Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 4/9/19: Why the Colts are set up for sustained success with Evan Silva of Rotoworld

Episode Date: April 9, 2019

On today's episode of Locked On Colts, Evan Silva of Rotoworld NFL stops by for a wide-ranging discussion on the why the Indianapolis Colts are on the fast track to long-term success.- 2018-19 season overview- Why Devin Funchess and Justin Houston will thrive in Indianapolis- The unreal turnaround of Andrew Luck and the Colts' offensive line- Who are some prospects who Colts fans should keep their eye on, plus should they trade up? Silva wants the draft to come to Indianapolis instead of being too aggressive- Is Chris Ballard and Frank Reich the best GM-Coach duo in the league?- Expectations for Colts in 2019-20 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 is always your host, Evan Siderangue, a very special guest who actually shares the same first name as me, Evan Silva, over at Roto World. Evan, how are you doing today? Evan, thanks so much for having me on your show, man. Really excited to talk about the Colts, one of my favorite teams in the NFLfl you know and um because i just love the way that they build their team philosophically uh financially you know intelligently and it starts at the top with chris ballard and i think it extends down to um the head coach who you know of course was dean is like a fallback option but my goodness gracious could it not have worked out better for the Colts?

I think it's a product of what Chris Ballard brings to the table as already one of the NFL's top three GMs. Yeah, I'm right there with you. I mean, if you think about it, just how crazy the rebuild was and how quickly it was. I mean, from my standpoint, I sat through a lot of Ryan Griggs in years where the offensive line almost ended Andrew Luck's career. What does it say about the turnaround Chris Ballard has done

in just less than two and a half years in the Annapolis Colts where arguably there could be one of the favorites in the AFC for years to come? I'm just all in on Chris Ballard and you know I started to really embrace that last year and I think that what we've seen from him in terms of just being fiscally responsible in terms of having an open line of communication with his brilliant coaching staff. And just everyone is on the same page. I think that it's just one of the brightest young franchises in the NFL on so many fronts. You look at just the way that he was able to change the complexion of the offensive line in really the matter of one offseason with Braden Smith, with claiming Mark Lewinsky off waivers

in December of 2017, which I still think doesn't get enough praise. With taking Quentin Nelson, who I think that people look back as a no-brainer, but guess what? Top six NFL picks, it's not as easy as you think it is but he took an absolute stud and by adding those three guys to you know the the very small foundation that was left behind by Grigson and Pullian Anthony Costanzo and Ryan Kelly I mean you're talking about already I think it's the best offensive line in the NFL when you factor in depth because Joe Hague can step in and be a starter at guard or tackle you know and they claim Evan Boehm and they bring back to Marcus Webb

the Raven Clark has made starts in this league so I just I just love everything about the Colts I mean their team building just also let's let's retrace our steps a little bit back to last year and they started off one and five ended the year 10 and six and also won the wild card game in houston just what was your thoughts on how they turned around the season last year and then i think once that offensive line stabilized itself really with gloinski in there instead of matt slosson and you have more seasoning for guy quentin ellison too it just seemed like it all came together at the right time for everyone.

Yeah, well, I mean, you have to understand that early in the season, it was a team being pieced back together. I mean, you know, beginning with the quarterback, who didn't even play the season before, and there were so many moving parts from, you know, the head coach who, you know, a lot of people, you know, he looked like a fallback option. The defensive coordinator, Eberflus, who I'm actually surprised is not an NFL head coach somewhere right now. The Colts should be very, you know, thankful,

grateful that he did not get hired as a head coach this offseason. I think he was much more deserving than guys like Zach Taylor. But, yeah, I mean, just, you know, they changed. coach this offseason I think he was much more deserving than guys like Zach Taylor but yeah I mean just you know they they changed they they started off really slow they were throwing the ball a lot and their defense really came together the offensive line certainly came together they were they were banged up at pass catcher all year T.Y. Hilton Jack Doyle what you know went out early they were leaning so much and on eric ebron remember late in the season he had like he was listed on the injury report with

like five different injuries you know and um i don't know i just thought they were a they were they were a battling team and i think that their their was underrated, especially as the offensive line came together. And, you know, how everything kind of came together, especially defensively in the zone scheme, which, you know, Tampa 2 defense is like frowned upon widely in the NFL these days. But, you know, the Colts made it work. And I think they're going to be a lot more talented on defense this year than they were last year.

