Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 4/17/19: Blue Star Prospects with Dane Brugler of The Athletic

Episode Date: April 17, 2019

Playing off Daniel Jeremiah's scouting tool of 'Red-star players' used on NFL Network, I debut the Blue Star Prospects Colts fans should keep their eye on with arguably the most respected name in the draft business: Dane Brugler. Currently with The Athletic, Brugler just released his 2019 draft guide. Go get that if you haven't already with inside knowledge from a former NFL scout.Brugler and I hit on all the following position groups featuring Blue Stars while also answering listener questions on certain prospects: TE, RB, WR, iDL, CB/S.Closing things out, Brugler tells us an incredible Chris Ballard story showing how incredible of a person he is alone before mentioning what he expects Indianapolis to do on draft night.This is a must-listen show if you want to be prepared for the NFL draft next Thursday. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, everybody. Welcome to Locked On Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. As always, I'm your host, Evan Sider, joined by a very special guest today, Dane Brugler of The Athletic. He has released his B-Scatter report. If you haven't already subscribed to The Athletic and already went over and got Dane's draft guide, it's a must-have right now. I've been doing it for the past few years. I'm really glad to have Dane on. Dane, how are you doing today? I'm doing well. I appreciate that introduction. That's the draft guide, something I hope everyone checks out. It comes with your athletic subscription,

so hopefully everybody looks forward to it. Check out my Twitter at DPBruger is the best way to get it. I promise you, if you're interested in the draft, you will not be disappointed by it. For sure. Like I said, I've been having it the last few years, and it's definitely must-read material, deep dives in almost every prospect in this draft class, really every prospect available in this class. Let's just start off, Damon. I

see you over a couple positions yesterday that we're going to run through, some that we really haven't covered much in the show yet, and I want to get your thoughts on them because we'll start with tight end rankings because, for me, it's interesting just how deep this tight end class is compared to last year and years before that. How does this tight end class stack up? Because I feel like there might be five or six guys, maybe even more than that, taken before even day two ends.

Yeah, I think that you're right on. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if we see seven or eight go in the top 100 picks. You know, I think TJ Hawkins and Noah Fant, the two Iowa guys at the top, first time likely that we'll see two tight ends from the same program go in the first round. And then after that, on day two, Irv Smith from Alabama,

Kahale Waring from San Diego State, Dawson Knox, Ole Miss, Jay Sternberger, A&M. I'm a big fan of Josh Oliver from San Jose State, who's the top senior tight end in this group. So plenty of options. And really, that might be the reason why some teams pass on a Hawkinson in the top 15 picks. It's because they know they can get a quality tight end later in the draft, and they can focus on a pass rusher, an offensive tackle in the early portion of round one.

So, yeah, this tight end group, it's a deep group, and we're going to see a lot of these guys come off the board in the top four or five rounds. There's a cluster of tight ends in this group I really like. I'm glad you mentioned Josh Oliver, too. He's one of the guys I like here. Josh Oliver, Jay Sterberg, Holly Waring of San Diego State. I feel like the Colts, especially with how they use their tight ends, those are three guys you should watch for on day two, just their prototypes

and how they run and how they utilize their offenses. With the Colts offense specifically, just how they use tight ends with Jack Doyle and Eric Ebron, would surprise you at all if they took one on day two or even day one and suddenly Noah Fant slipped to them? No, I don't think it would really surprise me.

I think tight ends kind of a sneaky need for the Colts. Is it an immediate need for right now? No, but when you just project forward, I think it's a position they'd like to invest in. Kahale Waring is interesting because, for those that don't know his backstory, never picked up a football, touched a football, until his senior year of high school. He was a do-everything athlete, basketball, water polo, soccer, cross-country, swimming,

everything except for football. Starts playing football as a senior and, you know, walked on at San Diego State. And, you know, he on at San Diego State. And, you know, he literally, he was a wide receiver in high school. They moved to tight end when he got to San Diego State. He literally had to Google tight end to understand what it meant. And, you know, now he's knocking on the NFL's door as a potential top 100 draft pick. There's so much ability there, so much untasked potential.

