Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 3/10/20: Jordan Reid of The Draft Network on the Colts' realistic draft options

Episode Date: March 10, 2020

On today's episode, Jordan Reid of The Draft Network joins to talk through Colts 2020 draft options. From quarterback to defense, all of the bases are covered today with Jordan.First up, is Jordan Love a franchise quarterback? If so, how does he fit in Indy? Also, who does Reid prefer between Love and Justin Herbert?Outside of QB, WR and DT are the next best bets for the Colts to attack. Who are some names in the 34-44 range Colts fans should be familiar with?Before we go, Jordan gives his dream Colts draft haul for their first three selections before giving one free agent they should also prioritize. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, everybody. Welcome back into our latest episode of Locked on Colts, probably Locked on Podcast Network. Today, as always, we're with Evan Sutter, and we'll be by a very special guest on today's show, Jordan Reed of the Draft Network. How are you doing today, Jordan? Good. Thank you for having me on. Yeah, no problem at all. Appreciate you having me on. I know the Draft Network sort of taken off since the last year,

so congratulations for your guys' success over there. I always enjoy using your mock draft machines for a lot of stuff on the show here. And let me ask you, Jordan, what do you believe is the best case scenario for this Colts team to look at this draft class? Because I feel like the more I've been thinking about, honestly, Jordan, about you, but it feels like if the Chargers go offense tackle at six, they don't go Justin Herbert. I feel there's actually a really good chance that if there's no team to trade up that maybe both Justin Herbert and Jordan Luck on the board for Colts 13. Yeah they're in a really interesting spot just because everybody wants to pay a quarterback to them but there's some other places that they could go as

well and I think they probably will end up going quarterback there but it's just really hard to say right now free agency would clean up a lot of things that are going on right now but we both know that Jacoby Brissett probably isn't the long-term solution there. We know he has one year left on his deal after signing that extension prior to the year last year. But there's plenty of options if the Colts do want to go with the quarterback at 13. Now, Justin Herbert definitely could be an option. Jordan Love is another that I think could be there for them.

Or maybe they entertain a trade-up situation into that top 10 or top 8 situation. Jordan, what do you think about Jordan Love? Because I know he's a very divisive prospect amongst people we brought on the show. Either you love him or you're really not into him. Do you think that Jordan Love personally, if you get maybe a year on the bench behind him, like a Jacober set for a year, do you think he does have franchise QB upside? Yeah, and I'm a person that actually is a fan of Jordan Love. And I think there's a bunch of misconceptions out there about him.

What I mean by that is I trust the 2018 tape. I really think that is the true form of him just because last year he lost a stagecoach. Matt Wells went to Texas Tech as well as that coaching staff as well. He lost his top five options. Tight end Dax Raymond and Darwin Thompson, the running back, were another two options that he lost there. Those were his two main guys.

And he just was fighting it up. Really was a miracle that they made a bowl game last year. And the thing that I love about Joe Love is that just talking to him at the combine, he understands exactly what happened. And he called his 17 interceptions last year, 17 teachable moments. So he's completely accepting what happened with that. And I think just comparing him to other guys in this draft, I think that's a little bit unfair just because I don't think he had anywhere

near as close to the weapons and the arsenal that they had. How do you think just trying to get the best out of Jordan Love personally, Jordan, getting Indianapolis in a situation where if you give him Frank Reich for a year to learn under, maybe Jacoby Brissett wants to be a mentor to Jordan Love and having the environment with an offensive line. Really, if it's not even Jordan Love, Jordan, we can even say a guy like Justin Herbert or any of these quarterbacks in his draft class. It feels like Indianapolis could be one of those scenarios

where if you are a quarterback, maybe you're hoping you land here. Well, just sticking to Love, I think the big thing that you have to do with him is just clean up his decision making. And I think the reason why his decisions were so poor last year was just because he was trying to do too much. And he was playing hero ball in a sense. So some of those throws that he made in 2018 when he threw 32 touchdowns and six interceptions maybe were a lot less risky than what he did last year, just because he had better players around him. And last year he was just trying to overcome some of the things that he had to just the steep battles that he had to face.

