Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 3/25/20: Talking Philip Rivers, DeForest Buckner Additions with Locked On NFL

Episode Date: March 25, 2020

On today's episode, Locked On NFL's Brian Peacock and Matt Williamson, who will be on the show tomorrow by the way, invited Evan on to the show for a Colts national deep dive.For 20 minutes, we talked through all of the following: Philip Rivers, DeForest Buckner, Colts' standing in AFC, popularity of Quenton Nelson, plus so much more.Indianapolis is poised to strike while the iron is hot in the AFC South. Adding Buckner and Rivers makes Indy the new favorites. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

our guest today is Evan Sidery. He is the host of locked on Colts. You can find them where you can find all of your favorite podcasts, just like locked on NFL. And you can find him on Twitter at locked on Colts, a big week for the Indianapolis Colts going for it. Right, Evan.

Yeah, they really pushed the chips in. So to say, Brian and Matt, and you do look at what they did. They got the four Spockner for the number 13 overall pig. Brian came on the shirt and the week and helped explain that to our audience. But I think for that trade, that's a foundational trade

that's going to really impact that defense from all across the board there. Then you get Phillip Rivers as your new quarterback, one ahead of Jacober Sett on a short-term deal. One-year contract could be a situation if Phillip Rivers outplays his one-year deal. It could be a franchise tag camp next year if all goes well. It's not that the Colts are going for it, Brian. You see the moves they're making. Obviously, getting Phil Burrus in the building over Jacoby Brissett

means you're going for it the next one or two years. I think this Colts roster is young. If this young talent keeps ascending, they all peak at the same time, Darius Leonard, Quentin Nelson, and other guys. It could be in for a fun year. Let's stick with defense. I think most of this conversation is going to revolve around rivers and the offense.

And I'm sure you guys have talked a lot about Brett, about the Forrest Buckner. And I think it's a great addition. Do you think he's worth the 13th pick in a, you know, in a vacuum, that's going to be a premium player. And do you think that deal gets done if they don't have two seconds? I don't think it's done. If they have two seconds, that's a good point, Brent, up there, Matt.

And also, I think I would still do. I had mixed feelings at the very beginning, right when the news broke on Tuesday, but the more I've thought about it, the more I think, if you're going to go for a guy like Javon Kimmel or Darryl Brown at 13 to fill that three-tech role at DeForest Buckner would, you might have to wait a year or two for development with those

guys. And now you have a guy entering his prime years, just turned 26 years old, DeForest Buckner. Sure, it's a high price, but you probably have to pay that price anyways in four or five years with a guy like Kim Law or Brown if they hit. So I think it's more of an immediate gain for the Colts to maybe waiting. It's like the mystery box, so to say. You're picking the prize that you already know about, more so than the mystery box.

Yeah, looking at this DeForest Buckner deal specifically and definitely pushing your chips into the middle of the table are the indianapolis colts right now and i think both fan bases if if and i don't want to speak for your colts fan base but from what i can gather it was a similar situation to the 49ers fan base where when the trade first happened and the deal first happened they thought wait whoa what the hell you, because it was not something that was out there. And for 49ers fans, I tried to explain how it was a win-win because as much as it hurts for the 49ers to lose a core player, someone who's been so consistent, it just wasn't going

to all work underneath the salary cap. So to not pay him $21 million and get the first round pick, and that's the key is getting that number 13 overall pick. And Matt and I have talked about how that's a premium pick in this class. And you're really in a sweet spot to have a lot of value with that pick at number 13, even if it was a pick 10 picks later, say 23 instead of 13. So it's a win for the 49ers, but I thought it was also a win for the Colts because of what you just mentioned. I think Buckner is better than the player they could have got at that position,

at that spot in the draft, and they might not have been choosing between the two players. They might have only had the option for one. Who knows? Maybe both Kinlaw and Brown are gone by that point. And also, Buckner's better. Buckner's reaching his prime, still young, 25 years old, going into his 26-age season,

and then he's ready to go. He's in his prime. You know exactly what you're getting. You know know the type of human being you know the type of player you're getting and so with all of those other things together it makes so much sense in those two high second round picks 34 and 44 if I'm not mistaken I have a feeling there's a lot of action still to come for the Colts who are absolutely going for it right now. And maybe one of those players that they liked in round one, they can still get. Yeah. If the Colts are going for it,

