Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 1/31/20: What the Colts can learn from the Chiefs and 49ers with Kevin Bowen

Episode Date: January 31, 2020

On today's episode, Kevin Bowen returns to talk about plenty of offseason situations upcoming for the Colts. First up, what can Indianapolis learn from Kansas City and San Francisco this weekend? Both teams spent premium draft capital in the trenches, plus both have high-end QBs.What's going to happen to the Colts' quarterback situation? Will Jacoby Brissett start all 16 games, or even still be around? Bowen helps walk through the rookie and veteran scenarios to go along with Brissett.We close the show on Anthony Castonzo. How big of an impact does his upcoming decision have on their offseason? Also, Super Bowl prediction time! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, everybody. Welcome back into the latest episode of Locked On Colts, probably Locked On Podcast Network. Today's audience is Evan Sutter. I'm joined by our guest on the show today, Kevin Bowen of 107.5 The Fan, 107.5 The Fan. Kevin, how are you doing today? Doing great, Evan. Thanks for having me on, man. No problem at all. Appreciate the time as always, Kevin. I know our listeners love listening to Kevin's Corner as well. I enjoy listening to it too.

Before we get into it, is it odd to see, or not really odd, but kind of cool that Joey Molinera is really becoming Twitter famous all of a sudden? It is awesome. You know, I've always thought Joey is an extremely talented, not only impersonator, which is how pretty much everyone sees him on social media, but he's very talented behind the scenes as well. And I love that he went to the national title game earlier this month and got to meet Drew Brees and Alvin Kamara. I think he went to the national title game earlier this month and got

to meet Drew Brees and Alvin Kamara. I think he was in the suite next to Vince Vaughn. And so, yeah, really, really excited for him. And I know it seems like it's only a matter of time before I'm going to have to be producing the podcast and doing it all because Joey's going to be, you know, heading for bigger and better things. Yeah, it's certainly awesome to see Joey's growth and also just the show itself. I'm a loyal listener.

So always keep the good work going. Yeah, no problem at all. Let's dive in now to the show today, which is about just bouncing around some Colts topics here. And the first one, Kevin, what can the Colts learn from the Super Bowl matchup here? Because just this Chiefs 49ers matchup's kind of just offense versus defense. They built up the trenches in San Francisco. They built up the speed and weapons

in Kansas City. What can Chris Bauer learn from these two teams as far as philosophy goes? Because I know Bauer was there for the Kansas City build, but San Francisco too. I know he really emulates that. Yeah, I honestly think if there's a team that he wants to follow a blueprint, it is San Francisco. Now,

the homegrown talent of Jimmy Garoppolo didn't come through the draft. They came through a trade, but when you talk specifically that defensive line, you know, that's definitely something that, you know, any general manager would love to have, but, you know, Ballard has not shied away from talking about the trenches, and, you know, he's used, yeah, San Francisco has used crazy high draft capital on their defensive line, but, you know, Ballard has used, when you look at it, pretty much four premium-type picks on the front of the defense. You know, you talk about Terrell Basham in 2017, and then second-round picks, you know, Taequann Lewis and Kamoko Turi in 2018, and then Ben Banigou last year.

So, you know, Ballard knows how much that means. But, you know, that's the blueprint I think he would love to, again, try to follow. Having said that, you know, I think it's something that can't be ignored of how both of these teams, Kansas City and San Francisco, have used free agency and even trades to really help build their core and I think provide just a higher end talent on both sides of the ball. You know, if you look at, you know, whether it's the Honey Badger or Frank Clark, you know, Morris Claiborne, or even some of just different guys that Kansas City has been able to bring in, Sammy Watkins, you know, a couple years ago in free agency. San Francisco, of course, with what they've done with Dee Ford and Richard Sherman, Manuel Sanders during the middle of the season.

I mean, those are moves that I think are just vital to getting over the hump, especially when you're a team like San Francisco and you're sitting here at the four-win mark, you know, last year or have had these double-digit losing seasons and to get them a little bit further, whereas you look at a guy like Sanders, I feel like we forget. If San Francisco loses that week 17 game in Seattle. They're going on the road in the first round of the wild card. They're not getting the buy.

