production there you saw it again on sunday defensively not enough stops making it too easy on these guys and i think it goes you know there are some easy culprits on both sides obviously jacoby brissett's had a lot to do with what's gone wrong on offense in the passing game. But, you know, there are some things receivers can do
Starting point is 00:01:50 to make things better as well. And I think the same is true on defense. I think secondary has got to shore up. Getting Kenny Moore back obviously would help a lot right there. But, you know, you can't absolve the pass rush from this either. They haven't done their job either. And so, you know, as in any area with any football team, I don't think it's one thing.
Starting point is 00:02:10 It's the group not functioning as a whole. Yeah, that's a good point to bring up there. And just to look at the season as a whole for a second, because a 5-2 start, we were talking, I think, in October, George, about if this Colts team could be a first-round bye contender, which is how that Kansas City win, they go in and beat Houston at home, two really strong statement type of games. And after that season just went down the tubes a little bit,
Starting point is 00:02:30 finishing two and seven. What do you remember from the first half of the season? What went wrong exactly in the second half of the season here, George? Because I just feel like the Colts, a lot of that success in the first half wasn't sustainable. What do you think wasn't sustainable, and why do you think that happened? Yeah, I think some of it was regressing to the mean. I mean, they won a lot of close games early,
Starting point is 00:02:46 so I think the most easy explanation, the simplest piece of this equation, was that some of the luck or fortune or whatever, the ball bouncing the right way, whatever you want to call it, went against them in the second half and went with them in the first half. But that's only, I think, the surface level part of it. I think a lot of things went wrong. First of all, teams figured out that, you know, if you could just even bottle up the running game,
Starting point is 00:03:16 just don't let them get 200 yards on the ground, you could put the offense in a real bind. Jacoby Rousset was never really able to consistently test defenses down the field. And towards the end of the season, I think the most alarming thing to me, there were issues all year long. The people that say that are absolutely right. Even when they were 5-2, there were things that he was doing
Starting point is 00:03:35 that he needed to improve on. But towards the end of the year, not even being able to even get close to 60% completions, in this offense, in this scheme. If you're going to throw the ball short and let that open up the deep ball, you can't miss receivers. You know, you absolutely have to take advantage of all those. The only way that system works is if you're methodically moving the ball down the field 5, 7, 10, 12, 14 yards at a time.
Starting point is 00:04:01 And that wasn't happening. We're getting behind the chains. It was just too easy for defenses. I mean we're getting behind the chains uh it was just too easy for defenses i mean in the most simplistic terms it was too easy for defenses they knew if they loaded the box they probably weren't going to get beat deep they probably weren't going to get beat by jacoby in his arm and so the offense kind of ground to a hole at some point uh it had its moments it had flashes but obviously there was no consistency there. And defensively, it just seemed like they got sloppy. That one, to me, is harder to explain.
Starting point is 00:04:29 Offensively, it's pretty easy. The passing game disappeared. It was on a milk cart in the second half of the year, and that explains what happened to the offense. Defensively, it just looked like their technique, their discipline, their rules, whatever you want to point to, got sloppy after Kenny Moore went out, really. And part of it, Kenny Moore is the most underrated guy on this roster.
Starting point is 00:04:51 And he does so much for this team in terms of allowing that secondary to be more versatile, to play more man, to mix up coverages. We all know he's the best blitzing cornerback in the league. But that alone doesn't explain the drop off to the level to the extent that that it got uh pierre this year had a very disappointing season especially in the second half some of that probably had to do with hamstring and groin injuries but that's not going to be something that can be repeated that was a big big problem for this team i think rocky sim was better than people think. His biggest problem is he continues to be too handsome. You know, they've got to work on that.
Starting point is 00:05:27 It's a young guy thing. He got too many penalties because he was grabbing at people. And if he doesn't do that, I think you're going to see him grow pretty quickly. But the secondary in general was a disappointment. Malik Hooker had a bad year in coverage. The irony is he was a better run defender than he was a pass defender this year, and that's the exact opposite of what you expect him to be. But that's the way it turned out.