I'm just thinking more about it, just the ascension of that Colts defense. And you added a piece like a Justin Houston to that equation. What does that do for them now when you have a guy, Kamoko Ture, Taepwon Lewis, they have more seasoning. You also have Danico Autry, Marcus Hunt. I just feel like if they make a couple moves in the draft there, you're also on top of that with the Justin Houston signing. They could have one of the best front sevens in the NFL in pretty short order.

I agree with you. They're just straight starters on the defensive front seven, are real strong right now. I think probably top 15 in the league you're talking about Justin Houston Jabal Sheard maybe Ture, Margus Hunt, Danico Autry, Darius Leonard of course Anthony Walker you know your and Grover Stewart was a big part of their rotation last year oh so many of these guys have an opportunity to grow.

Justin Houston and Jabal Sheard, we kind of know what they are going to be, but we didn't know that Marcus Hunt and Danico Autry were necessarily going to be as good as they were last year, and certainly not Darius Leonard. And there's a bunch of young talent. I think Grover Stewart is going to grow every single year. Trey, you and I both are expecting a second-year step up from him. Al-Khawdeen Mohamed gave them some pass rush late in the season. I mean, and I think that, you know, with these draft picks that they have, they don't have, like, you know, an elite arsenal of draft picks, but it's top 15, top 12 in the NFL.

You know, certainly with the 2-2s, they're going to be adding some serious talent to this roster they're just and they're in grip what do you think about all right so I know that there's an argument amongst like Colts observers about how Chris Ballard was not super super aggressive with the free agent money no No, he really wasn't. And I don't really understand why because you see Landon Collins get paid a lot of money, $16 million. I think that's really too much money for a guy like Landon Collins. And I think Chris Ballard mentioned in a podcast recently with Adam Schefter,

they have a limit and he goes to sleep at night pretty fine because if he goes over that limit, he knows he's doing right by the team and right by himself for the future. And I think that's the way to look at it and the way to do it because you get these second wave bargain signings like a Justin Houston, a Danico Autry, a Marcus Hunt. And I imagine they're going to keep doing it every year, Evan, I feel like, because they're going to keep rolling over the money until they need it, until they have to splurge and re-sign their own guys. And they're going to continue to draft well, I think, too. It just seems like it's a sustainable

method of success there. And it's not going to be too long before they have to give Andrew Luck a new contract. But, I mean, that's going to be coming down the pipeline. But, you know, they're... And also, Chris Ballard worked in that same front office in Kansas City with John Dorsey and, of course, Andy Reid and Brett Beach. And, you know, they were able to – I mean, they had a very, very talented draft pick acumen. You just – college prospects. They had a very good scouting team, but they messed up the salary cap situation in Kansas city.

There was a massive dispersal. John Dorsey got fired for this in Kansas city. And so, and I mean, you know, not everyone, people had moved on at that time, but I think it was clear throughout the lead because I think that John, that John Dorsey is well regarded as a talent evaluator, but I think that Chris Ballard can like learn from those mistakes and Be a frugal guy and also at some point what you want to do you what you really want to do for your team is you want to get it into position where

You are letting go of more young overpaid talent than you're bringing in and get ahead because the colts have not really gotten ahead of the game in the compensatory pick process yet because they just haven't had enough talent but i think that that is the next step for this organization yeah I think that's really what's going to happen next because Jabal Sheard is a free agent the Osage Cobra said he's going to free agent I forget Funchess will be a free agent exactly you're going to have maybe at least three four three fourth round picks probably even better than that probably third round picks a percent, Playwell, and Funchess. That just seems like – is that the New England way of success

that Ballard was going for? I mean, you saw New England's Kyle Master. Is that really what Ballard's trying to do there as well? I mean, I can't speak to exactly what Ballard is trying to do, but I think that that should be the next step in their build because actually if you look, Doyle and Ebron, both of their contracts expire. Chester Rogers, his contract expires. Devin Funchess, his contract expires. Brissette, who could be a big chip, by the way, his contract expired i think kelly ryan kelly i think that his contract

expires and that's only on offense and then you're talking about on defense um gathers kindred um hooker's not there yet uh kenny moore sure, his contract expires after this. You really want to get ahead of the game with the expiring contracts where you are adding free draft picks in the following year, and especially third and fourth round draft picks like the Patriots have been doing. The Colts have so many free agents and they have so much cash space that's being rolled over here. Do you think the next step for them as well is how many re-signing almost all those guys?