The workout numbers were great, but, you know, you really – you watch his tape and you get really – you have that optimistic feeling for how he's going to develop at the next level. So I think he would make some sense in the second or third round because you're not expecting him to step in from day one and be a big-time performer. You can take some time, develop him, let him grow at his own pace.

And so that might be a best fit for what the Colts are actually looking for. Yeah, he would make a lot of sense, in my opinion, in round two or round three because he might have slipped there. Somehow on day two, I think the Colts are going to surprise people and take a tight end. But let's move on here to our next position, Dane. That's running back. And the Colts actually had Josh Jacobson for a visit here recently.

And that kind of threw Colts fans by surprise because they had Marlon Mack already in 99s and Jordan Wilkins but just how good is Josh Jacobs in this 2019 draft class compared to maybe other years yeah it's easy to like what he offers I think I mean athleticism power by the blocker as a receiver I mean he's got that multidimensional skill set. I mean, really the only thing you don't like is the fact that he has three career starts. You know, he wasn't asked to be the guy at Alabama. But at the same time, you can spin at that as a positive because he still has, you know, plenty of tread on the tires and, you know, he's not worn down at the college level. So, you know, he's not worn down at the college level. So, you know, he's a fresh player.

So I think that while ideally he doesn't have the sample size you necessarily want at the same time for the running back position, I don't think you need, you know, this extensive resume to understand if a player has a really talented skill set. You know, you, you can tell that pretty quickly. I mean, when I was scouting for, you know, you can tell that pretty quickly. I mean, when I was scouting for me, you know, one of the first things I was taught, linebacker and running back. You know, usually in the first 10 plays, when you watch a player on tape,

you should be able to tell pretty quickly, you know, his skill level. Because it's one of those positions that it doesn't take much thinking. It's just read, react. And either you have the athletic skill set and the mental skill set to perform at a high level or you don't. And you watch Josh Jacobs, I mean, I don't know how you don't get excited because his ability to not only help out in the ground game, but down the field, really impressive as a natural receiver. He was actually their lead blocker at Alabama this past year in a lot of packages. So you see him going out and blocking for either Damian Harris or the quarterback.

And just the competitive nature that he has, the toughness. I mean, Josh Jacobs, he's an easy guy to sell in the war room. Let me ask you this, you brought up the the tread part of it which i'm really intrigued by because josh jacobs really doesn't have a lot of tread on his tires when you see a guy like dave montgomery from iowa state or other backs from previous years do you factor that in as far as a long-term future just because this guy has so much more carries than the other yeah i mean it's something that is part of the puzzle. It's a puzzle piece for sure, just understanding the wear and tear and not only just the number of touches,

but how much was he dinged up over his career and how that will affect him moving forward. And the medicals are a big part of that as well. But honestly, if I'm drafting a running back as a general manager, I'm not really thinking about that second contract I'm thinking about okay well I've got this guy for the next four or five years and then there's a good chance of moving on you know it's just a shelf life of a running back so you know I don't necessarily look at running back the same way as other

positions where I'm hoping for that second contract or you you know, a running back, I, you know, I'm looking for an impact player for the next four to five years and then there's a good chance of moving on. So I think that's, that also plays a part. That's a good point. I was just about to ask you about if it was the disposable position or not, but it seems that you're on the side of really after that rookie contract, you move on. Do you think that's really what the trend is nowadays?

It seems like. Yeah, I think so. I mean, there, there's exceptions for, you know, a guy like Le'Veon Bell, who's, you know, you can make an argument, the best running back in the league. You know, there's some exceptions to that. But for the most part, you know, you're looking for guys that can be really productive for you. And then, you know, it's a position that that is not you know i i understand those that say they

won't draft a running back high i get that because you can find those guys later on but it's still there's the number of running backs drafted in the on the day three of the draft who have not panned out it's still pretty high so yes you can find those guys those philip lindsey's later in the draft but it's still not an easy thing to do. You have to hit. And running back on day three has a higher hit rate than just about every other position. That still doesn't mean it's easy to do. So, you know, there's still some value in taking a running back in the first round, second round, third round. There's still value in that if the player is an impact player.

