Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS -4/30- Colts Day 3 Draft Analysis & George's Corner W/@gmbremer

Episode Date: April 30, 2017

Matt answers listener's Twitter questions, analyzes the #Colts Day 3 haul from the draft, and George Bremer comes through and drops some very intriguing nuggets on what he heard about the newest Colts from the scouts who dissected them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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I'm your host, Matt Dainley, and we finally got the remainder of the draft in the books now. The Colts did exactly what we wanted them to do. They took an offensive lineman. They took a running back. They took another cornerback, and they got another linebacker. So we've got a lot to talk about real quick. I'm going to answer some of your Twitter questions and stuff that I asked if you guys had any a little bit earlier tonight. We've got George Bremer jumping back on the line with us here shortly. So this should be a great show. We'll try to get this bad boy knocked out all at once here. We'll start with our first question. Do you think we addressed the needs

in this draft? If not, what would you change? That was from Cam Nielsen. Cam, yeah, absolutely. We did as much as we needed to. I mean, we certainly addressed all the needs. At least if we start at pick one and go down, I mean, we took a safety who you come up from a guy who's in a top 10 in this draft, and you get him at 15. That is a best player available approach. You get a guy in the second round who, in my opinion, is a first round quality cornerback. That's based on best player available and a need. That's a good pick.

Round three, Terrell Basham. You get a need and somebody that's right. I mean, I think that that's a perfect value for him. I don't think he was much higher or lower than that as far as what you would see in an average draft grade area. I think that's a great pick. Zach Banner, still left to be determined. I'm not real high on him as far as from what I've seen since they drafted him. They initially said that they were going to play him at guard. I don't know how they would possibly play a 6'8 guy at guard like that. He's

not athletic. He doesn't have a lot of bend. He's a little slow. They say that his better attribute is run blocking. He's a little slow in protection, so we'll have to see what happens there. We'll talk to George a little bit later about that and kind of see what he has to say about it. But offensive line, I like the pick as far as that because that brings more competition to the pick. As far as this, especially if they were going to go guard and this is the guy that they have transitioning to guard for some reason, that may be a mistake by an NFL network, but there was a few guys that I liked a lot better than him if they were going to do him at guard. Now specifically, when we get to

the running back position here with Marlon Mack, this is a guy who was a favorite amongst draft Twitter. This was one of the guys that I really liked. A lot of people really liked this guy, and he's a guy who's got home run hitting ability. This guy had a lot of touchdowns for length. I think he had – Jake and I were talking today, and we learned that he had six touchdowns that were over 40 yards on the season. I think he had 15 on the year this past year. He decreased his workload as far as running the ball from like 210 carries to 174,

but he also was just as effective. Throughout his career, he averaged, I think, 15 carries per game. He dropped three carries per game. He caught a few more balls out of the backfield. So this guy is kind of, he's definitely a guy who can move into workhorse. He's a well rounded running back with home run hit and ability. He's a glider, very smooth in and out of his cuts. I really liked the fact that he can have his assignment as far as where he's supposed to go follow the block. And then something opens up and you can see that he isn't thinking but reacting. And he reacts really well in cutback lanes. And I really like that about him a lot. A good speed in his wheels as well. So excellent

pick there, round four. I pick 143 with Marlon Mack, running back out of South Florida. Really enjoyed that. Grover Stewart, that's a project guy. Big dude, lots of power, lots of length. Really needs to refine his skills. It's a need. Defensive tackle's a need because the defensive line needs more competition, needs to be better, needs to be able to stop the run, needs to be able to attack the quarterback, the pocket from the interior as well. This is a guy who's going to be right around the nose tech, one tech, two tech, three, two inside, stuff like that. He's going to be rotating in there from that zero to three technique area. And this is a guy that I think possibly could be something, but like I said, very, very raw. Not so sure what to think of him quite yet,

but the pick and as far as the position, I'm all good with it. It's a fourth-round pick. The Colts only had two more picks after that. That's a guy that you want to bring in. You think that you can work him. You've got a nice base because of the free agency pull that you pushed. Excellent. Get to Nate Hairston, cornerback. Great. I was hoping they'd double dip either there or on the edge, and they did double dip in the cornerback. He's a guy who's really athletic, 35 and a half vertical. He's not super fast, but I think that they may have been targeting him for a nickel roll, which would be fantastic because I think that his speed kind of dictates that that's where he would be. Didn't do a three cone or anything like that at his pro day, but this is a guy who, from what I understand, has a lot of upside. So this is going to be naturally a good idea. Fifth round pick, 161, Anthony Walker out of Northwestern. I didn't

see his stuff on tape. Nothing jumped out on me that really blew my mind. This is a guy, I think, that's going to be fighting for a roster spot, just to put it mildly. So we'll have to see what happens there. But interesting nonetheless, good positional pick. I'm just not so sure that he's the guy that is going to be really in the running for in the rotation right now at inside linebacker. Another tweet here from Xavier Hamilton, guy that took part in our Locked On Mock as well. Do you think Mack is the feature starting running back by the end of the year? I think it's quite possible. And I think that once you get him under such a quality person like Frank Gore,

who can really kind of show him the ropes, kind of help him, not necessarily even on the field with, you know, little bits and pieces of information here and there, he can. But all the information, all the stuff that he's really going to learn is going to be off the field from Frank Gore. He's going to be learning when they're looking in their binders at the playbook and how do I do this better? And where's my assignments and stuff like that. He's got the natural ability Mac does. And what he's going to learn from Gore is the little bit, the intricacies of the position on how to be better at pass protection, because he's

going to need that. Mack is not a very good pass protector, at least from what I saw, and that's going to have to change because that is something that's necessary from a running back, especially in this offense. So yes, I think it's quite possible that he could be the feature back. Do I expect it? Not necessarily, but I think that it definitely is a possibility for sure. Now, my man Jesus out there asking about the undrafted free agents. I think a lot of these guys are really interesting, Jay. I think when we look at the undrafted list, we've got some guys that are in the running back. We've got a lot of wide receivers that are interesting here, including Trey Griffey. Ken Griffey Jr.'s son from Arizona is going to be in camp. That's interesting. Another wide receiver is Bug

