Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 4/30/19: The Colts are playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers with draft expert Chad Forbes

Episode Date: May 1, 2019

When you are a smart organization, winning tends to arrive quicker than expected. That's what happened last season with the Colts, and now they are planning to exceed expectations once more in 2019-20.Following another strong draft haul where depth was added across the board to a team returning 21/22 starters, grades are unanimously high for Indianapolis. Chad Forbes (@NFLDraftBites) joined the show today to discuss the Colts' draft class even further while also explaining why they will be a force to be reckoned with.Rock Ya-Sin and Ben Banogu are great pieces into their defense while Parris Campbell has superstar upside to be more than what he showed scouts at Ohio State. Also, other selections were scattered throughout Forbes' top 100 big board.All of this talent leads to this question: Is Andrew Luck a top MVP candidate for next season? Absolutely. Forbes expects Luck to thrive with weapons like T.Y. Hilton, Devin Funchess, Deon Cain, Eric Ebron, Jack Doyle, Marlon Mack and Campbell alongside him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, everybody. Welcome to the Locked on Colts, part of the Locked on Podcast Network. Today's guest is Evan Sider, enjoyed by a very special guest today, draft expert Chad Forbes. He's following me on Twitter over at NFL DraftBytes. Chad, how do you do that? Guys, thank you for having me. Excited to talk Colts. Yeah, no problem at all.

I'm glad to have you on, Chad. And we should just dive right into it. We're going to go down the list here of the Colts' main selections through day two. We're going to hang on to list here of the Colts' main selections through day two. We're going to hit on some of their main prospects here. Then we'll also dive into some more draft talk for you guys, alongside finishing with some more Colts talk for what they should expect for next season. But the first selection, Chad, before we dive into that, what was your overall takeaway from the Colts' draft?

Because when I see some analysts around there like Mel Kuyper and some others, it seems like that's a pretty slam-dunk draft for the Colts. I've seen a lot of A's across the board. Well, allow me to preface. I was a Chris Bauer fanboy before it was trendy. So now it seems like after that first or at least last year's draft, it's like the guy can do no wrong. He's invincible.

But another good draft, rock solid, created a lot of competition, some exciting players mixed in there, and then some surprises. So another good draft for the Colts, and Chris Ballard, and Chris Ballard, you guys should trust. Oh, absolutely. Around here they say trust the binder, and with some Colts fans with how the draft was last year, definitely going to do that again with this haul in 2019.

And let's dive into it, Chad. Their first selection, Rocky Ascent, they moved back from 26 to 34, or excuse me, they moved back from 26, they got the Redskins selection in 2020, moved back to 46. What was your thoughts on the selection of Rockets in the 34, moving back and still getting the guy they reportedly coveted at 26? Love the fit for him in that zone scheme, and he'll have some time to learn with Quincy Wilson and opposite Desir and then the slot.

They're pretty solid, so he's got a little time to come along. Small school's kid that transferred to Temple. What I love about him is he's self-made. He's tough. He's got all the physical skills. And it'll be interesting seeing how he transitions into kind of a zone system for playing predominantly like off-man at Temple. But he's obviously a very good corner prospect

and just adding depth on the back end. Compared to a few years ago, just the cornerback group has vastly improved. Absolutely. Do you have a ceiling for a Rocky Sin or a comparison out there? Because when you see him, he has long arms. He has a really freak fiscal build, but he's kind of on the slower side for a corner around mid-4-5s. What do you think is a good comp for a guy like Rocky Sin for some fans out there?