And I think Josh Jacobs certainly is that. And I think David Montgomery, you know, in the third round, is the same type of player. He has value there. And so I think really the running back position, third round is a sweet spot. Damian Harris, David Montgomery, Miles Sanders, Daryl Henderson. I think that's really going to be a sweet spot for a lot of these players. Before we move on to our next position, Dane,

I was just about to ask you as well, who is the sleeper in that running back group that maybe you might be higher on than the others? Jalen Moore from App State is a guy who has been a little bit out of sight, out of mind because he's been hurt, broke his ankle in mid-October. So, you know, he hasn't been a guy that's been on the forefront of people's minds, wasn't able to participate in the senior bowl, wasn't able to participate at the combine, still hasn't been able to do a full workout because of just working his way back from that ankle injury. But when you watch his tape at App State, balance, the cuts, the toughness that he runs with, really, really like what he has to offer. And so I think that he could end up being

a steal. You know, he's probably going to be a day three pick, a guy that the team's going to get someone in the fourth to sixth round and going to end up being a terrific value at that point. Really interesting stuff down the running back. Dan, let's move on to the wide receivers here. I wanted to ask you this because I've seen this recently in a lot of mock drafts from a lot of renowned people on the draft network circles. As far as DK Metcalf's stock, it seems like he's more in the 15 to 20s range, maybe even might slip to maybe the late 20s. What's your thoughts on DK Metcalf and also his stock overall right now?

Yeah, I think that's, honestly, that's where he's always been, in my opinion, is the late first round. That was kind of how I viewed him. I didn't view uh going back to august i really didn't view any of these receivers as top 25 picks and i still don't dk metcalf is he's number one on my wide receiver board but he's number 27 overall um i just you know i have problems with all these receivers but I still think that they have a lot of ability and can have productive careers if they go to the right spots and carve out certain roles. But DK Metcalf, the physical traits, things you can't teach, they're freaky. 6'3.5", 228 pounds, but he's not a technically skilled player at this point.

Can he develop into that? Sure, but I don't think he's ever going to be a guy who is getting open based on his route running. That's just not going to be his strength. His strength is going to be his speed and size, which can be assets to lead the production. So DK Metcalf, I think there's a lot of ability there, but I think anybody that's going to be expecting a Julio Jones or, you know, that number one type

of receiver, especially as a rookie, I think they're going to be disappointed. That's just not who he is. I don't think he's going to develop into that. I think he'd be productive, but I don't see a true number one target at the next level. How much do those really lateral speed drills, it's like the three come out was really bad. And also there's his lateral movements. Does that worry you, really worry on the next level because it seems like he's just a one route

kind of guy. Yeah. Well, yeah, I think he's kind of a, you want to keep it simple. You don't want to, you know, give him all these complex routes where he has to you know, it's a dance between him and the corner and you don't want him to have to overthink it. It's just not natural to him. And, I mean, anybody that dismisses the short shuttle, the three cone, I mean, you've got blinders on because that stuff matters. And he did improve his two times at his pro day.

Short shuttle, he went from a 4.50 to a 4.39. Three cone from a 7.38 to a 7.23, which improvement, that's good, but still not ideal for what you want to see from a receiver. He's a guy that drifts. He's not a sharp plant and go guy, just where he's going to be deceptive in his route running. And so it's a factor, but I don't think it's necessary for him to be productive.

It's just something that does worry you in terms of him carving out a role at the next level and that's one of the reasons why I don't think he's going to be a true number one threat in the NFL. That's a really good point, Brim. I'm right in agreement with you. And going into just a Colts-related point, they have a 34 overall pick, which I feel like is a sweet spot maybe for these wide receivers when they start going off the board there. Who do you think are some names that make sense for that Colts system?

Because I've heard names like maybe A.J. Brown, Debo Samuel, Hollywood Brown, if you still are at 34. Who do you think is maybe the best fit for what the Colts are looking for as far as skill receivers? I think A.J. Brown is such a natural fit for that offense because he can be a slot guy. He can play on the outside. He's a natural route runner.