Because really almost all those free agents you mentioned there outside of Bursette, who's the back of QB, who's going to be, like you mentioned, a good chip later down the road. I think all of them are pretty valuable for the next three to four years of this window. I mean, totally agree with that. Totally agree with that. We also have to, like, you know, try to take advantage of all the market inefficiencies that the NFL presents you with. You know, this is a team that, you know, I think that there are teams in the NFL that are not,

they don't prioritize trying to get to the top of the mountain. Like, they would prefer to win, you know. Of course, everyone would prefer to get more W's than L's. But the league itself is so profitable from fantasy sports and sports betting that there are a lot of organizations like the Bengals or, I think even the Redskins have fallen into this they're just they're not you know of course they would like to win but it's like number six on their priority list like make money you know don't mess up our public relations you know make sure that all of our friends are employed like you know don't mess up our public relations you know make sure that all of

our friends are employed like you know these are these are all precepts that take priority over actually winning games and I think that the Colts are in good position in that you know their owner is not perfect but I do think that he wants to win and I think he's like six, top eight in the NFL in terms of just understanding, hey, you know, we got to give Chris Ballard the wheel. This dude is freaking brilliant. He was able to pull, you know, Frank Reich like a rabbit out of a hat. I mean, and, you know, he's really put our team in great position.

And, you know, Ursae is kind of smart and savvy like that. I want to get your thoughts, Evan, on the Devin Funchess signing. I know you and Warren Sharp tweeted out some really interesting stats a couple weeks ago, really, that Devin Funchess said. I think the more I watch him and the more I just look at the numbers that you guys presented with Funchess and his fit in Frank Reich's offense, I think he's really being set up to have a breakout year in Indianapolis. I don't want to go too overboard because

it's dependent upon a lot of issues. Last year, I think we all have to acknowledge that one of the reasons that Eric Ebron had the year that he did was because Jack Doyle got injured, you know, because when Jack Doyle was active for games, Eric Ebron was playing like 13 to 17 snaps and getting like a lot of targets relative to those snaps, but still like, he wasn't even close to a full-time player. It was like 33% player. And then when Jack Doyle went out, like Eric Ebron close to a full-time player. He was like 33% player. And then when Jack Deloitte went out,

like Eric Ebron would end up playing every single snap. So if you weren't playing Eric Ebron in daily fantasy, like you were just donating to FanDuel or DraftKings, you know, at some point. But yeah, I mean, look, I think that one thing that Colts fans should be very optimistic about is uh just chris ballard's general understanding of the league do not be surprised if the colts take a tight end very early in this draft again they have you know a late one I think it's 26 and then they have two twos do not be surprised if

the right 10 tight end falls to them and they take another one because you know Jack Doyle with our Jack Doyle and Eric Ebron with the expiring contracts and you know and what the injury proven is I mean Jack Doyle I lovele, you know, but the injuries are starting to pile up. We're going to hit on some draft prospects later on, but since you brought up tight ends there, I mean, what do you think about some of these prospects who could be there at 26? I don't think Hawkins is going to be there, but maybe like a Noah Fant, an Irv Smith, a Jay Sternberger.

I know that's who you had the Colts taking, and you're mocked, of course. What do you think about those guys and their fit with Frank Reich's offense? Yeah, I think that Irv Smith, man, I mean I think he's alright. He's a little small. I mean, 262, 241 pounds. He's like Lance Kendricks, number two, number three, tight end, I think. Sternberger to me showed enough receiving potential and upside that I do think he could go on day two. And of course, the Colts have two picks

in the second round. Yeah, Noah Fant is like Aaron Hernandez on the field. You know, I think that he's a really dynamic tight end, and he might end up being the best tight end out of this class I'll be really interested to see are the what kind of interest do the Colts have in Hakeem Butler because he's a guy that I think by over analysis people have started to underrate and I could just see Chris Ballard looking at Hakeem Butler and being like my goodness gracious we have two second round picks let's use one of them on this freakazoid because he is I think he I think he's a I think he's a game changer and you know T.Y. Hilton his body is you know started to shown some shown some signs of decline and Devin Funches is on that one-year deal.