They're not getting home field throughout the NFC. And they knew how important I think home field was. And in the middle of the season playing and arguably the toughest division in football, certainly the toughest in the NFC, they go and make that trade for Emmanuel Sanders. And I, it has been a big big help and just I think giving a veteran leader to that whiteout group as well so I think that's what the Colts have got to look at is like Kansas City and San Francisco in general their their philosophies are a little bit different um offensive minded versus more of a defensive

minded but again I come back to the using a free agency and seeing full well that that can really help you and three or four of their top 10 players probably have come from that route this is a two-parter for you Kevin just about both quarterbacks here Garoppolo and Patrick Mahomes how it relates to Jacoby Brissett for a second because I know a lot of Colts fans that you brought us up on your show as well earlier this week just about how Jimmy Garoppolo and Jacoby Brissett shouldn't be compared right now just because Garoppolo has thrown the ball eight times the last two games. It's just because Garoppolo, yards per attempt to complete percentage,

blows Jacoby out of the water in that route. And that's what some fans should look at as well, because Jacoby's yards per attempt to complete percentage are way lower than Garoppolo's. But also, the second part of the question is, as far as Patrick Mahomes goes, Chris Bauer, Ed Dodd, Jim Irsay, they as Patrick Mahomes goes, Chris Bauer, Ed Dodge, Jim Irsay, they see Patrick Mahomes probably for the next decade or so. Do you think in the back of their mind they know we need to find a guy just like this or a guy can consistently beat this guy in a one-on-one match

every single time? It's going to be a hard time to do that. Yeah, you know, I think when you look at Garoppolo himself, yes, the yards per attempt, completion percentage in the regular season certainly higher um if you look at kind of a clutch factor that he had in the fourth quarter he had a very very high pass rating as well and that's a point that I know you you've uh tried to drive home and something that that has been a big onus on me of what you look at in evaluating that high level of quarterback play

you know what about a month and a half ago it's Jimmy Garoppolo winning the shootout in the Superdome against Drew Brees and then you see what happened when the Colts and Jacoby Bursette go down to the Superdome in in a kind of a bigger atmosphere like that so comparing Garoppolo to Jacoby Bursette I don't think it's fair at all. Secondly, when you look at Patrick Mahomes, obviously the Ballard history speaks for itself in Kansas City. And I think that conversation has to be had. And frankly, I think it's had in, you know, 31 other rooms around the league of like, all right, that dude is rare.

That is the, it's the hardest position to get right but it's all if you have it right I think it's the easiest to sustain success um so that's where I look at if you've got the quarterback look at what Seattle the run they've had with Russell Wilson or the consistency of you know again New England or Pittsburgh or Green Bay um and I think Kansas City is well on its way to having that sort of consistency because, again, if you have the quarterback, which is very difficult to find, I'm not acting like this is easy at all, but if you've got that guy that is just a supreme talent and is touching the ball in every play, your ability to win 10, 11, 12 games year in and year out and make playoff runs,

that is much more attainable than I think it is to rely on just a historic defense or a historic running game, which I think can come and go a little bit quicker. Personnel changes a little bit more in those areas over the course of, you know, five to 10 years, of course. So I think Ballard is having that conversation full well. You know, is that guy in this 2019 draft? That's probably kind of a lofty thing to ask. Are there guys that have traits that can maybe, you know, get you to the playoffs and improve and, I guess,

raise the ceiling at the quarterback position? I think there is, and you're going to have to rely on Frank Reich's development of the quarterback position a little bit more as well. Moving on to some senior bowl talk here for a second, Kevin. I know it just wrapped up here last week, and I don't think you were down in Mobile, but what was your takeaways if you had a chance to watch it on TV or if you've heard reports or watched practices at all, just about what you saw from some players?