He's a natural hands catcher. And, you know, he's basically the same weight, same size, in terms of bulk and muscle mass as D.K. Metcalf, but he's three inches shorter. He's just over six foot, but he's really well strapped together. He's a sub 4.50, 40-yard dash type athlete, big time. He was actually drafted in baseball, really hasn't given up that dream yet, something that teams are doing some research on. But there's so much to like with AJ Brown. He's a lot more productive than Metcalf was. And part of that was the role that

he played as that slot receiver underneath guy. But he can create after the catch. He's tough. He's physical. He's going to block. A.J. Brown, he's a top three receiver in this class, in my opinion, and someone that will receive first round consideration. So, you know, if he's still there for the Colts in that early second round with that pick, that'd be a no-brainer in my opinion. I love that idea. So let's move on, Dane, to our next position here on the board, which is interior defensive line,

arguably one of the deepest positions in the entire draft. What do you think about this class overall? It just seems like when you look at the top 20, top 30, there's so many guys that could play three-tech or could move inside, outside. One of the deepest interior line class I've seen in a while. Yeah, there's no doubt that we're going to – the first round is going to be dominated by defensive linemen,

both on the edges, on the inside. And, you know, it's going to be something that stretches, you know, into the second day. Guys like Jerry Tillery, a lot of differing opinions about him. Dexter Lawrence, more of a two-down player who has some pass rush upside, but what's the value on a guy that you expect to be a two-down player that maybe could be more? The guys at the top are Quinton Williams.

He's one of the best players in the draft. He's going to be a top four pick. Ed Oliver from Houston, not going to be a scheme fit for everybody, but someone's going to get a really good player with him. And then Christian Wilkins, same type of thing, where he fits best as a three technique, using that ability to disrupt the backfield. Really smart player.

Then Jeffrey Simmons, he'll be interesting because of the ACL. He also has the baggage, but I don't think that's as much of a big deal for a lot of teams because they've done their homework and they know that it was really an isolated incident and something that doesn't reflect the true character of the player. And everybody at Mississippi State will tell you he was a joy to have on that campus the last three years. So while the video and the incident is certainly jarring, I don't think it's something that's really going to affect him too much on draft day, but the ACL injury will. And you know, does he have to take a redshirt year as a rookie? Do they think he can get back at some

point later in the year? That'll certainly have an impact on his draft stock but at the same time a team will get terrific value in the late first round because of kind of that discount sticker on his ACL. It kind of seems like Chris Ballard might be one of those guys who might be intrigued by that discount wouldn't they because it's he pulled off I think a couple times in Kansas City with John Dorsey but for what the Colts are looking for I think Jeffrey Simmons might be one of the better fits especially with the talent that slips there. Yeah, and you know, Chris Ballard is a guy that is not afraid to take chances on character guys. You know, he does his, he is a true scout. I mean, he does more homework and detail work than just about anybody, and that's one thing I really appreciate about Chris. And so he's going to know everything there is to know about Jeffrey Simmons

and whether or not he would fit culture-wise and bring him to that city and all that. So I'm not worried about him doing his due diligence there. And there will be some pushback probably just because he's a player that is not going to make an immediate impact. But when you talk about the value, because you can make an argument he's a top five to seven player in this draft. When you talk about the value, getting him 20 picks later,

it's certainly hard to argue with that. So I think he is certainly in the conversation at 26 for Indianapolis. Another name here that I really like on the board, maybe he's there at 26, maybe even at 34 if the board slips. I don't think he will be, though. Jerry Tillery of Notre Dame, do you think he kind of fits maybe that Chris Jones kind of mold that Kansas City has right now? Yeah, and Tillery's tough because I think the flashes are great. He flashes top 10 ability, especially in that Stanford tape.

But you just don't see it consistently. And there's also the question about just where football shows up on his priority list. And that's also the question about just where football shows up on his priority list. And that's something that scouts really struggle with because it's, it's one thing to say that in an interview, Oh yeah, I love football, but, you know, he's got a lot of other interests outside of football. And when he's getting his butt kicked day in, day out, you know, after a certain amount of time, is he going to be like, you know what?

