Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 4/24/20: Colts don't trade up for sliding QB in Round 1, Day 2 predictions

Episode Date: April 24, 2020

On today's episode, we recap the Colts not moving up on Day 1 of the 2020 NFL Draft. As Jordan Love slid down the board, many were prepared for Indy to capitalize. They did not as Green Bay moved up to No. 26 for the price of a 4th-round pick. The lack of aggressiveness showed Love wasn't in their plans.Now, what's going to happen for the Colts on Day 2? Expect a lot of trade action plus addressing needs at wideout, offensive line, defensive line, and secondary. We close with a Day 2 mock draft, which includes a trade back from No. 34.This should be fun, so buckle in Colts fans! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, everybody. Welcome back into your latest episode of Locked On Colts Parade, Locked On Podcast Network. Today's host, Evan Cedrian, joined by Stephen Reed, once more of Stampede Blue. He was on our last episode. In the last 48 hours we had an episode, Stephen, been a wild one. Round one, we saw, we're going to get right into it because I think it's the hot topic amongst Colts Twitter. I've seen it also amongst, I think, all Colts fans because we know about the preconceived interest in Jordan Love before. But then we see him slide all the way to 25. The Packers move up with the Vikings, or excuse me, with the Dolphins at 26 to get him. So what really surprised me is that they must have believed, and Ian Rappaport even tweeted this today,

that the Packers moved up from 30 to 26 because they believed the Colts and Seahawks had a deal in place to get Jordan Love at 27. But according to Rappaport, that was not the case. The Colts never even called the move up about Jordan Love. So if the price is only the fourth-round pick and even worse fourth-round pick than the Colts are going to have, that Green Bay gave up to get Jordan Love at 26 overall. I think it just goes to show you, Stephen, that that interest was all smoke

and that they really never were interested in Jordan Love if the price was that low. Yeah, I think you're right. It's one of those situations where they obviously had the ammunition to move up if they really thought that he was the guy. And everything Chris Ballard had said leading up to the draft made you believe that they were not sold necessarily on anybody, even if they were falling. And you even saw later on some reporting by Stephen Holder as that keeper saying that the Colts, their potential trade with Seattle wasn't even going to be for a quarterback.

And so it just so happens that, you know, Green Bay caught on to that smoke signal and traded a fourth round pick to move up and took Jordan Love, which was one of the more head-scratching picks of the round, I think, given that they obviously have Aaron Rodgers and his contract situation makes it difficult for them to move on from him until after 2022, which effectively means you're not going to really get a chance to see Jordan Love on the field before you have to go ahead and activate that fifth-year option for him. And so it was just a questionable move from from my

standpoint for the Packers but they obviously really liked him and so they went up and got him and it's clear that the Colts weren't as sold on him and and because they had the chance and they didn't take it yeah that definitely seems like the case with Jordan Love and those those rumors are not come and gone as he is now a Green Bay Packer. And we look ahead now, Stephen, to this overall round one. We saw it really went chalk in the first 10 or so picks. But then from there, it was just a wild night, I think, of just late trades. I know there really wasn't big ones. But overall, we saw, I think, the most surprising one, of course,

Jordan Love to Green Bay. But what other ones stood out most to you? Because I think to me the Minnesota Vikings with Justin Jefferson at 22 and Jeff Gladney as well getting him later at 30 overall, I think that was a huge win for the Vikings in this draft. But anyone else from round one stand out to you since the Colts were sitting out this one? Yeah, I think the best picks I thought were CeeDee Lamb at 17 to Dallas. Even though Dallas has got Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup there at the wide receiver position,

they gave Dak Prescott another weapon. And I don't think anybody really thought that CeeDee Lamb would fall that far. Another pick that I really loved was Patrick Queen, the LSU linebacker, going to Baltimore at 28. I thought that was just a great pick for them, and it's just a perfect fit in that system. And then seeing San Diego – or, gosh, I'm going to mess that up every time. The Los Angeles Chargers trade up to 23 to get Kenneth Murray

after he started to slide. It was a little surprising to me that they went up to go get him. But at the same time, I thought that was a great pick for the Chargers there. Yeah, my thinking on that one as to why I think the Chargers moved up was because they might have believed New Orleans are going to take Murray at 24 because they need a linebacker. Maybe that's what they thought. But they paid a pretty hefty price for their trades in the first round. They got a second and a third for Kenneth Murray. So they really went all in on Justin Herbert at six. And then we saw as well Tua go five to the Dolphins,

really, like I mentioned, go chalk the first five or six picks in this draft. But when you look at the board here, moving ahead to the Colts side of things, we are now officially into day two of the draft. You're probably hearing this as day two of the draft is going on. Maybe the Colts have already picked a 34 by now. But I want to know your thoughts, Stephen, on what could happen with this board because I tweeted out last night all these players, the falling players, are going to be on the board likely at 34.