I definitely think they are. And that draft we talked about in the shirt and the week, Brian unlocked on Colts that they can still go, go up and get a quarterback with 34 and 44. A guy Jordan loves. He's gonna be slipping down the boards a little bit with how the quarterback dominance are falling right now. So if he's in the twenties or maybe even the thirties,

like the 49ers at 31, maybe you could call back up San Francisco and get the first-round, fifth-year option for a guy like Jordan Love. I think that makes so much sense for this Colts team. But if they don't go that route, they have the pre-em picks at 34 and 44 to go address wide receiver tight end like a Cole Komet or a guy like a Denzel Mims. He could throw into this offense right away

and really help fill the rivers immediately. So it seems like the Colts really are flexible, and they have multiple avenues they can go down. And they are done there's gonna be more fireworks they can mention Brian on draft night for this team Evan a year ago I was a big Jacoby Brissett believer had a lot of hopes for him and I'm still on that limb but it's a little weaker now I mean I I've defended him pretty much every step of the way injuries you know not many guys to throw to etc what's your take on him what's his value to you and the Colts what would it take to pry him away just give me your your overall thoughts on Brissette yeah it definitely was a roller coaster last year

getting thrown into the fire after the shocking Andrew Luck news he did very well in September though like against the Chargers played very well then against the falcons and texans he had 300 plus yards in those games multiple touchdowns i believe no picks neither those games either they were on a roll at five and two but then you see the injury happen jacob reset but even before the injury i think the more film got on jacob reset the more teams knew how to beat him if you take away his first second reads he really struggles processing guys down the field and he really can't throw guys open that much. And we saw how bad it got in the second half of the year, and teams really daring Jacoby

Brissett in his arm to beat them, and he couldn't a lot of the time as the Colts slid down from 5-2 to 7-9. And Phillip Rivers, his main ability there is processing, and that's going to be the polar opposite of what Brissett has. And the aggressiveness, too, I think is the big difference here. Jacoby just wasn't aggressive enough with his offense. You see how the Colts' offense in 2018 was all about play action pass taking deep shots on the field setting up off their running attack but Bursette never took those risks and they only took it during one game against Tampa Bay and they scored 35 points in

that game so I just feel like if he was more consistent in that route Jacoby probably is their guy next year as the bridge but if they are going for it in the short-term window next one to two years I think Phillip Rivers is a massive upgrade. And unfortunately for Jacoby Brissett, he's a high-priced backup, but I think he still does have a market out there where if they do pay the bonus coming on Sunday, I believe it's $8 million bonus, then you're only going to be paying whoever the team is next $8 million out of his $21 million salary cap hit to trade for him.

So I think it makes an awful lot of sense if the Colts wanted to wait out that bonus, pay it to him, and then maybe get a fourth, fifth-round pick for him. I don't know who out there makes sense for Jacoby, but I think there's still value for him. That sure screams. I didn't realize the bonus situation. The Colts have still a fair amount of cap space. That sure seems like Belichick saying,

you guys pay that, and then we'll talk. I mean, he's being very quiet in New England. Yeah, I think that makes an awful lot of sense to bring him back because, I mean, the quarterback chairs, I mean, we all see what's happening throughout the week here. There's not many seats left, maybe New England. Outside of New England, you're going to be a backup elsewhere. Is he a dark horse to actually get cut before that bonus

if they don't have a wink wink deal already in place with the team because it seems like if you're going to go out and get Philip Rivers you've already said all you needed to say about how you feel about Jacoby Brissett and why would you pay that much money for a backup when you've already made your decision and you wanted to go a different direction at quarterback yeah I think there's actually a good chance that he does get cut if there is no value out there for him let's say do pay the bonus on Sunday and then no team is still calling afterwards. Chris Bauer has always been a player driven person where as far as he does, if the player wants to do something, he usually sides with the player.

And if Jacoby wants to pick his own spot out instead of getting traded, I could easily see him just eating that money. You still save $8 million by cutting him. So it's the same as trading him. At that point, the bonus kicking in. So you don't lose any extra money cutting him in that situation. So I think it makes sense if there is no deals to cut Jacoby Brissett because I don't know about you guys,

but from just a quarterback room, locker room standpoint, Jacoby Brissett is a super competitive guy. Phillip Bruce, we all know he's a super competitive guy. I used to feel like that could go really awry in that quarterback room if you put two competitive guys like Brissett, who was a team captain last year in place of Phillip Bruce, and now would be your team captain as well. This one kind of has a fantasy spin to it,

but I always say the teams tell you what they're thinking, and they show you their cards this time of year. And I think it's kind of telling that the Colts haven't been super aggressive on the wide receiver market. I mean, they still could grab one of those second-round picks. It's a great receiver draft. But my hunch is Paris Campbell's kind of a sleeping giant and could be in for a big, big second year.

