Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS -3/21- Getting To Know Colts New ILB Sean Spence W/@Alex_Kozora

Episode Date: March 21, 2017

Alex Kozora of Steelers Depot joins Matt to give us a better knowledge as to what the #Colts are getting in new inside linebacker Sean Spence. Also, Matt touches on new TE Brandon Williams as well as what the Colts have left in cap space and whether or not another signing should be expected. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No, I'm not for sale. You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back to Locked On Colts, ladies and gentlemen. I am your host, Matt Dainley, and thank you for joining me here on a Tuesday, March 21st. And the Colts did sign Brandon Williams, former Seattle Seahawks tight end. Today looks like he was the right guy for the job. They bring him in, like I said, not a heavy looks like he was the right guy for the job.

They bring him in, like I said, not a heavy workload since he was with them or even since he's been in the league for that matter. But he is the third piece of the puzzle. He does have a quality route tree. For a tight end, looks like he's more of a blocker, but he's got some nice soft hands. If you guys were able to, I aggregate some of the Colts.com articles through LockedOnColts on Twitter. And if you see one of their writers put up a video of some of his highlights and stuff. So go check that out.

Like I said, there's not very many. He only had a handful of catches last year. But he looks like he's going to be a solid addition, you know, and maybe that kind of pushes back the absolute need for a tight end in the draft or another big name guy out of free agency. Now it'd be interesting with the Colts kind of hovering around, I want to say around the $25-$26 million cap range, you know, after this signing. I don't know that it'll be that much guaranteed, probably even a little higher, maybe $26 or so. They've been kind of in that 26 to 28 range for the last couple days. And with this signing with Williams, I'm not sure that it affects it all that much.

But they've still got some room here. If they're going to go after a Hankins or if they're going to go after possibly a Zach Brown, that kind of would have to be the last deal, though. They've still got the money to do it. It'll be interesting to see if they feel like they can put some of those resources into it to see what they're going to get back. The Colts, I would think, are going to be pretty happy with Sean Spence as at least their starter right now.

But if you bring Zach Brown in and you've got Brown and Spence, that inside linebacking core is probably as good or better than it's been in a while. And tonight we actually have Alex Kizora from Steelers Depot. He's going to hop on the show here in a few minutes and tell us a little bit more about Spence, a little in-depth dive on what he's seen in him in the past and what we can expect for him in this stage in his career. But on the Hankins subject, it was pretty interesting to see that the Giants really wanted an answer from him because apparently they had offered him a substantial contract to stay. It almost seems as if Hankins doesn't want to be there, but there was a story

last week about his agent apparently, you know, kind of dropping the ball on some either some offers or the ability to go and kind of do his little tour of teams that were interested in him as well. And apparently for what he was asking, he was asking far too much. But a lot of these guys are doing that one-year deal stuff. It wouldn't be surprised if he is in that boat. But the Colts were apparently willing to offer Poe a multi-year deal. So if they're willing to offer that to Hankins, you know, maybe they're kind of deciding now who they

want to kind of throw their eggs all in the basket of, you know, is it going to be Zach Brown? He's visiting Miami right now. That could be, you know, either his last visit or he could find another one to go to, but he's kind of making his rounds right now. Or is it going to be Hankins, a guy who hasn't really done a tour at all, even talked to other teams? We don't even know if that's the case because it's been so silent on him. And the excuse was because of the money he was asking for, but I don't think that's the case.

I really don't. I think that somebody dropped the ball besides his agent, and I think it might be Hankins. He needs to get out there and make his own money, and if he's not willing to do it, you know, I mean, his agent's getting paid to do it, but if I'm Hankins and I'm that guy, he's a heck of a ball player, and for my money, he was probably the best of the bunch, at least number two at the lowest, and he needs to be the one to say, hey, you're fired, and I'm calling teams on my own, and we're going to start having meetings, and I'll hire an agent on the road.

I mean, that's a ton of money he's missing out on. So it would be interesting to kind of see where that goes, where that takes us. Are the Colts going to sign anybody else? I mean, are there going to be a lot of these tertiary signings throughout the rest of the offseason. Or are they going to go after one of the big dogs, you know, up front at nose tackle with Hankins? Or are they going to really solidify that linebacking core with a guy like Zach Brown? I'm excited. I'm kind of on pins and needles every day waiting for that big one to drop. That could make a significant difference in the Colts' defense next year. We have a guy who is capable in Sean Spence.

The defensive line is pretty capable as well for the most part, especially with some of the additions. Then we've got the outside linebackers that kind of are in that waiting period to see where it goes with the draft and so on. And the secondary needs a lot of help, but that's where we're going to focus a lot in the draft. But boy, could one of those guys, Brown or Hankins, really make this defense something that is really worth building and watching next year, even with some rookies on it? It'll be exciting.

