Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 5/20/20: Crossover Special with Locked On Broncos

Episode Date: May 20, 2020

On today's episode, Cody Roark of Locked On Broncos joins to kick off our biggest offseason winners week! Obviously the Colts were a huge winner, but Denver is nipping at their heels with the strong offseason they put together.First off, the draft was a grand slam for the Broncos. Adding in Jerry Jeudy, KJ Hamler, and Albert O into this offense is dangerous. Also, signing Melvin Gordon now brings a 1-2 punch to their own backfield.How big of a year is this for Drew Lock in 2020? What should we expect from Denver, maybe a surprise surge into a wildcard?Onto Indianapolis, Philip Rivers is ready to be the QB for multiple years if all goes well. Also, prepare for Darius Leonard to put up monster numbers thanks to DeForest Buckner's arrival.Will the Colts finish as AFC South champs? Evan thinks so, and he gets bold by how much separation he thinks Indy creates by Week 17. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, everybody. Welcome back into your latest episode of Locked on Colts, probably Locked on Podcast Network. Today's host, Evan Sutter, joined by a very special guest on today's show. Starting off our week here, talking about the biggest offseason winners here. And the Colts are obviously on the list here, but I feel like Denver, the Denver Broncos, were definitely on top of that list for me so far this year. So we're kicking off with number one, Cody Rourke of Locked on Broncos, who joins us from today's crossover, talking about both teams. Cody, how are you doing today?

I'm good, Evan. Thank you for reaching out and considering me to talk about the Broncos offseason and looking forward to kind of sharing whatever insight I can give Colts fans about some of the Broncos' moves. And obviously I have a lot of questions of my own about the Indianapolis Colts that I look forward to asking you as well. All right, let's dive into it, Cody, because I think the biggest offseason move for me for the Broncos was the NFL draft, what they did with their offense. Just really the explosiveness of that and now Jerry Judy

you have KJ Hamler Albert O from Missouri now going with your opposite tight end that you drafted first round last year it seems like the Broncos really loading up right now around Drew Locke and this offense maybe takes a year or two to gel but once they're in their prime together it's going to be an awful lot of fun to watch. Yeah, you know, that was the focal point all offseason for the Denver Broncos is how can we make the offensive side better? And that was the Broncos' organizational output in terms of that because the team in 2019, they only averaged 17 points per game, and that's not enough to get it done in the National Football League.

And honestly, we saw the battle last year between the Broncos and the Colts in a game where they really had Joe Flacco, who really just couldn't push the ball down the field. He wasn't mobile, and he couldn't be able to just stand in the pocket. He held onto the ball too long. So the Broncos didn't really have an offensive output in that game against Indianapolis. The defense played pretty strong, but when you're on the field the whole game,

things tend to get to you defensively. So we saw that's where Jacoby Brissett was able to break through a Von Miller sack, which would have surely ended the game and, you know, something we always go back on. But, you know, yeah, the output that they couldn't put up points, and they were bottom-ranked in the NFL in terms of third-down conversion percentage. They were also bottom-ranked in the red zone offensively. Something had to change, right? And so what do you do to get, you know, change like that?

Well, the Broncos, they traded away Emmanuel Sanders at the midway point before the nfl trade their life literally the week right before the broncos played the colts and then all of a sudden you only have courtland sutton noel phan as your main two options uh to throw to as a quarterback and so the other guys tim patrick you know didn't quite come off ir just yet and then you factor in uh who else was there dashawn hamilton you had fred brown and then you had in, who else was there? Deshaun Hamilton, you had Fred Brown, and then you had Noel Fant, who's still trying to learn, obviously as a rookie, the in and out of the NFL. And so there wasn't consistency outside of Cortland Sutton. And so for the Broncos, they needed to add Jerry Judy, they needed to add KJ Hamler, because Judy's

going to challenge him more than likely be the team's number two wide receiver. And then KJ Hamler is going to be that speed guy you're going to see in the slot. But for Cortland Sutton, it's about making things easier for him, right? Because when you only have one premier receiving option in Sutton, defenses tend to cheat over their safety over the top, wherever he's lurking. And that created a little bit of issues. It made his life a lot harder. Now defenses can't play the Broncos normally. They have to line up and show them their cards. They can't disguise any coverages. They're going to have to play them straight up. Yeah, let's talk about that whiteout trip for a second there because you mentioned courtland sudden last year he absolutely torched the cold

