Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS -4/13- Bar Draft Talk W/@JakeArthurPFS & Listener Question Answered

Episode Date: April 13, 2017

Jake Arthur joins Matt for the first installation of his weekly spot on the show. The guys talk about Joe Mixon and the mixed signals being sent, how they feel about Charles Harris, Todd McShay's recent #Colts #MockDraft and much much more. Call in: 574-516-2881 to get your Colts question answered on the air. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Learn more about our healthy benefits at fepblue.org slash getmore. No, I'm not for sale. You are lockeded 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'm your host, Matt Dainley. And thank you for joining me here on this Thursday. And we got my man, Jake Arthur on the line with us tonight. We're going to talk a little bit about everything. Jake, thanks for stopping by tonight, my guy. What's going on? Hey, what's up, buddy?

Thanks for having me back. Absolutely. Love to have you on, man. So we got a little bit to talk about a little bit of everything, to be quite honest with you. So we're doing these call-ins and I told everybody that basically, you know, you call in, we're going to put it on the show and then everybody's getting an opportunity to win either an inside the pylon draft guide or an NDT scouting draft guide for free. If they call in, they get thrown in the mix. And basically we got another call in and his name's Griffin. So listen to this and tell me what you think. Hi, Matt.

This is Griffin calling from Nevada. My question is regarding what do you think the Colts are going to do in the first round? Do you think that they will address edge inside linebacker or corner specifically? I've heard you talk about this over your shows the last couple times, and I couldn't really get a clear definitive answer. If I had to say anything, I would prefer going after a corner in the first round

and then maybe Joe Mixon or running back in the second round. Is there any more insight that you can give on that on the next show? I'm a big-time fan. Thank you very much for this mailbag opportunity, and I'm a big time fan. Thank you very much for this mailbag opportunity and I'm looking forward to the show. Thanks. Bye. Okay. Jake, what are your first thoughts on that? Griffin's wanting to know what the Colts are going to do in the first round. Now, the way he asks it, it doesn't, you know, as you heard, it doesn't sound like he wants to know what we would do. He wants to know what we think the Colts would do.

What's your shot on that? I think we've got to be most realistic. Teams don't draft on positional need. Even if it's in the first round, they've had all this time to turn things over. It's always going to be best player available. And when you've got a draft like this where there's so many, it's such a weird quarterback

draft where it's pretty top heavy there's about four guys at the top that a lot of teams are going to want but none of them are surefire first round guys you're going to have teams probably moving around the draft trying to get their guys these quarterbacks included when you consider that the colts may not even stay at 15. But if they do, some of the names they've been linked to that I would think would be highly rated on their board, Reuben Foster and Jonathan Allen from Alabama, both of them have reasons, mainly off the field,

to be sliding down. Foster's is more character-related. Jonathan Allen's is more injury concern related. They say he's got arthritis in his shoulder, so that may scare some teams. You know, you've also got, if they really value offensive line, you could see Forrest Lamp there as their pick. Running back has been a big thing, and I think there are valid rumors going with that, whether it be Christian McCaffrey, Joe Mixon, Leonard Fournette, if for some reason he's there, even Dalvin Cook. You could see that,

but I think another big option is that they trade down. There are teams later in the first round that will want to move into the teens to get their guy. And in a lot of cases, if you consider someone around 19 to 22 moves up and wants to get the Colts 15th pick, that could get the Colts an extra third round pick. Chris Ballard has already said he wants to accumulate as many picks as possible. So I can almost guarantee at some point you're going to see the Colts trading back to get more picks. First round could be it. This draft is so deep that they might not feel like they're going to miss out

on any truly elite talent by moving back, you know, five or so spots. So let's say the Colts stay at 15 then. to miss out on any truly elite talent by moving back five or so spots. Let's say the Colts stay at 15 then. Out of all the mock drafts you've seen and read and looked through, who's your guy at 15? This isn't so much based off mock drafts as much as it is just my own studying of it, but Reuben Foster is my guy. To me, he's the second best defensive player in the entire draft. On the field, he has no business leaving the top 10. I understand why teams might drop him on their boards a little bit because of maybe the crowd he runs with or past injury concerns or his current shoulder, but the guy is the type of defender that you build a defense around.

And for my money, the Colts cannot afford to pass up on a guy like that. So you think that, I mean, you legit think, A, that he's going to be there at 15, and B, you think that if that's the case, that they take him. I mean, for sure, right? I can't say that I for sure think he'll be there. I believe in his type of situation that we see every year where a guy inexplicably just starts dropping down boards way too far. I mean, Miles Jack was a top five, top ten lock last year, and he was there in the second round.

Crazy stuff just happens. We don't know. I can't say for sure i think he'll be there but i think it's realistic that he could be there and if he does that would be my guy if we're going for someone who would probably most realistically be there derrick barnett and takaris mckinley are a couple of my guys i really love them as pass rushers hassan reddick should be there as well i don't think you could go wrong with any of my guys. I really love them as pass rushers. Hassan Redick should be there as well. I don't think you could go wrong with any of those guys. Though I would love a trade down

to accumulate more picks, I can almost guarantee there's going to be one of my highly rated guys there for them to get. I'd probably just prefer that they stick to that. My simple answer is this. If the Colts trade back, my options are open as far as any position. If the Colts stay at 15, and, I mean, in my opinion, Foster's off the board by then. I think that Barnett's off the board by then, to be quite honest with you. I think that he goes to the Saints. I think that there's a lot of these guys.