I love football, but you know, after a certain amount of time, is he going to be like, you know what, I love football, but you know what, this is just a grind. And I can be making, you know, decent money doing other things with my degree and all my other interests. And those are the type of conversations that NFL teams are having about when they discuss Jerry Tillery and just projecting if he has the commitment level. And that's why we're talking about Tillery as a late one, early two, and not someone that should go higher, not only just the flashes and the inconsistency on the field, but just,

you know, where football shows up on his commitment list. And is he going to be all in once you get to a training camp? Yeah. Tillery is arguably one of the more interesting names, I think from a Colts perspective on the board, he's there at 26 and we're 34, but let's move on here. A different name here as well, Dane,

and that's Christian Wilkins. If you're talking about character fit for the Annapolis Colts with how much they value their locker room, Christian Wilkins checks a lot of those boxes. But also, I think he's a top 20, top 25 talent. If he's there on the board at 26, it might be an interesting decision there for Chris Ballard. Oh, yeah, I'll go a step further.

I think Christian Wilkins is a top 10 player in this class. You know, there's just so much to like about him on the field, off the field. You mentioned him. He won the William D. Campbell Trophy, which is the academic Heisman. So, you know, he has the intellect that you're looking for. He does a really nice job interacting with everybody. He gets along with everybody. The high character intangibles are a big part of it. Clemson, the coach is there. He's

a two-time captain. The coach is there will tell you that the only person that comes close to Christian Wilkins in terms of the intangibles and the leadership that they've had is Deshaun Watson. That's high praise right there. Graduated two and a half years at Clemson. Again, you can go on and on about the off field, what he's done, kind of shows the type of character that he has. But he also has on the field. I mean, he was only the fifth unanimous

All-American in school history at Clemson this past season. He's a disruptive player. He can get washed versus a run at times. He needs to do a little bit better there, but he's flexible. He's a disruptive player. He can get washed versus a run at times. He needs to do a little bit better there, but he's flexible. He's quick. He can penetrate gaps and really affect what the quarterback and the backfield action is trying to do. Yeah, I love Christian Wilkins as a prospect.

He's there at 26. I think he might be one of the more easier decisions as far as just what the boxes that Chris Bauer is looking for in a prospect there at 26. But before we move on to our final position here, Dan, I had a listener question on two prospects here that are kind of off the board and maybe day two, maybe probably more realistically day three, some edge prospects here. Max Crosby from Eastern Michigan and Anthony Nelson from Iowa.

What's your thoughts on those two guys? Yeah, I like both of those players as top 75 picks. Max Crosby made the decision to come out early. I think he kind of did all he could do at Eastern Michigan. Needs some time in an NFL strength and conditioning program to add bulk and get stronger. But he really liked the way he used his hands. He's a guy that can beat blocks in a lot of different ways. He just finds ways to get through gaps, whether it was his hands uh he's he's a guy that can beat blocks and in a lot of different ways uh he just he finds ways to get through gaps whether it's his hands uh with his feet uh he just he finds ways uh to

do so and so he's well timed with uh his hands the way you know the violence that he plays with the timing the placement so i think there's a lot of strong building blocks there. Also tested fairly well, ran a 4.66, a 255 pounds, you know, sub 7.0, three cone time. So there's plenty to like there with Max Crosby. I just, I don't think he's going to give you necessarily a strong return on investment in year one, but years two and three, I think just really start to see him blossom. And then Anthony Nelson, a little different, not the same type of athlete, but you really love the length and the speed, the power that he can give you off the edge. Strong run defender, can set the edge, and just a guy that's going to be solid for you. Not going to be a big-time sack guy, but he can give you a little bit of pass rush and be a strong base end at the next level. Interesting stuff there, Dane. And we're going to move on to our final position here on the board,

and that's cornerback safety. Really some interesting names there. And we think about one that really intrigues me, the one I did actually in the locked-on mock draft, and it was Jonathan Abraham, Mississippi State. What do you like about him as a prospect? I feel like pairing him with a Malik Hooker, they're kind of a perfect fit together.