secondary he had i think one of his best games of the year against indianapolis and even like you mentioned at jerry judy and kj hammer alongside him what's your expectations for this wide receiving core here in 2020 because i know jerry g is a very nfl ready prospect as is kj hammer even though he's a younger prospect. I think those two guys added with Courtland Sutton, there's going to be no pressure on Courtland Sutton now for any double-team coverage. You're going to have to really work on Jerry G on the outside as well. I think it's going to be a really fun trio that really could hit the ground running.

Yeah, and I know for the Indianapolis Colts, you know, Rocky Asin had his kind of welcome-to-the-NFL rookie moment against Courtland Sutton. He had a rough game, and there were times he had really good, tight coverage. but I think it's going to make Rock Houston even better. But in terms of answering your question, yeah, absolutely, because when you think of Jerry Judy, he's a guy that can play outside, he can play inside. And so you could literally flex him out to the opposite side of Courtland Sutton. That focuses some attention there, and you can line up a guy like KJ Hamler on the slot to Courtland Sutton's side or away from Courtland Sutton's side, and the Cortland Sutton's side. And the defense has to account for that speed because he does have that Tyreek Hill vertical speed threat ability.

And so if you don't get over the top quick enough, he could burn you vertically for a touchdown. So defenses will be able to free up a little bit in terms of having Cortland Sutton face one-on-one situations with a cornerback. And look, his size at 6'4",, I think is very favorable in a lot of these matchups and his route running has evolved. I do think that it's important that, you know, to consider these guys are rookies coming in. So what are our realistic expectations? Because yes, on paper, we look at what Jerry Judy has done in Alabama. There's no question in my mind as an

analyst, I don't think that he can have tremendous success in the national football league. However, for a rookie wide receiver, the expectations that I think that people need have tremendous success in the national football league however for a rookie wide receiver the expectations that I think that people need to follow is you know don't come in here in 2020 and expect Jerry Judy to catch 10 touchdowns but if he does have let's say 500 yards receiving and maybe five or six touchdowns I consider that a little bit of a success because the Broncos they didn't have that from anybody else last year. So I think that would be improvement. And for Drew Lock, look, he's essentially, in my opinion, I view 2020 as his true rookie season, because this will be the first time he gets a full 16 game slate as a starter. So I think for him, it's about the progression, the development of him. Also, Pat Schirmer utilizing these wide

receivers, and they're going to have a lot, not just between Sutton, Hamler, Judy, Tim Patrick. They have other guys, Tyree Cleveland, they picked up in round number seven of this year's draft my hope is that they spread it out equally because if you could spread out the productivity I think that you can have a lot more success offensively and I think it takes the pressure off your quarterback of trying to find just one guy that's a good point bring up there and we've talked about the weapons that Drew is going to have here but the offensive line I feel like obviously is the big underrated portion to every offense and the Broncos win sign Grand Glasgow is obviously going to have here. But the offensive line, I feel like, obviously, is the big underrated portion of every offense. And the Broncos win sign, Grand Glasgow, is obviously going to be their guard.

And it really helps set the tone for the offensive line. How do you feel like that offensive line is going to improve here in 2020, because you have all these weapons, but it's not going to be enough if you don't have the time to throw? I think the quick passing game is probably the best approach for the Broncos. But I think, you know, instead of the team being primarily a passing team, I think they're going to try to really establish the run early on. That's why you bring in Melvin Gordon, who's, you know, a bigger tailback than what you had in Phillip Lindsay.