Now, I think Hassan Riddick is honestly on the board at this point. I really believe that he is. But I don't think the Colts go inside linebacker with the options that they've got second and third. I know that they don't base their draft off by position. It's the big board that they've got. I truly believe that Garyon Conley is the guy for the's the big board that they've got. I truly believe that Garyon Conley is the guy for the Colts at 15. I absolutely do. I think it's a corner. I think that it's Conley. And if it's not Conley, I mean, it could just as easily be, what is it, Quincy Wilson from Florida? Am I right? Yeah. Quincy Wilson from Florida. I mean, one of those two guys right there give the Colts a huge upgrade. Now, Wilson doesn't necessarily fit perfectly to a tee or anything like that,

but he's got the press part of the man down. And I just think that those two guys are, I think that those two guys are actually a lot higher on people's boards than a lot of us in the draft community or just the, you know, just casual observers. I really think than a lot of us in the draft community or just the, you know, just casual observers. I really think that a lot of teams probably have them pretty high on their board. I think edge is, I think all, I mean, edge is a huge need. I don't think that Tack McKinley is the pick in the first round, quite honestly. I don't dislike him. I just can't put my finger on what I think about him, to be quite honest with you. But, you know, trade back and everything's on the board. And I say that because you trade back, then you're getting another pick this year. You have that

many more options to get whatever position you want to kind of open your board up a little bit more and be a little freer with what you do because there are, you know, for example, if they do trade back, my assumption is that they go inside linebacker if they have one. Jared Davis, I'm loving this dude. If Hassan Reddick's still there, if they were to trade back maybe a small handful of spots, I think that they go that route, possibly, because there are second and third round corners in here. There are second and third round edge guys in here. There's second round offensive linemen in here.

Whatever their options are, if they trade back, I think that opens their board up. That's just my opinion. But I think that if they feel that they can't trade back and they get stuck at 15, I think they go corner because that's one of the most pressing needs at this point. At the moment, right now, we've got Vontae Davis and Rashawn Melvin, you know, left and right corner. And I think that's a major issue any way you look at it. You can't afford to really sleep on these guys. Cause if you're going to bring in a guy that you think is a lockdown possibility, or at least has the possibility and the potential to be a lockdown corner, you do that right away. You get that out of the way. And then, you know, whatever you do, the rest of the board, you do the rest of the board trade back. I think that they'll settle,

you know, on, you know, just about anywhere. And then they'll go, that'll, like I said, that'll open their board up. Not necessarily that they'll stick to inside linebacker. I'm just saying that that would open up inside linebacker, in my opinion, as a first round option. Whereas I think it's a second or a third round option should they stay at 15. But you know what, second and third, you know, possible trade back situations all over the place there too. Maybe depending on, you know, how stacked a lot of these teams think this draft is um you know the other part griffin uh to griffin's question there was what do we think in you know the second round and stuff like that he he's high on joe mixon now you and i you know we we talked about this pre-show and and griffin thank you for the call my guy uh you're going to be in the

drawing now for the draft guides and uh i've got your information i appreciate the call, my guy. You're going to be in the drawing now for the draft guides, and I've got your information. I appreciate the call, and thank you. If you guys want to call in, it's 574-516-2881. Give me a call. Get yourself eligible to win one of those draft guides. Jake, now let's talk about mixing. I wrote a piece the other day that was for Stampede Blue that kind of touched on guys that I felt like that would not be on the Colts board. Now, a lot of people don't necessarily agree with me, and that's okay. But Mixon, after I heard the Peter King interview with him and Ballard, it really led me to believe when a guy like Chris Ballard,

who's as thorough as anybody, says that he hasn't gotten to the point yet in the evaluation to where he sees whether Mixon has shown enough remorse in the situation, then that tells me that, I mean, he just said he hasn't delved that far into it, you know, and, and three weeks, two and a half weeks left into the draft. Um, and that was at the owner's meeting. So it wasn't like that was something two months out, you know what I mean? And he just happened to put that up. I just don't see how that leads any possibility that Joe Mixon could be on the Colts board. Uh, now we did get some news recently, uh, you know, well, kind of news. In my opinion, it's a little far-fetched, but you have different thoughts on this. What are your thoughts on what we've heard in the past 24 hours? Yeah, so my views honestly have really kind of waned in the last 24 hours because like you, when I heard Chris ballard's appearance on peter king's podcast when peter king was discussing guys with red flags and whether they deserve second chances

you know he asked ballard about mixing and then to me it sounded completely organic by ballard and and not thought you know pre-thought out he said, honestly, I just haven't gotten far enough into Mixon to know, to have an answer. And like you said, it was two or three weeks until the draft at that point. If he was going to be doing investigating on Mixon, which obviously any team looking to draft him would do, then he would know. He would have

an answer. Who knows how plugged in Ballard is to reading things? After Ryan Grigson left, we kind of found out that Ryan Grigson did read a lot of his own news clippings. Maybe Ballard is more plugged in to what people are saying about him than we know. If he is, then he knows Nixon to the Colts has been a natural fit because of the past with guys like Tyreek Hill. So to me, right away, I was like, okay, no, he's off the board. They're not considering him if Ballard isn't, if he doesn't know anything about him really but then mike

freeman's piece this morning um wednesday where he talks with an anonymous scout from the nfc now he's obviously not anonymous to mike he goes he goes to him every single year for a take on every team in the first round and i mean the guys from the nfc and he said first thing he said was i think this is where christian mcafree goes is to the colts of 15 i've heard that a lot i mean i think we've all seen running back smock to the colts a ton over the last few months it was dalvin cook at one point. Christian McCaffrey kind of took over as well as Joe Mixon. That was more of a second, third round. But I was always suspicious over the past,

really since the combine, that Mixon would find his way into the first round because Daniel Jeremiah comes out and he says, I've talked to someone from just about every team and they all say Mixon is going in the second round. You know, after the combine, it is the weirdest thing for a guy to not be invited to the combine and for a stock to skyrocket because of it is insane.

Because at the introductory press conferences, someone from the Lions was like, you know, it kind of sucks that he's not here because we all want to talk to him. And that almost boosted him up to where everyone was like, yeah, let's get more interested in him and find more out.

