Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS -4/20- Bar Talk W/@JakeArthurPFS

Episode Date: April 20, 2017

Jake Arthur joins Matt for their weekly Bar Talk show to discuss Chris Ballard's recent pre-draft presser, their favorite #Colts targets throughout different points in the draft, thoughts on the Colts and the Lions practicing together this summer and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

That's for my crazy day. My packed commute. All those unread emails in my inbox. But I'm getting stronger, faster, and pushing myself further every day. I don't care if I'm not like everyone else. This punching bag is the best way to end my day. Fearless is knowing yoga isn't your style. That's the power of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Federal Employee Program.

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 tonight we're back with Bar Talk with Jake Arthur. Jake, what's up, my man? What's up, homie? Thanks for having me. Absolutely good to have you back man. We're going to be doing this like I told you guys earlier. We're going to do this once a week with Jake. Basically

we're just going to go through just about anything that we've heard, anything that we're seeing you know that's out there in the ether so to speak to talk about Colts related and sometimes there's a little more than others. Sometimes there's not so much. But first and foremost, it's mock draft season. Of course, I hope that you guys enjoyed the first installment of the Colts Locked On Mock. We went through picks one through eight on yesterday's show. Tomorrow and Monday and Tuesday, we'll be finishing that up

with eight picks a piece so it's getting more interesting as we go but when we look at mock drafts uh mel kuyper on his most recent mock did you get to see that jake yeah i did i actually really liked it um definitely compared to uh todd mcsh from last week, I think it was. Man, I don't even pay attention to him. I really don't. I think about two or three years ago. Don't get me wrong. There are certain times that I hear him talk, and I think he makes a ton of sense.

There's other times it just sounds like total hogwash. I mean, it's different with every person that does these anyways. It's not like it's just you know, just McShay. But people are trying to be different right now because they've had the same mocks for so long, you know, or they've had the same prospects going in different order to different teams and so on and so forth. But, you know, he picked or gave us Leonard Fournette in the first round,

Malik McDowell in the second, and Jermaine, wow, Illuminor in round three, who's an offensive guard now. I don't know about you. I mean, well, you go ahead. You tell me why you liked it. Okay, so neither of us really want a running back first. We know that. But if someone with pro all pro caliber

potential like leonard fournette fell in your lap could you really be mad about that i no no it's not yeah it's not my preference but i'm not gonna be mad about getting leonard fournette yeah i think we've discussed that though too haven't we yeah a little bit yeah i i just think he's he's kind of like a todd girley or ezekiel elliott where they can come in and have a probable all pro caliber um feel to their game like right away so that's perfectly fine with me right uh malik mcdowell i love him i'd be fine with him being taken at 15 so really getting Yeah, I really like him. So getting him in round two at 46, completely fine with me. Offensive line, I don't really have a preference of when to draft one,

but some of my more recent mock drafts that I've released, I have had offensive guards coming out around round three. I haven't mocked Illuminor yet, but I do like that pick. He's able to go outside to tackle as well. Let's just say something doesn't work out with LaRaven Clark and Joe Haig. Jermaine Illuminor is, you know, he seems capable to take on that role, but he does, you know, he is kind of suited best at guard for the pros, according to what most people say. Haven't got into him a whole lot, mostly just scouting reports and things like that, but I like what I've read about him.

Yeah, I don't like this at all, to be honest with you. No go? No. I mean, I'm cool with Fournette in the first round. Not ideal for me. Don't want a running back. I mean, like I said, we've discussed that pretty much at length. But Malik McDowell, I just don't get on board with guys with inconsistent effort. I mean, ever. I just never have.

It's not specific to him. I could care less who he is, to be quite honest with you. It's just about that. Everybody's got high upside. I mean, when Clowney came out, I don't think there was anybody that would disagree that said that he was one of the guys that has one of the highest possibilities to bust. Would you have agreed with that? Yeah, people just didn't seem to know what he was gonna what position he was gonna play you know because well but it was similar to moheek mcdowell because he had that good season in the one year and then the year that before he came out he didn't do anything you know i mean yeah i kind of mailed it in a little bit right and that's kind of what mcdowell's

done uh you know and and I don't know. To say that we've dug into him like as much as some of these teams would be, you know, asinine to say, I'm definitely not trying to present that. But what I am saying is that guys that have inconsistent effort have issues with teammates. The Colts right now, I guess, you know, want to say they're devoid of some leadership up front no I wouldn't say that I mean because of Hankins and you know uh the addition to him a couple other guys up there I think but I just don't see the Colts coaching staff I don't and

I don't know that anybody does to be quite honest with you I think that if they're true about it or in real that they understand this I don't think that there is a dominant personality on the Colts coaching staff that can light a fire under McDowell and keep him in his place throughout his tenure if they draft him I think that he needs to go to a specific type of coaching staff and the Colts aren't it I mean I, I just don't see that. And when we go third round, this is, I mean, at this point, you haven't got a corner or a pass rusher at this point. You need to get one. I'm not on board with, you know, leaving through three rounds,

not having a corner or a pass rusher. I'm not down with that at all. Yeah, that would be rough. And, again, about McDowell before I kind of start to have man crushes on guys I do like to you know check them out quite a bit yeah you know read up about them search quite a bit about them I have found things where people attached to Michigan State have said the whole lack of effort thing is blown way out of proportion. And something I've kind of thought about,

and one of my other PFS Colts guys, Nathan Dietz, we've actually kind of talked about this as well. Is there any position that gets knocked for having a lack of, you know, fire to their game like the defensive line? Whenever you hear about a guy who doesn't give a lack of fire to their game, like the defensive line. Whenever you hear about a guy who doesn't give a lot of effort and things like that, they're usually defensive linemen, kind of specifically interior defensive linemen like McDowell was quite a bit of the time.