And Phillip Lindsay is that guy that can just absolutely cut you at any point in time. With his speed, he can find one little hole and take it 60 yards. He's got the capability of doing that. But I do think that it's the balance. And I think for what we saw with the Broncos offensive line, once Drew Locke became the starter, things improved so much for the offensive line, for Garrett Bowles, for the right tackle, which was Elijah Wilkinson, for right guard at the time, which was Ron Leary. And then at center, you had Connor McGovern,

and then you had rookie left guard Dalton Reisner. And they played really well as a unit once Drew Locke got inserted into the starting lineup because the timing was a lot better. The quarterback's getting the ball out of his hands quickly he's going to where he's going through his reads and his progressions and that's something that you want to ask of your quarterback they couldn't get that from Brandon Allen they couldn't get that from Joe Flacco and so I think that it's just simplifying things for the offensive line and look they got one of the best offensive line coaches in football and Mike Munchak and he's a guy that's got so much experience as a player

and as a coach he's well regarded, he's a guy that's got so much experience as a player and as a coach. He's well-regarded, and he's transformed offensive lines over the course of his career. So I think that entering year number two as the O-line coach, you mentioned the addition of Graham Glasgow. I think that's a huge addition for them in terms of not allowing interior pass rush penetration, as the Broncos gave up quite a bit of that. And it also gives you another guard alongside Dalton Reisner that can pull effectively.

So the Broncos, those inside zones uh the counter plays the stretch plays I think those will have more success for the Broncos this season and and I think for the offensive line it makes their job easier last few questions I have for in the Broncos here Cody and you might we've mentioned all throughout so far Drew Locke second year pro going to be from Missouri second round pick surprisingly that slipped right into the Broncos hands in a very good way on draft night last year. I wanted to hit on just what you saw last year from Drew Locke and those flashes you saw because it seemed like to me that he got more and more comfortable as the season went on and it should set up for a very much improved 2020 of all the pieces they've added around him. Yeah and I think you nailed it perfectly. He got more comfortable week in and

week out. I mean his first start against the Los Angeles Chargers week 13 you you know, he had a couple of good moments. He had those two touchdown throws to Cortland Sutton in quarter number one. He improvised on the second one. He had a great throw and trajectory on the first one to Sutton on a one-handed grab on Casey Hayward. But after that, we started to see him kind of settle down a little bit. You know, he struggled a little bit with reading coverages and he forced it with his arm and that's something that he went away from. And then you go into his second career start, they're on the road at Houston and all of a sudden he puts up three touchdowns over 300 yards passing and helps the team put up 38 points on offense which is something that they had never scored over 24 plus points in a game at all in

2019 until that point right there so all of a sudden we saw one week and we saw the other week we're like what do we think about Drew Locke? Like, what can we expect? Then you have that game against Kansas City in the blizzard where you really couldn't get a true evaluation and maybe how he could duel, considering that the grounds and the terrain was not very suitable. And then against the Detroit Lions, you know, you find yourself down 10-0 early on, going into the second quarter.

And for me, what I was looking at with him is how he responded. I mean, he was composed. He didn't take chances. He didn't force the ball into unnecessary windows and he trusted his reads. There were times where he could have used his legs to scramble for a first down. Instead, the pocket breaks around him. He steps up into the pocket, sets his feet and throws and connects with Deshaun Hamilton in the last two games consistently. And so we saw him get smarter with his decision-making, go through his reads and progressions and identify coverage, which, you know, he did it in a five game sample size. To me, I wonder what can he do with the full off season to prepare? And look, I think the future

is promising, but he still has to prove in 2020 that he might be the guy going forward. Last question I have for you here on the Broncos, Cody, what's your overall expectations for this team heading into 2020-21? Because I've seen a lot of national writers talk about this could be a sleeper team, a sexy pick to go, maybe sneak into that wild card spot. What's your overall thoughts on their offseason and what they could really do realistically in 2020? Well, I think if we're going to be realistic here, Evan, I think you have to take a look at where the team is at.

They have a very young offense, right? They have one of the youngest offenses right now in the National Football League. They have pretty much one of the younger teams outside of Von Miller and Kareem Jackson and a couple other guys there. But I think for them, if the Broncos can go 500 this year, Evan, I think that is a massive success because they finished seven and nine last year. They were a couple plays, a couple of calls maybe away from being, you know, possibly 10 and six rather than seven and nine. I mean, there's the way that it kind of shaked out for them. They faced some adversity, and they became a better football team because of it.