So I'm excited to see what we're going to do. I'm hoping that it doesn't become anticlimactic and just end up not having done anything at the position, at least at nose tackle. I know they've done a little bit here and there, but nothing that's really an impact player, and that's what we need. So maybe they decided not to. Maybe they're going to either try to address it in the draft, or they're just going to sit on it and they're going to address it next year. You really just

don't know. All this stuff is up in the air, but Ballard's got a focus and he's got a plan. And for now, we all believe in Chris Ballard. So without further ado, though, I'm going to bring in my man Alex, and he's going to tell us a little bit about sean spence alex is the authority on all things steelers you guys follow him at alex underscore kazora on twitter real smart dude great guy so let's kick it to alex and on the line with us we've got alex kazora from steelers depot uh you can catch him on twitter at Alex underscore Kozora, K-O-Z-O-R-A. Alex, what's up, my man? Hey, Matt, good to talk to you. You guys got a good player in Sean Spence, so I'm excited to talk about him.

I am too, and my listeners want to know more about him. I mean, when we signed him, I could basically give them kind of the skinny on his statistical background and stuff like that, kind of what I've been told, just in short. But there's really nobody better to break him down than you. You saw him for three years. He had that injury at the end of 2012, sat out all of 2013. But you saw him come back from that the next two years before he went off to Tennessee. Tell us a little bit about him and kind of start wherever you like on that. What's your beginning point with him?

You know, I think the unfortunate part is, and people who know Sean Spence probably know him best for that, just horrific knee injury he suffered. And it was as a rookie. It was, I believe, in the final preseason game. I want to say it was against Buffalo. And just tore up his knee, nerve damage, you know, just a lot of ligament damage. And there was a big question of if he would ever play again

in the long road to recovery for him to try to get back. And he was able to do so. So we kind of just mentioned it, Matt, right before we started recording. And, you know, toughness, you think of Sean Spence, you think of toughness, just that journey, which I can't even imagine what it was like to go from being a highly talented rookie as a great athlete and just have your knee ruined and to call into question if you would ever play again. And so he missed all 2012. He was hoping to come back for 2013, started 2013 on the Steelers' pup list, got back to practice in about, I think, mid-October. First or second practice in, he broke his finger, had to have surgery on that. So he missed 2013 as well, then finally came back for 2014.

Very emotional moment for him to be able to come back, play in his first game, and just finally make that journey back. So the tough part, though, was just trying to judge Sean Spence Lee, the athlete, pre-knee injury and post-knee injury. I don't think he's ever been quite the same guy coming out of Miami. He was billed as this really athletic cover guy. I don't know if we ever quite saw that in Pittsburgh, just because when you have that kind of knee injury, it's tough to get all the way back. Right. I did see a little bit of him on tape that he can definitely drop. I mean, he's certainly still capable, uh, in coverage and stuff, but I mean, he's a tough dude. I mean, he is a, a hitting

machine for the most part. Uh, like you said, I mean, he's only, he only started 13 games in Pittsburgh, but he had himself a couple sacks, uh, his, that first year back in 2014, he had 55 tackles and for only starting nine games. That a I mean that's a solid uh bit there I mean there's quite a rotation there in in uh Pittsburgh too so I mean they are basically the land of linebackers I mean so what what what can we expect from this guy coming into a young rebuilding team uh where it looks like at the moment at least that he's going to be like not only leadership but probably their best all-around inside linebacker coming in yeah i think he's got a really good

football iq uh that c to do that ability to recognize and diagnose and i think that's you talk about the tackle numbers that are impressive for the playing time that he got um that ability to diagnose that football iq allows him to get the to get to the ball quicker and kind of be involved in most plays against the run. You're right, he's not a liability in coverage. Again, I don't know if he was what he could have been, but he's certainly not going to be a guy that's going to get burned by everybody. A guy that if you play cover two, he could probably drop into the deep middle. Certainly has no problem matching up against slower backs out of the backfield man coverage

or just dropping into your regular hook zone and zone. But I think he's got the really good football IQ. That might be his best trait with him. I mean, physically, it's hard for me to say there's a standout trait because, again, I think he lost some of the athleticism, some of the speed coming off the knee injury. And he's not a big dude. He's relatively a little undersized, a little on the smaller side.