Howard out of North Carolina, 6'4", 215, I think. A couple cornerbacks that look good. A safety that I really enjoyed watching just recently, Martez Hester out of Ball State, no less. I think that the Colts are doing a lot of work in this undrafted class. This is going to be really exciting to watch these guys because some of these guys are going to take current roster spots that are already taken as of now, in my opinion, and it's something that we should all be interested to watch. It's going to be something that's going to be worth it for sure. Next one from Ryan Moran. Can Marlon Mack become every down number one running back? What needs did we not address in the draft? Biggest strengths, weaknesses on D. Yeah, I would say that we did hit most of the needs. I think the only need that we didn't,

if you want to call it by position, then I think that you can say, okay, so the position of inside linebacker didn't necessarily get addressed with a guy who could come in and be a starter. But they did add depth there. We can only do so much through the draft. So I'm not worried about that

because of how they addressed it through free agency with both Bostick and Spence. They've got now four guys, including Jackson and Morrison, who have now experience, but they've got guys in there now who have real veteran experience in Bostick and Spence and who are legitimate inside linebackers. So I think that every little bit's going to help. They brought in a couple guys, undrafted free agents. Not real sure about them yet. Haven't been able to watch their film yet.

But this is going to be something that we look at going forward. I would say that if we were going to narrow down to what they did address and what they didn't address, I think they addressed everything. We got a running back, got an offensive lineman. Both of those were, what do you want to call them, supplementary needs or tertiary needs, as far as I'm concerned, running back a little more than an offensive line at this point. But they needed defensive line help. They got it, though they didn't necessarily get it up front in the middle because of what they did in free agency, but they did add to it. When you look at the linebackers, they added to it. Not necessarily somebody that they thought could start, but they

did add to it. Cornerback, they definitely got at least one starter in cornerback, possibly two, and they definitely got one of the best two safeties in this draft and a ball hawk right there who's going to do a lot for their turnover differential, I would say that every need has been met. I think, I'll be honest with you right here, I think one of the biggest weaknesses now, at least right now, is the lack of Pat McAfee on this roster. I'm being serious when I say this because Pat was such a vital part in flipping the field. I think that the way that this roster is completely turning over, hit one more year of Pat McAfee in this roster with everything that's gone on, could be vital

to how this final record actually turns out this year. Could be the difference in a game or two. Now, I mean, you can only put so much on a punter, but he was so effective in flipping the field. I think that that could be a real issue going forward, quite possibly anyhow. This is also from Ryan Moran. Who's one UDFA that has potential to make an impact this year? Which day three picks have potential to make impact this year? If we're going to look at the undrafted free agent guys, the one guy that I see as having the most impact, at least the ones that I've watched so far

I'll be realistic I haven't watched a bunch of them I watched the running back Brandon Radcliffe out of Louisville I think he's pretty average I'm not super excited about him or anything like that but the one guy that I think has a potential to possibly take a roster spot because of his size length and speed and his ability to go up and get a ball, is that Bug Howard from North Carolina. His size, he's 6'4". He's a huge guy. Really long arms, like I said.

Has good hands, natural hands catching, wide receiver. He's a guy that I thought could make a real push. Now, there was original reports out that Krishan Hogan, the guy from Marion University, was going to be coming to the Colts as a UDFA. That is not true. He's going to Arizona, although he is on lists as in he's coming to the Indianapolis Colts. He is not. But he was a guy who I thought could be a – I thought he would get drafted.

I truly did after watching his combine workouts and his pro days and stuff like that. The dude is a very good receiver, very good route runner, and he's got some speed too. So he would have been a guy that I thought could make an impact and could possibly fight for a roster spot, certainly. But Bug Howard is one of the guys just initially after all this. I've heard a lot of good things about Trey Griffey as well. I haven't seen any of it. I'm definitely going to be watching his film tonight and tomorrow. So this will be interesting for sure. This one from Chuck DeBlue, not knowing who was available at each of the Colts picks, who would you have taken with each selection? Now, this is going to be a little more difficult going back and trying to remember each of them.

I was totally on board with every pick so far. I mean, Malik Hooker, Quincy Wilson, Terrell Basham, loved all those. I was not a big fan of the Zach Banner pick at the time. I thought that that could have gone a couple different ways, but I love the Marlon Mack out of South Florida. I was hoping that Jamal Williams would last there, but Green Bay picked him beforehand. Now, the Grover Stewart pick there, that was something that I just didn't see coming. And to be quite honest with you, like I said, I can't remember at this point. I have to really go back and look through the draft. But the Anthony Walker one, this one was one where I felt like if you weren't going to get a starting capability out of this linebacker, because they've got four there. Then I thought

that another position should have gotten some attention. I was actually looking at, now this is another guy who's going to be a project, not necessarily a starter, but you could plug him in on sub package downs and get some contribution from him. And that was Caraway out of TCU, an edge rusher. He is not a full, you know, a smooth prospect right now. The dude is kind of raw, really long, really athletic. I thought that he could pose some positive notions towards his defense with his edge rushing ability. You could throw him in there on obvious passing downs, and the dude's more than athletic and fast enough to get to the quarterback. He's a guy that I kind of wish they would have used that fifth round pick specifically. That's the one

that I remember specifically anyways. So it's kind of hard for me to remember those otherwise. Next one from Dustin Paul. Are you pumped that we might have a real life NFL defense soon? Because I am. I am extremely pumped that we might have an NFL real-life defense right now, Dustin. I'll tell you, this is something that is, ever since they started really plugging away at the free agency on the defensive side of the ball, it was something that you could almost just see coming and make your head spin, because you are going to absolutely understand that this is what Ballard's vision is. Ballard's vision is making this defense good at all angles and all areas of the defense. Having good coverage.