I know Jordan Love and Justin Herbert took the show from Colts fans. That's who they're talking about with the quarterbacks. But Javon Kenlaw, like a monster down there too. I know Ballard's great about the three tech being an important position. So what was your thoughts on the senior bowl weekend, how those players look? Yeah, you know, my eyes are kind of fixed on the main positions of need. And right now, quarterback, receiver, and defensive line are atop that list. Left tackle, and in general, I think tackle, no matter what Anthony Costanzo does,

that needs to be a prominent need as well. So I was pretty focused kind of on those four position groups and I thought the wide outs you know you just mentioned quarterbacks and I kind of had the same takeaway of Herbert and Love um separating themselves from from the rest of the group um but I thought the wide outs and the and the really the interior of the defensive line there were a couple good edge prospects as well but um i thought both of those position groups played pretty well unfortunately in the game the offensive lines couldn't really hold up too much it was difficult especially for love to kind of evaluate quarterback play within the game itself but the byproduct of

that is the defensive line was playing really really well so i think there's depth which i think we kind of knew and it was backed up in the senior bowl and of course that doesn't include the underclassmen but I think when you go into this draft there is the feeling of like okay there's a variety of wide receiver skill and then we saw it whether it was a a smaller but shiftier guy out of the slot in KJ Hill or, or it was a bigger guy in Mims or Colin Johnson or Chase Claypool is always a favorite of mine being a Notre Dame guy. But I think there's some talent at a couple of key areas and depth at a couple of key areas for the Colts,

which I think has to make the Colts pretty happy coming home, knowing full well that, like I said earlier, free agency needs to be used and should be used, but at the same time you've got really nice draft capital that you can go ahead and try to continue to improve some of the long-term outlook

at those positions. Guys, let's have a chat real quick. Mirror days are always ready to go. Now you can increase performance, get an extra comments and bet. Listen up. BlueChew.com. That's blue like the color blue. BlueChew brings you the first chewable of the same FDA approved active ingredients for your green Cialis as soon as they work.

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ahead of time. Do you feel like if they're interested, let's say they're on on Jordan Love at 13 or they want to trip with Jordan Love or Justin Herbert or one of those quarterbacks, do you think there's any chance we hear between now and the draft that, hey, the Colts are really interested in this guy and let's just actuallycreen, like the Colts actually wanted to get out there. I feel like Bauer really plays it close to the chest because I was listening to a podcast with Daniel Jeremiah on NFL Network, and he talked about Andy Reid and the Chiefs front

office being really coy about Patrick Mahomes, and really no one knew they were interested in him before they traded up. Do you think Bauer might do the same thing so other teams around the NFL don't try to jump him? Probably without a doubt, yeah. I mean, I'd be stunned if any concrete information from the Colts leaked between now and the draft, again, specifically related to how they feel about some of those quarterbacks.

I know they like Jordan Love. Like, that's not, you know, breaking news by any means. The question is, do they like them enough then to go ahead and move up? And that's something that we will not find out. That's just not how you can operate with that position. And Andy Reid has talked about it. Brett Veach has talked about it. Chris Ballard's even talked about it. Kansas City played it extremely, extremely close to the vest about Patrick Mahomes. Because if I'm not mistaken, I think Alex Smith went to the vest about Patrick Mahomes because if I'm not mistaken I think Alex Smith

went to the Pro Bowl the year before they drafted Patrick Mahomes I know Kansas City wanted the playoffs so it's not like they were ready to say okay we're totally done with Alex Smith he still started that next season but it came down to the fact of they were enamored with Mahomes they knew they could push that ceiling higher they also knew they were drafting a 27 overall. And to go from 27 to 10 is no joke. And it's a lot of draft capital. And if you screw it up, or if you, you know, let kind of show your cards a little bit, other teams are going to be like, wait, why are we not looking into this? And I think it was well documented New Orleans was ready to take Patrick Mahomes. You I'm not mistaken, Jordan Spieth, I think, was in the draft room for the Saints

and kind of leaked that info out from the draft. And that would have been kind of fascinating, obviously, to see what would have happened with the passing of the torch down there. But I think that's what you have to get across, is actions are going to speak louder than words and the Colts have got to sit in those war rooms over the next few weeks and know full well that okay is it Tua is it Herbert is it Love do how much do we think that that guy is worth trading up for in our franchise because I just don't I'd be surprised if Herbert or or two especially and probably Love as well will fall out of the top 10 I just think there's

too many quarterback needy teams we see franchises over the last three or four years to get a quarterback you got to trade up so yeah I'd be shocked Evan if we found out that that information the Colts under Ballard I mean his first few days in the job, he made sure that that organization knew full well we are not going to leak things. That's not how we're going to operate. And unless it's more of a player-agent driven thing, I can't see any of that stuff leaking. Now, this is an easy question, I feel like, but I've seen some Colts fans shy away from the aggressiveness in trading up for a quarterback or even a premium player that Bauer would like.