Starting point is 00:05:50 He showed he could get physical, get up, and make some tackles, but there were all kinds of miscommunications in the backfield, in the secondary. There were all kinds of just breakdowns in technique, breakdowns. If you're around Matt Eberflus at all, if you've seen any of his press this press conference i know evan you were there at training camp so you you got to hear him a few times you'll hear from him all the time alignment assignment key technique that's where the defense failed in my mind they were not where they were supposed to be when they were supposed to be there and it all when they're when they're making mistakes and they're not getting into the
Starting point is 00:06:23 quarterback they're not being able to put pressure on the quarterback, and then they're bad on the back end, you saw the results for most of the second half of the year. Yeah, speaking of that defense, George, I'm glad you went on to detail about that a little bit because I've seen some fans talk about this on Twitter and just around some other places about how close this Colts defense is to being like a top-notch defense.
Starting point is 00:06:43 We talked about in October when everyone was healthy at that point, Darius Leonard came back, Kamoka Ture was really, I think, going to have a blossom second year. I think he was going to have a really good year, maybe double-digit sacks with the rate he was going at. Kenny Moore, of course, like you mentioned, is the most underrated player on this team, in my opinion. How many more pieces does Colts defense need,
Starting point is 00:06:59 and do we actually need to talk a little bit about the scheme as well at MediRiflews? Because we noticed an awful lot this year, like that middle of the zone coverage there, like seven to 20 yards deep, there's always a hole in the middle of the field. Do you think how close personnel-wise they are and how close do you think the scheme is to being a top-notch scheme itself? Yeah, the scheme is best when he's being able to be versatile.
Starting point is 00:07:19 We saw that last year as the defense got better as the year went on, and that's when they got healthier and they knew the scheme better they were able to play do more with it um and when they lost kenny more i think there's the problems in the scheme i mean there's always there's holes in the zone that's that's just part of the the way it is but for that matter there's holes in man to man i mean any defense you want to roll ring up there is a hole there and the right quarterback's going to find it but i feel like when this defense is clicking, when it's able to have success like it did in Kansas City, like it did for most part the first time against Houston, like we saw for a good stretch in the middle of the season, honestly, it's when they're versatile, when
Starting point is 00:07:58 they're able to mix up their coverages, disguise a lot of what they're doing, bring blitzers from different spots. And when Kenny Moore's not there, they're really limited in doing that. And I know there's probably some people right now shaking their heads and, you know, what's he talking about? That's how important this guy is to this defense. The way that he can play allows Matt Iberflues to do so much more in terms of disguise, in terms of mixing up his coverages,
Starting point is 00:08:23 in terms of mixing up his blitzes. And that's the only way this defense is going to succeed. I think when they just come out and they play straight up zone or straight up man to man, they're not going to beat guys one-on-one. You know what I mean? They're not going to win that battle straight up. They got to do a little extra to it. I think from a personnel standpoint you the biggest missing spot is that three technique when you look back at obviously the Colts team that won the Super Bowl here had Booger McFarlane in there when the Bucs were ruling the defensive landscape for a while with Tony Dungy in this scheme they had Warren Sapp when the Bears went to the Super Bowl they
Starting point is 00:09:03 had Tommy Harris he He got hurt, and they weren't the same defense in that game. And I think that the Colts don't have that guy. Danico Autry, I think, can be at times, but he hasn't consistently been that guy. They need somebody athletic, quick, at that three-technique spot, interior defensive line spot, who can get pressure up the middle and force the quarterback to the guys who get the sacks you know on the outside uh and you know Trey coming back and being healthy and showing that he can consistently do the things that we saw flashes of this year would be a big help to this team and then adding another defensive end I think
Starting point is 00:09:41 Justin Houston was everything that they they thought he would be this year. But for a lot of times, he was a one-man band out there, and that can't happen. You have to have, obviously, a lot more pressure on the quarterback than we saw consistently from the Colts this season. We talk about fitness a lot, but there's another side of the game that's just as important. I'm talking about mental fitness.
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Starting point is 00:10:28 With Calm, you'll have access to the nature scenes like LeBron loves and so much more, like sleep stories and meditations. For a limited time, our listeners can join LeBron using Calm with a 40% discount to an annual membership at Calm.com slash LockedOn. Unlocked content to help you focus, ease stress, and sleep better. Get started at Calm.com slash locked on. Again, that is C-A-L-M dot com slash locked on. L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N. I think through the first two years of this Iberflu scheme, the one thing I've noticed, George, and I imagine you probably
Starting point is 00:10:56 agree here, that that front four is probably the most important part as far as making it succeed because if you place like a prime Dwight Freeney and a prime Robert Matheson both edges there, you threw in a Warren Sapp, for example, I feel like this defense will be unstoppable because that front four, the pressure, those secondary guys can't cover for seven, eight seconds perfection every single time. And I feel like the pass rush, they had 41 sacks this year, only four more than last year with even adding in Justin Houston.