Finding a way to attack from the interior as well as on the edge. Having good linebackers that can stop the run. And having corners who can both press and play off man coverage, but can also fight for the ball. This is what he's looking for, special traits, and he's brought them in. I mean, we get Hankins there at the zero tech. That's a phenomenal pick, hoping that he actually provides what they brought from him in free agency and that he actually comes to the table with all of his skill sets that the Colts are assuming that he will. Then you get a guy like Sheard and Simon, both guys who are kind of underrated, especially

Simon, a guy who played behind two or three other edge rushers in Houston. And now he gets to really show off what he can do. And I think people are going to be surprised from him. He's still getting downplayed, even though we've kind of been pumping him up. He's still getting downplayed. You look at Jabal Sheard, he's up and down as well. Some people will talk him up. He's still getting downplayed. You look at Jabal Sheard, he's up and down as well. Some people will talk him up. Some people will talk about the game that he was pulled in New England and that, you know, this and that and the other. I am completely on board with Sheard because I think that you have a guy who can get down as a four down lineman and you can also set him up as an outside linebacker. You can even move him inside in some packages a little bit,

especially along the offensive line if you need some extra speed on that defense. up as an outside linebacker. You can even move him inside in some packages a little bit, especially along the offensive line if you need some extra speed on that defense. I am in love with what he's doing as far as Ballard is making this defense a real defense right now, and I think that we've got a lot more to see in the future. If nothing else, if this stuff doesn't work out, specifically the players, you can't fault the process, right? Because the process is him going forward with what he knows works. And then you bring in these defensive guys, Terrell Basham, super strong. You guys are going to love this guy, I promise, once you start seeing him in action. He can bull rush anybody, and he's got the speed and the quickness

off the snap to get past a lot of tackles. He can rush from the interior as well. He's not a guy who's going to drop into coverage. That's not going to happen. But that is something that I thought like I just spoke on the last question was that Josh Carraway could have possibly brought because of his length and size. Not because he was necessarily good in coverage, but because he could drop into those hook zones or into the flats and could cause some damage with his size being in that area. So I'm really excited about this, guys. Thanks, Dustin, for the question. Thank you all so far for the question. This one's from Ryan Myers. Have we done enough this season to address our lack of pass rush with Basham, Sheard, and Simon?

Kind of just spoke on this before, but yes. Enough? No, because it's never enough. But yes, in the fact that we've got the process in order and he's bringing in other guys as well. This UDFA class may surprise some of you, to be honest with you. We haven't been able to really critique these guys yet or analyze some of these undrafted guys at this moment, but he's going to bring in guys that he feels can battle for spots for sure. So this is something that these people are coming in to do. This is what these guys are in this process for. This is why Ballard has them coming in. Both Basham Sheard and Simon, those guys are all going to contribute. Simon is going to be a three-down linebacker, in my opinion.

They'll move him around to keep him on the field. He's that good. Sheard as well. He is a guy who's super versatile. Like I just said, you can put him down on the line. You can stand him up, do whatever you want with him. Basham is a guy who's going to be solid in run support. He's pretty good in that.

He's good against the run, but he's also super lightning quick off the snap and can really turn into one of those guys who could actually be a 10-sack a season guy. Totally on board with that, and I totally believe that. Not everybody thinks the same about a lot of these prospects, but Basham definitely, to me, has that capability, and I definitely think that's a possibility. Thanks, Ryan, for the question. Timothy Cunningham, how will Marlon Mack fit in this year? Fit in this year? I think initially, guys, he's going to be somebody who probably takes Turbin out of his third down roll as far as being able to catch the ball. I think Ferguson, as far as that goes, is going to be the guy who's really going to have to prove that he can be excellent in his role

or he won't be on the team. Marlon Mack is a guy who has the home run ability. He has the soft hands to catch the ball out of the backfield. Like I said, he's a guy who's got to protect the quarterback better in the backfield, and I think that's what Turbin will be in there for. It'll be really cool to see this rotation in the backfield this year because they've got the home run ability, they've got the shore guy in Frank Gore, and they've got a really nice third down option in Turbin as well, who Turbin can play fullback.

Keep that in mind as well. If they decide to go to some interesting sets, and we know that Chudzinski is pretty interesting in the way he draws up some third down plays, some short yardage stuff. It's not always fantastic, but he's very intriguing with the way he does it. Turbin could go into that fullback role with Marlon Mack there back in the tailback. That would be really cool to see as well. And now that we've still got Doyle, Doyle could play H-back and kind of move around to play in motion a little bit, seal the edge, and some of those short down yardage could start to prove to be really interesting parts of the offense. So here we go with that. That'll be fun. Ryan Myers again.