But I think realistically, with you got Kansas City in the division, it's always going to be tough, right? But now that the NFL has added an additional wildcard spot, I think it makes your chances a lot more higher, maybe getting back to the playoffs. But for me, look, my expectation is I think this is a 500-football team, and if they can be better than that, then look, I think that's awesome. But I think that with the trajectory of a young staff, and not a young staff, but a young roster altogether, you have very experienced

coaching staff, I think you can help navigate the waters there. Because that coaching staff experience is going to be critical for that young roster in terms of trying to identify how to overcome adversity and how to win. I mean, that's something that the Broncos haven't done in quite some time. So it will be a challenge for them, but I think it's going to be something they're ready for. That's some good stuff there from Cody on the Broncos. We're going to head into segment two of our show.

Before we do so, I want to remind you guys, if you're not already, to subscribe to Locked on Broncos and Locked on Colts on whatever streaming platform you're listening to. Cody and I give you guys excellent analysis Monday through Friday, all throughout the offseason so far. It's going to be ramped up here very soon once we get closer to the fall. So thanks again for listening to segment one. We'll be back with you guys in just a second from work for our sponsors.

All right, Cody, you have the floor here. You can ask me whatever Colts questions you have because I know it's an interesting offseason to end it. Yeah, so Evan, I mean, there were a lot of questions. And, you know, I think that for the Colts, the way that they handled last year was pretty impressive. I mean, considering they didn't expect Andrew Luck to suddenly just retire on them, you know, in the way that they did. And I know it was kind of a controversial situation with the way he did it, but I certainly understand it.

Look, the NFL, in my opinion, I think they miss Andrew Luck. And certainly for Indianapolis, it was a shock. It was almost like a culture shock. But I think Frank Reich and the coaching staff in Indianapolis did a phenomenal job. Jacoby Brissett also was one of those guys that took his licks. And, you know, for him, I think he's still a quarterback in learning. So for me, the first question I have for you is with the evident changes this offseason, I know that they went out and they brought in former AFC West Division rival the Broncos

and Phillip Rivers. You know, what is the timeline? In your opinion, what is the real expectation for Phillip Rivers? Do you feel like this is just one year for him in Indy? He can help teach Brissette, and then they go elsewhere, maybe look in the NFL draft for another quarterback at some point, maybe around one next year? Because we know that Phillip Rivers is looking at coaching high school football,

which is official whenever he retires. But for me, I think the one-year deal signifies that this may just be a stopgap year for the Colts at the quarterback position. Yeah, it really is interesting. From all we've heard so far from Rivers' camp and from Frank Reich and Chris Ballard, if all goes well in 2020, Phillip Rivers will be the starting quarterback again in 2021. They want a multiple-year partnership here with them, and they feel like for Phillip Rivers, the upgrade from him to Jacoby Brissett is massive

because if you look at the advanced metrics from the intermediate passing game and how he can get quickly through his reads, that's where Jacoby Brissett is massive because you look at the advanced metrics from the intermediate passing game and how he can get quickly through his reads. That's where Jacoby Brissett really struggled last year. And you add in a veteran like Phillip Rivers, also a leader in the locker room, which they desperately missed in Andrew Luck's place last season. And Rivers is one of the more fiery guys in the NFL, as we all know. He definitely gets riling up his group. And the weapons he has in place, I know it's maybe a little bit less

than he had in Los Angeles. He doesn't have the Mike Williams type of the add-in, Mike Pimentier in the draft. But the offensive line is, I think, the biggest part here for Phil Burrus, where he's going to have a lot more time. The Chargers offensive line was a disaster last year, and the Colts arguably had the best in the NFL. So if all goes well in 2020, Cody, expect the Colts and Phil Burrus to still be partners as he heads into his 40s.

I was really impressed with Marlon Mack last year at the running back position. For him, he was able to come in and really kind of compete against Kansas City. Almost kind of showed almost a little bit of a formula about maybe how you could beat Kansas City in a sense, and they played very aggressive defensively. My question for you is obviously going into year two, what are the expectations from the running game? We mentioned Phillip Rivers coming into the fold here at the quarterback position.

What about wide receiver? I know T.Y. Hilton wants a long-term contract to stay with the Colts. What kind of weapons do they have around just T.Y. Hilton that could step up if the Colts don't, in fact, extend him? Yeah, it's a really interesting question. Both sides want to get a deal done, but, of course, money talks. We'll have to see how that goes over the next year or so. I think the weapons they have definitely improved around T.Y. Hilton this past year.