Your playing style kind of reminded me a little bit of Byron Jones, the corner for the Cowboys, who came out of UConn, originally started at safety. He kind of looks like he's a bit of an interchangeable guy where you could see him playing safety, but they're obviously going to use him in their system at corner. What Jeff said, you're going to get a very good starting NFL corner if he can continue to develop, which he's shown that ability

the past few years at Temple. What I love about him is that he kind of fits the Colts culture of being a self-made, tough guy who's going to come in and compete his tail off. And he should have an opportunity to start sooner rather than later. Yeah, I think really if he proves himself in camp, there's a good chance he could start day one for the Colts with a Quincy Wilson and a Pierre Desir and Kenny Moore. They look pretty stacked at that cornerback position. But let's go into our next selection here, Chad, and that's Ben Banigou, the edge out

TCU, but the Coltrane can try him out at outside linebacker and in Jamie Collins type of role. Chris Bauer sees him as really a Swiss Army knife in our defense. What do you think about Banigou? It's interesting because you haven't seen really a Swiss Army knife fit into this kind of defensive system in the past, whether it was when Eberfuss was down in Dallas. i think he's more of a pass rusher and ultimately that's why he was taken in the second round and he didn't have to kind of compete with your taekwon lewis you guys got draft year last year kamoko teray and figure out where he fits but if you're going to be in a predominantly in a nickel package you're going to have darius flannard out there and then somebody

looks a little bit like more like bobby okereke or the guy you got in round five. So I don't really see him succeeding as an off-ball linebacker. I think they're just going to try to find a way to get him on the field and obviously at the edge, which, I mean, you can't have enough good pass rushers for the culture a little bit. To find a way to creatively utilize him is kind of the question they're probably asking internally. But he's a good prospect.

He had a lot of momentum throughout the process where people just continue to get more excited about him. And, you know, coming into kind of like at the end of the season there, my first mock draft, I had him late in round three. And then, you know, leading up to draft day, I heard that he wasn't going to get below, you know, 65 or 66. So Colts got another good player. This could be – I'm developing him.

What do you think as far as his ceiling? Because he's a twitchy athlete, he blew up the combine, he's had 17 sacks the last two years. It seems like he's kind of a modern-day edge rusher where speed really does matter nowadays. Yeah, I think he's a modern-day edge rusher who needs to learn how to convert that speed to power. And if I were the Colts, I would say just follow Justin Houston around,

do what he does. Because if he can develop a little bit of a power game and start to deal with that if they'll tackle then you've got a potentially you know a dominant I'm not dominant but that's a little I guess bold at this point but you could have a real impact at dresser so out of that group of young guys you got behind Houston and sheared you know Lewis and Tarray from last year and then this year getting bandicoot you've got ultimately find the heir apparent to to your kind of elder statesman on the edge that being Houston this year and he's he's a really toolsy guy he's exciting player yeah that's for sure he's very versatile

like the Colts really love in prospects and his athletic traits really pop off the page when you look at him on the spider charts around the internet but let's move on to possibly my favorite selection this draft class and the one who I continue to watch more and more of, I get more excited about, and that's Paris Campbell, the wide receiver out of Ohio State. He's going to be used probably in the slot in Indianapolis initially and then probably maybe three or four years down the line. He might be the guy who gets that baton pass to him from T.Y. Hilton

as the number one receiver down the line. What's your expectations for a guy like Paris Campbell? Your thoughts on him because it just seems like he has such a higher ceiling than maybe we saw at Ohio State. I'm higher on Paris Campbell than most. And I'm not into that. I think the NFL showed us this past week that they also have the same mindset of the big-bodied wide receivers who aren't that fast

and kind of have trouble separating. So their time speed at the combine may be good, but they're not necessarily guys that can run routes. That's not exactly coveted. As a guy like Paris Campbell, he gets opened. He's not the best route runner, and you're probably right. He probably starts out in the slot. But you watch him make some plays at Ohio State,

and Big Ten is still fast. It's not the SEC. But you saw him running past defenses. This kid's got real speed. He's had some concentration drops. But getting an assistant when you're going to be working with a guy like Andrew Luck, that's going to be hugely beneficial to him. And the one thing that kind of went off in my head when I first saw that

selection was, wow, Deion Kane has come back off injury. He has some competition. Yeah, that's for sure. They're going to have a ton of depth wide receiver. I really love what they're doing have a ton of depth wide receiver i really love what they're doing right now with funchess and you add in a paris campbell with a dion cane ty hill and the andrew looks have so many weapons we had in those tight ends too when i watch paris campbell chad it seems like there's way more upside than we saw with him at

ohio state because he was only used predominantly in the screen and really small routes at ohio state but when i watch i feel like if you use him deep and the right system like Frank Ruck, I think, wants to use him, he can be like a Tyreek Hill kind of player, can't he? Yeah, I saw him run so many, as you said, screens and also a ton of drag routes at Ohio State where he was going across the middle of the field. And then you see the kid run,

and the speed that he showed at the combine, low 4-3, that's not just time speed. You watch him play, he can really run. So can he turn into a vertical threat is really the question mark. If that happens, then you've got one of the most talented wide receivers in the draft. And it might take a little bit of time, but as you mentioned, there's depth there, so there's going to be competition.