I mean, not everyone's going to have a huge motor, but I've seen enough explosion and dominance out of him where, I mean, he checks out fine to me just from what I've watched on tape and from what I've read about him otherwise. Right. And to follow that up, it is a lot of defensive linemen because a lot of those guys are on the field, a large percentage of the snaps, they're worn out, you know, at a certain point. So, I mean, you know, that's very that's a, that's very true. My biggest issue with McDowell when, when I watched him was, and I heard somebody else say this too, but he's, you know, when you see him not directly in the play, if there's a play downfield,

you don't even see him in the screen a lot of times. Like he just, you know, he's just jogging, you know, I mean, and I saw that a lot. There's just nothing about that that appeals to me at all. I think if they're going to go defensive lineman, I think there's five other guys that can maybe not give you what Malik McDowell's ceiling is, but they can certainly give you his mediocre, and if not more than that. You're telling me that Malik McDowell is a top talent in this draft,

a top five, 10 talent in this draft. What about a guy who's a top 20 talent in this draft who can play like a top 10 talent? That's what I want. And who can be coached up without having to be lit in a light of fire under his butt the whole time. I just, I, that's just to me, that's just, you know, especially with the, if the Col that's just, you know,

especially if the Colts had a different coaching staff, I could probably get on board with it just because you see that you think that they have the ability to get him to his ceiling. I don't see that with the Colts coaching staff, and I think they need to be realistic about that, that that's not the kind of coaching staff we've got. There's no reason for them to go out there and try to, you know, make believe that they can get this guy to a ceiling without hawking him the entire time, you know, watching him and having this and having that. You can have a plan like we've heard Chris

Bauer talk about with guys with injuries and guys who have off the field issues. But, you know, what's the plan? You know, are you bringing an arm, a drill sergeant in to do this stuff, to follow these guys around? That just seems like if they were to pick McDowell, I think that that would be a team who was not being realistic about the leadership at the coaching level that they actually have. No, you're absolutely right. That is a good point.

And like you said, the Colts coaching staff they're not fiery they're on the defensive side of the ball if you include uh if you include Pagano they're more stern than anything they don't they don't seem to be the type to light a fire under your ass and really get things going right um and i i yeah i did read actually yeah the colts did have mcdowell in for a visit i think one of their top 30 visits so they i mean they've been investigating that they might think he's not worth it you know maybe it is a thing where not in the first but if he falls there to the second round maybe they go for it But I think I saw a guy you're high on. If we're going for that value about the second round,

someone who's much safer is Chris Wormley from Michigan. I agree. I've read he is a tremendous teammate and leader. He's a smart guy with loads of football IQ, and he's got a lot of potential. He is a really good player on the field as well. So that's probably a much safer player to go for. If you're taking someone on the defensive line around the second round,

that's probably a much better option. But if you are counting on more of the bang from McDowell than the bust, then I think it's a good move as well. Do you think there's more high ceiling guys that fail in the NFL than there are low ceiling guys that excel and overextend their expectations? I think when you consider work ethic, yes. I'd love to research that actually. I'm not going to act like, for example, McDowell. I'm not going to act like he's all rainbows because I do remember before the deadline for players to officially declare for this draft came up, I read a report where McDowell said if he wasn't from the advisory

board or if he wasn't told that he was going to be a top five or top ten lock, if he wasn't from the advisory board or like if he wasn't told that he was going to be like a top five or top 10 lock that he wasn't going to declare I mean here we are he's declared and you see him in the second round a lot so yeah that's weird maybe a little bit of entitlement there if you take that and you kind of read into the lack of effort issues, then I could see a real problem there. Um, so, I mean, that's, that's totally valid. It just depends. I mean, it totally depends on the teams meeting the player and finding out what they want to know about him. Yeah. You know what? There's some of those guys probably though. I mean, I think that it's good for guys like that who what? Some of those guys probably, though, I mean,

I think that it's good for guys like that who have just whatever kind of issue off the field to be drafted in the second or third round. They can kind of regain that chip on their shoulder. Yeah. And I kind of didn't answer your question very well there, but it kind of goes back to an entitlement thing where guys have always been told they're awesome they've maybe always been the star ever since little league and they get to the nfl and it's just a different world where even your guys like larry fitzgerald who are like hall of famers they never stop working because they always play like their job is on the

line some of these guys never start playing like their job is on the line. They just rely on their natural talent. And they've always been told that they're awesome, so they think they're going to be awesome in the NFL and not work for it. Meanwhile, these lower-level guys know they have a ton to prove, and they never stop working. And then they end up succeeding like that. I mean, look, the Colts are one of the most successful teams

in the entire league over the last decade or so when it comes to undrafted free agents. They've been able to find guys who are hungry and aren't going to stop working. It would have been nice if a couple of those extra guys would have actually ended up working out, but their off-the-field issues ended up taking over their careers, and a large percentage of them are no longer even in the NFL. Some of them are up north, but not very many.