So he's not super physical and imposing with the functional strengths that he has i think in terms of his physical physical traits they're all a little average but i think you know what is his mind his football iq allows him to kind of overcome that in a lot of ways get to the ball recognize things um so you know he's a guy that's gonna be able to win with his instincts and film study and knowing the tendencies of the offense. Yeah, he's not a huge guy. He's under six foot. But I mean, and he's not, I mean, when I say he's a hitter, I mean, you see that he times up his opportunities.

But is he a straight thumper or is he more of a sideline to sideline guy that is going to pursue really effectively? I think a little more sideline to sideline. He's kind of square in the middle. I mean, there's nothing. There's no super weakness in his game. There's no super strength in his game. I mean, it's kind of that jack of all trades, master of none kind of thing.

But whenever Spence gets a tackle, I mean, he'll throw all his weight into you. Again, there's that toughness, that desire that he wants to hurt you. There's a lot of anger probably in his game of a guy that's been able to overcome so much and he's just trying to savor every moment i'm sure for if he was just a regular rookie who came in and had success right away i'm not to say that he wouldn't care about it but i'm sure it's a different process and a different mentality when you overcome two missed seasons and one of the worst injuries you can suffer that would probably end most careers you think about about a Marcus Lattimore, a Leonard Weaver, guys like that. Spencer's able to overcome that.

You probably cherish and appreciate the game a little more, work that much harder. So not a thumper, not the best cover guy. Again, he's kind of somewhere in between. But I think a smart guy that uses, again, his football IQ to overcome, I i think the average physical traits that he shows yeah he he told uh them on a on a uh press conference like when once the colts actually announced it that he kind of feels like he's catching up you know in his career and stuff from from setting out those years those first two years more or less uh and he's basically like trying to take advantage of everything that he's got going for him right now uh did you get a chance to interview him or anything at camp or anything back in the day?

No, I never personally got a chance to talk to him. He's done a lot of interviews still. I'm sure if someone ever wanted to go back into the Steelers Depot archives, I was doing that earlier today just to kind of make myself remember some things about Sean Spence. There's a lot of stuff on him whenever he was getting back to full health and things like that. By all accounts, what have you heard about maybe his leadership qualities and such? I don't think anyone has. I've never heard a bad thing about Sean Spence.

I mean, it's everything good. Again, he was never a guy that was such a starter on the Steelers' defense that he could assume that leadership role. There was always a Lawrence Timmons. Once Ryan Shazier got drafted, he's really quickly become a leader on the Steelers defense. Spence never was the guy that had to make calls or anything like that. And he never got that full-time role because by the time he got back, the Steelers drafted Shazier. And even when Shazier got hurt, there was a pretty even rotation between Spence and Vince Williams, what would be the Mac linebacker next to Lawrence Timmons, who was the buck. So there was never really the opportunity to be the guy because it was a veteran defense early in his career,

and other guys got drafted and stepped up since. But character seems great, and I'm sure if he's thrown into that role and has that opportunity, I think he can excel as a leader. That's good, because we definitely need it. We've lost a lot of leadership, especially inside linebacker the past couple of years. You know, DeQuel Jackson was all right, wasn't great, but he was, he was, I mean, he was well-liked in that locker room. And then if you go even a year back further than that, Jarrell Freeman was a real costly loss as far as I'm concerned in both aspects, both on the field and in the locker

room. So it would be, I mean, the Colts desperately need that because other than that, to be quite honest with you, the Colts are looking at a guy that they just resigned for the most part for their leadership in the middle of the field, and that's Darius Butler. And not that I don't think Darius Butler is capable of being the leader, but man, you got to have the quarterback on the field at the inside linebacker position there. uh quite honestly uh Antonio Morrison and Edwin Jackson are simply not going to cut it so uh I'm hoping that uh Sean Spence can come in and be that guy I mean it would be really nice I mean he was one of the guys that when I was going through the linebackers that I wanted I was high on mentor wanted mentor to come in but I also kind of wanted them to supplement the position with a guy like Spence as well,

because, I mean, just his, like you said, I mean, coming back from those two years off, and then coming back and being so productive in it, and, you know, per snap, or whatever you want to call it, he's just a guy that seems like he's as hungry as anybody, and like I said to you off air before we got started, that's what Ballard basically wants. You know, I can only imagine how the interview process is going with these guys. Do you want to kill somebody on your first opportunity on the field? Yeah. Then you're done. You know, you come play with us. Yeah. Come play with us because that's what we want. And he basically, like I said, in his, uh, press conference, he said all the right

things. He's basically parroting what Ballard is saying, saying that he wants to come in and create that competition. That's been basically the Colts mantra this entire offseason since Ballard's walked in the door. And so for him to get off on that foot, he has somewhat of a background with Chuck Pagano. I believe Pagano tried to recruit him in his days in North Carolina, and they've got that, you know, a little bit of history together. But I just hope that he comes in and turns out to be the guy, to be quite honest with you, at least for this year, possibly, you know, as a, like I said, a supplementary role maybe in the future,