He was trying to overcome that. So he did a lot of things out of the ordinary. So I think with him, you just have to sit him down and let him be an understudy for a year, whether that's behind a veteran, if the Colts want to bring in another to compete with Jacoby Brissett, or if they want to treat Jacoby Brissett as that bridge guy to Jordan Love and just have him sit for a year and just understand how to be a pro, understand the decision making and the ins and outs of Frank Reich's system, just because Reich is a guy that is a proven

quarterback developer. He did it in his time at Kansas City, and he also did it in his time with the Eagles as well. So I think having a guy like Love under his tutelage would really help. If you had to pick Jordan between those, it seems like it's a contestant's top two for the quarterbacks with Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa. Who is personally your quarterback three between Justin Herbert and Jordan Love, and why is that? Love actually is my quarterback three, and it's really a neck-and-neck battle.

I went back and forth every single week between those two just because I think both are going to be really good pros. But I just like the upside with Love a little bit more, even though his floor is much lower than what Herbert's is going to be coming into the league. I just like Love's ceiling a little bit more, and I trust that his 2018 tape is just really who he is. And I think an underrated quarterback prospect, I know the Colts love their senior bowl guys, and a lot of the traits of Chris Bauer and Frank are talking about their quarterbacks. I feel like maybe it's a possibility that Jalen Hurts could be a guy that target maybe on day two of this draft class.

What's your thoughts on Jalen Hurts, Jordan? Because I feel like he is a guy who either almost like Jordan Love, he's a very divisive where either you love him or you hate him. Yeah, and I think you're spot on with that. And I think the one thing you have to understand about Jalen Hurts

is that he's not as physically gifted as some of these other guys, but he has the intangible, the leadership, the moxie, and everything that you're looking for

from a football acumen and IQ. And he just has the personality to galvanize a locker room. You know, he's going to be able to stay. He's going to be able

to come in right away from day one and mesh with everybody in that locker room now as far as a player you have he has to go to a situation where a team fully embraces who he is and that just goes back to my point to where he's not as physically gifted as some of these guys as a thrower but he likes to incorporate his legs a little bit more and I think he's a little bit more athletic than some of the other guys in this class as well. So I like Hurts, but a team just has to go all in, similar to a Lamar Jackson situation of not as conventional of an offense as Lamar, but as far as some of the concepts that you have to pertain to

that really surrounds his strengths, I think that's something that you have to do with Hurts. Outside of the crowd position for a second, Jordan, when you look at this Colts team, I think a common connection is going after the front four here, whether it's defensive end, like an edge rusher, a Caleb on chase on, or it's Javon Kinlaw or Derek Brown at the three tech spot. What's your thoughts on guys? Let's start with Javon Kinlaw here, Jordan, because he's a guy a lot of Colts fans seem to really love. It seems like Kinlaw can be really that monster three technique that Chris Bowers really one to add into this defense.

Yeah, and I like Kimball a lot. And he's a guy that he gets a significant amount of pressures, but he just wasn't able to finish them with sacks. And I think that's going to come during his NFL career. A guy that still is raw in a sense, every bit of 6'5", 310, 315 pounds. So he has that size that you're looking for in the middle, and he's an ultimate penetrator. He creates havoc throughout games. That's what I love about Javon Kinlaw.

A guy that's really just scratching the surface of really what he can be. Only two years at South Carolina, he started his first year at junior college. I love players that played the game in a deeper sense. A guy that battled homelessness, didn't really know where his meal was going to come from from time to time. The game just means a little bit more than the regular person to him.