And Chester Rogers is on a one-year deal. I fully expect them, within the first two days of the draft, to draft at least one pass catcher, if not two. That really wouldn't surprise me either. And I think the way the draft is setting up, you can have a tight end and a wide receiver drop, like a Hakeem Butler or a Jay Sterberg, right in your lap. And while you can also do that, you can head on the end and a wide receiver drop like a Hakeem Butler or a Jay Sturber to right in your lap. And while you can also do that, you can head on the defense in the first round at 26, which I think makes a lot of sense for them.

But let's bounce over here, Evan, to your thoughts on the Colts offensive line as a whole and just thinking more about the transformation they've made in the past couple of years with the Mike McGlinns, the Sam Satellis of the world under Ryan Griggs. Now you have one of the best, if not the best offensive line in the NFL, the Annapolis Colts in such a short amount of time. Just, it speaks to also just how transformative that Quentin Nelson, that Quentin Nelson draft pick was for him as well. Yeah. I mean, I think that, you know,

we talked about it a lot about it before. As far as I'm concerned, I mean, you know we talked about it a lot about it before it's as far as I'm concerned I mean you know you can debate which offensive line is the best like at the top like the starting front five and I think that's how most people just look at offensive lines and but even if you're just looking at the front five I mean you know the Cowboys have taken a step back. The Steelers lost Marcus Gilbert, and Ramon Foster is getting older, and so is Marquise Pouncey. You know, DeCastro has been banged up a little bit in recent years, and they did not run block that great this past season.

The Colts did. And you're looking at the Cow or that we talked about them i mean who who are we looking at right now you know the saints are very talented but their left tackle armstead is always banged up and um you know andrews pete isn't that great at left guard their center just retired max hunger i mean look i think the colts have the best offensive line in the league man and you know even if you're if you're just isolating the front five with uh costanzo and uh nelson and you know kelly and um gluinski and brayden smith i mean even if you're just isolating the starters i I think they have the best front five in the NFL. And then if you extend it back to guys who have started in the league,

made extensive starting spots in the league, Joe Hagan, Jamarcus Webb, it doesn't get better than that. So I think that Ballard has just aced the test. You know what I mean? He's aced the test. Yeah, I totally agree with you. I think an ingredient to really acing that test is getting a guy like Mark Lewinsky on the kind of contract he did.

When you see the Mad Paradis of the world and you see other guards that get big-time money on the free agent market, and Mark Lewinsky is getting maybe $4 or $5 million per year less, Chris Ballard and his contract structures, front-loading deals, are really just getting discounts for hometown guys. It just speaks to the kind of character he's building over there. Yeah, and Andrew Brand always complains about this. He's like, agents, just let

your players hit the free agent market. Ballard and his team went in on gluinski early and i think that gluinski clearly never wanted to leave and so they were able and they kind of knew that and they were able to diagnose that and get like he's going to be he's set for the rest of his life you know he's not going to be any trouble but and I want him to get the most money that he possibly can but they did a very good job about just going after their own you know they had they claimed him on the on off waivers you know coming from Tom Cable who every young offensive lineman seems to underachieve you know in Seattle in Seattle or Oakland. And, yeah, I mean, they identified a dude that wanted to stay with them. They gave him a great contract.

You know, him and his family are going to be set for the rest of their lives. But, yeah, that was great business, great scouting, great football acumen. That move in and of itself just checked so many boxes that shows you that you have a good GM I would love to get your thoughts Evan on the Quentin Nelson draft they had and just how transformative a guy he's been in the building over there for the Colts and it just seems like I've never seen the highlights of an offensive lineman become so mainstream again because of Quentin Nelson to just year one I can't remember just how dominant of a prospect he's been and he's single-handedly helped change the offense in Indianapolis.