So his stock started to rise and then Daniel Jeremiah says he's a second round lock. And I'm just thinking, you know, he's already a first round talent. If he didn't have this whole, this whole past hanging over him He's a second-round lock. And I'm just thinking, you know, he's already a first-round talent. If he didn't have this whole past hanging over him of this incident, he would be going in the first round.

Teams are going to be infatuated with him. He's made a ton of visits. He's going in the first round. If a team wants to make sure they're getting him, he's going in the mid-to-late first round. That's just how it's going to be. Yeah. to make sure they're getting him he's going in the mid to late first round that's just how it's going to be yeah so to me i already kind of had a natural match of the colts and mixin because if you just take ballard into consideration in his open mind with guys with uh with past character red marks even violence against women if it's an isolated incident.

He's willing to have an open mind about that and kind of study things, so that makes sense. Colts need a running back. He's the style of running back they need because he's a three-down back. And then with this scout saying that the Colts are actually heavily looking into Nixon, it just completely makes sense. So considering the scout is from the NFC, he must really know something if he knows the Colts are looking this hard into Joe Mixon.

That's kind of my thought process on that. Okay. Let me take this from kind of the opposite point of view from where I was a few minutes ago. Now, my thought process was that Mixon's just not even on the board, right? Uh, they're not even thinking about it because he hadn't gotten to that point yet. So let's say that since then, that's exactly what he's doing. He's diving in, delving in on this guy, wanting to do as much investigative work as humanly possible. To me, that doesn't mean,

um, and I'm going by what the scout apparently said to Freeman, that to me does not mean that the Colts are high on him. Let me rephrase that. It doesn't mean that the Colts are hot for him. It just means the Colts want to find out about him. If the Colts are doing the work that they hadn't done, or Bowerd in specific is doing the work that he hadn't done previously, maybe he just got around to it late. That seems odd to me that a guy like Bauer, who's that thorough, and if there's a guy that needs to be investigated, you basically have what? If we're talking first-round talents, you've got Malik Hooker, Dalvin Cook, and Joe Mixon.

Is there anybody else that you can think of that need a severe investigation in the first round? You could probably consider Reuben Foster if you buy the off-field issues. Tim Williams. Yeah, Williams for sure. And, I mean, I just don't see how that wasn't done already. However, let's say it wasn't. And let's say it was super thorough with all the other guys.

He's just now getting to mixing because that's the last guy that they're going to worry about delving in because he has the most serious issue, you could say, as far as that, the most visible serious issue. Maybe that's what's going on right now. Maybe he just knows that the Colts are really just diving in as hardcore as they can to find everything they they can about mixing to me that's way more plausible than to say in a week the Colts were did not have enough information to know if he was remorseful about his situation to now they're gung-ho over him and they're gonna take him at 15 That to me is asinine. I mean, that type of window from a guy like that, to me, my opinion here is that that's either the guy who had a couple beers

in him when he was talking about it, or Freeman took his comments a little too much to heart with what he said, or is projecting them in a way to make it sound like it's way more concrete than it actually is. That's legit, my opinion. Yeah, and that makes sense. And another part of it, I thought, you know, a lot of the guy, a lot of time the GM will have a right-hand man. And, I mean, I don't know, maybe Jimmy Ray is Ballard's right-hand man now because Ray was such a respected candidate for other GM jobs. With guys with character issues, you might let your right-hand man take point on that,

but Ballard has already stressed that when you've got a guy with issues of this caliber, that it's got to be an organizational decision to move forward with that player yeah if Jim Irsay has to sign off on it coach Pagano and Ballard then it's going to be Ballard that's probably doing the brunt work because if he's going to put his neck out for someone then he's probably going to be the one doing the homework And it's just weird for him to have such a noncommittal response. Literally, I want to say the podcast aired April 9th and Freeman's article came out

today, three days later. That's such a huge drastic shift. It aired the 9th, but that podcast was recorded at the owner's meeting a week previous. So it's like a 10-day difference. Exactly, yeah. So it's still not a very big window at all. It's either like, what is going on since that interview? Or is there smoke? Like, what is going on?

Because that's two totally different viewpoints. Right. Now, a lot of the comments and stuff that I saw on that were, oh, this is a smoke screen. I'm sorry. There was nothing about the way that that conversation happened telling me that that was a smoke screen. No, it seemed very organic to me. It seemed like a normal conversation. I mean, I know Peter King as the interviewer has to be in charge of the conversation, like neither of them seem to be trying to pull anything over on the other they're having a normal conversation ballard i thought was

answering king's questions very fairly and thoroughly yeah so it's it it's a really weird situation now especially especially because that would be the first i've heard although i did have suspicions of mixingon going in the first, I haven't heard of anyone talking about him going as high as 15. Yeah. It's just a weird situation. Yeah, it is. No, don't get me wrong.

I don't want him. I don't want a running back, period. I just don't in the first round. I just think there's too many guys after that. I mean, but, you know, we do this every year, Jake, whether we're at your place for the draft or whether we're just sitting here on the conversation, texting back and forth or whatever the case may be.

We do this every year. We have a definitive thought process on what we want or what we would like, and then something else happens, and then we both, and I think a lot of Colts fans are similar, we will find our way into digging the pick. Yeah. You know what I mean? At least typically it seems that's the way it is.

We'll find a way to smooth out what we didn't like about it, in other words. Because we want it to go well. Right. We're hopeful. Yeah, exactly. So it'll be interesting to see what goes on. Now, there's a couple other guys that we talked about off air that we wanted to bring up that have been kind of one, maybe a first-round guy, at least in theory, and the other guys like a second- or third-round guy. We'll start with Charles Harris first.

You and I are right together on this because you aren't digging Charles Harris either. And I can't find a reason for myself to want him in the first round, nor can I see really why people think that he's such a first half of the first round guy. To me, it doesn't compute. And it doesn't sound like that it does with you either. No, I mean, I have, I try to keep an open mind. I read a lot of scouting reports. I'm on Twitter a lot, and I like to see other people's viewpoints, and I myself watch a lot of film on these guys.