So that's something I love about Javon Kinlaw, and I think his ceiling is sky high. Yeah, speaking of his ceiling, Jordan, I really feel like he even mentioned at his combine press conference that he only really uses power moves more often than not. What do you think his ceiling really could be if he gets with a defensive line coach? Let's say he does in Indianapolis where he gets a really hands-on coach

that's able to mold him and give him a lot of moves in his arsenal. And that's the great thing about Kinlaw. His baseline traits are already – I think he can be a pro bowl type of player. So just imagine getting with some of the coach coaching staff and their past work with defensive linemen and the success that they have had in years past, just imagine him adding some seasoning to his already impressive repertoire. I think he can be a really good player.

Now, with that, he's really just known for out-athleting and overpowering everybody right now. So I think the tools already present in this tool shed are really good. Now they just need a little bit of sharpening, and I think that's where he can take his game to the next level. Next one here is Derek Brown Jordan I feel like I don't his combine of course wasn't the best say his three come was one of the worst as far as percentiles go I believe to the third percentile for all defensive tackles do you think maybe we're overrating the combine when it comes to like Derek Brown or should actually people be concerned about his performance because what I see on tape is a dominant force but his combo is a little lackluster. I think it's a case-by-case basis,

and I'm a guy that puts a lot of weight into the combine at certain positions. But I think there's some guys you just have to trust the tape on. I think Derrick Brown definitely is one of those guys just because he's not going to be one of those prospects that's a combine warrior and test overly well, even though he shows a bunch of athleticism on film just because he's a bigger guy. Yes, he wanted him to be a bit more explosive, but the way he's been able to take over and dominate games from time to time in his career at Auburn, I think he's one of those guys you just have to trust the tape on. Now,

his pass rushing upside isn't as great as some of the other guys in this class, but I think his presence in the middle makes up for that as a run defender. Do you think there's a chance, honestly, Jordan, that maybe Derrick Brown does slip down to the boards? Maybe some GMs are scared out by his comment performance. They could be a 13 or anything. Maybe that's too far out of the range of a guy like Brown. No, I think it's definitely possible just because in the NFL today,

as an interior guy, you have to be able to be a three-down threat. And that's not to say that Derrick Brown is not, but he's not known as a guy for his pass rushing prowess, just because he's going to overpower guys as opposed to showing these moves, these fancy moves from time to time. That's not really his game. He's known as a bull rusher. He's going to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible. So maybe offensive linemen or maybe able to stymie that a little bit more,

and that may give some teams hesitancy a little bit as far as his pass rushing upside. But I think with the way he affects games and just how well he is against the run, and I think his upside is a little bit better than what people are giving him credit for. I think Akeem Hicks is an NFL comparison really floating out there about him, which I think is terrific because Hicks is a guy that is just known as being a disruptor, whether that's as a run defender or as a pass rusher as well.

I think Derrick Brown can have a similar type of effect. I think an underrated fit for this Colts team as far as guys who could be in range for the Colts at 13, Jordan, is a guy like Caleb on chase on the LSU edge rush. Because when I see chase on and watch how he dominated the last five games, especially against Clemson, where he got to Trevor Lawrence consistently, it felt like you think of these speeders Indianapolis had in the past, like Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis.

I think Caleb on chase, it could be kind of in that, that cloth, so to say, what's your thoughts on chase on as a prospect and DQ, maybe he could be a guy who maybe taps in that sort of upside mentioned. Yeah, now he's a little bit different stylistically from Freeney and Mathis, and I know that's setting the bar very high for him just because that's franchise legends. But with Chason, I just love his upside. And there's been previous examples of LSU rushes that really have turned out to be the best. Marquevious Mingo is one name that is commonly mentioned with them. Yes, they have the same type of field and a similar style stylistically,

but I think they're much different as far as their upside and what he brings to the table. Entering the league, he's a guy that is very good with his hands. I think he's a stout run defender, which I think is an underrated aspect about him. But I love the quote that he gave after somebody, a reporter, asked him just how well diverse his game is. And he said, I'm the most versatile player in this draft.