They had Zach Paschal as their wide receiver too last year, and Paris Campbell, who was a rookie, who struggled with injuries last year as well. So that's a very depleted wide receiver. Corby, you added Michael Pittman Jr. at number 34 overall, 6'4", 223 pounds, very big body type, almost fits that Vincent Jackson, Mike Williams role that Rivers loves to turn those 50-50 balls up towards. And he's one of the more sure-handed guys in the draft class last year,

2.7% drop rate per PFF. So he should be a day-one ready wide receiver alongside T.Y. Hilton, who can eventually take up a top-of-the-mill as well over the next year or so. But that running back as well, I think you add in Jonathan Taylor, the Wisconsin running back, with Marlon Mack. That's really a dynamic duo that could really do a lot of damage in January and February if they make that type of run because I think Jonathan Taylor was the most NFL ready running back in this draft class with a powerful system that he had in place of Wisconsin it's the exact same fit in Indianapolis

behind Quentin Nelson the offensive line there so I think Jonathan Taylor if I had to pick an immediate impact player from their new additions I'd go Jonathan Taylor because I think he could be a guy who actually replaces Merlin Mack mid-season as a starter because Mack is in the final year of his contract and they're going to let one Jonathan Taylor get that ball. Cause they trade up for him a couple of spots in the draft and the round too. Well, I think it's interesting too. You know, I wouldn't be surprised if the Colts this season go with a heavy run emphasis on the offensive side of the ball. I mean,

you mentioned the offensive line that they have, right. And you have the two backs and Mack and obviously now Jonathan Taylor that could possibly be a very dynamic duo in the National Football League. You know, I think those are kind of set in stone. And then Phillip Rivers has an opportunity to maybe stand back and throw to T.Y. Hilton or various other receivers like Pittman Jr. out of USC. Look, he was impressive. I watch a lot of Pac-12 football. He was one of those guys that stood out to me on tape, especially when they played Oregon. My next question I have for you is the defensive side of the ball you know they were banged up with a variety of injuries on Darius Leonard look he was one of those guys that you know for me as an analyst I was looking I was like look I would want this guy on my football team obviously last year

dealt with a variety of injuries what's his status I know he came back at some point of the season uh you know did he ever get back into a rhythm and you know do you expect more from him going into the 2020 season? Yeah, he had a concussion. He was out for three weeks, and I think late September through early October, he, of course, missed that Chiefs game that they ended up winning. But when he came back from his concussion, it took about a week or two to adjust back to game speed. But once he did, his November-December run was pretty incredible. It was almost like his rookie season, where he had two interceptions against Jameis Winston in Tampa Bay,

returned one for a pick six, and then he had multiple double-digit tackle games there over the final stretch of the season. So we saw the old version of Darius Leonard return. I feel like you add in DeForest Buckner on the front four for Darius Leonard, he's going to be roaming free now more than he's ever had before. He had 163 tackles rookie year. He had 121 last year. He missed three games.

He could be in for a monster year where Buckner's going to clamp the trash for him. He's going to be running free all over the field, and that's a scary sight for offense across the league. I just think that was a great move by Indianapolis to be able to acquire him, and obviously they took him off the San Francisco 49ers' hands in terms of the payroll, but they do get a guy that's going to make their defense strong. But my main question is, too, we've seen the departure of Pierre Desir.

What has been going on in the second year? We talked about Rocky Asin a little bit earlier on here in the show. What is the secondary going to look like in 2020 for the Indianapolis Colts? It's very young, but they brought in Xavier Rhodes to be that mentor to replace Pierre Desir. Of course, he struggled the last couple years in Minnesota

playing in a more man scheme, but switching to a more heavy zone scheme, Tampa 2 system, they feel like Xavier Rhodes can really get back to his old form. Maybe not to that peak that we saw in 2017, but really close to it. Because Mattie Rufus mentioned over a conference call, his length and his size in this zone scheme should really just thrive with Xavier Rhodes and help him out a lot. Especially when you add in the presence they did on the front four,

DeForest Buckner, you have Justin Houston and Kamoko Ture on the edge there. So it'll be less pressure on Xavier Rhodes. But the other ones in the secondary, you have cornerback two, Rakia Sen, who will be, I think, very much improved in 2020 because we saw Courtland Sun really take his lunch money at points during that game last year. But after that game, he really did settle down a lot in the last month of the season and had really good games, honestly, as their cornerback won when Pierre Desir was out with his hamstring injuries.