Couldn't agree more, man. I mean, you know, we could talk for hours about the O-line and you know, at the end of the day, I think we all arrive at the same conclusion. It's just been very impressively put together it was put together through you know some patience and great scouting and uh and just a general good understanding of the league using your waiver claims proactively you know and understanding those little niche markets like some teams just you know they take their waiver claims for granted you know and they're like oh i mean they're just they're slow to move but the colts do have an understanding that look you know they were very high in the waiver claim

order last year because their record the previous season was bad um you know, but they, but they use it to their advantage. They picked up a, a good, a guy who was a good prospect who was wasted under a bad offensive line coach in Seattle. And, you know, they stuck them in their system and he popped out like a hell of a starting right guard and they signed him to a great contract. It's a great story. It's a great story, you know, for, for the player and for the organization, I think. Yeah, for sure. And I wanted to move on here to Andrew Locke with you

because I can't remember – I mean, he had a – he won Quebec Player of the Year. He led the Colts to the divisional round at Kansas City. I think the first four or five weeks of the season, Evan, they were kind of scriptively planning him, throwing those short passes to get his arm kind of warmed up a little bit. And then as the season progressed, he was really throwing those rockets downfield 40 to 50 yards to T.Y. Hilton. What was your thoughts on how they used Andrew Luck last season and just how he progressed?

Well, I was definitely in the camp last offseason and certainly doing fantasy football projections. I was in the skeptical camp. So I had him, like, buried in my fantasy football projections. I had him, like, quarterback 21 or something. And, you know, when you think about the way that fantasy football works, you know, it's great to have a good quarterback, but where you really win is via the running back and wide receiver and elite tight

end positions and so I was like you know just you know just take uh Mitchell Trubisky you know nine rounds after Andrew Luck or you know just take um you know Patrick Mahomes uh two rounds after you know Andrew Luck and he was just generally a guy that I was avoiding based on where he was going drafted versus where I had him ranked. But in those first three weeks, yeah, his average depth of target was very, very low. You know, you looked at everything on paper, he had gone against some really tough defenses, and it wasn't looking too great. And then I was in the camp that entering week four, after that tumultuous start to the season, I was in the camp that you play Andrew Luck paired with, you know, Ebron or Hilton or

whatever in that week four game. And a lot of people benefited from that because I think he had like a four touchdown game and then after that he just absolutely took off I think that he gained strength in his shoulder as the season progressed he certainly gained comfort behind his offensive line was which I'm sure he felt was a little bit pieced together and it was but because you know you remember early Jamarcus Webb was starting early in the year yeah he was yeah Jamarcus Webb was starting I think Joe Haig was starting I mean they they were moving guys around early in the year and then Braden Smith came in and it was like, you know, the the seas parted and they took off as a team offensively and defensively.

And they became one of the easiest teams to root for in the NFL because of the comeback story with Andrew Luck, because of their GM, who's just a badass and everyone respects. And he turned this offensive line around in a very short period of time because of Matt Eberflus, and because of the kind of ragtag, no-name defense led by a second-round rookie who people thought was overdrafted. It was a very easy team to root for, and I think the same is going to be said for them this year. Let me ask you this about Andrew Luck, because I know some are really doubting after his injury, if he'd ever played the NFL again, but entering his 30 season now,

I think I want to hear your thoughts, Evan, on if the best years are still ahead of him. Cause I think really he's just now about to hit his prime years. Yeah. I think that he's getting the best coaching of his career right now you know and I loved Bruce Arians was just it was just one year right Bruce Arians was with him for one year right yeah correct yeah and that was an awesome year to watch we still got hit too much you know and Bruce Arians kind of hangs his QBs out to dry a little bit you saw that a lot in

Pittsburgh you saw that with Carson Palmer in Arizona I think in in Tampa Bay you know like Jameis Winston getting hit like actually it might be a good thing you know but I think that with Andrew Luck in Indianapolis right now I think he's getting the best coaching of his career. I think that the front office is putting together easily the most diverse skill set of players around him in his career, certainly the best offensive line of his career. And I'm just excited, bro. I mean, Evan, I'm not even a Colts fan at all, but I like it when teams do smart things, and that's what we're seeing the Colts do, and I love it.

Yeah, it's really exciting to see, especially just from my point of view as a fan, just the change of pace during the Ryan Green era, where it was just all these little Ron Landrys, those kind of free agent signings, and kind of spitting all their money, kind of the exact opposite of what Chris Ballard's doing right now in Indianapolis,

being patient and building through a draft, which I think is the right way to go about it. But let's transition here to the draft, Evan. I want to get your thoughts on maybe some prospects who you kind of like for the Colts in this draft. I know you did a seven-round mock draft with Josh Norris. What are some other ones that you like for the Colts? Ooh, I don't know. I haven't thought too extensively about this. I mean, I think – I mean, one of the things about the Colts is they don't have, like, outstanding needs.