I have tried, I've tried to absorb charles harris i really have i've watched all of his tapes on draft breakdown i've watched his tapes on different days i've watched all tapes in a day i'll watch one one day like i've i've come up with every combination of ways to watch his film because i i want to try to like keep an open mind and like maybe I'll feel differently this day but I just don't get it like I that's cool that he tested well at his pro day and all that but like where's the productivity I don't I don't see a consistent enough playmaker on the field to he doesn't get me excited like I feel like he's out of the action too much. I don't know. He makes plays here and there, but it's not consistent enough for me.

No, me either. Even when he's the obvious designated pass rusher in the defense, there are times that he pops off the screen. It's like, whoa, there it is. There it is. It makes you want to keep watching. Then it's literally two games later that you see the next one. You know? I mean, there's no consistency with him whatsoever.

If there was anything I would say about him, I think he – I legit think he is a strong side linebacker in the NFL. I don't think he is, you know, your rush linebacker. I think that he could contribute in that way, in some way, shape or form. I don't think that's going to be his calling card though, at the next level. And I mean, the one thing I guess that I would say that I liked about him is the way that he would come off blocks and move towards, uh, the line of scrimmage and come inside a little bit to help against the run. But even that was inconsistent. I just, I just, man,

I don't know. A lot of, a lot of these guys that I watch, I, I have no preconceived notions of them. So, you know, when I go into watching them, though, I definitely do pick guys that I'm hearing about in the past to watch because that makes them interesting to me. You know, I want to see what everybody else is seeing and man, there's so many guys that I don't see what anybody else sees. There's so many. And I don't know if it's, I mean, I mean, I've played, I played a lot of football in my life and I just don't get it. I mean, Harris is one of them that I don't get it. I don't see anything on him that says he's going to be a starter in the NFL. I mean, he might be, I mean, and you never know how some of these guys like transition from college to the next level. Maybe there is a trait that's in there that I'm not seeing because I'm

too worried about how he fires off the line, what his hand usage is, what somebody else is seeing, I'm not seeing. Yeah. And I mean, I don't have any bias against him or anything i i as a as a pass rusher who is projected going round one i should want him to do well because i know the colts need that you know right and i know the colts there's been a lot of talk actually about the colts and charles harris in the first round so i should have every reason to want him to to look good i just don't see it like you can kind of one of my favorite guys you can kind of flip him and harris derek barnett all the production shows up all the time on tape yeah terrible testing whether he was sick or was injured whatever even if he was perfectly healthy he's you you can see him on film and he doesn't look like a guy that's going to test well.

Flip side, Charles Harris, not a ton of production, not a ton of consistency, but he wound up testing well at his pro day. Give me Barnett every day. If you look at the analytics and if someone's going to be a force player or they test well, they had a great three-cone, whatever. I will always want to see how they actually played and how often they made plays. Right. And I don't see how people could hate Derek Barnett but really like Charles Harris. Yeah, I mean, football players come first before athletes.

I mean, there's just no two ways about it. I mean, great. Here's the thing. And I know that anybody who's anybody has said this in the past. But one, you find out if they're a good football player. Two, you find out what kind of a premier athlete they are because that ultimately helps people project their ceiling. I mean, and outside of that, I mean, look, if they're a terrible athlete or not a great athlete or just not, you know, if they're not one of those guys that are in the top 75% of spark scores or just whatever, I don't know. I mean, what does it matter?

I mean, watch the guy. He's dominating people, you know. Exactly. And that's the thing. I mean, like Derek Rivers. I didn't know whether he was going to be a phenomenal guy at the Combine or not, but I love his tape. That guy can play football a lot and well.

Another guy, Tyus Bowser, who is an elite athlete as far as I'm concerned. I don't know where his spider or his web is actually, but you can see his athleticism on tape. You know what he did at the Combine and everything else. But, man, dude, give me Tyus Bowser 100 out of 100 times over Charles Harris. I see more potential and versatility with Bowser. Bowser dropped into coverage all the time at Houston. It's like he was so versatile they couldn't put him

at one spot and let him develop. They were like, that'd be great if we could get this guy to be a full-time pass rusher, but he can cover, so got to drop him into coverage. Is there anything that transitions better to the Colts' defensive scheme than that?

Him and Hassan Redick are very similar where they're, they're very good pass rushers. So like, regardless if they move to a primary position of off ball linebacker, their team is going to put them on the outside to rush the passer probably frequently, depending on the situation,

because they're so good at so many things. Yeah. I mean, he, depending on the situation, because they're so good at so many things. Yeah. I mean, the one thing that I expected to see with Bowser's tape was when he would go inside and when he would twist on a stunner or whatever like that, I expected him to get hung up a lot on the interior defensive line. And he did well splitting them. He'd get through, made himself skinny,

and ended up creating havoc in the backfield as well. Man, and legit, like we get off this Charles Harris train because there's at least six guys I'd rather have before him in the first round, maybe even in the second round as well. It just, I don't see it. I don't get it. I'm glad that you don't,

but now we're going to disagree on a guy, you know, I can't, I can't have all the rainbows and flowers, but you got, you got some hot takes for me on Jordan Willis. Yeah. Just from what I've seen, I guess I'm not seeing what everybody else is. They, I mean, another guy, he tested very well at the combine, but to me, that is not what it looks

like on tape. I don't know. He, he looks to me, he looks like he's not quick enough to the action, and he falls behind the ball a lot. You know, like, the ball carrier can just fall, you know, go right up the line, and he's coming up behind. To me, he's just a step behind. He's not in the action enough for me, and he doesn't make a lot of plays. He doesn't dictate what happens with the ball. You know, a lot of these edge guys can come in, and the ball carrier will have to change paths because of the pressure that's being put on them. And, I mean, I've only seen a couple of games and I haven't finished studying him.