And the other guy that I think really benefits from the River signing is Naheem Hines. Yeah, I think both those guys, they're 4'3 speed, Hines 4-3-4, Campbell 4-3-1, and Phil Burge is still good at putting guys, throwing the ball right where it needs to be on the run, and Jacoby Brissett really struggled with that, so you're going to see Paris Campbell on a lot of drags and slant routes, getting yards

in for catch. Naeem Hines, I think honestly, it just depends on the role he has, because he's been so consistent with his role with the Colts so far in his first couple years, but there's no reason for me to believe why Naeem Hines can't be Austin Eckler. I mean, you see how good a receiver he is. And when he runs the ball in games, you saw against Kansas City, he did pretty well against the Chiefs last year when he had more of a running attack

with Marlon Mack. I mean, there's high upside of both those guys. And Phillip Brewer is going to put the ball in those guys' hands and let them run. And that was not a thing last year. And as far as the other wideouts go, maybe a guy like Nelson Aguilar makes sense. He has a connection with Frank Reich and Mike Groh, the new wide receivers coach there in Indianapolis. They could go re-sign

Devin Funchess. I think he could make sense on a one-year career deal again as a big-body playmaker for Rivers. Or they could draft a guy like a big-body playmaker in round two, like a Denzel Mims, a Chase Claypool, a T. Higgins. I think all three of those routes make sense. You like Campbell, though? I love Paris Campbell.

If he's on the field healthy, we saw against Tennessee last year, he's split by Logan Ryan on a 15-yard crossing run. He had about seven yards separation in about three seconds. He has very rare separation ability with his speed and his size. I think he could really feast with Phillip Beruza as quarterback now. There was another deal that the Colts made that's kind of gone under the radar because it was so early in the process. And then all the big moves happen with rivers and Buckner,

but Anthony Costanzo coming back, I think really helps solidify things there with the Colts. Are there any other moves on the horizon that you see that the Colts could make happen before the draft? Yeah, I think Costanzo just to start off with that as a huge, huge addition, there was thoughts of him maybe considering retirement. If he was going to play again, I think Costanzo, just to start off with that, is a huge, huge addition. There was thoughts of him maybe considering retirement if he was

going to play again as a link for the Colts, but getting him back on a two-year deal, and Costanzo already says he'll play out that full two-year contract, so there's no have to worry about 2021, maybe him retiring in the final year of his contract. He's going to be there for at least two years with Phillip Rivers if Rivers stays for at least one or two years. So you're going all in with that

with Costanzo. You have that bookend left tackle with Quentin Nelson Ryan Kelly which I believe makes the best left side in the NFL for an offensive line and you dive into what they could do here before the draft like I think wide receiver is a huge thing here but also safety and their depth of safety because there's been rumors about Eric Berry he's very good friends with Justin Houston I think if they're going all in for a suitable run bring in Eric Berry as your third safety with Curry Willis and Malik Hooker that in for a suitable run, bring in Eric Berry as your third safety with Curry Wilson, Malik Hooker. That could be a lot of fun bringing our leader in the locker room there. And then at wide receiver, if they do not, if they decide to go free and see,

I think they're going to double dip in the draft and free and say, why are you here to be honest? But I think Devin Funchess, if you want to re-sign him or Nelson Aguilar, I think those are two guys who make sense of wide receiver. They both do. I mean, I wouldn't give Funchess the same price I did last year, but they liked the, his stock shouldn't have went down in a year. He didn't do anything to hurt himself. No, yeah, he only played three quarters of game one, and in that first game against the Chargers, ironically enough, he was actually doing pretty well for himself, and he could be kind of

that Mike Williams, that Phillip Rivers, that Vincent Jackson type of player that he's always had that big body. And that's the player that offense needs, right? The chain mover, the guy that they can count on on a third and medium? Yeah, that's really what they're missing right now is that big body. They're missing Eric Ebron to a tight end. They need to add another tight end with how Frank Reich uses them. I don't believe Malia Cox is anything more than a blocking tight end at this point of his career. So I expect them to maybe get a guy in free agency or the draft a tight end.