They don't have, like, major team needs. Like, you look at, like, the Broncos or the Cardinals or you know the Redskins like these teams have like five positions where they have needs and I think you could look at the Colts roster and I mean I wouldn't say they have zero needs but none of their needs are as glaring as a lot of other NFL teams and so but I do think that they are going to stress pass catcher and so I would be looking out for those Iowa tight ends I would be looking out for a keen Butler. You know, I would be looking out for Mark Marquis Brown, I think, you know, be like Chris Ballard is, I think, think outside the box guy. And, and I think that they are not that they're souring on T.Y. Hilton. But they're just like, you know, how much longer is this guy going to last you go back and look at T.Y. Hilton, but they're just like, you know, how much longer is this guy going

to last? You go back and look at T.Y. Hilton's injury history in college, it was a miracle, like how healthy he was in his first four or five years. You know, he was hurt a ton at FIU, and we started to see a little bit of that last year and the year before. So I think they're going to hit pass catcher hard. You know, it's hard to just, you know, come up with prospects, you know, other than like the top end guys, but I do think that they are going to use one of their four top 90 picks on a pass catcher. And it would not surprise me if they use two of those top 90 picks on pass

catchers, like one tight end and one wide receiver. That'd be a really fun strategy to go about. I think that'd be a plausible route, too, because I think like a Hakeem Butler or a Jay Sternberger make a ton of sense for this Colts offense. Not only next year, but also long term in the future. Once maybe a Jack Doyle or a T.Y. Holt moves on in the future. But we've also seen an interesting discussion among Colts Twitter and amongst some listeners of the podcast about the Colts possibly trading up. I want to get your thoughts about that, Evan. Do you think – we've seen the Colts now meet reportedly with Rashawn Gary.

They're meeting with Brian Burns again for the third time. Do you think that specifically trading up and maybe for an edge rusher, do you think that makes sense for this Colts team? No, I actually don't. I actually don't. I think that teams that start to trade up, I think they're overestimating their confidence in their ability to outdraft other teams. I think that Chris Ballard has a great handle on the fact that the NFL draft is a very high variance event. It's extremely unpredictable, you know, and it's very often that a team will grade a player as, you know, a top 40 40 prospect and then he'll be available at number 60 so I think that trading up would be a mistake if anything what you

would want to do and if you were going to make trades what you want to do is number one either acquire veteran players to move down in the draft like proven veteran players to move down in the draft, or you would want to acquire future draft picks. Like a great example last year was the Patriots traded, or the Patriots acquired, no, the Bears acquired the Patriots second round pick, took Anthony Miller, and now the Patriots have the Bears' second-round pick in this draft.

The Lions also traded their third-round pick last year to the Patriots, or their fourth-round pick, and now the Patriots have the Lions' third-round pick. So they were actually able to move up in drafts just because it was a different year I know there's like a general accepted rule that hey you know if you move into the next draft it's worth around less that's garbage it's garbage and smart teams are able to exploit that and we saw the Patriots really exploit that this past year the Patriots have the most draft picks in the NFL in 2019. They have 12 draft picks, and they also have the most draft picks inside the top 101. They have six draft

picks inside the top 101. The rivalry is on, but the Colts are still playing catch up. Yeah, they really are. And just from the draft pick standpoint, I think just Bill Belichick's mastered that so well. And you see how many years he's capitalized on that every year now. And it's just incredible to see that continue over there doing. And I think that's what the Colts are really trying to follow as far as that compensatory pick model and how they go about using those in trades as well. But I want to get to your, your final thoughts here on Chris Bowden and Frank Reich.

Evan, what do you think just around the league? I'm trying to think just GM coach combos. Can you think of a better one with Chris Bowden and Frank Reich? Bill Belichick and Bill Belichick. Howie Roseman and Doug Peterson I think is certainly in the same tier Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis I think is way below I think that Sean McVay and Les Snead is even way below

No, I mean I think that look, I think the Colts are the third best run organization in the NFL right now behind the Patriots and behind the Eagles. And the first thing that stuck out to me about Frank Reich was when he did his press conference where he was talking about conventional wisdom in the NFL and he was asked about conventional with he was like one of the things that I took away the biggest thing that I took away from working in Philadelphia where they're very analytics driven was that they would have us do research projects as coaches and we would challenge conventional wisdom thinking on many topics. Like, do you need to have a great run game to have an effective play action game? You know, and then they would do a research project.