And if the light doesn't come on right away, he'll have a little bit of time to develop his game. How would you grade, I mean, your initial grade of a Paris Campbell? Because I know, like you mentioned, the bigger receivers in and the Colts, it makes a lot more sense to go with these twitchier wide receivers when they need more yards at their couch. But did it surprise you maybe to see these Paris Campbell types of guys go over the DK Metcalfs of the world?

The big body lumberers, as I call them, the guys that are just huge physical contested catch guys. Look at what's going on in Alabama now. If you look at all the wide receivers there, and I think Nick Saban is kind of a forward-looking guy. We'd all agree there. All of his wide receivers are these, like, 6' to 6'1", 190-pounders that are quick in and out of breaks.

They're fast, and they're tough to cover. The big body guy that you could just, like, put a big corner on, and they can't necessarily run by him with a combination of speed and routes, they put a lot of pressure on the quarterback, and they lead to ultimately a lot of turnovers. This is a rare exception, guys like Antoine Bolden or Mike Evans that can make contested catches. But in the NFL, the contested catch guy is, I guess,

you'd rather have a guy that gets open. And with Paris Campbell, you've got a guy that's got the ability to get open. So I was not surprised to see him go ahead of, you know, a DK Metcalf. And I think he's a great fit for the Colts. They definitely did their work on the wide receiver. They originally did an A.J. Brown and a couple of the other guys. But I think Campbell's a great fit. I'm right there with you.

I think Paris Campbell's going to excel right away in this Colts system under Frank Reich and Nick Sirianni. But our next selection on the board here, third round, number 89 overall, Bobby Okereke, the linebacker out of Stanford, the longest wingspan in this class, really tested out the church as well for a linebacker too. I think carrying him alongside Darius Leonard and Anthony Walker should really excite some Colton out there.

He looks like Darius Leonard with those arms and speed. And they certainly have a type they look for at that position. That's for sure. And he's a Stanford guy. I can't say I know him, but I assume he's a pretty smart one. And the idea of him and Darius Leonard and that nickel package running around with those long arms covering a lot of ground, that's a good selection. And they got him at the right spot in the draft.

Where do you value Okarike? Because I saw some people had him as a top 60 prospect. Some had him as out of their top 100. Where did you grade him? It's interesting. I had all of the picks up through Kerry Willis. They were all in my top 100 for the Colts. So I think I had Okarike a little bit lower, actually, than Kerry Willis.

I had him at the Kerry Willis around 90, and Okarike around the 93 or 94. And just my question with Okarike is, does it transition to the NFL quickly? And is he going to be a starting Mike, Will? Where does he kind of fit? And also some certain systems I don't think he'd fit into, even with the Colts, the big guys that can run and kind of move a little bit sideline to sideline and drop in the zone. He should fit pretty well.

Yeah, absolutely. I think Okarike and that linebacking group of the Walker and the Laird is going to be really intriguing down the line, especially when you add in Ben Banigou and his Swiss Army NACA abilities too. But let's move on here to our next selection, which is Kari Willis at Michigan State, who you're alluding to, Chad. How do you like him? Because as Chris Ballard said in his press conference after the draft,

he was actually considering going with Curry Willis at 89 overall with their third round selection. Do you think Willis is a good fit alongside him, Lee Clipper, long term? Well, I mentioned previous to the draft that I thought there was a cluster of about six safeties that were going to go on day two.