So what did you make of Ballard's comments and press conference and stuff today? Well, I would like to go back and watch it. So far I've only read the transcript. But some of the key things I've taken away from it are, again, it's going to be best player available. That's how teams normally draft anyways. But there's always, you know, as fans and analysts, we all get the fantasies in our head of picking up the number one need.

And if they don't address needs right away, then we throw the rest of the draft out the window. So just being totally prepared, even with this new GM, to know it's going to be best player available is refreshing. I did like that. Chris Beller is very transparent also i think i mean we'll find that out if he's just blowing us all smoke but he does seem to shoot straightforward you know he said if if they've got a couple guys even when they're on the clock one of them they need and one is a good player they'll take the guy that they need if their grade is even so right i like to hear things like that um someone asked about guys who are injured um guys who are injured if they're

still worth taking at maybe closer to their original stock or worth taking at all not letting them plummet down the board um i like that he said he's looking more long-term towards that. Yeah, the guy may be hurt right now. Maybe he can't help you the first six weeks of the season. He starts on Pup, you know, rehabbing the whole time and can't come in until later in the first season. That's cool. What's he going to do for the team for the next four to eight years?

You know, long-term visions, I really like that. There's not a lot about him I don't like so far, honestly. Yeah. He is such a breath of fresh air compared to Ryan Griggs, and it's crazy. Yeah, he is. And, you know, did the 250 players thing, did that rub you the wrong way or did that seem kind of high or did it just kind of seem like, you know, that's just where we're at right now?

No, because, I mean, how many picks are there in the draft? 250-something. So, I mean, that's fine with me. And, you know, there's shuffling that's to be done. He said the cement's not dry until draft day. fine with me and you know there's there's shuffling that's to be done he said things the cement's not dry until draft day so right um better to cast a wider net first and then whittle things down i think yeah and something about well uh that he wouldn't uh hesitate to draft best player available even if the that particular position was stacked but i don't think

that the colts have anything to worry about in that regard too much i think that if you know unless you're talking about uh quarterback but even now that even this year that's not you know a power position in in the draft so um i i think that i think there's OK, let's do this. Give me a surprise position positional pick in the first three rounds. I'm glad you're asking. I was about to ask you the same. Are you talking about something I think could actually happen? Yeah. Yeah. OK, so the two positions that Ballard has kind of singled out that he really likes this year are tight end and safety, if I'm not mistaken. Tight end, you know, I really wouldn't be surprised if they took one in the first few rounds. I know they've looked at some of the top guys.

I know one guy who's a day two pick probably is Gerald Everett. I mean, would it even shock you if someone like, let's say OJ Howard fell to 15? I don't think it would shock me. No, me either. They've been kicking the tires on so many safety prospects. And though you can't say the Colts safety group is loaded with quality, there are quite a bit of bodies there,

and there's enough storylines there to where you can make an argument for not needing a starting level safety in the draft. Right. But in my opinion, if it's there, they should do it. I like a lot of these safeties more than some of the guys they have on the current roster. Even projecting into the

future. Tight end in safety and I... Man. Let's say... The last one, we'll say wide receiver. I would not be shocked if there was a receiver drafted on, on the first couple of days. Really?

See, I would, I would be shocked if there was a receiver draft. I just think that there's, I can't say it's likely, but I, I think it could be possible. Yeah.

I mean, that would definitely be a surprise though, without a doubt. Yeah. Think about it That would definitely be a surprise, though, without a doubt. Yeah. Think about it. In free agency, they tried really hard to get Alshon Jeffrey. And their receiving core is not a lot different right now than it was when they were trying to get Alshon Jeffrey,

other than Kamar Aiken. But Kamar Aiken is not going to stop you from trying to add a top-level receiver like that. Now, I'm not saying if Mike Williams or Corey Davis is available at 15 that they do that, but if there's a guy that they really, really like maybe in the third round, trying to think of who that would even be at this point, I don't know, unless Cooper Cup, for example, I don't know. If they really like Cooper Cup and he's there in the third round. I don't think that would shock me.

Yeah, I think I mean, it would shock me plain and simple if they had if they brought in a wide receiver hands down. It would shock me to death. I don't want them to by any means. Yeah, I can't say I want them to. But honestly, if you look at the Colts wide receivers, your only sure thing is T.Y. Yeah. Moncrief battles injuries,

and you could say that he hasn't lived up to expectations so far, to be honest. Yeah. Philip Dorsett obviously hasn't. And then Kamar Aiken is on kind of a rental contract right now if he does really well they could always re-sign him to something longer term when he becomes a free agent but i what's he got like a one or two year deal it's it's a short deal so in the span of a year this receiving corps could you would think it's a strength right now, but it could be a weakness depending on who's leaving or who's cut, who's not performing up to snuff.

And in the spirit of adding competition at every level and not letting any person get complacent with their placement on the depth chart, that really wouldn't shock me. But like I said, I can't say I want it, but if I'm playing devil's advocate, that'd probably be my reasoning for it. If there's a guy that I would like to see them take, because I mean, let's be honest. I truly don't think that, I think everybody sees the potential from Dorsett that they believe his potential should be. I don't know that he's ever going to realize that. If there's a guy that I would really like to see, if there's a, let's say the Colts were to get a mid round wide receiver out of this, I would love to see Ryan Switzer.