Starting point is 00:11:18 I feel like that is really the bare bones of what this defense needs to succeed here is having elite pass rush on every single game. Absolutely. And and i mean when you look at those teams that have succeeded in the past is what they've all had they've had that that three technique guy who can get that push up the middle and keep guys uncomfortable right away and then they've had defensive ends that can get after the quarterback the colts probably not probably the colts definitely had the best pair of pass rushers in this scheme that that the league's ever seen in Freeney and Mathis. I don't think the bears or the bucks when they were running this defense ever attain them quite like that at the end.
Starting point is 00:11:52 And that's, that's what the Colts have got to find. And that's a tough thing to do. But absolutely the front four is the absolute most important part of this defense, because when they're not getting pressure, it almost doesn't matter what's happening behind them if the front four is not getting pressure any quarterback worth the salt is going to tear this this defense apart look going over the jacob set for a second year
Starting point is 00:12:14 in the offense passing game as a whole year i know frank right mentioned his press conference yesterday that that's his main thing he's going to work on this offseason is getting that passing game above where it was this year under 200 yards per game but looking at j at Jacoby Brissett, his second half of the year, George, only three games above 200 yards passing in the last eight games he played in a full participation. What do you think it was? Why did Jacoby regress so badly? And looking back at 2017, I know it's a completely different scheme
Starting point is 00:12:36 with Chuck Pagano and Rob Chonzynski, and you kind of threw it deep more often. But I feel like Jacoby just shied away more often this year going deep. We only saw maybe Tampa Bay was the one game where he actually was testing defense deep a lot. Yeah, I thought all year he wasn't aggressive. Tampa Bay game he was. During the second Titans game, I think he went deep a couple times. At least deeper than he had been most of the year.
Starting point is 00:12:59 He was a little more aggressive with his route selection. But, yeah, I thought that's where it started with him. Too hesitant. You know, I felt like he held the ball too long at times. I know it feels like that's every quarterback. That's kind of the complaint, you know. Even when Andrew Luck was here, there were people complaining about that. Sometimes that's not on the quarterback.
Starting point is 00:13:20 Sometimes it's the play that's called. Sometimes it's other factors that are out there. But I just felt like there weren't enough times where Jacoby was decisive, especially in the second half. But it was a year-long thing. Rarely does he get the ball in the end rhythm. You see a guy like Drew Brees, he's one of the best at it. But any quarterback, really, when they get in rhythm and they're hot
Starting point is 00:13:38 and it's sort of like they're dropping back and that back foot hits and the ball's out. And I don't know if you really saw that with Jacoby at any point. That's always, to me, when a quarterback's confident. You can tell a guy that's doing that, first of all, has a full knowledge of what the defense is doing or is Jameis Winston and doesn't care. But most of the time, that guy has a full knowledge
Starting point is 00:13:57 of what the defense is doing, has really good confidence, really good understanding with the receivers. You know, when you're getting step, step, step, and the ball's out, that – defense hate to see that because it's hard to get to the guy. Offenses love it. I don't know if I ever saw that this year from Jacoby, where it just felt like he's in a zone. He's got everything going the way he wants it to go.
Starting point is 00:14:18 And I know it's hard to find those guys. You know, those quarterbacks are special. That's part of why everyone's looking for those guys every year but i just never felt like you saw that from him uh that decisiveness that aggressiveness and then when he's as inaccurate as he was for the last three four games in particular he was never like acutely accurate he's never going to be drew breeze 70 kind of a guy but he was hovering around 65 66 around mid-season and it dropped close to 60 the end of the year you're looking at like 52 53 that's not going to work not in today's game you you can't do that because and and i think it's not just the completion percentage that isn That is an obvious byproduct.
Starting point is 00:15:05 You're going to see that. That's the thing that stands out the most. But there are even times where he completed passes, but the ball wasn't where it should have been. And so a play that could have been broken and maybe become a 10- or 12-yard game for a receiver went for four or five yards because the guy had to stop, come back to the ball, and then defense got there and stopped him.