Yep. No, I think you're right. I think with the skill sets, Malik Hooker, they're kind of a perfect fit together. Yep. I think you're right. I think with the skill sets, Malik Hooker being more of that free, that ball hawk, rangey playmaker. Jonathan Abram has a ton of range as well, but he's best downhill where he's going to run the alley. He's going to come down and hit you. Physical tone setter. That's maybe the best thing. It was fun watching his tape i mean i i

got a good sense of who he was after three or four tapes but i i wanted to watch more just because i really enjoyed watching him hunt and he genuinely loves going out there and competing and you watch him watch the egg bowl tape he's out there having fun, knocking heads, just talking, chirping, just trying to really affect what the Ole Miss offense was doing. It was a lot of fun to watch, and I think that translates over. Sometimes he can be a bit much. You know, he needs to dial it back a little bit sometimes. But he's a mature guy. I mean, he's an older guy.

He's married. He has a child. So there's plenty to like with Jonathan Abram and how he would fit in Indianapolis. Another safety prospect I really like here, Dane, Darnell Savage out of Maryland. His stock seems to be really rising as of late. What do you like about him as a prospect?

Another easy guy to like. He's a little undersized and that's the biggest worry with him because he's under 5'11". He's under 6' tall. At the same time, you love the play speed that he plays with. Once he sees it, click, close, boom, he goes. You saw that in the Ohio State tape.

You saw it on the Texas tape. He makes plays with that reaction quickness. And I think he's a former corner, so I think he has a little bit of versatility where he can play the nickel. He can play safety. He can do some things similar to kind of like a LaMarcus Joyner, another undersized safety who's been able to be a productive pro. So Savage is right there in that mix, somewhere in the top 75.

You know, could go as early as the early second round, maybe late second round. You know, that's the safety position, the second round, I think is really going to be a sweet spot for those safeties. Yeah, a name like Taylor Rapp as well, I think, with that slow 40 time, he bumped them down from round one to round two. But let's move on to the cornerback position here before we close things out with some Chris Bauer thoughts, Dane.

And a couple of prospects I want to have on with you, Byron Murphy out of Washington. What do you think about him? He's my top corner this year. And, listen, if you are a short, slow corner, and I mean that in context, I mean, Byron Murphy's under 5'11", and he ran a 4'5", 5", and by NFL standards, that's short and that's slow. If you're going to be a short and slow corner, you better have top tier instincts. You better be tough. You better have the ball

skills. And he has all those things. He's off the charts in those areas. And so for a guy that registered sophomore, only 20 starts at the college level, he is very advanced for his age in terms of his recognition skills, his awareness, and just his ability to make plays. He sniffs them out and he follows through. He doesn't, if there's production to be made, he will make it. I think there's a lot to like about Byron Murphy. Again, it kind of reminds me of Joe Hayden a little bit. He didn't have the great size, he didn't have the great speed, but

he's a solid football player. In the late first round, that's what you're looking at. I think Byron Murphy, to me, is the top corner this year. Maybe the guy right below him there, Greedy Williams out of LSU, really a prospect who got some top 10 buzz. We were talking about really early on last year in the draft process, but he's really slipped down, I think, to the 20s.

Probably going to be in that Colts range in your 26th overall pick. What do you think about Greedy Williams as a prospect? Certainly a lot to like. 6'2", he has the length that you want. I think he has ball skills. He ran a 4'3". Just the biggest thing you worry about is just competitive nature he's only under 185 pounds uh play strength is a question mark uh and then just he left a lot of production on the field and can he give you that uh you know the competitive juices that you're looking for

at the position to match up with, you know, the different receivers that he's going to face throughout the course of the season in the NFL, it's a little bit of a question mark. And so I think you like the height, you like the length, you like the speed. But I think that, you know, the competitive nature is a big part of it at playing corner at a high level in the NFL. And that's where there are some question marks is really. Dane, if there's a cornerback prospect on day two or even day three,

if you want to throw one in there, a sleeper prospect for some listeners who might not know about someone. I don't know if he's necessarily a sleeper anymore, but Sean Bunting from Central Michigan is a guy I like a lot. I've got a late first, early second-round grade on him. I don't know where he's going to go, but I think he should go high. I know that much. He's tall, fast, cover and clobber type of corner. I think there's a lot to like about Sean Bunting, not only who he is now, the player that he is, but what he's going