Oh yes. I mean, that's one of my guys too. Yeah. I think he's going to be a no doubt successful slot receiver. He, I think he'd be safer than what door set is. And I think they try to make door set into something bigger than he probably

is at this time. But I think Ryan Switzer could come in and be the prototypical slot receiver and do it very well. Yeah, I do too. If I'm, if I'm going to go with, uh,

who, what, what pick wouldn't i don't think that tight end would surprise me in the first round even it's not i mean i don't think that it's something they want would want to do would like i think that they would almost rather have some of these guys that are that high on their board be gone so that they don't have to draw or to draft something or someone that you know is obviously not going to help a defense that they desperately need help on but at the same time man nobody's passing on oj howard i'm sorry at 15 at least i hope not i hope not i would doubt it yeah and then if you look at safety, I'm not, I mean, I like a couple of these safeties, but I'm not high on, uh, Obi Malafonu at all.

I'm not. I think that he's, I think he's, I mean, obviously he's a crazy athlete and all that, but I mean, you know, if you're talking third or fourth round, okay. Maybe because I think that you got Darius Butler who's injury prone and 30 plus, and then you've got TJ Green that he could very well be gone next year if he doesn't have some sort of a serious improvement over the next six eight months but then when you look at that I mean then you got

what Clayton gathers and then what do you got let's say you lose both those guys you need another younger guy and it'd be better to draft a safety and have that, you know, in your hip pocket, so to speak, over the next couple years and get a guy that you think that you can develop and everything like that. Because you just don't know who's going to be on the roster next year. And that's one of the main reasons that teams draft for best player available. Regardless, okay, you're drafting a, I mean, uh, let's, let's go. I don't want to go quarterback as it sounds so, so stupid, but let's, I mean,

let's say you're going center. I mean, just, you know, spit ball in here. Let's say the best center is on the board and he's probably the eighth or ninth best player of, uh, available. You're, you're at 15 and he's the best player on your board. You draft a center because you can, A, move him around to guard typically. If they're that good at center, they have some versatility. And then on the other hand, you don't know who's going to get injured. Your starter could get injured and you need a guy to step in. This guy can step in and be a starter immediately. I mean, that happens all the time. I mean, honestly, if I had like no franchise quarterback, I would want to go sign Drew Bledsoe to like a two week contract, have

him come in and just get his head torn off. And then whoever's going to back him up is going to like succeed. I mean, with Brady and Romo, I mean, there's a pass there. You know what I'm saying? So, I mean, you just think about it that way, and you have to understand that a lot of these guys draft best player available for a reason. It's not because they don't want to bog down their roster. It's because they want to make sure that they've got the best player on the board. And you know what? The biggest thing that I think is underrated

to a lot of these coaching staffs, not Colts specifically or anything like that, but a lot of these teams that are becoming more successful with odd packages and everything are using the talent and disguising the schemes around the talent. And that's ultimately how you win games. You put as many top talents on the field at once, you've got a good football team, or you've got a knowledgeable football team and a lot of good football players, you know? Yeah. And that kind of reminds me of something Ballard said today.

I forget what the question was, but he specifically mentioned a few years ago back in Kansas City, they already had Tamba Ali and Justin Houston, but they took Dee Ford in the first round. Number one, that's exciting because it means, obviously, you never have too many pass rushers. And to your point earlier when you said you don't know what the roster is going to be like in a year, Tamba Ali and Justin Houston have both gone through injuries since Ford was drafted, so it wound up being a blessing in disguise. Now, he wasn't a guy who was able to contribute right away,

and he wasn't expected to. But now that he's kind of developed a little bit more, Dee Ford is pretty good. So that is something that the Colts could do. And another example that popped into my head when you were talking about that, I kind of have, I feel guilty about it because I almost don't want it to happen because I don't really want an offensive lineman too early but just imagine if the Colts selected like Pat Elfline in round two someone who should be a really good interior lineman like almost on the level that Ryan

Kelly was projected last year Jack Buhort Ryan Kelly Pat Elfline right in the middle that I mean to me that gets me excited. But at the same time, I don't want an offensive lineman that early. Right. Do you have any, like, guilty pleasures like that in this draft? Like, you just don't want it, but it sounds too good not to happen. I don't think so, actually. Because, I mean, there's some wide receivers that I would like

if the Colts didn't have what I call solid depth at the position. But, I mean, if you want to call it guilty pleasure, I would love to see the Colts go cornerback, cornerback, edge rusher in this one, the first three rounds. I mean, I think that that's – the corner is the issue for me because the Colts don't have a corner. And I actually just put a piece up on FanRag the other day because George and I were talking about it the other night

and it kind of spawned a pretty organic conversation as far as about Jason McCourty, you know, and bringing a guy like that in who's been through several different schemes. He understands the division real well. And, you know, that kind of spawned the article about that because I think that the Colts do need to do something through free agency, whether it's between now and after the draft at that position. But they also need to draft a couple corners. Now, whether they need to do that first and second round, I mean, I think that I'm a little

over the top on that. But that, to me, does get me excited. Seeing two guys that you would deem good enough to be top 60 players in this draft and, you know, add those to your secondary for coverage. I mean, that would help the Colts significantly as far as I'm concerned. And, you know, and then you go edge rusher. And then I think that you see this defense start to put into place and then you use, you know, your last four picks of the draft to kind of do whatever you want. But it's, you know, when you look at strategy like they do, obviously best player available also counts in the first three rounds

and almost especially in the first three rounds. But after that, you really go best player available, especially in the second. Now, I totally messed that up, totally said that backwards, but especially after the beginning of the mid-rounds, you use best player available because everybody's such a crapshoot after maybe midway through the second round at best and probably even before that.