Starting point is 00:15:24 Those are things that I think need to improve. But, you know, the discouraging part of that is there are things that were problems in 2017 as well. Yeah, and I think overall with Jacoby, we kind of know at this point that he's not a guy who's going to lift guys up around him. As far as stats go, you need to, like, really some game trainers around him to help him get going. And we saw in this second part of the year, especially without Eric Ebron, Devin punches out the entire season, Paris Campbell going down multiple times, T.Y. Hilton going down. How important is it for this offense, especially if Jacoby is starting next year,
Starting point is 00:15:55 which I imagine he will be? I'd be shocked if they do go outside and get another bridge quarterback over Bursette just for a one-year deal. But how important is it to find more playmakers, especially for T.Y. Hilton this year? Because we saw far too often teams just boxed up T.Y. and outside of that, the Colts didn't really have any man beaters, so to say. Yeah, and you know, I hate to harp on injuries, but it really is impossible to talk about that area of the game this year and not mention, I mean, T.Y. missed six games, which has never happened before in his career, and a couple other ones he played, he obviously wasn't himself.
Starting point is 00:16:25 You can tell a big difference just in the T.Y. Hilton that played against the Jaguars on Sunday than in the T.Y. Hilton that played, say, in Houston in that incredibly important game that really more or less determined the AFC South, at least from the Colts' standpoint. And then Paris Campbell, we never really got to see him at all. I still think he's a perfect fit for this scheme, for what Frank Reich wants to do. But we haven't had a chance to see it because he had the worst injury luck I can remember in recent memory.
Starting point is 00:16:54 Every time he came back, it was something new. It would be one thing if it was like he got an ankle injury in training camp and he was just never the same. This was three or four different injuries. It was just pure, unadulterated bad luck. You hate to see that for anybody, but a rookie in particular. And then speaking of bad luck, Devin Funchess breaks his collarbone, and he was a guy that, I'll tell you, it was really interesting
Starting point is 00:17:17 watching his growth through the spring and the summer because early on, Funchess and Brissette were not on the same page. By the time they got to that opener, and you could see it during that first game, Jacoby had a lot of confidence in Devin. And I think Funchess gave him that big target. He was that matchup problem. He was the one guy I think Jacoby was at least somewhat comfortable throwing a 50-50 type of ball to.
Starting point is 00:17:43 That's never going to be a big part of Jacoby's game, but to the extent that he will do it, Bunches is the kind of guy that he was going to do it with. You never see those guys together, and I think that is probably one of the most disappointing parts of the offense. None of that's to excuse the results. None of that's to excuse what Jacoby did or didn't do, but it is to say you need to find that again.
Starting point is 00:18:04 You need to get T.Y. Hilton healthy. You need to get Paris Campbell healthy. You need to bring in another guy, upgrade from where Devin Funchess was at, because that's the only way it's going to work. And I really think, to me, the shelf, the ceiling, whatever you want to call it, for Jacoby Brissett is game-winning. I think at his best, he'll be an efficient quarterback. Throw those shorter passes, hopefully hit the guys in stride,
Starting point is 00:18:33 give them a chance to make plays. He's not going to be the guy who's back there winning the game on his own. Yeah, totally agree with you there as well, George. And moving ahead to the offseason here for a few minutes, because I think this is – we've talked about this many times before, but I think after this disappointing stretch two and seven to finish the season, I think this is the most intriguing offseason we've seen in a very long time for this Colts franchise, especially with Chris Bauer.
Starting point is 00:18:53 He had lots on his plate this offseason. What do you think if you're walking in – let's put the GM hat on you, George, for a second. Let's say you're the GM here. What's on your whiteboard? What's the top of your whiteboard? Maybe a top three, top five of we need to accomplish this this offseason to have this team be a lot better. Yeah, it starts with Anthony Casanzo. You need to find out what the situation is there.