And Jim Nagy, who is a senior bowl director, came back to me and said, go watch Curry Willis a couple times. So I went back and watched Kerry Willis, and you don't necessarily see a really explosive player, but you see a guy that's physical, he's smart, and he's always in the right place. He seems to just make the play consistently. And if you're going to have a guy like Malik Hooker playing on the back end,

you've got a guy like Kerry Willis, just a little more versatile in terms of he can play up near the line scrimmage, I think he's going to come along, and I think he's going to push Clayton Gethers pretty quickly for the starting strong safety role. Yeah, that wouldn't surprise me at all because you see how instinctual Kari Willis is. I watched some film of him against Michigan,

and some of the plays he was making, he was calling them up before they were happening, and you need a guy like that in your back end alongside Emily Cooker. He's like a free- safety so to say how do you think if we're going more into the draft on day three now there's Marvell Tell EJ Speed who is the one sleeper selection maybe out of those final selects for the Colts that maybe intrigue you the most that Marvell Tell has to intrigue you uh you know the idea that they got a guy that size that they think they can play corner in the NFL you know he might not transition there a guy that size that they think they can play corner in the nfl

you know he might not transition there and it might not work out immediately and he might be a guy that's even tough to stick on that 53 because there's gonna be so much competition but he's a very intriguing player and i love what they said about was ej speed that even they weren't really on to him until about a month ago because i'll be honest he was the first guy selected where i said who and then i read a little bit up on him in his background. He sounds like a really interesting player. I just love the idea that even though the offensive line has become a strength, you can't have enough good quality offensive line with the Raven Clark

and Boehm both getting glued. And the other third back that's getting close to free agency, why not add a couple guys back into that unit and see if they even want to stick on the roster and then potentially consider them for practice squad. So I like those two picks. I just thought that was a smart move by Ballard because it would be tough for them to sign undrafted offensive linemen

given that it's going to be so difficult to make the roster. Chad, I wanted to ask you your overall opinion right now of the Colts front office because it feels like just a polar opposite shift from under Ryan Grixen to now with Chris Bowden, the rest of the guys in there, Ed Dodds, Rex Hogan. It feels like the Colts front an office is probably the most structured and the most well-rounded one right now in the NFL. What's your thoughts on how the Colts are really operating right now?

Colts fans should wake up every morning and be thankful that Josh McDaniels turned down the head coaching job because I really do believe that Jim Irsay wanted Josh McDaniels. He bought into the hype of new England. And what, what you've got there is not just a great group of evaluators, but a seamless fit with the coaching staff where they're all on the same page. Frank Reich and Chris Ballard aren't big ego guys, right? Frank's willing to admit that, you know, yep, this Chris handles, he had a player acquisition. He controls the 53. He takes my input.

And every front office and coaching staff, they all start out by saying it's going to be collaborative and we're going to take a joint approach where we're going to be on the same page. And then it quickly breaks down. The egos come out and there's finger pointing and they ultimately don't run as collaborative groups. And I think it's the direct opposite of Indianapolis.

I think the first year of this group together, they really all got on the same page. Keeping Eberfluss there was just a huge, I mean, a huge to keep him in the fold or let him run that defense. It's one of the best running front offices. And to go from what you had with, I think, probably one of the worst gentlemen in football I've seen in a long time, Ryan Grigson, to really just a great group of evaluators

with good coaching staff, it's just a seismic change, and we're seeing it pay huge dividends. Is there any other GM-coach combo you'd take over a Chris Ballard and Frank Rucker now, Chad? You know, I think these questions are always tough. It's like, would you take a young quarterback? Would you take Tom Brady? Well, I would take the young quarterback because I see that there's a sustainable footprint to go forward.

So when I look at the dynamic of Rike and Ballard, what they've established in just a year together, it's hard to say there's another front office you'd prefer. And I think maybe you could make an argument that John Schneider, but Pete Carroll's getting up there. He's around 70. The Seahawks maybe aren't the the right group uh in this Chargers have a very good dynamic but yeah I really think it's kind of crazy to say because as you mentioned you know just 24 months ago or sorry maybe 30 months ago you know you had uh you had what's his name in there Gregson who was just I mean the guy was confused it'd be a nice way to put it but you know I think I've had enough negative things to say about Ryan Gregson but now you really got mature adults in the building and you're right it's one of becoming one of the pillar franchises again.