And when you hire somebody, do you want somebody to speak three languages or do you want them to speak one language? And he said, I speak three languages. I can rush the passer. I can play the run. And also I can drop in. Yeah. I also wanted to look at it as the wire class here for a second, Jordan,

because when you look at this sort of cluster of the Colts you're going to be in, I imagine 13, do you think there's any – I mean, maybe there's a chance, but I imagine Arizona's going to love CeeDee Lamb at eight, so I imagine you won't be on the board. But Jerry, Judy, and Henry, your rugs are kind of – they're on the same team, of course, but give you kind of different flavor at the wire series spot. What's your thoughts on both those guys? Yeah, I'm a big fan of both of those guys,

and I think they both can end up being superstars. I think Judy – I think he has a little bit of a higher ceiling than what C.D. does have just because I think he's a better separator. But I think both of them are going to be really good. I can tell you right now the Cardinals absolutely love C.D. Lamb. I'd be really surprised if he does get past that eighth spot. Just combining him back with Kyler Murray, I just think that's too good of an opportunity for Arizona to pass up.

But, I mean, if the Colts do want to go receiver at 13, that wouldn't surprise me at all, especially if they want to get – or if they want to wait to get a quarterback, whether that's in the later rounds or if they bring a veteran in, like a Phillip Rivers or some other name that I haven't mentioned, that wouldn't surprise me if they do go all in on that. But as far as both of those at the top with CeeDee Lamb and also Jerry Judy, both of those guys are terrific.

On Henry Ruggs too, Jordan, I'm thinking to the Kansas City days when Chris Bauer was there with the build and he put together – I mean, obviously he wasn't there when they got Sammy Watkins, but he drafted Tyreek Hill there. He loves speed wire series directed paris campbell last year do you think there's any way like you could talk yourself if you already had the gm's hat on for a second jordan where you had henry ruggs and paris campbell with a 427 431 speed ty holds 433 speed on lucasola's turf that seems like a mismatched nightmare man yeah it does and you know with the Chiefs they built the track team and that's something people talk about very frequently

as far as how you want to build your receiver core and then T.Y. Hilton the guy that's getting a little bit older that's not to say he's gonna suffer a drop off or anything like that he's still a really good player but a player that comes in that is very similar in style and then future upside I think Henry Ruggs and then future upside i think henry ruggs and then you compare you pair him with paris campbell and the other weapons that they do already have i think henry ruggs definitely would be a welcome addition now there's going to be a lot of mouths to feed in that offense but i think that's a good problem for the colts to have when you also look at what the colts did last year for anc and of course it didn't work out because due

to injury and the first game of the season with Devin Funches and his injury. These bigger wide receivers, saying maybe the Colts want to opposite T.Y. Hilton and Parrish Kendall with a bigger wide receiver. It feels like maybe a guy like T. Higgins can honestly be on the board at 34 at this point, Jormie, because he didn't produce at the combine. He sat out due to rest.

And you see guys like Denzel Mims as well rest at the boards. What do you think are like the top big playmakers, so to say? Guys who are 6'2", 6'3", who could really be a good fit at the top of the second round there? Yeah, I think you named probably the two top names there. I would add Brandon Ayuk in there as well, the wide receiver from Arizona State. I think he's another player that they would really like as well. But Mims, he's a guy that's really climbing the draft boards right now. It wouldn't surprise me if he does end up being the first round selection. So he might not even be

there at 34. There really isn't a player that has helped themselves more in the pre-draft process from the senior bowl to the combine to this point. Then Denzel Mims. So it wouldn't surprise me if he goes in the back half of the first round. Brandon Ayoub, I think is a player that fits in really well with what the Colts want to do, just because Frank Reich is really good at scheming guys open, and that's something that he really has battled at Arizona State, even though his production was really off the charts. He's not a guy that's really known as a really, really good separator, but he needs a little bit of help just because he is still a little bit raw at the position he was primarily a running back leading up to his time at Arizona State. But the thing that I love about Iyuk is that he's been successful everywhere he's been,

but he struggled during his first year. He struggled his first year in junior college. He struggled his first year behind the Q area at Arizona State. But that second year is really where things started to take off for him. So it wouldn't surprise me if Iyuk goes there. Some other names to mention, maybe not in the second round, but later on draft. Michael Pittman Jr. is another name that definitely comes to mind that I think the Colts could have a liking to.