Yeah, and to kind of go off of that, when you were talking about stacking the cornerbacks, I've had quite a few cornerback thoughts too i i really wouldn't mind them picking up a trio of corners you know because most teams have to start three corners most of the time two outside one in the nickel i mean if they got if they got one or one or two guys capable of playing outside and then and or one or two one of them being able to go inside and outside like chidobi woozy or someone along those lines i also really like jordan lewis and corn elder just some pure slot corners i like jordan lewis yeah depending on how his whole violence thing goes, I don't even know.

I wish these dudes would stop getting into stuff right before the draft. Yeah. Like, did you hear about the latest Joe Mixon thing from today? Something about when he was in high school, right? Yeah, dear God. I mean, it's nothing he did recently, but it's like, do we really need to introduce now this into the whole equation? Right. Because obviously, I mean, I've gotten myself to the point where I'm accepting of him now if he came to the Colts.

But if that happened in high school, then obviously no. Just no, no, no. But we're never going to find out if that actually happened or not. Right. Well, apparently her dad said that, as far as he knows, he's never done anything physical to his daughter. I thought he said that he knew that he definitely hit her. Oh, maybe I misread it.

I was walking around today and saw it, and for a little while it was sunny, so I may have missed it with the reflection off my phone. I think it was a bleacher report notification. I thought that it said, as far as he knows, that he's never done anything to his daughter. Like I said, maybe I read that wrong, reading it quick off my hip, you know, and stuff like that. So I don't really know what all that's about. I'm really just going to not think about mixing anymore, I think, until I just would have to. If the Colts were to draft him, then I need to think about him.

He's connected. I was going to say, he's connected to the Colts so much at this point, you might as well just forget about it. Because how often are guys connected to a team so much that actually, unless they're in the top three picks of the whole draft, how often do they actually go to that team? Right. Very rarely, if ever. Well.

I mean, last year, Ryan Kelly and the Colts became a hot thing, like within the last week of the draft, week or two of the draft, and that came to fruition. But I remember Matt Millerer from bleach report came through and had some actually like hard you know hard quotes from a scout from the colts that said they really loved ryan kelly so yeah and there's a couple guys on you know at least that we've heard that about as far as with the colts and stuff. But, you know, you just like, I mean, yes, you can read into those, and there are certain guys that you read, I think,

that you probably trust more than others, at least, because you just don't see a lot of them dropping quotes unless, you know, hey, you know, it's actual. You know, it's something real, and it's something that he felt compelled to actually speak on it. But you just don't know anymore. I mean, you really don't because you don't know who's behind it. Even with the stuff with Reuben Foster, is that a team doctor or is that an NFL doctor?

You know, talking about the initial report about him failing his stuff. And who was the next one? You know, that was his agent saying, no, he's fine. So, I mean, what do we believe? We don't know you know and and that's something team specific doctors and i mean this goes back to the drew brees situation in miami before he went to new orleans right he was gonna go to uh miami miami's doctors wouldn't clear him they didn't take him and what they get in return for quarterback uh under uh Saban Dante Culpepper

right so what do the Saints doctors do they clear him he goes there uh happy live are living happily ever after so I mean all doctors are different all teams I think ask their doctors to look at players differently but really the main issue is finding uh if you're looking for injuries that are going to long that are going to last long or that are going to recur consistently those are the things that i would assume most teams are worried about you know when you get arthritis in shoulders that to me is an issue but but you know, it really is because that not, I mean, it doesn't necessarily mean that he's not going to be a good player, but it almost certainly means that he's not going to play for 10 years. I mean, you know, that's the, I mean that your

first round pick, uh, unless he's a running back, you, you should, I think reasonably expect him, or at least have the expectations for him to play around 10 years. Running backs don't last that long, typically. So, I mean, you can't really – Not on the same team. Right. That's just not reasonable anyhow. But, I mean, we just don't know anymore.

We don't know what reports are good. We don't know who they're coming from a lot of times. And not everybody sources their stuff. We've learned that who they're coming from a lot of times. And not everybody sources their stuff. We've learned that in the past and in the recent past too. So a lot of that stuff I mute or just turn off altogether or just whatever, you know what I mean? There's very few guys that I listen to and I think that you're the same way. So let's steer in another direction real quick. The Colts and Lions are going to be practicing together this summer. What are your thoughts on that first?

It's kind of interesting that Jim Caldwell will be back in Indianapolis, but I don't know that there's really a whole lot of storylines that are coming in with that. Is there anything you can think of that, you know, any interest that would bring aside from the fact that Caldwell's coming back? Not much from the Lions specifically, but I do like the concept of bringing in another team to practice with them for a couple days.

You know, just so long as it's not a team you're going to play in the regular season, which the Colts did that with the Bears last year. I didn't really love that they scrimmaged with them and played them in the regular season. I mean, you don't see much from the preseason, but it's still... I still don't like it, but

with the Lions this year, that seems a little more fitting. I do like the fact that it'll... I think it will build team chemistry a little bit. I would think that is one thing that it does do. They're so used to hitting each other in the 90 degree weather every day for the most part. To be able to say, dudes, come on, let's kick these other guys' asses for once now.