So give me a second. I'm going to list all these players. It shows you how much depth is available in this draft and why Ian Rappaport and Tom Pelissero, a reporter of NFL Network, that the Colts have already been in trade-down discussions because this draft is so deep. Denzel Mims, Michael Pittman, T. Higgins, LaVisca Chennault, a wide receiver. You have Trevon Diggs, Christian Fulton, a cornerback. Ross Blacklock and AJ Finesse as the three techs. Ezra Cleveland and Josh Jones maybe as your Anthony Costanza replacements.

Then you have pass rushers, Etor Grosmatos and Zach Vaughn. And safeties, Delpit, Winfield, Jeremy Chin, Kyle Duggar. There has been no safety taken. Xavier McKinney as well of Alabama. There is so much depth on the board, Stephen. No wonder why we're hearing buzz about why the Colts are going to try to move back in this draft and why Chris Bauer has probably been hinting at this for so long because his draft is so deep he's going to try to capitalize on it.

Yeah, I think that's a great point. And it's something that Chris Ballard has said before and even said it yesterday on the Pat McAfee show on his podcast. You know, Pat sat there and tried to nudge him a little bit, tried to say, hey, you know, you're going to look to trade back into round one. And Ballard straight up told him, you know, they're more likely to trade back from 34 than they are to trade up. And I think for me that's the most likely scenario what they're going to do. But, yeah, they've got a lot of great options.

You listed I think probably about 10, 11 options right there. Colts have picked 34. They also have picked 44. You're going to have one of those guys there at 44 no matter what. And I think that puts the Colts in a terrific position. Yeah, and that just goes to show you, I think, the plentiful options the Colts could have

here as day two of the draft unfolds. The Colts have three picks tonight. Likely to have more, maybe four or more because Chris Bauer loves to accumulate second and third round picks and he loves to capitalize on day two of the draft which the Colts are currently in and did not have a first round pick thanks to DeForest Buckner trade surprisingly enough yeah looking ahead here to tonight's draft and you look at the board here with how it's falling like you mentioned there Stephen you have likely to have two of these players available now at 34 and 44 and the colts are going to have multiple picks likely more in this draft

at on day two they have three by i assume they're probably four or five around that range by tonight while tonight is over so who do you think are the players that stand out most to you on your board right now steven at 34 if they were to stay there, even if they move back a little bit. Because we went through that list right there, about 10, 12 guys. But there are so many options here I feel like could be on the board for the Colts. Yeah, I think that if they stick at 34, even if they trade back a few spots, guys like Denzel Mims and Michael Pittman make the most sense to me right there.

There's a lot of people that are really high on T. Higgins. I'm not one of those people, which ultimately means they'll probably take him. But I think that both Denzel Mims and Michael Pittman would make a lot of sense. Guys like Ezra Cleveland or Lucas Niang or Josh Jones would make a lot of sense as well. You could also see, you know, you heard a bunch of rumors about Malik Hooker potentially being traded. I don't think those are true. We talked about it earlier this week. But you could get a guy like Jeremy Chin as a safety prospect that I think would be a fantastic addition.

Or they could go corner jalen johnson i i think or or you know trayvon diggs makes a lot of sense in their defense um so i said i think the most likely scenario is that they trade back um and then try to accumulate more picks like you said it's one of those things that they're chrisard. He likes them picks as we all know. And I could see him moving back and I could also see him moving back from 34 with a team that is in a win now mode. Somebody like a new Orleans who doesn't have a second round pick, but they've been hyper aggressive in the past and are willing to give up

future round one picks to move up when they want to and when they really like a guy you've already heard rumors that new orleans is making some calls trying to find out who who might be willing to move up or let them move up i think chris ballard takes that and considers it and takes that under under consideration because say the colts move back to 88 i think is where where new orleans next pick is say they move back from 34 to 88 and they get a 2021 round one pick from new orleans because that's ultimately what would likely likely happen in that scenario i think chris ballard would make that pick because he's got 10 or 11 guys here when he's picking at 34 that will be there at 44.