to grow into and continue to get better and better and better. So I think he's a guy that's going to compete for starting reps early in his career and prove to be one of the steals of this draft. That was some awesome draft stuff there, Dan. Let's transition over to Chris Bauer to close things out. You seem like we hit on him a little bit there for a minute before we really went into some draft prospects. You seem like you're a very high – you hold Chris Bauer in very high regard. I do. And, you know, I fully understand kind of my relationship with Chris I

back in gosh I don't know 2015 maybe that summer I interviewed with a job with the Chiefs and I spent a lot of time with Chris you know talking about players talking about prospects talking about you know a lot of things life in general and of things, life in general. And I ended up, I was offered the job, I ended up turning it down. And one of the reasons I did, it was a scouting position, is my son, my firstborn was due that summer. He was due the first day of training camp. And it just, you know, it did not work out timing wise. And I didn't want to do that to my eight-month pregnant wife. And so Chris has a large family, and so he helped me through that, just trying to figure out what was best and trying to do what was best for my family

while also doing what was best for my career. And so we talked a lot about just you know, just life in general, but also football and got a chance to know him a little bit. And so I've got a lot of respect for Chris. He's got a, he's a guy that has a scouting background, has a coaching background. He's a guy that just, he looks for competitors. You know, he wants confident, competitive guys that, you know, really want, he wants the best 11 players on the field at all times. And so he wants to bring in guys that are going to compete, push the starters for playing time, and let the best man win. And so I think he has a great eye for talent.

I think he understands what it takes to build a culture, build a roster. And I think we're seeing that manifest itself right now in Indianapolis. Were you surprised by how – just how quickly he turned things around in Indianapolis? I know it took a year with Andrew Luck being out, but just in that short amount of time in two years when the Colts arguably were the most dearth on talent in the league under Ryan Grix, and then within 18 months now,

the Colts have really turned things around in record time. Well, obviously getting Andrew Luck back, it was such a big part of it. You know, if you have the quarterback position figured out, then, you know, you're in good shape. And so, but at the same time, you know, Chris deserves a ton of credit and not just Chris, but his entire scouting staff. Chris will be the first one to tell you that his staff, a big part of what they do. And, you know, Chris is a guy that, you know, he's in charge, you know, everything's on him, whether, you know, is a guy that uh you know he's in charge um you know everything's on him whether

you know they get it right or get it wrong but he's he's a big believer in letting his staff you know do their work and then relying on them and so you know finding uh you know a South Carolina State linebacker in the second round or uh you know having the gumption to take a guard from Notre Dame in the first round and you, doing all these things and that really fits what the identity of they, what they want to build and just, you know, making sure that they're letting, he's letting you,

their scouts do their work. You know, I don't think I'm too surprised, but it has been awesome to see. And I'm really happy for the organization and those fans. Yeah. I'm totally there with you. And just as a Colts fan,

I'm glad to see the culture back on track for the longterm too, like under Chris Bauer and his staff and their direction. Just as a Colts fan, I'm glad to see the Colts are back on track for the long term too, like under Chris Bauer and his staff and their direction. But before we close things out, Dane, just some closing Colts thoughts on the draft before we let you go for some listeners. What's your expectations for them coming next Thursday? You know, I think they can go in a lot of different directions, offense, defense.

You know, we talked about a lot of those options, you know, on this pod. I'd love to – I think A.J. Brown would be such a good fit. I don't know if they would actually go receiver in the first round, but I think he'd be such a good fit. You know, last year going guard in the top ten to help out your quarterback, we saw that pay immediate dividends. Well, adding an A.J. Brown to help out your quarterback would also pay immediate dividends a guy that's going to come in and see immediate reps you know he could be a juju smith schuster for the colts and so while i know

a lot of fans you know kind of uh boo the idea of a receiver in the first round thinking that you know go in uh there's other needs that you'd rather see I just think about inserting a Juju Smith-Schuster into that offense and the impact that could have so really eager to see what the Colts are going to do because they could go in so many different directions but you know I think Colts fans have trust in Chris Ballard that'll make the right pick. This was a lot of fun Dan I appreciate the time and listeners we back the guys tomorrow for next