And guess what? Conventional wisdom was wrong because, you know, and things like that. and he talked about that openly just as the Eagles had done that previous Super Bowl year, which I think was an enlightening year for a lot of people, as to why are these teams on top? Why are these teams awesome? Why are the Eagles awesome? Why are the Patriots awesome? It's not these simplistic answers like, oh, the Patriots play in the AFC East, you know They I mean they have the same winning percentage outside the AFC East as they do inside the AFC East You know all that kind of all the all the the weak Explanations it's because the teams are smarter

And the other teams and I think the Colts at this point are in that tier You know, I think the Patriots and the Eagles are in number one tier, but I think the Colts are at the top of tier two and they're coming for the Patriots and the Eagles. And guess what? If we do this podcast next off season and Tom Brady like takes a tumble off the cliff, which is going to happen soon, the Colts are going to have a way better quarterback, just as good of an offensive line, a better defense, better pass catchers, and they're going to be able to overtake the Patriots. I think that they are the biggest threat in the AFC to the Patriots.

A lot of people say the Chiefs. My pick is the Colts. That should get Colts fans really excited there, and I'm right their way through. I think just with how Chris Bowers built this thing up and looking ahead to how he could use the draft and really how he could use the compensatory picks and the free-handed signings and just how savvy he is with the salary cap,

it's a super bright future here in Indianapolis. But one final question I have for you before I let you go. What are your overall expectations for the Colts in 2019-20? Do you think it's like a cerebral or bust year for them, or do you think they're legit cerebral contenders? I know some people, I think the Vegas over-under is only 9.5, which I laughed at

because I think there would be a way above that, but what do you think is the Colts' ceiling for next year? Yeah, I mean, I was huge on their over last year. And that was even being someone who was a little bit skeptical about Andrew Luck's arm. Like, I just I felt so burned by the organization, by the beat writers last offseason. I was like, I'm not going to trust anybody until I see, you know, Andrew Luck, like, throw the ball. And then I saw him in the

preseason I was like it was all right you know it wasn't great in the first three weeks and I was like I think I was right to be skeptical and then he exploded after that you know and I was also glad to be on the right side of that because just the general public was so down on him after those first three games. But, yeah, I mean, for 2019, I mean, yeah, you want to be competing for a Super Bowl. That's where they deserve to be in terms of roster talent. You know, they're right in the mix with everyone else, and it's absolutely a disappointment if they're not in that contention I mean I don't think about seasons as like Super Bowl or bus because I'm not like a fan of teams you know but

I don't even think that fans of teams I mean fans of teams should understand that games are so high variance you know I mean it's not like the like the Chiefs were 21 points better than the Colts last year I mean you know by by no means the Colts had a great or the Chiefs had a great home field advantage and you know etc etc and the Colts the Chiefs didn't play their best game the Colts played a terrible game you know but that wasn't representative of what the Colts were last year. The Colts were a very, very good team, way TF better than the damn Texans. And sometimes these Texans fans will like creep in my mentions like, Oh, Colts can't do anything against the Texans.

Like, are you, do you watch football? Like, do you, do you watch, do you pay attention to football at all? But I don't know. I'm going off way on a tangent. But, no, yeah, I expect the Colts, if they don't win at least 10 games, it's a bust. I'll say that. If they don't win at least 10, it's a bust.

Yeah, I really am there with you. I think 10 is the better book for me. I think 11, 12, 15 wins. I think they could easily do that. Their road schedule is pretty tough this year, but I think they could go 8-0 at home. They play a pretty inferior competition at home this year. That's really exciting for Colts fans too. Before I let you go, Evan, if they don't know where to follow you on Twitter or about Roto World, where can they find your workout? Yeah, just check me out at Evan Silva. And thanks so much for listening. I love

talking about smart teams that are doing things the right way. You know, and I think the Colts are absolutely on the track. All right, you guys, it does for today's episode of Locked On Colts. We back the