So he could have a Solomon Thomas like turnaround for me because I didn't like Solomon Thomas at first either. But have you watched the Texas game? Yeah, that's actually the last tape I watched of him. I think I've watched two or three, not nothing substantial yet. But it was another thing. I feel like I saw the same thing I saw on the first tape, and I couldn't even tell you.

Whatever the first one is in line on draft breakdown for 2016, what I saw of Willis. But, again, I just feel like he falls behind the play too much. I don't think he's in the action. And I'm still waiting to fall in love with him. I'm not done evaluating him. I'll still keep watching him. But as much as people, as much as I've heard people talk about how great he is and how he's some athletic freak, I'm not seeing it yet. Yeah. And I agree with you as far, as far as looking at, um, where he is athletically, where he, what he did at the combine versus seeing the athleticism on tape, the, the thing like, I mean, cause he gets when, look, when he's Russian, uh, you know,

outside of the curve, uh, uh, been in the edge, he gets pushed out a lot. I understand. I totally get what you're saying on that. My thing was, out of all the edges that I watched, and I'm telling you what, I never watched Miles Garrett. Didn't need to. I didn't want to watch him. There was a point, why am I going to watch him? He's not going to teach me anything that I don't already know that he's the best in the class. So I wanted to look at everybody else, or at least a good portion of everybody else. And the one thing that I saw in Jordan Willis that I did not see out of the bulk of the rest of the edge guys in this class was his burst off the snap. Whether he was trying to climb into the interior and try to break stuff up or whatever. Now, he could get into the backfield and disrupt it without actually making the tackle. Now, I understand what you're saying.

He's not in the play, so to speak. The plays pass him by sometimes, and I get that. But the dude is so strong and so quick off the ball. I just feel like that guy at some point, and I think probably in the late second round, is where he goes mid-second round. I don't think that he's a first round guy, so I don't want to pretend that I do because I don't. But I think in the second round that that guy has so much versatility because he could play the edge in a 3-4. I also think he'd be a fantastic sub package guy as a defensive end I just I think that he could do a lot to help the Colts pass rush however they wanted to use him and I think that you know when

like you say you don't see the athletic part of him on tape you don't see him bending with that flexibility in his ankle and stuff like that being able to kind of lean as he's going in there, which obviously is what people would mean when they say bending the edge. Now, when I watch him, I just love his burst. I mean, constant. It's every single snap, whether it's a run snap. The only time that he doesn't do it is when he's actually the guy setting the edge. And you don't see that very often with him because he, he kind of is used as a four, three, uh, defensive in, in Kansas state scheme. So I just, I don't know. I really like him. I'm not going to, I, at no point would I expect somebody to take him in the first round, but I really liked him. And I do, I, to his credit, I will say that in league circles,

he seemed, there seems to be a belief in him. Because, I mean, you and I, while we were at the Combine, we asked a scout from a 4-3 team about him. And they didn't have him on the board because he didn't really fit their scheme. Because they saw him more as an outside linebacker, not a four-down defensive end. So I do think teams want to see his athleticism at play at a new home position as a stand-up player to use that athleticism. So I will give him credit. It's not just a draft Twitter thing. I think there's real belief from people in the league that he could be a good

athletic player. I just haven't been seeing it yet. Yeah. And it does surprise me that so many people do project him as a three, four outside linebacker because he, he was like in a four point stance, a good majority of the time, you know,

he, he wasn't on, on twos very often. So that was something that, you know, kind of surprised me a little bit, but he just had, to me, he just has a lot to offer, but there's a lot of guys that have a lot to offer.

This is a draft where, you know, you and I, we watched, who was it Billings fall the last year or two years ago. Yeah. And we kind of were caught. That was something that we talked about continually through that. Like, man, where is he going to go? We wanted the Colts to take him. And, you know, I think this is a guy who I think could possibly have a similar fate. Maybe late second round, early third, because a lot of people, I mean,

in spite of a lot of people talking about him as somewhat of a early to mid second round pick i just don't think that he's going to be picked that high this is a draft here where we uh and every other fan base to be honest with you is going to be able to go yeah so and so so and so so and so so and so and so and so and so are still on the board we're good don't sweat it you know what i mean and that's, to me, is going to be fun. That's a blast because, you know, unless your team's 25 picks away and then everybody starts going on a run in a specific position that you really feel like your team needs it, you know, that's when it's going to tick you off.

You'll be like, no, not right now. No, let's wait about 10 picks before we start this run because then that's when teams get a little desperate and start trading up out of the blue. And I don't see any way that the Colts trade up for anybody in this draft. They know that next year they're not going to the Super Bowl. I mean, they know that. So why do that?

But that is good for the Colts if other teams want to do that because that gives them opportunity. The bad thing is when it's after the Colts pick when the teams go on a run. What we want as Colts fans, what we collectively want as Colts fans, whether we realize it or not, is for a run to start about 15 picks before we pick, 10 to 15 picks, because once that starts, regardless of what position we need, that will allow the Colts to be in a position to, after about the second or third guy goes off the board,

for teams well behind us to get greedy and come up and try to grab their guy that they really want. Okay, so Matt, kind of piggybacking off of the jordan willis talk uh todd mcshay just came out with his latest mock draft it's it's a three rounder where he just compiles three picks for every team uh right in a row and it's it's not it's not a mock draft based off his normal intel what he's gathering from teams and everything it's uh it's a kind of what i would do mock draft he just makes decisions for the teams as if he was the gm and he uses his rankings basically um which i i really do appreciate that process because it's transparent.

You know exactly what the criteria is. He lays it all out very cleanly in the beginning. But I kind of hate his Colts haul that he had. In the first round at 15, he had Forest Lamp. There's still this big national conception that the colts need to invest high and heavy in the offensive line which is just not the case i i think there's an argument for someone like forest lamp for the colts but when i tell you the rest of the hall in these two rounds it's not going to be a good time second round jordan willis there we go um third round ardaria stewart wide receiver from alabama now yeah ardaria stewart wide receiver third round so i like forest lamp

i like ardaria stewart i'm the jury's still out for me on jordan willis i hate this haul. What do you think? Dude, dear, if I can use a quick aside that Dan Hanses says, come back to us, Todd McShay. You got to be kidding me. I mean, seriously, an offensive lineman and a wide receiver in the first three rounds? For a team that needs defense as bad as it does, they give offensive linemen first, which is a position that many people don't realize the Colts don't really need that bad. Two of the first three picks for a defensive needy team are on offense.