Colin Johnson from Texas is another name. And then Brian Edwards from South Carolina, who's been hurt throughout the pre-draft process with a foot injury. He's another player that I think Frank Reich and they will like. Jordan, if I had to put the GM's hat on you for a second, what do you think is the dream haul for a Colts team? Like how would you go about maybe not putting on the spot here a little bit at 13, 34, and 44, but maybe go some name at 13.

Maybe what position do you target there if you did go whatever you did at 13, at 34, and 44? So my dream haul for the Colts would be Jordan Love, of course, at 13. I think of any team in the first round that is quarterback needy right now, I think the Colts have the best situation for him just because they have what I like to call the three Ps, and the three Ps are protection, playmakers, and then play callers. They have the protection with a fantastic offensive line. They have the playmakers surrounding him with T.Y. Hilton and all the other players that they do have

and still searching for some more, which they will surround him with if they do select Love. Then they have a really good play caller in Frank Wright, a guy I have a lot of respect for, and he's very respected around the league as well. At 34, I would like to see them address wide receiver or defensive tackle right there. So I'll go with Justin Jefferson or Brandon Iyuk or any type of receiver right there. Let's just go with Iyuk right there. And then at 44, I would like to see them address defensive tackle.

I think that's another need for him. And one name that I think they will like – well, two names I should say that I think they will like a lot, Ross Blacklock, the defensive tackle from TCU. There's another name that's starting to rise here a little bit that could get some first-round considerations. But the torn Achilles a few years ago might make teams a little bit hesitant with him, but he had a really good year last year. And then also Nabil Gallimore, the defensive tackle from Oklahoma,

I think would be a really good fit for them as well at 44. Last one I had for you, Jor, I'd be remiss not to ask you because free A&C is coming around the corner next week. If, let's say, they are envisioning going quarterback first with Jordan Love, how would you attack free A free agency in this scenario then? Because now you have a rookie quarterback under contract in the next four or five years. You have enough money to spend. They have around $90 million.

From the Colts standpoint, Jordan, especially with no Andrew Luck on the team anymore, maybe this is the time to go, not, so to say, all out in free agency, but at least make a splash. Yeah, definitely. And one name that I absolutely love for the Colts, and I'm not sure if they have interest in them. I don't have any inside information on this at all. But one name I think is absolutely terrific for them.

His name is Javon Hargrave, a defensive tackle from the Pittsburgh Steelers. And I have a lot of previous experience against Javon. I've actually played against him as a player. I've coached against him. And he's gotten better so much. Every single stage he's been in the league. Collis, he was a terrific player, three-time defensive player of the year in the MEAC Conference.

He's actually a former college teammate of Darius Leonard, so I think the chemistry there would be really good with him, and it also fits a need, and it fits into the wheelhouse of what, you know, Frank Reich and Chris Ballard want to do. They look for younger free agents that are really looking to shine during their second contract, and I think Javon Hargrave is a guy that you could get for about, I think, $11 to $12 million a year. He's going to be a little bit pricey just because he's a guy that's looking for an expanded role. And he didn't get that with the Steelers. He's

more of a backup. But I think on this second contract, I believe he's only turning 27 years old this upcoming season. I think he's a guy that really could plug a whole defensive tackle spot for a long time. Appreciate the time, Jordan. You guys can follow Jordan on Twitter at JReedNFL. Also, read his work over the Draft Network. He also does the Locked On College Football Podcast as well. So, appreciate the time, Jordan.

No problem. Thank you for having me.