I would think that would bring some camaraderie. So I do like that. It also brings an extra challenge. You know, you're scheming against your own coaches, so you kind of know what to expect a lot of the time. But now you're scheming against other teams and seeing what they bring to the table. And maybe it sparks other ideas,

or maybe you see a guy that maybe gets cut in in preseason cuts and you bring him in because he practiced well against you yeah you know one of the things that i like the most about it to be quite honest with you with it being the lions is that they're going to actually be going up against a quarterback who can throw a football that's true you know what i? It's not going to be against the Browns where it's going to be Cody Kessler who can't throw more than 35 yards downfield. Now, don't get me wrong. I was kind of impressed with the way he played last year as far as his accuracy and his decision-making was good, but I'm glad that it's going to be a guy with a

cannon who will basically throw it in you know in tight windows and stuff like that I think that that is probably one of the better case scenarios for the Colts defense to go up against not so much for the pass rusher anything like that but you want to see them go up against a real arm talent I think especially at that stage to see if there's anybody who sticks out to you that's extremely sticky in coverage or has great ball skills, has a great ability to knock a ball down. You know what I'm saying? Stuff like that. I think that's going to be far more valuable than going up against some awful quarterback just to have two teams on the same field at the same time.

I do like that they'll get more practice against pass-catching running backs like Theo Riddick and Amir Abdullah because those two tore them up last year. That's true. Same with Eric Ebron. Tight ends have been one of the Colts' defense's bugaboos for the last few years. They'll have younger, more athletic linebackers this year, so I hope that's not as bad as it's been. Dequal Jackson won't be out there.

You know, CO Moore, guys like that. They'll have younger guys who are probably a little better in coverage. So that should be better. But still, when it comes to the running backs that can catch and who are extremely agile, like Abdullah and Riddick, it will be good to see some of these guys play with discipline and bring them down. Because that kind of reared its head all throughout the season. If you got any sort of running back who was able to make plays in space, then they were toast. I mean, Lamar Miller beat the Colts almost single-handedly in the last half of that game.

So it'll be good. I mean, the Colts' defense is probably going to be a bit different now. It got a lot younger, so they'll probably be a bit faster. But every team needs practice against guys like that. Yeah, I agree. Let me see. What would be your shocked level, 1 to 10, if luck does not start in week one? Probably, let's see, 1 being least shocked yeah okay um i'll go with a four just because he's

had a pretty decent timetable was a surgery in january or february i think um summer i think february because it's right around the pro bowl um you know we've I think with this franchise, we've got to learn to expect the unexpected because we didn't expect Peyton Manning to miss the entire season in 2011. We didn't even know if he was going to miss one or two games. And that was with the season approaching. And then it turns out he's going to miss the entire year. And I don't think the Colts have been very

transparent or you could probably even say truthful with Andrew's health over the past couple years. Pagano seems very defiant about it when he's asked about it during the season when things aren't going well.

So I can't expect for us to get good answers about his health i think we're just gonna have to wait and see yeah i i would not be shocked at all i'd say four would be uh about where i was at too like i've kind of warned like the listeners and stuff to be you know just relax if he doesn't start the first couple games because this year is not a year where anybody should realistically have the Colts, you know, Super Bowl or bust. No, just enjoy the development of the team this year. I mean, I know that's kind of a loser's mentality,

but make it a nice surprise if they win this out or something. Like, don't have these sky-high expectations this year because chances are it's not going to happen. Right, and not only that, but you want your quarterback to be right. You know, I mean, you can't care that the Colts could lose their first two games of the season because luck's not on the field because guess why? The Colts have lost the first two games how many years in a row now with luck on the field. I was just about to say that.

So it doesn't make a difference either way as far as I'm concerned. Give me an edge guy, Jake, that either you don't think – let me put it this way. Give me a strong side edge guy that's going to be that edge setter and that violent guy. Just anywhere in the draft? Yep. I mean, no round specific or nothing like that. Not a guy who's going to be a big sack artist or nothing like that, but just a guy you think is going to be that grunt on the other side of the ball.

I think Derek Barnett could fill out that role. Really? Yeah. I think he's a bigger guy. I think he uses strength and technique well. He already plays the run very, very well. So I think it's kind of a natural fit. Unless he just is whooping guys, you could put him at rush linebacker. But I think he's got the capability to be a pretty decent edge setting outside linebacker yeah i got two guys for you joe mathis and trey hendrickson i like i haven't been able to watch enough mathis and what i did

see i didn't love yet no i don't love him as a pass rusher at all yeah but man that dude is like when he puts his hands on people it's like c cinder blocks. You can see the top half of their body jerk back. I mean, that dude is violent and he's crazy, man. I love watching his tape because he is that, to me, he's that prototypical strong side guy. I don't think that he'll go anywhere in the first three or four rounds, maybe in the fourth round, just an assumption. I don't have him graded or anything like that. I don't do that. But that's one of those guys that I think people like him so much as a strong side guy that they're trying to push him in the edge rushing category. And I don't think that's his game at all. You know what I'm saying? I think that they're taking him out

of his game with that. He's going to be Eric Walden, but better, as far as I'm concerned. People just need to understand that that's his role. But Trey Hendrickson, I think, is a guy who can do both and has a little bit more pass rush to him. He's just not that violent guy at the point of attack like Mathis is. But I really like Trey Hendrickson the more I watch him. Not a guy that I think is going to be an early round guy. Probably might even be either at, I think at the earliest would be late day two, to be quite honest with you. I just, but I like him. I like him. I think his tape is solid. He's a good guy, high motor. He's one of those guys who is always in the screenshot.