But wide receiver opposite T.Y. Hilton, that big body is really what they need especially for guys like philip rivers right now i'm sure you're extremely partial and biased on this but my early impressions are that when vegas odds come out colt will probably be the favorite to win the division i mean i think jacksonville might be the worst team in the league everyone's kind of laughing at houston right now Houston right now. Bill O'Brien has no idea what he's talking about. They're falling apart. And I look at Tennessee, and I'm not sure they're better than a year ago. I'm not sure they're worse either, but they're not a whole lot different. So do you think, as it stands here, you know,

phase one of free agency down the drain, that the Colts are in a real good position, and would they get your vote? I think so, even if I wasn't biased. I would still go with the Colts are in a real good position, and would they get your vote? I think so, even if I wasn't biased. I would still go with the Colts there because I think they raised their ceiling in 2020 so much. You get the Bill Rivers. You go from a bottom five quarterback in Chicago to at least an average quarterback, and that makes such a big difference for a team competing like the Indianapolis Colts. And you also throw in a guy, Phillip Rivers, who I think is going to be a huge upgrade over them.

DeForest Buckner at the three technique is going to be a huge upgrade where you're going to see so many changes on defense for a guy like Darius Linder. He's going to be running free all the time now. He's going to do so much for a guy like him. But interestingly enough, I was looking at pro football focus yesterday, guys, and the Colts actually are ranked number one right now in their improvement index or different frequency. And the Jaguars are 27, the Titans are 29, and the Texans are 30th.

So compared to the AFC South right now, the Colts really are pushing the chips in and pushing them in at the perfect time. So tap it around division. I was looking at the standings before we started talking here, and I was actually surprised the Colts only finished one game ahead of the Jacksonville Jaguars last year, 7-9 and 6-10. And I think that was a bit of an anomaly for the Colts underachieving and then also adding the talent that they have. But Colts fans have to be pretty

giddy over there, right? Watching how things have gone within the division in this offseason, even in the first four days of free agency, the Colts got a lot better, upgraded multiple positions while the Houston Texans traded away one of their best players. And I'm sure fans were not going to be super excited if Tom Brady ended up in Tennessee, right? So even though the Titans went as far as they did in the playoffs and were really good with Tannehill last year, I have to imagine Colts fans were pretty happy not to see Tom Brady in the division. Yeah, that's a very nice thing to see because Brady going to Tampa Bay,

I think is one of the odder things of the year. But you see him not go to Tennessee, it's going to help them out a lot. Phillip Brewers, I know, has a history with the Colts fans over the year, but you see him not go to Tennessee, it's going to help them out a lot. Phillip Rivers I know has a history with the Colts fans over the years, a rivalry with Peyton Manning back in the days, and maybe Colts fans are a little disinterested in Phillip Rivers, but he's such a big upgrade over Jacobus, I think fans

are going to realize pretty quickly how big of an upgrade that is, but I don't know about you guys, Brian and Matt, but I feel like the Colts honestly are probably third right now in the AFC. Obviously it's hard to tell with 3-18, the draft's still going on, but outside of Baltimore and Kansas City, honestly, are probably third right now in the AFC. Obviously, it's hard to tell with free agency and the draft still going on, but outside of Baltimore and Kansas City, I believe the Colts right now are probably in that third slot, and adding

DeForest Buckner into the mix, I mean, maybe they could talk themselves into Justin Houston, DeForest Buckner, Danico Autry, and Kimoko Ture wreaking havoc for a guy like Deshaun Watson or a guy like Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson. Chris Bauer obviously believes that if you add in a guy like Buckner and you add in a guy like Rivers, they could be,

could be with those two teams like Baltimore and Kansas city. I don't disagree with you. I think that's optimistic. And I think there should be a lot of optimism around the Colts, but I had this conversation on my Steeler show. Like I really think Kansas city and Baltimore, their own tier, but I could probably make the case for six AFC teams to be number three I mean are the Patriots dead are the Bills ready

how about the Steelers with Ben you know certainly the Colts Tennessee went far boy I like what the Chargers are doing you know like there's that that second tier in the AFC could be pretty broad yeah really anyone can make a run out of that. That tier of Kansas City and Baltimore has their own, but outside of that, like you mentioned, Matt, there's really four or five teams that could really get in the mix there, which is going to make it super fun to shoot in the AFC. Yeah.