Yeah, it's nice to see that change after a period where it really went downhill for a little bit. But let's bounce over a little bit, Chad, to some general draft takes to get off the Colts for a second. We'll come back to the Colts here in a few minutes. But what was your main reaction to – I want to hear your thoughts on the Kyler Murray situation in Arizona because I've never heard of a situation where you trade for a quarterback

in the top 10, then you take a guy again, number one overall with Kyler Murray. What was your whole thoughts on that Rosen-Murray dynamic and how it worked out in Arizona? I've got a friend out there who's very close to Steve Kime and has known him for about 20 years. And the insight that I got from him was that it was very ownership-driven, the selection, in the sense that the business of football mattered. And having a guy who was just such a magnetic star like Kyler Murray was very attractive to that ownership group out there.

And giving up on it, handled it. I would say a lot of the direction came from the league off in terms of they didn't want any of the buzz or the intrig lot of the direction came from the league off in terms of they didn't want any of the buzz or the intrigue of the draft to be gone. So they wanted Rosen to at least stick around through draft day. And ultimately, I mean, they gave up picks to move up for Rosen the year before and they got pennies on the dollar. So that's just mismanagement. And another thing I heard from my friend who's pretty close to kind is that, you know, the owner didn't want to send him to a situation where he would look like an idiot in the next 12 months.

So they sent him to Miami for a second-round pick, which they turned into Andy Isabella at a future fifth. That's just poor management. And they spent a lot of money on the quarterback position the last two years, not just on draft capital, but also Bradford and Mike Glennon, and they paid a lot of money to Rosen for one year. So it's just been really poorly managed. Yeah, that's for sure.

I'm actually based out here in Arizona for the time being with school, and you just see just how much overhauls made the quarterback position with Sam Bradford, Mike Glennon, Josh Rosen, Kyle Murray all taking that position in the last 13 months. It's just a carousel right now in Arizona. But what's your overall other draft winners outside of the Colts, Chad? I think it's the Redskins and the Colts trade-up had a solid draft. I know maybe the Bears had a solid draft even though they had very few picks. Who are some winners for you on your end?

It's hard to say who was the draft winner because you have to take it in context of what they did the entire offseason and say who improved their football team overall. I agree with you. The Bears did a decent job. I thought the Eagles did a great job this offseason, just continuing to find more cap space, keep the guys that they felt they couldn't replace, and then they had a pretty solid draft.

I'm probably one of the lone people to say I thought the Giants did a good job, but I'm higher on Daniel Jones than most, and I thought they got two really good football players in Dexter Lawrence and DeAndre Baker also there in the first round. So sure sure it hurts to lose a Beckham and a player of his caliber but I thought they did a nice job just continuing to build out that roster Chargers did another solid job I thought the Broncos quietly had a pretty good draft in offseason I'm not really high on Joe Flacco I don't think we're ever going to rediscover the fountain of youth there but you know just in terms of addressing the quarterback being patient waiting for Drew

Locke to fall to their laps to round two, also picking up an extra second round pick by trading down and getting really a dynamic tie-in, which they haven't been able to find for their really strong sharps, I would say. Excuse me, Shannon Sharp. I thought Noah Fant could be a real dynamic player for them.

And I like Risner and Draymond Jones. I like that pick. I like the way they're going with Vic Fangio. I thought the Chiefs had had a disaster of an offseason. And the Raiders, you know, they had a lot of picks. I'm not sure they definitely turned them into a great haul of impact players, but time will tell. I'm very curious, Chet, since you brought up the Giants there. I was just going to bring up our next question about the losers of this draft, because I thought that they really overdrafted

Daniel Jones, but you seem pretty high on Daniel Jones. What's your thoughts on the quarterback from Duke? I think the context is important when evaluating quarterbacks, and he didn't have a supporting cast around him. He was consistently under pressure. His receivers dropped a ton of balls, and it sounds like I'm making excuses, which a lot of people criticized me for doing last year on Josh Allen.