Do you feel that Walker Jr. will eventually be a quality starter for us at inside linebacker, or is he just a guy that might pan out? I don't think he's much of anything right now and I don't know how to explain that because I just don't I just don't see what they see on tape uh this isn't something that not guys here's something that if you ever watch film on these guys or you ever have your own opinions on a guy have your own opinions on a guy you can be own opinions on a guy. You can be wrong. I can be wrong. There's nothing wrong with that. Don't let anybody tell you that you're wrong, but that's your opinion. My opinion specifically on Walker Jr. is that that pick should have gone to a more athletic, capable player as far as I'm concerned. I think Walker right now will be a special teams guy. I think

he could probably be good on special teams. He forces some fumbles. I like that. But at the same time, I don't see him as any kind of an impact guy right away. I don't see him cracking the top four, to be honest with you. Something that I was talking to Jake Arthur today about, we watched the draft this afternoon, and what I see from him is a production pick like Amarlo Herrera, because he has so many tackles, and Amarlo Herrera was a production pick by Ryan Grigson. Didn't have a lot of great film, but the guy had a ton of tackles and everything else, and you think that that translates. Well, Herrera didn't translate to the NFL. That's for sure. Gone. I'm worried that Walker is similar in that regard because I didn't see his brains on

the field. Now, I hear that he's a fantastic leader and a great guy in the locker room. Coaches and players love him. That's awesome. You bring those guys in, you hope that they're the guys that can be ones that can work themselves out, kind of iron the wrinkles out of their game and produce better and make wiser decisions, play faster because they understand what's going on in the field. But I also saw a little bit of confusion, like I see from Antonio Morrison, from him in coverage him in coverage. When he's supposed to be carrying a running back or tight end into the flat or in the middle, he has legit issues with remaining with his key and his vision will waver as opposed to just doing what his job is. And that worries me when you look at the bigger picture as far as his future. He can work himself out of that.

There's no doubt about it. Coaching is everything. If he can get coached out of it, that would do nothing but help his chances moving forward, especially with the Colts if he can do it in the next couple of years. So thank you guys for all your questions. That was fantastic, especially on short notice. I really appreciate that. We're going to have George come in here and talk to us for a little bit.

But all in all, I think Chris Bauer did a fantastic job. really appreciate that. We're going to have George come in here and talk to us for a little bit, but all in all, I think Chris Bauer did a fantastic job, and I'd definitely be giving our draft this year a B, possibly a B+. I'll be actually having my draft grades go up on FanRag Sports tomorrow or today, whenever you're listening to this. Let's be excited about it. It's a fantastic offseason right now for the Colts, especially considering where we were a couple months ago at 8-8 and really looking kind of crappy, right? Still had Ryan Grigson. We were still 8-8. We still had an injured quarterback. I mean, things have definitely started to look up. We've got a better GM. We've got a quarterback who's out of surgery. And we've got a defense now. And we've gotten some really good draft picks

on paper, at least. We've got to see these guys put we've gotten some really good draft picks, on paper at least. We've got to see these guys put it on the grass, though, for sure. So thank you guys for listening, and let's take it over to George. And again tonight, we've got George Bremer hanging out with us tonight on Locked on Colts. George, what's going on, man? Thanks again for your time tonight. Really appreciate it.

Yeah, no problem. It's been a fun weekend, and I happy to to share whatever thoughts i can here on whatever i still have left that makes sense after this weekend well like you uh we we were talking a little bit off air and there was some interesting stuff going on there uh with chris ballard and some insight that you guys were able to get uh with some of the scouts and stuff like that on on some of these picks but let's let's kind of start at the initial some of the scouts and stuff like that on some of these picks. But let's kind of start at the initial pick of the day and go to Marlon Mack, running back out of South Florida. Interesting guy, good speed. He's more of a gliding running back as opposed to like a choppy,

you know, dig your foot in the ground every single step and and change pace and and all this uh a glider uh nice receiving back and has a lot of home run hitting ability so to speak uh what are your thoughts on him did you guys get a uh talk to and get any information out of the scouts on him yeah it's nothing surprising it was what you would think you know they were really attracted to his home run speed the scout that followed him i believe was jamie moore uh i think he followed him for two years he'd been in contact with him uh right before or as he was making the decision to go pro uh you know and basically it was. I think one of the more interesting stories that came from that scout was that one of the initial ways that he had heard about Marlon Mack was through

Sirius XM radio, that Willie Taggart, who was then the coach in South Florida was on the air and he was talking about a freshman that he had that, that everybody really needed to come see. And, you know, the scout got his ears kind of perked up, and the next time he was out at a South Florida game, he watched for him specifically, and he just kind of started to follow him from there. So I thought that was really kind of an interesting way to go about it.

And he mentioned that one of the things that Chris Ballard said, obviously this time Ballard was with the Chiefs, so he wasn't part of that decision as far as the radio show went. But one of the biggest things that Chris Ballard told the scouts is that they're the eyes and ears of this organization. So they need to pull in information from anywhere they can, and then it can get vetted and they can figure out what they want to use. So it's kind of interesting to see the many different ways these guys end up on teams' radars. Yeah. And like I said, I thought it was a fantastic pick. He was a really popular guy on draft Twitter for obvious reasons.

There were some other guys that were real popular too, and it was really interesting. Jake and I were kind of watching the draft together today, and as soon as they mentioned his name, we kind of gave each other a high five. That was because we knew that that guy's got a lot of ability that can help this offense. And one of the stories that I wrote not too long ago was that the Colts need another presence outside of the 25-yard line

because a lot of their production and a lot of their quality play was really from the 25-yard line in this past season. And I really didn't know where the story was going. It was almost kind of like I was trying to figure out which receiver is going to be that guy, whether it was going to be Aiken or whoever it was. But it ended up turning out, just through all the research and stuff that I had done,

that it was really a running back that was going to be the person to really take the offense over that next step. And I think that Marlon Mack could easily be that guy. I absolutely do. And I think that's the biggest thing. He's got a skill set that isn't on this roster right now, and I think when you're looking in the draft, that's one of the biggest things that you want to do as a talent evaluator.