And so I think that he'll probably trade back. If he doesn't, my bet is they go Pittman or Denzel Mims. And then I wouldn't be shocked if they took an offensive lineman. I said a couple days ago that, you know, I think Lucas Niang would be a perfect fit for the Colts, even though it's an unpopular opinion with some on Colts Twitter who really like that Braden Smith has been good but not great, and they want to let him develop in that role.

I think that taking somebody like a Lucas Niang there to play right tackle would just be a no-brainer pick for me. We should also hit on the rumors too that kept percolating yesterday with Malik Hooker. We hit on our last episode, but Mike Girardi of NFL Network reported, Ian Rappaport retweeted it. It seems like Malik Hooker, his name is still out there in trade rumors pretty heavily, Stephen. Do you think Malik Hooker has moved tonight?

And if so, what do you think of all this buzz still continuing around Malik Hooker as the draft is continuing to go on? I think that the Colts still consider Malik Hooker a valuable part of that defense. I don't see them – even though you've seen a couple rumors come out here or there, I don't see them moving on from Hooker. Like you had mentioned last time we spoke, they've got two years of control at a low, low salary. You go ahead and play this year out and see how it goes.

You'd likely pick up the fifth year option. It's not super expensive for safeties. And so I don't take a lot of, take a lot of credence to what they're, those rumors that are coming out because, and especially from national guys, because you'll see them, you'll see national guys use a lot of vague language.

And if you really parse that down, they're not saying a whole lot with it. And so that's kind of where I sit with it is you wait till you hear from local guys and yeah, national guys will get the scoop from somewhere else, but local guys generally know what they're talking about when it comes to the Colts. Now looking ahead as well to what the Colts could do tonight

Steven do you expect them to take a quarterback because if the price was only a fourth round pick for Jordan Love I know that that we obviously I've mentioned already that that incident there were even really in that interest in Jordan Love in the first place but any chance they take a quarterback tonight or anything at this point they maybe take a day three guy or maybe not at all and we should focus more on next year's quarterback class instead yeah I think that the likelihood of them taking a quarterback today or tonight is it's pretty small in my opinion the Jake Fromm and Jalen Hurts Jacob Easton are the three main guys that people like to talk about for day two picks. I don't see any of those being just great fits for what the Colts want to do.

And it's another thing where Chris Ballard has said he doesn't want to push it. He doesn't want to force it. You take somebody in round two, you kind of expect them to come in in a year or two and show that they warranted the pick. I think that we're going to find out pretty quickly what Ballard intends to do. Because if he trades back and picks up a future first round pick from, say, like I mentioned, New Orleans, I think that that's going to tell you that he's probably going to be looking to 2021 for a quarterback because he hell at that point have two first round

picks uh i i think the most likely scenario if they were to take a quarterback i think they'd probably take a day day three flyer um we talked about james morgan last podcast i think that he would be a terrific selection in the fourth round um maybe a guy like a Jake Luton, um, in round six would also be a good developmental guy just to have somebody on the roster that they could, they could work with and groom to be a backup. But I don't see them looking at any of the, the other three primary quarterbacks that are, that people expect to go on day two and take them. And it's just, again, that's just my opinion.

It just doesn't seem like they're good fits. This is something that I mentioned late last night on the Locked on Colts Twitter page. It was about really the Colts being able to possibly start a bidding war at 34 with teams who need safeties and running backs because still no safety has been taken in this draft. Outside of Clyde Edwards-Alaire, who was a surprise number one overall running back selected, DeAndre Swift, J.K. Dobbins, Jonathan Taylor

are on the board still. They could start, whoever wants safety, whoever wants the best running backs, come up to 34. I think that's what we could see happen, Stephen. Do you expect that's maybe what Ballard has in mind here with how the board shaped out? Yeah, I do. I think that he's got that pickup for auction. i don't think anybody really expects cincinnati to trade out of 33 they've got a lot of needs so they're going to take the best player they can i think that the real action starts at 34 and you talk to teams that need that running back but denver and needs a The Dolphins were supposedly really high on DeAndre Swift,

and they've got – interesting with the Dolphins, they have a ton of picks. They have 12 picks in days two and three. So they have 15 total picks in this draft. So I have a hard time seeing them taking 15 players this year. So I think they might be looking to trade up and go ahead and get rid of some of those picks. So I could see the Colts potentially trading back with the Dolphins, say 34 for 56 and pick 70.