You know what I'm saying? When the player goes down, he's either helping on the tackle with an assist or he's just, you know, trailing the play. And he's good in pursuit. I like that about him. Yeah, a couple other guys you could throw in there. And Trey Hendricks in that, that is a very good one. Your boy Jordan Willis

could very much be right there because he's not much of a pass rushing demon, you would say. He's become such an enigma too lately, hadn't he? Well, I don't know. You know me. I always kind of was a hater. No, no, and that's what I mean.

I think a lot of people like me. I always kind of was a hater. No, no, and that's what I mean. That's what I mean. I thought a lot of people – I think a lot of people like him. I thought I was in the minority, to be honest with you. But one guy I do love is Ryan Anderson. My thing with him is, I mean, depending on what kind of defense he goes into, if he goes into a 3-4, I could see him making the move inside to the Mike inside linebacker. I think he moves really well. I think he does a lot to where he's probably not going to be a pass rush specialist. So being on the outside as the strong side outside linebacker

could also be an option as well. I think he plays the run pretty well. And by the way, I don't view the strong side outside linebacker as the albatross that it got turned into in Indianapolis where they're like, Bjorn Werner is so bad that I guess we'll just put him at strong side outside linebacker so that he can do something. I think it can be a strength if you've got a really good player there yeah oh i agree for sure i mean and i think i i really

believe that walden kind of encapsulated that this past year which is one of the reasons he had you know quote unquote successful season a lot of a lot of his 11 sacks came as coverage sacks but they also came because he was able to disengage from whoever his assignment was and get through when the quarterback was stepping up into the pocket you know what I mean I mean that's that's a reality he had a good season but it wasn't like he was a pass rush aficionado he just did his job really well as a strong side guy this year and ended up getting some extra sacks tacked on for it so oh yeah absolutely and that's kind of his deal so who who who are you uh aside now oh let me let me jump back real quick to why i think that jordan willis

is such an enigma because there is so differing opinions on him. I think across the board, I don't know that I've, I mean, I see a lot of people that like him. I see a lot of people that can't stand, uh, him either, you know, or that are not high on him at all. Uh, I just think that he's, I just don't know what he's going to be. I don't. And I think that it's so interesting to watch guys like that, where people have such differing opinions on like they're not soft on them either they either love him or they just they just don't think that he's got it you know what I mean there's really no middle ground with Jordan Willis and anybody uh who is looking at him so uh that that part of it is interesting to me and I think that Charles Harris kind of has a little bit of that too especially with you and I or we don't see it but a lot of other people really

like him but I think they like him off of just a few plays, and that's the part that I don't understand on a personal level. And I kind of get the same from Taco Charlton as well. I think that, you know, I'm just not a big fan of his, the way I see him play. You see him get some production, but I'm not so sure that he's got the elite pass rushing traits, so to speak, that everybody's wanting to see. And, you know, that kind of has me hesitant on him, although he does flash it sometimes. It's just kind of hard to tell what you're going to see and how consistently you're going to see it. So who's a guy that, let's say, in the first two or three rounds that you've been watching, that you continue to watch,

wanting to like, but you just can't? Charles Harris. No, no, you can't do that. We already talked about him. I was going to just mention everything. Let's see. Someone I've watched repeatedly and just can't get a hang of. What's yours? I don't have one, by just can't get a hang of. What's yours?

I don't have one, by the way. This is all you. Oh, okay. Okay. Now, I don't dislike him. I do like him a great deal. But I'm concerned about him translating to a full-time NFL running back. And that's Marlon Mack.

Okay. So, you can tell he's got a ton of potential. He's fast. He hits holes really well. He's got a great elusiveness. He can break tackles easily. But from what I've seen, that offense he's coming from is not doing him any favors. He's running through a lot of open holes it's a lot of it's a lot of spread sweeps and and shotgun stuff it's not a lot of stuff he's gonna see in the nfl like i i barely saw him take traditional nfl handoffs in college And it kind of worries me about what his vision could be in a traditional

offense. And if he's going to be able to have that same sort of, uh, that same sort of ability to break those big plays when he's in an actual traditional offense, because he's probably not the type of player where a team is going to build an offense around him. He's going to have to fit into it. And I just worry about, I guess I worry about the wrong team taking him. Yeah. Well, you know what, to me, he, and I hate doing

this to him, but there's a couple of guys in there in this draft like him who are what I had. They are what I had the issue with TJ Yeldon with. Lower number of carries. I mean, Mack only had, I think he had less than 175 attempts last year. Good rushing. He improved his touchdowns from the year previous to that. And he caught more balls out of the backfield. But 174 attempts is not that much in 12 games. No.

I mean, and there's a couple guys like that. You know what I mean? I think that what – How people thought Melvin Gordon was really gimmicky before he had his breakout season at Wisconsin, that's how I see Marlon Mack. Yeah. A lot of jet see Marlon Mack. Yeah. A lot of jet sweeps and stuff like that.

That doesn't translate. So we still need to see what he can do that will translate. Not that he won't be good. He could be really good. Right. But like I said, the offense he comes from does him no favors for the NFL. Average 14.5 carries a game. I mean, you want to go to the NFL and be a starter,

you're going to have to average – or you're going to have to at least have averaged, in my opinion, 20 carries per game in college. You've got to prove that you can be the workhorse. You don't have to have 400 carries. But I just think you need to prove that you can. And maybe not. Maybe that's ignorant.