They brought in a guy who not only compliments Frank Gore and Robert Turbin, he does things neither one of them does. He's really a one-cut guy. He's really well-suited to zone to zone blocking schemes. I think he's going to be a guy that's fun to watch, that can make some big plays. I saw one stat today, six of his 15 touchdowns, rushing touchdowns last year were on runs of 43 yards or more. The Colts had a team, had four runs of 20 yards or more. So it's obviously an area that they needed. It's something that looks like he can bring to the table.

It's a fun pick. It's a guy that at this point in time, you can kind of dream a little bit about what he could be. Absolutely. The Colts' next fourth-round pick was at pick 144, was Grover Stewart, defensive tackle out of Albany State. This guy was kind of weird for me to watch. Not weird, but when I was watching him, I was expecting to see, you know, being because of his size and stuff at 6'5", almost 300 pounds,

I was expecting to see some elite burst out of a guy like this because of where he comes from, you know what I mean, as far as what kind of a school and stuff. I didn't really see that. I saw a guy who relied on his arm length and his power and his strength. He was the guy, I think of all the picks today, he was the one guy that I really didn't know much about that I really had to look up and do a lot of research on. Yeah. Yeah. I had to watch him too. I had never heard of him. I know that there's other people that had heard of him.

I had not. And I had to watch him for myself and find out. So I watched a few games of him and, you know, even highlight tapes and stuff like that. Typically on FCS guys, there's just not typically a ton of information on them. And you kind of watch whatever you can. So I spent about 30 minutes trying to see what I could about him. I think that he's a guy who, you know, as far as after he gets into an NFL nutrition program and stuff like that, his potential could be, you know, quite a bit higher than what I see on tape right now. He needs a lot of work with the intricacies of the position

and stuff like that. But he's a big dude, and the Colts need big guys up front who have that arm length and that strength. So, I mean, any fine-tuning that he can do as far as turning himself into a quality front defender would be beneficial to both himself and the team going forward for sure. Absolutely, and I think he is a project. They don't really make any bones about that. He's somebody that they're not really sure what exactly he may bring to the team this year.

He's a guy you're looking more down the line. Get him some technique. Get him some experience. Get him used to this level and then see what he can do. A couple of things that the scout said about him that I remember. One is that he really was impressive. He's a South Georgia guy. That's where he grew up.

And he said there's a particular type of athlete that tends to come from there. Tough guys, physical guys, guys that love football, and he thought that Grover Stewart really had all those traits. He was typical of that area. The other thing is it's really in line with what you just said. One of the things that Chris Ballard really mentioned all weekend long is that he talks to the scouts and he asks them all the time, what's unique about this guy?

What does he have that nobody else in this draft class has? Or at least is top elite at it? And they said that for Grover Stewart, that was rare size, rare length, and rare power. Yeah, that's about it. And the only thing that was cause for concern with me is that it seemed like he relied on all of that in the games that I watched. That's all.

It was more of a – Which you're going to get by with in Division II, but it's a different kind of level in the NFL, no doubt. Absolutely. Absolutely. And we kind of bypassed Zach Banner, the offensive tackle out of USC. I didn't intend to do that, but we did. He was actually the

first pick of the day at 137 for the Colts. This one I was not real impressed with, to be honest with you. He is a huge human being, 6'8", now down to about 350. And you hear differing reports that initially at the pick, they said that he was there to play guard. That really struck me as wild. And I thought, man, there's just no way a 6'8 guy can play guard. He doesn't have a lot of bend and stuff like that in his game. And when you look at him on film, he really is very slow, almost like he's trying to play in almost dry cement. You know what I mean? Very long strides. I mean, he takes up a lot of space, don't get me wrong, but it seems like it takes a long time for him to counter anything

or to get himself back. Like he would be vulnerable to inside moves should an outside linebacker, defensive end start outside, come in, or vice versa. I was kind of not upset with the pick. I was fine with the position, but with guys like Isaac Asiata, Jordan Morgan, and Jermaine Elamnour still on the board, I was kind of hoping that they would

have gone that way. I was under the assumption at the time that he was playing guard, and those guys are natural guards, and I just didn't understand why they would want to take a guy who's 14 foot tall and try to turn him into a guard when there's natural guards already on the board he really is 14 foot tall that's uh the one thing chris ballard said about him that really stuck out to me was he said he's a giant you know

ballard was kind of running down some of the unique traits he saw in each of the picks today and when he got to banner he just said he's a giant of a man. It'll be interesting to see. Today, the way they talked, it sounded like they're going to play him a tackle. Obviously, this is day one. You know, things change a lot once you get them in the building and they start to get their hands on these guys. Banner himself said that he thought that, you know, he isn't the most athletic guy.

He was pretty upfront about that. But he said once he gets his hands on somebody, that's where he wins. And once that happens, he feels like he'll be able to win at the NFL level as well. One thing that the scout said about him was that he felt like Banner had his biggest games against the best opposition, that he felt like one of his better games was against

Zach McKinley in UCLA, and that he tended to play at his best when he faced the top rushers against him. It'll be interesting to see. One of the things that Ballard mentioned is because of that bulk, because of his physical size, even though he isn't the quickest guy, he ends up being a decent pass protector because it just simply takes so long to get around him. Yeah. And that would be great because the Colts do need, we've talked about this before

in the past, the Colts, even though they've got a couple of guys who can play tackle. Now, now we did get to hear that Bauer definitely sees Joe Haag as a guard, correct? Yeah. Yeah. So that's, that's, I mean, if nothing else, it's clarity on where they see him. So then you've got ultimately the Raven Clark at right tackle, and now you've got this guy coming in at right tackle. At least that's where he played in school. You've got some other guys, practice squad guys coming up, and so on and so forth that are going to be kind of battling for that position. So that'll be interesting in that regard now.