So then Chris Ballard picks up that early third round pick that we both know and we all know that he likes them. He likes those high picks in that second, third round. And so I think that's probably a likely scenario there. But also see a team that's desperate trying to get up. Like I mentioned, Denver is one. Tampa Bay is another that might be looking to trade up for a safety. Denver could be going up for an offensive tackle you got a lot of

options here and given the depth that's on the board and where everybody else is picking in this situation I think Chris Ballard is going to have a lot of different bidders for that 34th pick so if he wants a deal he can make it yeah it's going to be really fun to see what happens here because I think definitely a lot is on the table here. Let's say the Colts do do a tradeback with Miami for 56 and 70 here, and you start off your picks at 44. You can do a quick day two mock draft if you want to. Off the scenario, Steven, would you say Bauer would agree to a deal around 34 for 56 and 70?

Yeah, I think that's probably a pretty reasonable, reasonable trade right there. Okay. Yeah. So then let's go with that. Then we'll start off with pick 44. Who would you kick it off with? Because me thinking here, I would run up to the podium at Michael Pittman still there. Yep. That's the one. That's the one that I was going to say too. Michael Pittman would be just a no-brainer choice there at 44. Yeah, any of these big wideouts, Pittman, Higgins, maybe Chase Claypool if they're really high on him at that point. I think you should expect a big body wideout to go early in this draft. The Colts probably their first pick since

we did not see him trade for the quarterback last night in the first round. That means at 56, what do you expect here? Because overall, if I'm being honest, to look ahead for a second, we already attacked wide out with Pittman at 44. I think we see the trenches on both sides at some point with defensive line and offensive line. And I think we see a DB at some point. I know they just signed Xavier Rhodes and TJ Carey, but if the Quincy Wilson trade rumors are true, someone's got to take his spot, and I could see maybe a later cornerback pick taken. So let's start off again with pick 56 here if we want Pittman at 44. So what I would do is I would either go Lucas Niang or Marlon Davidson. Lucas Niang, the right tackle,

or Marlon Davidson, the defensive tackle, kind of hybrid defensive end that they could, kind of what they expected Tyquan Lewis to be. Those would be my guys that I think that they would be onto another option. If for whatever reason he keeps sliding, Jalen Johnson is a fantastic player. So I'm shocked that he's still here, to be honest. But if you're making me choose, I'm probably going to go with probably Lucas Nguyen at 56. For me, I'd pick 56 if it's not a quarterback. I think if the Colts were to take a quarterback in this scenario, it's probably here

because I imagine all those quarterbacks are still on the board, the Hurts, Easton, the Froms. I would expect in this scenario one of those good defensive backs might still be on the board here that slips. So whoever it might be, it could be just the best player available on the board. I could see the Colts capitalizing on that. But moving into the third round here, Stephen, at 70 and 75, what do you see happening there if they attacked in your mock where you had had happen yeah i would likely see them going after

my guess would be if i say a jeremy chin fell to pick 70 that would be a guy i could see them taking i could also see them looking to double up at wide receiver um you know for example like olivisca chanult, he's sliding for whatever reason. And I could see them going with maybe even a Brian Edwards, even though he doesn't really fit the athletic profile that Chris Ballard really likes. I could see him going in that direction as well. So I'd look at either a defensive back or a doubling up their wide receiver

position. Yeah, I think those options make a lot of sense there. look at either a defensive back or a doubling up there at wide receiver position yeah i i think those options make a lot of sense there but any closing thoughts you had here steven i know it's a quicker episode here for the listeners but we're closing in here on on day two of the draft the colts are going to be back in on the action any any closing thoughts for the listeners here as we imagine chris bowers going to pull some pull a rabbit out of his head and make some magic that he usually does on draft night yeah I wouldn't be surprised uh if he trades back from 34 I think that the listeners should kind of accept that that's the most likely scenario and who knows how far he'll drop but I think he's going to get a lot of options and I'd expect them to come away with at least one, if not two, wide receivers.

Like you mentioned, looking at the defensive backfield in the trenches are the other likely scenarios. All right. Appreciate everyone listening in on today's podcast of Locked on Colts, recapping last night's round one, why the Colts didn't move for Jordan Love for such a small price. We found out, really, that the Colts probably were never interested in Jordan Love in the first place.

So I think Green Bay paid a hefty price to move up for a fourth-round pick of the Colts in their midterms just to leapfrog them. But it's going to be really interesting what happens for round two tonight with what they do at wideout, what they do in the trenches, what Chris Bauer likes to attack in the draft. It's going to be a lot of fun. So, Steve, I appreciate you coming on. We'll be back with you guys tomorrow to recap all these picks.