But with Daniel Jones, what I like about him is that in the NFL game, you've got to be able to deal with pressure, stay in the pocket. When you get hit, get back up. And for a guy who's going to come into kind of the New York bubble, which is the media is tough on you there, I like his personality and the way that he's dealt with a little bit of adversity out at Duke. Getting that team to eight and five was not easy.

And you want to watch a good tape on Daniel Jones, go watch the Temple game, that bowl game he played where he knocked out a defense and ultimately ended up having two kids drafted and a couple more signed undrafted. He's got some good tape. He's also got some issues he's got to clean up. Six overall is rich for a guy you're going to be sitting for at least a year. But I do think there's a lot of upside there in his young quarterback.

I like him. I also like what the Redskins did, though. I think getting another quarterback in that room. They've also been a team where the last 10 years has really invested a ton of money in picks and quarterback, but rolling into a season with Case Keenan and Colt McCoy was not going to exactly

inspire a lot of confidence amongst the fan base. Being patient, not trading up to get Haskins, I thought that paid a huge dividend in terms of they were able to keep their draft picks and come away with him and Montez Sweat. That's pretty exciting for the Haskins. I thought that paid a huge dividend in terms of they were able to keep their draft picks and come away with him and Montez Sweat. So that's pretty exciting for the Redskins. Yeah, definitely. The Jones and Haskins

selections are really intriguing to look at, and they're definitely interesting to watch in the same division next year for the next 10 plus years. But Chad, we're going to pivot over to our losers here as far as maybe some teams that had you scratching your head on draft night. Who were some teams that maybe you thought maybe might have bungled the draft away a little bit? I think the Lions.

Drafting the tight end, I liked Hawkinson. He got a little bit overhyped throughout the process. It was like, oh, my gosh, we finally see the tight end come from college. He can catch the ball and actually block. Rather than saying he's a tight end and positional value matters, obviously they were able to add a pass rusher for agency. But I thought that pick, you know, sure, good pick. It's kind of like hitting a double.

When you're in the top ten and your team like them has six wins, you've got to be looking for more of a home run. I thought in round two the linebacker they drafted from Hawaii was just a huge, huge reach. I mean, I had him ranked right around Okarike there at the end of round three, and they picked him at 44. So the Lions draft just kind of left a lot to be inspired, and I just think the direction of that front office right now is a little off.

Yeah, I feel like Detroit, unfortunately, that situation with them is a little rough right now, and Matt Patricia might be on the hot seat next year with him. What do you think about that situation in Detroit since we're on the topic for a second? We heard about Matt Patricia Puss being fired next year. I think if the Lions have another bad season, do you think maybe there's going to be a big overhaul there? Boards are very renowned for being patient. They don't want to cycle coaches in and out they

want to build a franchise kind of like the Ravens or the Giants where there's stability at the coaching position but you can't deny that since they've Jim Caldwell I'm not gonna we're not gonna confuse him for a Hall of Fame coach anytime soon but the team was you know at least much more competitive when he was there and Stafford was playing at a higher level but what I don't like that's coming out of Detroit I imagine this mention this a lot, is it's like pretty much public knowledge around the league that in the next year, Matthew Stafford's going to be available in trades. And I feel like the group there, Bob Quinn, Matt Patricia, they're almost trying to cast

blame on Stafford rather than realize that they haven't built much support around him. And I just think that they've committed so many resources trying to build a running game, which they haven't been able to him. And, you know, I just think that they've committed so many resources to trying to build a running game, which they haven't been able to do. And they kind of just gave up on it and said, all right, let's shift our focus to defense and let's go sign a bunch of, you know, former Patriots and overpay them. So I think that's just a situation that's getting more messy by the day. Yeah, that's for sure.

If there's going to be some drama to follow next year, it could be a team like Detroit. But let's close here, chat on some Colts thoughts once more. And after that draft class and with free agency, they got Justin Houston, Devin Funches. They also just signed Spencer Word. They're the former Chiefs running back. How do you feel the Colts stack up next year in the AFC?