That's kind of whittled down what we see as the competition for that position specifically. So that makes a lot more sense more sense at least that they're trying to play him at guard maybe if I would have looked through it a little bit further and was actually looking at opposing tackles on the board maybe he was the best tackle on the board at the time he was definitely not the best guard so that was kind of where my instant thought process came into it. Now let's talk about their first round five pick, Nate Harrison, corner out of Temple. Now this guy played wide receiver his first three years in school, including his redshirt year at Temple. And his last two years kind of went to cornerback. Good, but not huge measurables or anything like that.

Almost six foot. I believe he's right at about 200 pounds. But when you look at his uh athletic features and stuff 35 and a half vertical that is the same vertical as hassan reddick so that's interesting i mean the dude's obviously athleticism is showing through he ran a 45240 nothing out of control about that but that that kind of leads you to believe that a guy who's that athletic and kind of runs at that speed is more of a nickel corner option for them. But you heard some interesting stuff from the scouts on him. What did they get to tell you about him? Yeah, I think the most interesting thing that the scouts said about him

was that this is a guy that whatever the Colts see his ceiling at, he's going to do a little bit more. He feels like wherever they feel like he's capped, this kid's going to work so hard to go above that, that that's kind of his makeup, that's his build. Harrison, when we had him on the conference call, was very, very honest and very open. He talked about that, you know,

initially he really didn't want to make the move. The coaches at Temple have been kind of on him about it when he first got there. And finally one spring they said, well, let's try this. Let's go out there. And he said, you know, he was doing it at that time because the coaches wanted him to do it, not really because it was something that he was 100% invested in.

And then there was a practice in 2015 where Todd Bowles was there, the Jets head coach, and he told Harrison, look, you know, from what I see of you, you stick with this cornerback spot, you could be an NFL defender. And at that point, the light bulb went on, and Harrison from that point on was fully bought in, fully invested, and really wanted to do this. Ballard was pretty open with the idea that he's not 100% sure

what they're going to get from Harrison in the regular defense this year. He's a guy who obviously has only been playing the position for a short time, but he thinks that because of his makeup, because a lot of things that you just mentioned, Harrison will have an immediate impact on special teams. Yeah, and that'll be interesting too, because you've got a guy that can go into special teams. He's going to get a lot of practice time, obviously.

And assuming that he makes the roster and does all those things, that that's more athleticism, more ball skills skills that this defense sorely needs in the secondary. Absolutely. So that's a good thing, and I love hearing that about him. I always love these stories. These are good. This is fun because this isn't the, well, he took some time off, but he says he's over that kind of crap.

We haven't gotten none of those guys. This is the guy who is, you can jump 20 feet, but he's going to jump 21 just to show you that you didn't give him enough credit. So I love that. That's fantastic. I love seeing that kind of stuff. The last pick of the day for the Indianapolis Colts was Anthony Walker Jr. out of Northwestern, inside linebacker. This is a guy who also gave me a lot of pause, to be quite honest with you. He seemed like a production pick to me. 200-plus tackles in his last two years, I believe about 225. I didn't see that kind of skill, if you want to call it that, on tape.

He was a little more confusing to watch. He was legitimately trying to decide which key he wanted to take when he's supposed to be carrying a running back or a tight end into the flat. He's deciding to roll off of it and go to another guy and leaving somebody open. I felt like his gaps, shooting his gaps, and also trying to pursue the ball, he was over-pursuing a lot. And he just left a lot to be determined, as far as I'm concerned in my head, about what he's going to bring to this linebacking core. I see this guy as, like most picks in the fifth, sixth, or seventh round,

at most at this point to be a special teamer. I think that he's got a long way to go, to be quite honest with you, if he's going to make the roster. I didn't hear any of this from the Colts, but I did see online some people felt like he had put on too much weight, that he was being kind of a workout warrior and he got too big and was hampering what he was able to do on the field. So it'll be interesting to see if the Colts share that opinion,

if they try to get him to slim down a little bit. I don't know. Again, that didn't come from the team, so I don't know where they stand on that. That was just something that I saw that the scouts had mentioned, scouts outside of this organization had mentioned about him. As far as the team itself goes, the scout who was assigned to him he mentioned that his his combine interview was one of the best that he's ever sat in with any player he was really really excited about that he talked about his football intelligence a lot he felt like this is a guy

who can be a coach on the field so it'll be interesting to see how that translates for him walker himself the most interesting thing he told us is that he grew up pretty much alongside Quincy Wilson. He trained with Wilson and his dad down in South Florida. So it's kind of a reunion for those two. Wow, that's interesting. You wouldn't have assumed that, but that'd be nice, I mean, to get some guys that are real familiar with each other.

And, you know, maybe that helps the transition process as well, you know, just getting around somebody that you know at the next level. Because this is a huge leap for these guys. I mean, we're critical. I'm more critical than you, obviously. But I mean, when these guys are going from a college setting to where they're the guy to the NFL where they're basically the freshman, this is a huge jump for these guys. And they've got a lot to work towards and a lot of information and a lot of studying to digest. So any little bit is going to help.

I'm all for – I've been wrong in the past. I'm all for being wrong again about either downplaying or over-exemplifying somebody's skill set when they get to the NFL, especially for the Colts. But I love being wrong about guys that I don't see as being day one, 53-man roster guys. So anything that can help him get acclimated and help him get in the groove, I am all for.

I think one of the big things, too, with him is that he's out of position where they've added some bodies. So there's nothing going to be handed to him. I think that's an important thing. You know, he's going to have to compete for even a spot on the team. So, you know, he's in there with John Bostic and Sean Spence and the returning guys last year and Edwin Jackson and Antonio Morrison, and he's going to have to prove he belongs.