I just feel like a pick 45 overall or 44 and 32, it shouldn't really be – you shouldn't be thinking about that in the back of your head like, oh, we're going to lose an extra pick if you want to trade me at your guy, so to say. That's what, like you mentioned, Mahomes did, the text with Deshaun Watson. It's not like if the Colts want to get their guy, they gonna have to trade up right oh without a doubt i mean yeah it's it's something to where um if you're gonna move up you can't be worried about mortgaging you know a too much of your draft because that's that's the price of business today now that's the good thing about drafting 13 is you aren't giving up you know a king's ransom to get to five or six or four

wherever you feel like you need to trade up so that is the benefit of it and I guess that's kind of the the other thing I think about when you know people are like well let's take care of other needs this year and the next year you know you a quarterback. Well, what if you win two or three more games next year? Now you're drafting at 22 or 23 and the ability to trade up, you've got to leapfrog a lot more teams and it's a little bit more draft capital to where you don't have maybe that additional second round pick at 34 overall, like you do this year via Washington and that trade back in, in last year's first round.

So I think those are all things to factor in as well when you're weighing the sort of predicament because, again, it's just the price of business. You've got to move up. You're going to sacrifice a couple picks. But if it's a guy that's going to lead you to some Super Bowls or lead you to deep playoff runs, no one will be complaining. Now, obviously, we won't know Chris Bauer's opinion or decision until draft night or freeing.

So whenever he decides to get a new quarterback on board if he does. But Kevin, let me ask you, if you had the GM hat on for a second, would there be an epiphany in your head as far as if I draft Jacoby Brissett X amount of weapons, like a Jerry Judy CD lamb in the draft in the first round, sign a top free agent wide receiver, build up the offensive line even more with some depth? Is there any way you could talk yourself, Kevin, into Jacoby Brissett being a long-term answer quarterback if you gave him the weapon, so to say?

You know, it would be a bit difficult for me to get there. Now, the Colts have a lot of resources, a ton of resources, really, when you look at the cap space and draft picks as well. So I do think they could do some serious damage in a positive way in building a better team around the quarterback. But I go back to what I said a little earlier about, you know, I just think it's easier to sustain that if you've got the elite quarterback who is still on the rookie contract and you

continue to build around that guy that doesn't have the major cap hit and then that allows you to achieve I think a little bit more of long-term success because at the end of the day the quarterback still receives a brunt of it on his shoulders and you know you go back to comparing San Francisco's blueprint like San Francisco's got an incredible defensive line via top 10 picks like the Colts can do a lot of damage this offseason, but they're still not going to have a Nick Bosa walking in the door. You know, so that's something that I think you've got to keep in mind as well. So it's a question that I get a good amount, and I don't totally discredit it.

I think it's something the Colts could actually explore. And if you don't love a quarterback enough to move all the way up, then that probably is a route to take. Now, I would still be drafting a quarterback at some point because I think it's vital for this organization, and I think it's good for Frank Reich. I mean, part of what makes Frank Reich himself is that, you know, he was a former quarterback, and he's been with elite quarterbacks,

and he's developed some QBs as well. Well, why not get him that sort of piece, even if it's not a first-round pick? I think at some point before day three, get him a guy in your building to where you can still build a lot around what you currently have. But I think it'd be a big mistake by the franchise not to draft a quarterback until Saturday. Again, for our listeners out there, I hope you're enjoying today's episode here with Kevin Bowen. Before we go on to our final segment here, I want to tell you guys,

if you haven't already, to subscribe to the Locked On Colts daily Colts podcast. We're going to be with you guys multiple times throughout the office here each week to give you guys the latest scoops, have great guests on like Kevin and others. So you don't want to miss out here on Locked On Colts and the most important offseason in the last two decades. So make sure to subscribe if you like what you're listening to. Make sure to leave a five-star review as well. Kevin, I assume you've seen these reports you talked about on your show