And he really started to blossom late in the season as well. You add in the secondary Malik Hooker, Kari Willis, who was a second-year pro at Michigan State, and of course Kenny Moore, I think he's one of the more underrated nickel cornerbacks in the NFL, who really controls that whole defensive backfield for this Colts team. So very young and unproven at this point, but if Xavier Rhodes can bounce back to his 2017 form or near that, and if guys like Rakia Sen, Kari Willis continue to take leaps forward in their game, I think it's a very underrated secondary that could really benefit, too, from the pressure up front. I think it all goes to if the defensive coordinator can put the players in

that fits their abilities to the scheme that they run, then you can have a very successful defense. I think for Xavier Rhodes, he just needed to get out of Minnesota because, like I said, when you play primarily cover zero, cover one, and you're constantly blitzing the linebackers, you have opportunities where you're in great coverage. And look, I look at Xavier Rhodes as one of those guys who, you know, yeah, you know, he did give up a couple plays, but outside of that,

he was in contested coverage a lot of the times. And the receiver makes the play. Yeah, you got to be able to finish that. But, you know, it's not like he was getting smoked and absolutely torched for, you know, not even being able in trail technique, not even being able to, you able to make a play in football. He's been in position on a lot of those plays. I mean, the Broncos played the Minnesota Vikings as well,

and Courtland Sutton had a phenomenal game against Xavier Rhodes, but Xavier Rhodes was just tough and coverage tight. Every catch was contested, so I think in a zone-dominant scheme, he's going to be okay there, so I look forward to doing that. My last question I have for you here, Evan, is if you had to look at one storyline that the Indianapolis Colts are facing going into the 2020 season what do you think the biggest storyline is for this football team I think it's all the new additions how they gel together especially Phillip Rivers a quarterback because there's a lot of questions internationally around Rivers his arm just dead now at this point as he's continued declining

even worse Indianapolis but from what Indianapolis at least their side of things has been that they think is gonna be more 2018 Phillip Rivers and really close to that point I know he had a career high completion percentage under Frank Reich and Nick Sirianni when he was there in 2015 so they feel like it could be really right back to that old Foreman Rivers they said there's been no drop off physically with his arm from what they've seen on tape and I think he's the big question here because you replace Jacoby Bursette who's still on a two-year contract he's gonna be a free agent as well in 2000 after this next season but i think phil burr is going to help improve this team to a point where this should be a double digit win team 10 11 wins where i'm going to sit out here because the afc south as well tennessee houston they all regressed

i feel like this year in jacksonville they're obviously setting up for trevor lawrence in 2021 the moves they made in the offseason so i think the colts really should be in a position where they should be in the catbird seat here, Cody. If all these new additions gel together and if Phil Burris gets back to his old form, I really do believe this Colts team should be running away at the AFC South maybe by a couple-game lead. Maybe they do post a playoff game against a team like Denver who could sneak in as the 6th or 7th seed.

Certainly it's going to be an intriguing way to be able to see when the season kind of kicks off and hopefully it can kick off on time. I know that's the expectation. But obviously a lot of great storylines in the AFC. I think it's definitely gotten a lot tougher. I think New England's going to be one of those question marks considering that they lost Tom Brady. And I think that New England might be the one franchise that experiences the agony of maybe losing a Hall of Fame quarterback like the Broncos do when Peyton Manning left. I think it's going to be fun to see how things play out. I've got my Indianapolis and every other team in the NFL right now, but yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how things play out in 2020.

Appreciate everyone listening on this special crossover episode here with Cody Rourke of Locked on Broncos. You guys can also go follow Cody and his podcast. Follow him on Twitter at Locked on Broncos, but also his personal profile, Cody Rourke NFL on Twitter. He's the Broncos insider analyst for us on the Locked on NFL Network.