Starting point is 00:19:13 I all along thought re-signing him was the number one priority. Now, finding out if he even wants to play anymore is the number one priority. That will set the rest of the offseason to me, because if Costanzo does not come back, then there is a good chance, to a very good chance, that that 13th overall pick is going to be an offensive tackle, because they're going to have to replace him almost immediately. And I think the receiver depth is such that they'll still probably be able to go get a guy with that Redskins pick, maybe even with their own pick in the second round if they pass in the first round. And I don't know that the quarterback depth chart's going to fall the way that they want, where somebody is going to be screaming to them at 13 that he's the guy. We'll see. You know as well as anybody that kind of thing changes so much between now and April in terms of
Starting point is 00:20:07 where guys are rated what the overall view is of a prospect and all it takes is you know one guy from the team to fall in love with and everything that I'm saying right now goes out the window but I really feel like offense tackles where it starts you know hopefully the idea is that they'll be able to bring Anthony Casanzo back. I know that that's sort of the way that Frank Reich talked about it yesterday, that they don't have any other plans. There's no plan B there. That's where it begins. And then after that, you need a playmaking receiver and not a potential guy.
Starting point is 00:20:42 I think they need to bring in an established receiver whether that is a free agent or it's a more polished product coming out of college I think in the past Ballard has leaned more towards guys with high upside knowing that he's got a really good offensive coaching staff and knowing that he had Andrew Luck and figuring if he could take a guy with a little higher ceiling there was a better chance of getting that guy there with this group now I think with Andrew Luck gone and retired you need to to get more polished more uh kind of ready-made wide receivers I think that's going to be a big priority finding at least one maybe two of those guys uh mentioned the defensive tackle earlier I think that's another to be a big priority, finding at least one, maybe two of those guys. I mentioned the defensive tackle earlier.
Starting point is 00:21:27 I think that's another thing that's still going to be high on the to-do list, finding that three technique who can be disruptive up the middle. I think if they could find another long, lengthy, athletic corner like Marvell Tell that they can kind of build with and bring along another project type of guy. I think that would probably be a good idea to add to the mix as well. And then, you know, you always want another defensive end. I mean, I don't think – if you've got two pass rushers, you want three. If you've got three, you want four.
Starting point is 00:21:56 If you've got four, you want five. It's going to be a yearly thing. Right now they've got one with Justin Houston and maybe one and a half with Kamoko Ture because I think he showed what he can possibly do. You can't bank on that right now. You need to go out and get somebody else who you feel confident in. And then quarterback's going to be the big thing.
Starting point is 00:22:16 I'm personally not very big on this draft class. Good news for everybody listening is I have nothing to say about it. They don't care what I think. No one's going to ask me. And if Chris Ballard does take a quarterback in the first round, then my eyes will really light up because at that point it means he's got conviction in the guy and he has seen something that he thinks can make this guy the guy.
Starting point is 00:22:39 I don't think that's going to happen this offseason. I think it's more likely going to be somebody who comes in and competes behind Jacoby and maybe is a starter down the road, but not a week one type of guy, and we'll see how that plays out. But that's obviously going to be a dominant headline throughout the offseason. If you haven't already, go and subscribe to Locked on Colts, the only daily Colts podcast out there. We're not slowing down.
Starting point is 00:23:03 The season has just now stopped. There's a Colts finish at this point, 7-9 on the season. not slowing down. The season has just now stopped as the Colts finish at disappointing 7-9 on the season, but we're going to be with you guys all throughout the year. We don't stop here on Locked on Colts. We're with you throughout the Senior Bowl coverage in January, the Combine in February and March, the Pro Days, the Draft, Free Agency,
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Starting point is 00:23:33 So go ahead and leave a review and let us know at LockedOnColts and go ahead and follow us on Twitter as well at LockedOnColts. Speaking of Costanzo, I'm glad you brought that up first, George, because that was kind of a bombshell yesterday when you guys were in the locker room talking to him, and he brought the possibility of retiring. There was really no mention of him like, I'm making a money grab or anything, like I want to get paid all this money and go somewhere else. If they don't do that, I'm going to leave.
Starting point is 00:23:54 It's pretty much, I want to resign at the Colts, I love it here, or I'm going to retire at age 31. Would that surprise you at all, George, when he said that? Because the more I thought about it, the more he said he's good friends with Andrew Luck, they kind of have the same kind of mentality. Anthony Castan doesn't care much about the money. He cares about his love of the game. And maybe this is kind of his time to hang out, but that is a possibility. Right.