earlier this week with Phillip Rivers, the connections to him via Dan Patrick, also Jeremy Fowler, BSP and reported last month too. So that's two reports now about the Rivers-Colts interest as far as – it like maybe phil brewers camp is more interested in the colts and the colts are at the moment but what i think that kind of move kevin really made me raise my eyebrows because 38 year old quarterback you have a 13th overall pick you have draft ammunition if they were to let's say sign phil brewers or a veteran quarterback like a tom brady what would they do in that scenario because i imagine either you're not going to direct quarterback where you're going to trade your coach,

or say you can't have three quarterbacks, at least if you take one at 13 or early on the roster. Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up. And I think it's something that we all need to keep in mind here over the next few days, or I guess I should say a few weeks. The Colts have the most gap space in the NFL. You know full well Asians are going to want to leak information that the Colts are the most gap space in the NFL. You know full well Asians are going to want to leak information that the Colts are coming after their client

because that's going to probably drive up some of the asking price elsewhere. You know, I don't love the Rivers idea. Again, I don't think it – I think it's a Band-Aid on an issue that's more of a long-term thing. You know, I look at Phillip Rivers, and there's a lot of good skill in that Chargers group, better skill than the Colts have for sure. Now, the offensive lines are totally different. Indianapolis is much better than L.A.,

so that's needed because Phillip Rivers, you know, moves about as well as I do. So there's no way that, you know, you'd be worried about him extending plays a little bit or things like that. Something Jacoby Versette, I thought, did a really nice job of this season. I think Rivers is a slight upgrade over what you currently have in Jacoby. And obviously, you know, going into Brian Hoyer and Chad Kelly. But again, I don't think that all of a sudden Phillip Rivers walks into your building and it's like, oh, seven to nine becomes 12 and four. And you're making a deep playoff run. I

don't think that's the case at all. So it'd be damn entertaining. I mean, Phillip Rivers, you talk about a guy that'll, you know, give you some semantics every fourth quarter, it seems like he'll certainly provide that. I mean, he did that to the Colts, good and bad, in week one this past year, but I'm not a fan of it. Like you said, I think it would eliminate, you know, maybe the long-term view of Jacoby Bursette as well. I mean, are you re-signing Bursette, like, after this season? I assume Rivers thinks he can play two or three more years at the age of 38. I don't know. Would Bursette want to continue to be a backup after he's been a starter for two years uh you know the the very you know there's a ton of questions i would have with that and uh

i'd be a bit surprised if it happened i get the whole quarterback need frank reich nick sirianni connection but still it just doesn't seem to fall in line with what chris bowers said about quarterback there's so many i feel feel like, sliding doors opportunities for this Colts offseason, Kevin. And just how intrigued are you? I know we're still about six, seven weeks away from free agency starting and really offseason kicking off. But does this feel like an offseason where the Colts

could really literally go any direction? Yeah, I could not be more excited, to be honest with you. I'm just, you know, I'm a loser. And so I am very fascinated and curious by all the possibilities the Colts could go down. And I think it's an exciting time for fans because there's so much unknown, but you have just a great amount of resources. And like this team is not, you know, a four and 12 football team., this team is still capable of, you know, being right there. But some significant moves at critical positions are going to have to occur, you know, here over the next, you know, two and a half months. So I can't wait for it all to get started.

Again, I think there's just so many different paths they could go down. And it's something I've talked about before. It's the debates that you could have at all of these important, important positions, pass rusher, left tackle, quarterback, wideout. I mean, that's what today's NFL is all about. So I can't wait for it to get started. You know, I would assume the Costanzo Domino will be the first one to fall probably sometime in February.

And then once it gets into the combine, it seems like once the combine's over, you know, that's when stuff starts happening because, you know, there's so much agent talk here in Indianapolis during that week, and you start to re-sign some of your own. And then, you know, the new league year starts on March 16th, and before you know it, it'll be the draft. So I can't wait for it all to get started. And, again, a very exciting offseason for Colts fans.