That is crazy. And neither of them are even a running back. Yeah. No, that makes are even a running back. Yeah. No, that makes no sense to me whatsoever. First and foremost, the Colts need nothing to do with wide receivers in this draft. Should they do it if they acquire another pick or two, sixth or seventh round? Hey, whatever. At that point, it's kind of a crap shoot.

You find somebody you like, you take them. And if that's the guy that you feel like is best on your board, then, then whatever. But this is not a situation where the Colts are anywhere near taking a wide receiver in the first three rounds. And as far as I'm concerned, and if they legitimately have any wide receiver, uh, in their board, I mean, God, can we just slow down on wide receivers, man? Everybody wants to give us wide receivers. Everybody wants to give us linemen in the first round every single year and mocks. You know, can't blame them for a couple years there where the Colts legitimately needed some help. The Colts got a lot of help last year.

They got some depth even now. Even if the – I think that the Colts probably will draft an offensive lineman. And if they do go in the first round, an offensive lineman, this is one of those situations like I was telling you about earlier. If the Colts do go first round offensive lineman, I think I'm just going to swallow it and be okay with it until we see what happens after that. But you know how it goes, man.

First day is the first round only. That gives everybody the entire night to sit there and stew on the Colts taking a first round offensive lineman again, or at least taking a first round offensive lineman as opposed to an exciting edge rusher. Everybody wants excitement, and we need the excitement of the first round being a home run pick, and it's going to be an offensive lineman, not the sexy pick. I think that I would live with that. It was Forrest Lamp. I really like Forrest Lamp. I think I would live with that. If that's the case, I mean, this is a what if situation. If the Colts go first round offensive lineman, you better not take Jordan Willis. I mean that honestly. He's going

to be a complimentary player in his first season he's going, he's going to be a complimentary player, uh, in his first season or two, he's not going to be a 10 sack guy. Okay. He, he won't, I mean, he might get 10 sacks. And I even wrote this about him that I, uh, in an article that I was talking about how much I liked him. He's not a 10 sack, uh, annually, uh, annual guy. He's a guy who could get 10 sacks a year or two in his career, but he's not a 10-sack guy. I mean, he's going to be complementary within the Colts' defense. If the Colts were to grab him, you go after a guy that can produce now, and I'm talking produce now in the second round if you do that. That makes no sense whatsoever for Jordan Willis to be the pick.

I don't get that, and at that point, if we're at what, pick 46, is it, that the Colts go in the second round? I'm sorry, there's still going to be enough guys on the board there that the Colts don't go Jordan Willis. If he's their pick in the second round, if that's the best guy on the board at the edge position, they go to another position, plain and simple. Yeah. I mean, now third round, wide receiver. I don't even care who the wide receiver is. No. I just don't care.

No, that's stupid. That makes no sense whatsoever. None of this makes sense. I don't like, you know, I could live with Lamp. I don't love it. I could live with it. Because it would help in the end. It's not a pick I want to see in the first round in this draft, though.

What are yours? What are your thoughts, dude? This makes me want to throw up. Yeah, I really, when I first saw it, I had to post it to Twitter because I just had such a strong reaction to it. Now, like you said, I can live with Forrest Lamp in the first round because the idea of building something

like Dallas and Oakland have tried to build on with their offensive lines, that seems pretty alright to me. Forrest Lamp, Ryan Kelly, Jack Muhort in the middle. Let's say Anthony Costanzo stays the course or maybe gets a little better. LaRaven Clark is going to keep getting better.

That sounds like it's going to start to be a pretty good offensive line. I can look at that, like you said. Right. But the rest of the draft needs to be impactful. Otherwise, at edge rushers, cornerbacks, something. And, again, I know it's best player available, but that is so crazy to take an offensive lineman first, that's fine, but then a pass rusher who's just kind of a guy,

and with a second-round pick, and then your third- round pick as a wide receiver who was pretty gimmicky in college yeah so you have taken you've basically used almost half of your draft on a guy who we're pretty confident it's going to be at a pro bowl level eventually as a guard but then two guys otherwise who you don't know how good they're going to be and if they are going to be good they're probably not going to be pro bowl all pro level guys so you've spent almost half your draft almost wasted yeah it because you know there will be so much better faster more impactful options out there it's just in that that hall seems insane

to me i don't like it no i have no idea what he was thinking on that i really don't i mean he's forgotten kamar aiken was signed he's forgotten that the colts have uh a legit you know four or five wide receivers on the team forgotten, you know, and nobody, nobody ever remembers, uh, the depth when they do these mocks and I get it, I get it. You can't really expect them to, and I'm not trying to act like Quan Bray's the next coming, you know, but he's there and does the kicks. I mean, we love Chester Rogers and that's, I mean, that could be five and six right there. So if we've got a top four with Hilton, Moncrief, Dorsett, who is better outside of the 25-yard line than people realize, and Aitken,

I mean, can we at least do it in the late rounds? I mean, like you said – or like we talked about earlier, sixth or seventh maybe? I mean, geez. Man, that makes no sense to me. I can't stand that. I have to tell people every day. I have to remind people every day that the Colts' offensive line is not going to continue to be the same thing we've seen the last four or five years. They drafted four guys last year.