Yeah, when I look at the AFC, the number one thing that jumps out to me is there were so many 7-9 teams, and some of those teams I thought were nowhere near in the ballpark of where how good the Colts were last year let alone with how good they are now so I expected some positive regression for the Colts anyway so adding that talent adding Rivers here's the question I have is how much truly is an upgrade from Brissette to Rivers because the Chargers who were a pretty good team and really underachieved last year with Rivers at quarterback, they didn't seem to be that upset with the guy that they've had their quarterback for since 2004. Like they didn't seem like, OK, man, this is going to really hurt our

franchise to finally lose Philip Rivers. They were kind of OK with letting him finally go and try something new. And I look at the Steelers who were eight and eight and they had a disaster at quarterback. There's still some battling to be done, done I think at the top of the AFC and the Colts are absolutely right there but I agree with Matt it's the it's the top two and then man it could go any way after that yeah I feel like honestly on Bursette versus Rivers here I went back and watched a little bit of Rivers games with the NFL game pass it's not free for those who are wondering uh yesterday and I went back and watched a lot of those games and Phillip Rivers was under duress

almost every other snap. I feel like that's probably what they're banking on here is that the offensive line can keep Rivers clean a lot. It's going to cut down on turnovers a little bit, maybe 10% or so. Maybe get him down 14 or 15 interceptions. Maybe even less than that. That's just gravy at that point. You help him out with the offensive line in the running game. Add in a little bit more weapons.

I just feel like on the short intermediate routes where this colts offense really thrives jacoby percent really struggled there this past year you're gonna have philip rivers has elite ball placement for guys like paris campbell nine hines we talked about earlier in the show i just feel like the the ceiling of this offense is way higher with rivers because you're going from a bottom five quarterback to at least an average one and if you believe the offensive line is as elite as it is and you believe it can help out the rivers exponentially with turnover problems then i think it is an upgrade whether it's a huge one or not has to be determined but i think it's a a pretty i'd say it's at least like going from a bottom five one to an average one which i don't

know how big of an upgrade that is but i feel like it's pretty significant i don't disagree i mean i have concerns that rivers best footballs behind him He's on hole number 17 on coming into the clubhouse. But I've said for years, and I bet he's losing his mind looking at the Chargers signing Balaga and making offensive line moves. Could you please protect your franchise quarterback and we can at least get a better evaluation of what he is when actually protected? Yeah, that's the one thing. I mean, you see all those years of

rivers and san diego and los angeles he was under duress so much and then honestly we look at jacoby brissett last year like about five or six of those sacks you go back and track them or on jacoby not the offensive line you just hold all too long and that's not gonna happen with phil burris he's one of the quickest release guys in the nfl and that's gonna make a huge difference here because jacoby brissett was ranked second to the top as far as as much time to throw as he had I believe Rivers was in the bottom six for that so you're going from a different environment for sure for like Rivers hey Evan last one here from me how many Quentin Nelson jerseys are there in the stands because I don't know I can't remember an offensive lineman that's more fun to watch

than Quentin Nelson and those aren't usually the guys that you pay money to see. Honestly, it's probably the second most, which might be shocking to some. There's probably at least 10,000-15,000 I see. I go to a lot of Colts games. Who's number one? Darius Leonard, I'd say. Darius Leonard's number one. That just goes to show you the building blocks that Chris Bauer has in place with the 2018 draft with Nelson and Leonard.

I thought it might be Luck, actually, still. Yeah, yeah. It wouldn't surprise me if it was Andrew Luck. But I don't know about maybe Phillip Rivers. I mean, it would be really weird to see a lot of Rivers in the Colts. But who knows? That could be that. But the 2018 building blocks of Nelson and Leonard, you see scattered all throughout the Casolo Stadium.

I bet. You know, real quick, just reminding me there about Andrew luck. Have there been any whispers? I haven't heard anything from luck. Has there been anything on the Indianapolis end of hearing about just how he's doing, where he's at? If maybe he's getting the itch a little bit.

Yeah. Chris Bauer said two words about that at his combine press conference. When asked about it, Andrew's retired. And that was the only thing. So it seemed like that, that, that bridge has that ship has sailed. I don't think Andrew luck is going to be back in the NFL anytime soon. Unfortunately, that was the only thing. So it seemed like that, that, that bridge has, that ship has sailed.

I don't think Andrew Luck is going to be back in the NFL anytime soon, unfortunately. That is Evan Sidery. You can find him on Twitter at LockedOnColts. Evan, really appreciate the time. Looking forward to watching those Colts in 2020. No worries. Thanks for having me on guys.