depending on what they do in the draft. But what do you think, like let's discuss kind of like ceiling and floor here. What's the best that we could get out of, or let me start with the bottom. What's the floor that we get out of Sean Spence, in your opinion? I think the floor is probably just becoming that rotational guy, that third linebacker that if someone gets hurt, he can come in and give snaps like he did in Pittsburgh and then be a really good core special teamer as well,

which he developed in Pittsburgh as well when he wasn't able to have that starting role. So that's probably the floor for him is that number three backup. If somebody else comes in for agency draft next year or whatever, and just always being that guy that you can kind of hopefully rely on if someone else gets hurt in front of him now is there is there a significant difference between his floor and his ceiling for your money no i don't think it's super significant i think again you could you could get maybe two good starting years out of him he's not going to be at the total liability but i don't think it's going to be this playmaker that's going to be able to take

over games i don't you know i think that he's probably relatively close to a ceiling. Like I said, I think physically his traits are about average. I think he wins a lot with his film study and football IQ, and that can only get so good. I mean, once you read things, you can do only so much with your film study, even though I know I value that so importantly. The other thing I throw out there is I'm just curious to see how he functions in a new scheme because for his entire NFL career, he's been playing in that Dick LeBeau fire zone defense. You know, he played there even in 2015. He goes to Tennessee under LeBeau. So he's only known Dick LeBeau as his defensive coordinator,

revered defensive coordinator as that father figure. So I don't know how, I mean, I don't think it's going to be a major issue, but I am curious to see how he's going to adjust to playing in a new system with a new just a new guy in his ear especially if he's going to be the one getting all the calls um in his helmet and then verbalizing that uh i'm curious how that transition is going to go because uh it's going to be an adjustment for him right he'll be expected in indy to uh basically fill the gaps. I mean, that's what the D-line in the 3-4 scheme here with Paganos especially. I mean, basically, it's, you know, the linemen are taking up as many blockers as possible, and those linebackers are supposed to be the ball eaters, you know, like that.

How different and what is the main difference then between uh his and uh that laboe system there in pittsburgh then well i think by the time that because when keith butler came in in 2015 and spence had gone um to follow laboe to tennessee uh butler kind of transitioned it to a more of a one gap when you had to fall into it when you had cam hayward um they were guys that could get after the quarterback and you didn't want them in the old school kind of you know Aaron Smith Brett Kiesel role of just two gapping and taking up blockers to free up the linebackers so it transitioned to more of a one gap in Pittsburgh but again by then Spence had already had already left to LeBeau who plays a little more traditional two gap did at least in Pittsburgh I imagine I think it was relatively the same in Tennessee

as well maybe they let Jarrell Casey have a little more freedom down there um so he's probably he is more used to playing in that two gap uh scheme with again the defensive lineman taking on double teams and freeing things up um you know for the linebackers to be able to fill the run and things like that so I think you know just in a very general sense it probably will be the same if the Colts are going to be more of that two gap uh front um and but again I don't know how much of the blitzing you're going to do how much of the fire zones um he's done that's been in his system so maybe everything will look easy by comparison if you guys are playing a more simplified zone i'm not you know you'd be better uh suited to talk about that um but i think this it generally it sounds like the system will

be the same it is it is a more simplified. And that is ultimately what he'll be expected to do. Yeah, because LeBeau's system was probably the toughest one for any rookie, any young guy to come in and learn. Butler's, one of his missions was to come in and simplify things so rookies could get on the field right away. You look at Pittsburgh this year with Artie Burns, Sean Davis, Trevon Hargrave, all guys that made an impact right away. So if he's going to a little bit of a not watered down, but just simplified and easier schemes, and if you can master the bows, you can master anything,

is kind of my thought on it. Well, let me tell you, if Antonio Morrison can get it, then I am pretty sure that just about anybody else can get it. So, I mean, not only that, but if he's that kind of a film junkie, then that, I mean, you couldn't ask for a better guy. He's got some skill like we've talked about already. But, man, that film study and that football IQ and him passing that on to other guys to help them out especially can't do anything but benefit not only the guys that I just mentioned, Morrison and Jackson, but it's going to benefit anybody else, especially rookies and stuff that come in. And hopefully that that's kind of the guys that they're targeting as well. Guys that want to put in the work and study the