Three of them became starters right and they already had they already had muhor and costanzo as established starters like they probably have their starting five for next year right now and it's probably going to be a pretty good unit and a lot of people don't realize that at least according to football Football Outsiders, the Colts, I think, were number three when it comes to offensive line and run blocking. They had the third best run blocking offensive line. They pretty much insinuated that Frank Gore got a lot of his yards based on the offensive line,

and he basically just picked up what was there to be had. He didn't make plays on his own so just imagine if you got a big play running back behind that offensive line people's perception that line could change in a hurry but andrew luck has to be a little cleaner and to be honest how he plays he's probably never going to be a guy that gets sacked less than 25 times a year. It's not always the offensive line's fault. Now, they have not been a perfect pass-blocking line at all.

They've been heinous at times, but it's not always their fault. When you draft four rookies in a year, they're not all going to be Joe Thomas year one. They need time to grow and develop like you can't just keep drafting offensive linemen early and often every year and just keep plugging different guys in constantly and expect to get a winning formula at some point you have to let guys play together you have to let guys develop and see playing time look at la raven clark he looked he looked just holy crap in the preseason like yeah no way can you let this guy see the field in the regular season right week 13 or week 14 something like that whenever they played the vikings turns out with so many injuries he has to start at right tackle. We were literally

talking about if they should sit Andrew Luck because of that. They were facing the Vikings, who had a hell of a pass rush behind a terrible offensive line. And you know what? Where Evan Clark went out there, and he kind of kicked ass the last few weeks. He had a rough game against Oakland, but considering how terrible he looked in the preseason that shows great promise that he's going to develop into a dependable player at least yeah and not only that now i think that philbin being there again this year is going to help that that's gonna be awesome i think i do too i mean i i I just see that as much as we saw from him, as far as his coaching style and getting around to these guys last year, I think that that helps a ton. And I mean,

if they were to, and it would be nice, don't get me wrong. It would be nice to see them bring in another top level offensive lineman to really shore up that offensive line, that would increase depth a ton. And we end up seeing, like you said, I think, and I have said it on this podcast many times before, that I expect the Colts to be a top five to ten offensive line in the next couple seasons. I just do, as long as everybody stays healthy, of course. But it just, I mean mean that's just what I

see on there I get sick and tired of people talking about Costanzo as if he's awful and overrated overrated compared to what he's still a top 10 left tackle in the league is he not yeah I mean he's not going to be Tyron Smith or Joe Thomas or Trent Williams like you got a guy who you can depend on to start at left tackle and protect your franchise quarterbacks blindside week in and week out. He's not, he's probably not going to win matchups against Vaughn Miller and elite pass rushers, but who does?

Right. And not only that, I mean, you Hort there at left guard. I mean, then Kelly should take a significant jump as far as i'm concerned even to where how he played last year uh right guard you know who's who's there and right tackle who's there but you've got about four or five guys that are going to be fighting for it and that's

key i mean that's that's key right there because not only that but you've got the fight for for just about everything and when you've got that along your offensive line, and I think you could plug in two or three or four guys there, to be quite honest with you, between the Raven Clark, Joe Haig, Denzel Good. I know that he kind of stunk it up a little bit last year. But I still got promise for him. I mean, I still think he's going to be decent. And if the Colts were to grab a guy like Forrest Lamp in that position, then wow. I mean, you've got an insane amount of depth

along that offensive line. So that would be the reason why I would be cool with that in the first round. I mean, it wouldn't be the ideal pick for me, but I would be cool with it because that would be literally one entire area of the team that does not need to be talked about anymore. Right. It would be fine with me because it would work and it would not be overkill. You know what I mean? If I'm remembering correctly, when they drafted Dorsett, they had just invested so much in wide receivers over the last couple years. It seemed kind of crazy with this forest lamp would probably start right away.

It will work. Like, I don't think anyone thinks forest lamp is going to suck in the NFL. Like I think he's going to be a pretty good guard. So that would work. And they don't have so many bodies already. There were, it's a log jam and here's the here's the legit thing if you think about it this way too if let's say they do take forest lamp

uh and then you've got what haig uh probably good would be end up being the backup at the guard but then you've got haig and and clark battling for that right tackle spot more than likely. I mean, okay, so after that, what do you got? You got three guys that are either starting. I'm sorry, four guys, if that's the case. You've either got them starting or are backups all on their rookie contracts. That's a lot of cheap people. Then your center's on a rookie contract.

Your left guard's about to be up for uh another contract he's not he's been injured a little bit i don't think he's going to make a ton of money he's not going to break the bank but i mean that gives the colts a little bit of leeway as well if muhork can't stay healthy this Now, I don't mean just to fill in, but I mean as in, you know, if they were to allow him to walk, for example. Okay, let's say Ballard's not high on him and he allows him to walk. The Colts are still in pretty good shape. Yeah.

You could just move Lamp over to left guard when – and then Hegg goes to right guard and target right tackle. You would have an answer. Right. That's what I mean. I mean, so that – I mean, there's a lot of reasons to get on board with that. I don't know that it will ever be the ideal pick because, like I said, we like shiny things, and offensive linemen are not shiny.

Right. Yeah. So who's the guy that you – I mean, give me – dude, give me your top five guys. I mean, just your top five, period. Not that the Colts might get, give me your top five guys. I mean, just your top five, period. Not that the Colts might get. Give me your top five guys that you just love. Your top five man crush prospects for this draft. Everything's got to start with Reuben Foster.

I talk about him all the time. I really like Malik McDowell, and I'm pretty happy to see that the Colts have taken an interest in him as well. Dalvin Cook, I don't care about the testing. It does not wipe out what I've seen him do since he was a freshman at Florida State. Don't care about what's been said about him at all. I've seen too much awesome stuff. I've seen too much young Edrin James and him.

Let's see. I really like Marlon Humphrey. And I really like Jamal Adams. It never matters how high your team is picking. Unless they're number one, there will always be people, players out of your range.