Starting point is 00:24:15 It surprised me in the sense that I hadn't heard it. I can't sit here and say that I had any feelings that was coming. But it doesn't surprise me in the sense of all the things you were just talking about. I think he's a highly intelligent guy, has a lot of interest outside of football um and i'll tell you what just you know i remember t.y hilton talking about it afterwards somebody asked him about you know how do you feel about this situation he said this game's not easy and you know sooner or later it wears all of us down and i just you know we're not in both emotionally involved on the media side so i can't even imagine what it was like the players and the
Starting point is 00:24:51 coaches and the people whose jobs depend on the win wins and losses of it all uh but this season was a really tough one you probably felt some of it uh you know even just having been there at training camp and then seeing the way things rolled out, it was a really hard year. And I think everybody from Jim Irsay down to the secretaries in the building to us lowly media people, you're just glad to walk away and get a deep breath. It was a very, very difficult year on so many levels. And I think that I felt like, and I'm reading into Frank Reich's comments here, so that's dangerous all the time.
Starting point is 00:25:30 But I felt like that's kind of what he was alluding to when he said, we all need a break. We all need to catch our breath a little bit in talking about the Costanza situation. I think that has a big part of this. I think right now this season took a big toll on everybody. And there's probably part of Anthony Costanzo that needs to work through that before he decides what he wants to do for his long-term future. Last question I had for you, George. Appreciate the time as always here on the podcast of the season. But going into the 2020s now, we're of course on New Year's Eve.
Starting point is 00:25:59 It's going to be 2020 here in a couple hours. What do you think Colts fans should be looking at as far as the 2020s go we saw 2010 and 2019 you had franchise quarterbacks Andrew Luck retired in 2019 you had Peyton Manning Andrew Luck throughout this decade how should Colts fans readjust their expectations heading into a new decade with a lot of young talent of course but still a question at quarterback where do you think this Colts team lands entering into the 2020 season as far as what their window is? Definitely the quarterback question is going to dominate all of this. And I do think as much as I'm down on the free agent class this year and as much as I'm down on the rookie crop in general, at least the ones that will be available to the Colts.
Starting point is 00:26:42 I mean, I don't think anybody's down on Joe Burrow, but he's not coming to Indianapolis. In general, the guys who the Colts will have available to the Colts. I mean, I don't think anybody's down on Joe Burrow, but he's not coming to Indianapolis. In general, the guys who the Colts will have a chance to get, I'm just not that excited about. I do think this setting, what the Colts have here in Indianapolis, from the fan base and their understanding of what a franchise quarterback looks like and how you treat the offense when they're on the field, I've never heard – I've been in a lot of settings.
Starting point is 00:27:04 I've never heard any place as quiet when the home team has a ball as Lucas Oil Stadium is. People know what they're supposed to do, and that helps the offense. But way beyond that, I think Frank Reich, Nick Sirianni, Marcus Brady are some of the quarterback's best friends. I think it's a really good situation here with the offensive line, with a running game to support a guy. You still have a playmaker like T.Y. Hilton.
Starting point is 00:27:26 The expectation is they're going to add more of that. So I do feel like it's not a bad place for a guy to land. And I think there's a better chance for a quarterback who's maybe in that middle ground to succeed and hit his high end here than there might be other places. But that's going to dominate the 2020s, trying to find that guy who's that next quarterback. As far as what's already here, there's two building blocks that everybody knows that are outstanding and unquestionable. I thought the best thing about this year,
Starting point is 00:27:55 all the other things that you want to debate about, and was this good, was it bad, what does it all mean? The best thing about this year is that Quentin Nelson and Darius Leonard prove they are all pro guys. They are two guys on each side of the ball that you can build around that will be leaders on and off the field for this team. And that's where it starts. And a lot of teams would like to start with two all pros the way the Colts have. There's things that need to be done, obvious things that need to be done to get this team back into contention.
Starting point is 00:28:26 But I think Gary Sunderland and Quentin Nelson are going to be a really good place to start. Yeah, definitely agree with you there, George. This has been a very fun season. I know you're going to be around still in the offseason, but a very fun rollercoaster ride from the very beginning here. So, appreciate you coming on the podcast from day one here. So, helped us out a lot.
Starting point is 00:28:42 So, appreciate that. You can follow George on Twitter at GMBremmer. You can read his content if you haven't already over at the hurl bulletin thanks again george appreciate the time happy new year no problem thanks a lot happy new year

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