Absolutely. Absolutely. So that'll be interesting. Like I said, and with him being fifth on the depth chart, just coming in the door most likely anyways, that kind of leads you to believe that if he is on the 53, he's going to be a special teamer uh at most at this point but hey like i said guys can guys guys can be on the roster and can develop and when they do develop if they develop under the right coaching staff then you know they they stand a chance certainly of making

an impact uh there's a really interesting group of undrafted free agents that are starting to file in under the Colts. One that's really interesting, and you posted about it tonight as well, and I was noticing about it, but Trey Griffey, Ken Griffey Jr.'s son, wide receiver out of Arizona. That's really crazy because I had been listening to another station radio probably about a week ago and they were talking about somebody was really high on him I honestly have no idea who it was it was even talking but I was just listening and they were so high on him about he's just a

gamer like that and he's definitely not a guy that you would ever assume had a famous father and grandpa for that matter and you know would he doesn't come on acting like he's owed anything. But there was an issue with a coaching – with a coach that he dealt with in the past that didn't really believe in him. And then he went on after that and has been doing great things. Do you know anything about him personally as far as his way up? No, I just, you know, saw who his dad was and obviously for me you know growing up i was a high schooler in the 90s and ken grippy jr was as big a star as there was at that point

certainly the biggest in baseball one of the biggest in any sport at that point in time so it was just a name that stood out to me and i think with those bloodlines that alone when you look at what his grandpa did what his dad was able to do how athletic his dad with those bloodlines, that alone, when you look at what his grandpa did, what his dad was able to do, how athletic his dad was, those bloodlines alone are worth a look as an undrafted free agent. Oh, I definitely agree. And like I said, I think he's got a lot of potential, to be quite honest with you, from everything that I've heard. There's a few guys that I watched. We got a guy, local Indiana, at least in college, Martez Hester, a safety out of Ball State. He looks interesting.

Now, Krishan Hogan was a guy that originally was reported to have been being signed by the Colts, but he's actually going to Arizona. That is a guy that I was really actually kind of hoping would be around because he has some speed. He's a natural hands catcher. I remember I actually watched him pretty closely just for this exact reason right here, assuming that if he didn't get drafted, the Colts would have an in on him in undrafted free agency. But he is not going to be an Indianapolis Colt, nor is he going to be in camp.

He's going to be in Louisville. He's going to be in Arizona at least for the beginning of the camp. So that's not happening. I've seen his name on several lists being here for the Colts, and he is not coming to the Colts. He was a sought-after guy. Chris Ballard did say that they had interest in him. It sounds like, from what I can piece together,

that it was Krishan's choice to go to Arizona. Yeah, that's kind of what I gathered as well. He seemed pretty adamant on Twitter that he was not going to the Colts, and you would think that if somebody had announced that and you were excited about it, whoa, wait, wait, I'm going to the Colts? That's cool. That was not the sound of his tweet, if that makes any sense at all, which I know that it doesn't.

But there's another guy who I found interesting. Just trying to catch up on all these guys, watching a little bit of tape on them. But Bug Howard, wide receiver out of North Carolina. He's 6'4", 215 or so. Man, that guy, he is a giant too. And he's got a really long arm span as well. You watch, like, again, very limited video on this guy.

He's not a real highly publicized guy nationally. But, man, he's got a serious catch radius. And this is a guy who I think just on his measurables and speed alone could really be an interesting guy in camp. I think there's going to be a lot of really fun competition at that wide receiver spot. You know about Kamar Aiken coming in, and Dante Moncrief, and T.Y. Hilton, and we assume they've all got spots,

as much as anyone's going to have something locked up in the Chris Ballard era here. After that, though, you've got Phillip Dorsett, you've got Chester Rogers who had a really flash some really good things last year he's still got Tavon Smith on this roster who had some injuries that kind of set him back but he did some very good things at times you've got uh Kwam Bray coming back we know what he can do as a return man he's got some things to work on as a receiver he's certainly going to have some motivation to get those things done now

and now you throw in a guy like Trey Griffey and you throw in a guy like Bug Howard and it should He's got some things to work on as a receiver. He's certainly going to have some motivation to get those things done now. And now you throw in a guy like Trey Griffey, and you throw in a guy like Bug Howard, and it should be a really fun group to watch as they compete. It should be. The more you see these, I mean, what, the Colts have seven or eight spots left on their roster now. So this, I mean, man, we've got, what, 20-some undrafted guys that are, as of now,

signed at least to be in camp. This is interesting, and not only is it interesting, but this means with all these guys that there's likely some cuts right around the corner. Oh, definitely. And Ballard said something really – it was kind of like a throwaway line towards the end. All of us were tired. We double-checked with a couple different people and then we all heard the same thing he said 60 to 65 rookies he expects at the rookie minicamp which is about twice what you would normally see so when he talks about competition and wanting it

it's not just words he keeps putting that into practice again and again in every area he could think of man this dude this this guy ball, he's all right so far, huh? He's done it, you know. He's made a good first impression. There's no doubt about it. Yeah, he's definitely trying to, you know, he's definitely trying. He's definitely living up to his word, that's for sure. He's definitely doing what he said he was going to do, and that is not only impressive, but that's what Colts fans want to see. And as much as certain people, like I'm really a big fan of a couple of the guys in the receiving core. I actually really like Chester Rogers. I think that he can grow into something special. But at the same time, I want to see the best possible 5-6 receivers on this 53-man roster come the beginning of the

season. And I think that every Colts fan should, regardless if there's somebody that you really like going away, regardless if it means, and then I'm going way, way into the four example stages here, but let's say Dante Moncrief was to get cut because some of these guys just go crazy in camp and show that they're a better speed and they're a better red zone threat and that they understand the route tree better and stuff like that. You know what? Tough titties. I mean, we want the best group out there always. You know what I mean?