But that was the issue that I had with TJ Yeldon when he came out with everybody's hype on him is that he had never been a featured back when he was at Alabama. He never was. And when you're never a featured back in college, how are you going to be a featured back in the pros? And he's proving right now that he can't be a featured back in the pros as far as I'm concerned. Right. So, and, and something else, this might be totally underrated and it might just be me throwing something out there for the sake of this argument, but something else I've noticed about Marlon Mack, I don't even remember where I got this, but I was always told one trait you could look for in a successful running back

is look how thick their legs are, specifically their thighs. And maybe I'm crazy, but Marlon Mack seems to have kind of a slender lower body. Yeah. Which is not great for a running back to have. Yeah. You've got to drive a lot of power from those legs. And if you're already getting to your lanes with a full head of steam because you took some jet sweep or stretch or you know some run design that you're not going to do much of in the

nfl and your legs don't have a ton of burst which i would i would also have to look at his testing numbers to see what some of his jumps were to to kind of verify that but that's something else that i thought about with him and i've thought that the whole time but i also have enjoyed watching his tape um as a college player that is yeah all right last question my man we're about to finish these uh these drinks and and call it a night at the bar. So what is your ideal first round situation? And I want, I mean, go ahead and if you want to give me a trade, give me a trade, but give me a player for sure. Okay.

I'm going to be realistic and we'll say that Reuben Foster is not there because that's always going to be my answer. He's my number two defensive player overall. Let's say that... Okay, so let's say Marlon Humphrey or Garyon Conley are available at 15. I would really enjoy that. Or if the Colts traded back, I think to about 20. I pegged the Broncos as a good target for them.

I think they're at like 21 or 22. The Colts would get a third and a sixth for that. So then that would pit the Colts with like the 22nd pick in the first with the pick in the second, two picks in the third, three picks in the fourth, a fifth and a sixth. So that would load them up with quite a bit of draft capital. And you know, this, what's how deep of a draft this is. There's so much they could do with that.

Yeah. I'm definitely team trade down we've we've all you know uh ran that in the ground for sure um without going specifics on it i mean i think that it's possible if a couple quarterbacks come off the board i think that it's possible that kansas city uh tries to move up although i don't know about 27 to 15 that's you know quite a move but i think that that would net a nice return for the Colts if something like that were to happen as far as other specific teams I don't know because it'd just be hard to tell who they would want so much you know to do that

but I'm all for Garyon Conley I'm all for Jonathan Allen and I think ultimately, if I'm going to go first round guy at another position, I think, you know, Derek Barnett, I really like him. I love his fire, man. I'm a big fan of Redick as well. I really like his play. I'm of those three guys that i mentioned though i'd much i'd rather them have them than reddick to be honest with you and i'm not you know what i i i'm also uh a big team jared davis guy i mean i don't know about first round or not depending on where they end up whether they stay at 15 move back uh or get an early second round pick or something like that and grab him. But I truly believe that in a three-year projection, he's a better inside linebacker than Reuben Foster at that point. I really do.

You never know. It could be. But, yeah, I mean, as nice as it would be for them to trade down, I have found myself really really really liking a handful of the guys that should definitely be there at 15 so kind of whatever they do with that i'm i'm on board with yeah and i don't i don't really see them blowing this pick yeah no there's such that there's such a good depth of players that should be there. I really don't see it happening.

There was a mock draft where I saw Mike Williams to the Colts at 15, which was really interesting. I didn't even know what to think about that. I mean, that's awesome because Mike Williams is awesome. Another wide receiver in the first would blow my mind yeah mine too i it would kind of you know like you said you think that they were hot on alshon jeffrey and you know i mean that's kind of who he is right mike williams i mean a little bit yeah you know so that would be interesting that would be oh god they'd have to put barricades up downtown indy they would the fans would freak out

i i probably wouldn't even cover the draft the rest of the the rest of the time no i wouldn't go to listen to twitter and facebook no grab your keys get in your car go downtown and see what happens because there's a riot going on for sure yep well guys we're gonna pack it up and call it a night on this one i thank you guys for joining us this is uh another show with jake and uh hope you guys enjoyed it it's uh it's always a good time for for he and i to get together and shoot it a little bit so thank you guys for listening like you guys have been continually like i said i try to tell you guys all the time that you guys are helping build this show literally brick by brick. And it really is starting to turn into something special.

So please legitimately go on to iTunes and give us a rating and review that. I mean, I told you guys all the time that it helps actually do it. Go on there and give us a rating and review. I mean, believe that. I don't know how many we've got. I think we a rating and review. I mean, believe that. I don't know how many we've got. I think we're right on about 30 reviews and stuff like that, but that has helped build this show. And I appreciate all your guys' comments. I appreciate all the participation and all the drawings and giveaways and stuff like that. Those are great. Don't forget

that the call-in line is still active and it will continue to be active. It's 574-516-2881. If you guys want to call in, ask a question, I'll put it on the show just like I do every other time. So thank you guys for listening. Jake, thanks for stopping by, my man. We'll do this again next week. Thanks, buddy. Can't wait.

Absolutely. Talk to you guys all tomorrow right here on Locked on Colts. You are Locked on Colts, your daily podcast on the Indianapolis Colts, part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.