Because I think they're honestly up near the top. Absolutely. I think they're – you know, Vegas will tell you they're one of the favorites for the Super Bowl. You know, I was going through the roster today, just kind of beginning to project out what a 53 man would look like, you know, and see where kind of the roster battles were. And that guy in the defensive backfield after the draft, I said,

wow, Nate Harrison, who I think is a pretty good player, the Temple defensive back, he's got the personal – he's going to have some – he's going to have a tough time making the 53. And, you know, a few years ago, it was like, you know, if you could kind of run, you had some ball skills, and you might have an interest in tackling, you could make the Colts roster in the defensive backfield. So I think that's an interesting just development.

There's so much competition. Last year, they cut a guy like John Simon. He could play football in the NFL, right, because they had enough competition on the defensive front, and they're just continuing to add more of that. And that's really how you build a great team and that great culture is you reward guys who play well. And that's how you're going to build a really talented roster

over the next four or five years around Andrew Luck. And once you've got the franchise quarterback in place and some building blocks, which they do, it's really exciting. And can they knock off the Patriots, the Chiefs, the Chargers? That'll be the test. And I think they're heading in the right direction, that's for sure. Do you feel like maybe, I mean, playing as far as the pieces that the Chiefs have lost so far with, you have Kareem Hunt

and now you're going to lose Tyree Kill, I assume, pretty soon. Do you feel like the Colts may be that team that could leapfrog them as far as being that number one contender in New England? Absolutely. And that's, they're not going to be able to beat New England by running by them. And I think that's what Chris Ballard realized in terms of building those rosters. The failures of Bill Pauling, and while he won a Super Bowl, was he built a team that ultimately wasn't physical enough to win in January and win in February. And if he got them outside the dome, you could take advantage of the fact that they were a little soft.

Chris Ballard is building a physical football team that tackles and hits, and that's how you beat the Patriots. You look at the Giants who have had success against them even back years ago or over the years the Ravens teams have done pretty well against the Patriots. It's because they get off the bus and they can beat them in the physical game and if you do that with a franchise quarterback on Andrew left you can also you know move the ball down the field and being a high percentage passing quarterback you've got the you've got the framework to beat the

Patriots so I think the Chiefs without without Hill and it's the speed there and without Kareem hunt, sure, I mean, they're putting a lot of faith in the kid they drafted around too, McCole Hardeman, to really come in and contribute immediately. And they've got to get more out of Sammy Watkins. And I don't think that – I think their offensive line is going to start to regress a little bit. So I do think that the AFC behind the Patriots is going to be wide open.

I think Colts, Chargers, they're right there knocking on the door. The Texans. And the AFC is getting a lot more competitive than it was three or four years ago. Let me close on this chat with Andrew Luck. Just coming back from what he did the past couple years with his shoulder and now putting up nearly 40 touchdowns last year. With the weapons they have now, I mean, the added Paris Campbell, Devin Funches into that room with a Deion Kane, T.Y. Hilton,

those tight ends as well with Marlon Mack in the offensive line. There's so much pieces for Andrew Luck now where I feel like as entering age 30 and really into his prime right now, I think he's really a dark horse candidate for MVP next year. You know, to me, he's a candidate for MVP every year. Statistics are just to voters so they matter too much. Last year, you could have had a real argument

that Andrew Luck was the MVP and not Patrick Mahomes. That's with all due respect to what Mahomes did in Kansas City with the 50 touchdowns. Without Andrew Luck, even with a quarterback, who I think is a pretty good backup in Jacoby Brissett, they're a five or six win team, a four win team. Andrew Luck does so much.

He is a franchise quarterback and an MVP candidate perennially. Chad, this is really fun. I appreciate you coming on in the time today. And if listeners don't know where to follow you at or where to find your work, you can go ahead and plug whatever you want for the moment. Yeah, sure, guys. Just find me on Twitter at NFL DraftBytes. Always looking forward to talking football on the Colts.

So hit me up on the apps or DM me and let's talk Colts. Thank you for the time and definitely an exciting season for you guys coming up. All right, Chad, I appreciate the time and thanks everyone for listening in. I'll be back to you guys tomorrow for the next episode.