film. And I mean, you have to have that kind of stuff there. I will be interested this year because there is going to be quite a bit of a different look to the front seven of the Colts this year if they may try to introduce some of the some more of that stuff because you know with Pagano's what they call his 3-4 hybrid there's not much hybrid to his 3-4 you know I mean there's really just not and he needs to add that and this would be the perfect year in my opinion, especially when you're getting new talent and you're getting, you know, a wide array of that talent, especially, you know, you're getting basic role players. You're going to be likely drafting some guys

that you expect to be impact players in that front seven this year, finally. And you're going to be bringing in a guy like this, who's a little more used to that type of a one gap system up front. And then you're going to have, you know know these guys that you need to fit into the right spots it wouldn't surprise me at all i mean i i guess i should kind of preface that with it would surprise me but with the new grouping that they're going to have this year and how young they are and how diverse the the systems that they come from, to be quite honest with you, that would make me maybe a little hopeful, I suppose, that they may try to build the scheme around the talent that they've got, especially up front, which is something that is not typical of Chuck Pagano,

but I think that it needs to happen. Yeah, and just to go circle back real quick again to the film study and the football IQ, when you're rehabbing and you're not being able to play for your first two years of your career, you have two things to do. You rehab, and then you just sit and learn and absorb and watch film and sit in meetings. I mean, so that's kind of the way I think that Sean Spencer was able to approach it was that, hey, I can't go out there in the field and play, but I'm going to work my butt off to rehab and get healthy, and then I'm just going to sit in the film room and learn everything I can. So when I get my chance, I'm as prepared as possible. Um, I think that's really helped him out in his career going. And when he got his chance in Pittsburgh and Tennessee, and now I think it'll happen in Indianapolis. It's funny that you say that. Cause last year when Clayton Gathers was out at the beginning

of the year with his foot injury, that was one of the things he said is that him just happened to be on the sidelines, even through camp and pre-camp that he was basically, you know, just chomping at the bit to get back on the field. And all he could do was watch practice and then go watch film. And just, he said that that actually was probably the best thing that ever happened to him at the beginning of the season,

because it ended up turning him into a smarter football player, made him rely on a lot of the stuff he was seeing as opposed to his natural abilities and stuff. I love Clayton Gethers, too. I love him coming out of Central Florida. You guys got a good one in him, I think. I think so, too. I hope that they don't try to ruin him by putting him in a linebacker. I really don't.

Just let him roam, let him play his natural abilities, and the rest of that defense will come in line. I just hope that they don't do anything like that. In my opinion, that would set him back a little bit but yeah that's a good point yeah and Sean Spence did it for two years to sit and learn and absorb and just go I'm going to learn everything I can so I can apply it once I get my chance yeah sounds like the Colts got a good one and Sean Spence whether his ceiling is abnormally high or is just you know a solid like you said all of his abilities and all of his attributes are going to rub off on this team. And it looks like he's going to be more than capable

and is definitely going to compete for that starting spot. He's not going to blow anybody away, but he's going to be a solid guy, I think pretty dependable. He's still going to be in the right spot. He'll pick the defense up quickly. And that's not a given with anybody. So I think you have not a spectacular, but a solid free-thinking signing in Sean Spence. Yeah, so far I love it, man.

Alex, thanks for joining me, my brother. I appreciate it. Thanks for not only schooling me a little bit on Sean Spence, our new inside linebacker, but for my listeners as well. I know they appreciate it. They all are kind of chomping at the bit to get as much information on a lot of these guys as possible. And there wasn't anybody better to bring in and get it to them than you, man.

I appreciate it, Matt. Absolutely. Thanks, Alex. It sounds like we've got a good one, folks, in Sean Spence. He's a guy that we're going to be able to build this defense around this year. He's going to be a piece at least for this year. Maybe he'll extend and sign another deal if everything goes well this year and he ends up working out. But it looks like we've at least got somebody who's capable in the middle who can be our quarterback on the field. And it looks like if he's that kind

of a tape junkie, that hopefully that rubs off on some of the other guys around him, not only in the linebacking core, but up in the front four and possibly between him and Gethers and Butler. We could have a pretty good core in the middle of the field. That would be nice to have. So thank you guys for listening. Really appreciate it. Get up there to iTunes and get me a rating and review. Very much appreciated. Thank you guys for all the kind words, whether it be on Twitter or the email. I know I say it every show, but I honestly mean it. You guys are too kind. It is excellent to hear.

I love it because I love doing it. I'm glad you guys like listening to it, and that's what it's all about. So thank you guys for listening. I'll check you guys all out on Thursday right here on Locked on Colts. You are Locked on Colts, your daily podcast on the Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Napa know-how. It takes a lot to get excited about a bag, Napa Know How.

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