I'm glad you mentioned that Costanzo bit, Kevin, because I was going to end the show talking about that. I don't know if we had a chance to talk about it together yet. Just what's your thoughts on the Andy Costanzo bit? Because I was kind of surprised when I heard after the game, the final season finale in Jacksonville, then that next Monday, he talks about the possibility of mulling retirement over, which really caught me off guard because this left tackle, like you mentioned, Kevin,

is one of the most important positions to find on an offense in the NFL. How big of a loss would that be for the Colts if Costanza does walk away? Because I imagine at that point, he might be spitting a pick 13 on a left tackle. Yeah, it'd be a gargantuan loss. I mean, let's not underestimate or undermine what Anthony Costanzo means to this football team. You know, I said it numerous times. I think there's a bigger drop-off from Costanzo to his backup than there would have been from Andrew Luck to Jacoby Bursette

or any other position, really, on the Colts roster. I think Costanzo is just that important because there's, again, a domino effect of if Costanzo's not there, then all of a sudden you're susceptible to your left tackle. Your game plan totally changes. Now your quarterback could get hurt. You know, things like that have given help constantly, whereas when Costanzo's healthy and in there,

you don't have to worry about that. You're not giving help. You just trust him on an island. So I wasn't, you know, if you're going to list me five guys that would have made that comment after the season, Casanzo would have been on that list. What is surprising is the fact that you feel like he's playing at an extremely high level, probably the highest level of his career. He has been on record several times in saying how the new strength and conditioning

staff has helped him kind of revive how his body feels. And he's training in a different way and doesn't feel like, you know, most 30 year olds who have played over 130 some games in the NFL feel at that point of their career. So that was the kind of surprising aspect to it all. And not to mention he's looking at a great payday. again you know it goes back to the the previous question Evan of like okay how do you even handle Costanzo's sort of negotiation you know is it do you franchise tag him do you trust him to play three or four more years do you you know you know, short-term, long-term, do you draft a tackle at 13, even if he comes back, like, out of insurance? Probably not, but I wouldn't be waiting too far into the draft to be taking a tackle. It's something that I really wanted to see the Colts do a lot earlier

than they did last year. So, yeah, again, it's, I think it's, I think it's the biggest free agent storyline this franchise has had probably since Peyton was a free agent, or I guess Peyton was never really a free agent. He ended up cutting him. I'm trying to think of a high-end free agent that this franchise has had. It's been a while. I guess Reggie.

Reggie, honestly, yeah. I mean, you go from 2011 to 2012, and Reggie Wayne decided to resign. I mean, it's been quite some time. So, yeah, I would – I guess it's news that we would hear, again, sometime in February. Like, it's not like the Colts – it's not like Costanza's going to tell the Colts, hey, I'm coming back, and the Colts are going to announce that. Like, the Colts are going to want to resign him,

and that will be the announcement of him coming back. So, that would be something to keep an eye on here in the coming weeks. Yeah, that will certainly be the first diamond of the fall for the Colts with the Costanzo bit. But before we go, end this episode, Kevin, I appreciate the time as always. I've got to get a serial prediction for you before we end this episode. So I'm going 31-27 Chiefs. I've been waffling back and forth all week. I think the Chiefs offense is too good.

What do you say? Yeah, I think I... Did you say 31-27? Yeah, 31-27. Yeah, I think that's a really good score. I've been kind of going back and forth like a 27-23 sort of pick. I'll go with the Chiefs. I think it's

going to be a terrific game, though. I don't look at people that pick San Francisco and think they're ludicrous by any means. But I just think Andy Reid, Eric Bien-Ami, and Patrick Mahomes, two weeks to prepare is a lot of time. And I know Kyle Shanahan is a great, great coach. But I think Kansas City will be able to finish off drives at a higher rate. I could see San Francisco settling for a few more field goals if Kansas City can, you know, slow down that run game. And so I'll say the Chiefs pull it out 27-23.

Kevin, appreciate the time as always, man. You can follow him on Twitter at KBowen1070. Subscribe to his podcast, Kevin's Corner, and read his work, as always, over at 10701075, The Fan. Ken, appreciate the time. Thank you, Evan. Have a great weekend, man.