Yeah, I don't think anything bad can come from competition. I just can't imagine how that's something that can hurt a roster or hurt a team. You're going to go out there and you set up a situation where the best guys are going to play. And, you know, Ballard mentioned specifically last year, it made big-time headlines what happened. At Kansas City, they cut their third-round pick last year

because they felt like the sixth-rounder outplayed them. And when you do things like that, it sends a message to the locker room, and that's part of what you were just saying. Ballard doesn't just talk. He puts into action those words. The fans want to see that. The fans want to see that. The media wants to see that. The players in the locker room want to see that. And that's kind of a big impact. Yeah. You know that guys, even though they know that they have to bring it every day, they're giving each other the winks right now because they appreciate that from him,

that he wants the best out of them. And if they don't give the best out of them and the people across from them in the locker room don't get the best out of them. And if they don't give the best out of them and the people across from them in the locker room, don't get the best out of them, then they're not going to be around. And that's what they want. They want to be part of a winning culture as well. And that's how you do it. Absolutely. I think it's going to be interesting to see.

I think one of the biggest things that Ballard has done, the two words that I probably heard the most out of him over the last three days were upside because we talked about it again last night nobody in this group is a finished product they all have abilities they all have high ceilings they all have more to give so i think that's one that was deliberate on his part the first two picks uh malik hooker is 21 and Quincy Wilson is 20. So they're younger than the time that Adam Venturi has been in the league. It's a really definitive, calculated move by Cristiano to get these young guys in

who have ceilings that are really high, who have things to go after, who we heard that all the time upset but the other thing was patience and i think that's the other thing even jim ursae today when he was talking with us after the fifth round you could tell he was struggling because he understands you do have to be patient there's still a lot of work to do about it's very upfront about that as well but there is so much excitement right now in the building that i think the guys in there the team decision makers the players all the way down it's hard for them to to kind of bottle that up sometimes yeah absolutely george what was your favorite part of the day whether it was the the the picking of a certain prospect or whether it was a certain point in an interview or or anything like that probably the thing i enjoyed the most actually was our conference call with zach banner he's just a

a really outgoing kid uh i think his personality is going to come through obviously he's got to deliver on the field and that certainly remains to be seen but I think he's a guy that was really fun to talk to he talked about how much he really is excited to come to Indianapolis he really had a good meshing with with Joe Philbin he spent more time with him than almost all the other offensive line coaches that he met during this process combined so I think he's an interesting guy he kept saying again and again, he's here to work. And at one point he said, look, anybody that comes in the league and thinks that they don't have anything to work on is being belligerent. And I thought that's an Andrew Luck word, you know, so he's ready to fit in, I think. Yeah, I think so. And there's something else, you know,

like I said, I watched his tape, wasn't all that impressed with what I saw on tape as far as a couple different aspects. But since that tape was made, since that game, he's lost almost 40 pounds. He's down to 349 he said. Yeah, he was almost 380 at one point. I mean, you would expect that. Like we said, the guy's 14 foot tall. Of course he was. You know what I mean?

But you lose that weight, that's obviously going to pick up your foot speed. That's going to increase your agility and mobility and stuff like that. So to say that I'm interested in seeing what he produces at camp this year is an understatement for sure. So I love hearing that. All of them have to do it on the field. I mean, you could win the press conference, or you could win the conference call, and that's great.

It means nothing until you get out there and perform. Absolutely. But I love hearing it. I mean, it's good stuff to hear that the guy is so motivated to impress and be part of something that he – you know, if he wouldn't have said that, nobody would have thought anything about it. If he had just came in and said, I'm here to work, I'm ready to go, this and that and the other thing.

Him going out of his way to do this proves that this process that he's gone through, like you said, with Philbin and Ballard and Pagano and whoever else, proves that what is going on right now with the Colts organization and the front office and the coaching staff is something that people want to be a part of when they become an initial interview or an initial call or something like that from this. This is something that people want to be a part of now. Banner was even talking about walking downtown when he was here during the combine and recalling restaurants that he saw that he was really interested in.

It's not just the organization. It's the city. He's really, really excited about coming here. That's really cool. I enjoy hearing stories like this because it's fun to hear people's real personal views on whatever they're doing. I mean, just the insight to a guy

with no more than talking about restaurants, and that's good stuff because everybody likes to eat. That's for sure. So, hey, George, thanks again, man for for jumping on uh late with me tonight i appreciate it it was a really interesting draft a really exciting draft for colts fans and us alike i think i think we're all excited uh for what we're gonna see at camp rookie mini camp all this other stuff a lot of good talent a lot of good competition is getting ready to happen within the Colts roster. And whether someone thinks they're safe, kind of like you said,

if you don't think, or that Banner said, if you don't think that you can come in here and you have to learn and you have to work to get what you want, then you're belligerent. This is the way that it's going to be now for the Colts. And I think everybody should be really excited about what's to come in the, in the near future for that, that team. I think it's going to be fun to watch too, because a lot of these guys quite honestly, they can go either way because they aren't finished products. And so, you know, will they be closer to their floor, closer to their ceiling?

It's always fun to watch those guys develop and the ones that work out become really good stories. Absolutely. Absolutely. And we're, we got a lot to look forward to that's for sure so uh george thanks again man you're you are uh the man and i appreciate you my guy no problem it's a lot of fun thank you guys all for listening uh thank you guys for sticking around with us for the remainder of the draft coverage uh throughout the season. You guys have been fantastic. The offseason's been great, free agency, and now the draft.

Now we're done with this. We've got a lot of speculating to do. That's the fun part as well. So stick around with us for the next few months, and then we'll get back into the season. Things are just going to go around like a clock. This is good stuff here. So thank you all for listening.

Make sure you rate and review the show on iTunes. And I'll 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. We'll see you next week.