And to me, that's Jamal Adams and probably reuben foster um but i mean those are those are my guys i really enjoyed watching them play whether the colts can get them or not it's i'm not planning on it but those are those are probably my five guys what are yours uh well man i don't know i don't know mean, I don't know that I have five guys that I just want the Colts to get. I like a ton of people, to be honest with you, in this draft. I think the Colts could nab him if they traded back, but I obviously love Tyus Bowser, absolutely love his skill set.

I like Carl Lawson, like him a lot, probably like him a lot more than other people do. I love Derek Rivers. I like Hum Lawson. I like him a lot. I probably like him a lot more than other people do. I love Derek Rivers. I like Humphrey as well. I like Garyon Conley. I like Cordrea Tankersley aside from his run support. I like a lot of his coverage stuff at corner from Clemson. I really like Jared Davis a ton, a ton. I think the three-year projection, he's a better inside linebacker or equal to as Reuben Foster. That's just what I see personally, just because of the guy's work ethic and his brains and everything else. If we're going to go defensive line, I really like Chris Wormley a ton. I really think that

he's got a lot of versatility, and the Colts love versatility, regardless of who the GM is. Colts love versatility. Every team loves versatility. So, I mean, those are just a handful of guys. If the Colts are at 15 and if they're going to go edge rusher and Barnett's not off the board, I want them to swing at Barnett. I really like him as well.

Yeah. He's just a guy that I think is so natural about the way he goes about his pass rush, always finds a way into the backfield no matter what. I really think Wormley's a good – I'm not counting against McDowell's as far as his chatter or whatever. I don't know that it's much to do about anything, nothing. I don't know that it's a big deal. I just am not on board with guys who give half-assed effort, basically, in most games.

That's just not my style. That's not what I want to see. But those guys sometimes are the guys who explode at the next level. So I'm very reserved about him I think he's got a ton of talent and I think that if they can harness that he's going to be a phenomenal player up front but he's just not my guy you know what I'm saying I mean I'm going to try not to read into what people say what people do I just didn't see him giving a bunch of effort in a lot of games and I'm not all I just don't dig that. I never have. And I think we've talked about that in the past. That's just one

of the things that turned me off considerably against guys. So I like Terrell Basham as a mid-round or, you know, at least a late day two edge guy, really like him, have liked him for quite a while. You know, I'm not a big fan of the inside linebacker at Ohio State. For some reason, his name's – Greg Vaughn. Yes. Not a huge fan of him. I don't think that he's bad.

I don't think that he – I certainly just don't think that he's great. And so he's just a guy that kind of just fell off my radar. I was like, eh. Like you said about Wills, he's just a guy to me. Yeah. And I'm okay with that. But there's so many guys. Maybe one of my biggest hot takes ever is that I can't stand watching

Obi Malafonu play. I can't. I just don't know what it is about that guy. I think that he's solid in run support, not great. I see him at least three times on tape and even some of the all 22 tape that i have access to i have seen him run right by a ball carrier who's not falling down not being tackled and i have no idea what in the hell he's doing it just makes no sense to me i don't think he's great in coverage anything that's over his head uh i don't i think that a lot of the balls that he intercepted or the ones that he had defend uh defended on that he knocked down because

they were basically high pop you know pop-ups to him like a center fielder in baseball uh nothing anything he has to turn and run for he doesn't ever look for the ball ever and just, he's, I mean, projection wise, maybe a three year projections. Great right now. I don't see him being a first round, legit first round talent. Now, first round talent, three years from now, probably, you know what I'm saying? I just don't know. I don't know really what he's going to turn into. He's got a lot of skills that I think need a lot of refinement as far as I'm concerned.

But, man, his frame and his athleticism is super sexy. You know, there's just no way about it. You just can't turn that off. You can't take that away from the guy. But, like I said, a ton of guys. I mean, I like a bunch of them. So, you know, Jake, we're sitting right at about an hour right now, my guy. But, as usual, you and I could probably go for hours on this.

But eventually people are going to want to go to another show on their podcast network. So we're going to have to get out of here soon. But, man, thanks for stopping by. It was great to talk to you again. We're going to do this every week, guys. Jake's going to be here every week. We're going to do it probably the same day every week. It's a great way to get into the second half of our week as well,

and I hope it is for you guys too. So, Jake, thanks for stopping by, dude. I've yet to be able to name this segment, but we're going to name more of a segment more like the show. I don't know whether to call it the King's Court because of the last name with Jake Arthur, King's Arthur. I don't know what to do with it, but maybe my listeners will throw some, uh, intelligent, uh, options my way. So I've got faith in him. We'll see. Yeah. Uh, but thanks dude, for stopping by, man. It was great talking to you.

No, man. Thanks for having me. And I really appreciate the platform. I'm really glad a guy like you has got this show. Thanks, man. I appreciate that. And this is a good time for me because a lot of the guys that I always bounce off thoughts or just whatever, a guy like you that I, like I said, that I'm in constant contact with anyway, you know, it's great to just have you on here and talk and actually have it go on the podcast. So thanks, man. And every time and any time, it's always great to talk to you anyway. But thank you guys for listening to Jake and I sit here and spitball for an hour.

We appreciate you guys joining us. And make sure you guys are going to iTunes, giving the show a rating and a review. Make sure you guys are using that call-in feature that I've got. Like I said, 574-516-2881. Get your calls in, guys. You're going to get a $35 to $40 value draft guide here for free from NDT Scouting and Inside the Pylon. I don't know what more you could ask for. All you want to do is call in.

I'm not going to lie. We don't have a ton of call-ins right now. So if you want to have a good chance of getting one of these, get your calls in. Chances are pretty high that you're going to be a winner if you get in there. I mean, we're giving away four. So get your guys' phones out, dial, leave a voicemail, ask Jake and I or me or George or whoever is on the show that day. We'll answer it and ask a question and go from there. Then you're automatically entered.

So it's not that hard. Get yourselves in there. It'd be great to get more response from you guys. Jake, thanks again, my man. Thank you, man. I appreciate it. Absolutely. We'll talk to you guys all tomorrow right here on Locked on Colts.

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