Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 6/3/19: Why the Colts are so good at drafting with Jordan Reid of The Draft Network

Episode Date: June 3, 2019

On today's episode, Jordan Reid of The Draft Network joins to break down the 2018 and 2019 draft classes for the Indianapolis Colts. Why is Chris Ballard already so successful at this?The foundational pieces of Quenton Nelson and Darius Leonard set the tempo. Why did both succeed as good as they did in Year 1? Also, Braden Smith was a true diamond in the rough.Ballard is a selfless individual, a rarity in today's NFL where all the GMs want to take credit for what the scouts do. This is again a reason why Indianapolis is so attractive for front office jobs.Finally, Reid analyzes the picks of Rock Ya-Sin, Ben Banogu, Parris Campbell and Bobby Okereke. Why were they so prioritized by the Colts, and how will they fit in? Hint: They will all be instant contributors, especially Ya-Sin and Campbell.We end it on how Reid views the Colts compared to the rest of the AFC. He believes Indianapolis is in that elite tier alongside the defending champions, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, everybody. Welcome back into Locked on Colts, part of the Locked on Podcast Network. Today's host, Evan Sager. I'm joined by a very special guest taking off my vacation. Took a couple days off for you guys, but I'm back with a very special guest, Jordan Reed, who just made the trip over to the Draft Network. How are you doing, Jordan? Great. Thanks for having me on.

Yeah, no problem at all. I really appreciate you coming on today. And we're going to really hit on the Colts as far as last year's draft and this year's draft, how they really have done to build their team moving forward. Also, we're going to finish off with some more Colts thoughts. But I want to start us off with Darius Leonard, Jordan, because I know you were tweeting about him yesterday on your Twitter account. If you haven't already, you guys, you can go follow Jordan on Twitter, add JREADNFL.

He has some really good insights over there. You're talking about Darius Leonard. What do you think just about Leonard, the player overall? Because honestly, I don't think anyone expected Darius Leonard to be what he was last year, especially coming out of South Carolina State State but maybe rewinding back a little bit did you did he stand out to you before the pre-draft process last year Jordan? I did and an interesting story that a lot of people don't really know about myself is that I actually coached at North Carolina Central University and I actually got to see Darius Leonard grow up from a freshman

he played at South Carolina State which is a school that's in the same conference as the school that I coached at for the past three years. So I essentially got to see him grow up from this 18-year-old kid to really turn into the animal that he is today. So his success and what he has done to this point really isn't a surprise to me, even though he wasn't really a national notable name, just because what happened at the combine, he actually blew out his hamstring there. He did injure it there.

And then at the senior bowl, he had like 16 or 17 tackles there. So he really was a standout player, not only at South Carolina State, but at the senior bowl. But he kind of fell a little bit under the radar just because he wasn't able to perform at the combine. But I mean, everything that he did in his career, his collegiate career, really transitioned over into what we saw in his rookie year. And I'm not surprised at all.

And a lot of people were really surprised to see him be a second-round selection. And you can speak on this probably better than me, but I'm sure a lot of fans didn't really know who he was. And they were really disappointed with him being a second-round selection and then taking him that high. But as far as him being an all-pro, I didn't see that coming. But him being a starter and being a success type of story I definitely did see that so he's definitely going to be a special player yeah let me ask you more about that with Darius Leonard because like you said out of a small school I didn't really know at first I did some more research but he immediately stands on the tape when you watch him he's everywhere on the field what's down to you

during the pre-draft process on why you were maybe higher on Darius Leonard than most? Playmaker. That's the best way to describe him. Even when he was at South Carolina State, he plays fast forward in everything that he does. And he has that alpha mentality that you love and you saw it. Everything that he does, he's just so exuberant and he loves the game. He's a super extrovert and he's a leader. That's the biggest thing about Darius Leonard. And he's able to galvanize the talent around him. a super extrovert and he's a leader. That's the biggest thing about Darius Leonard. He's able to galvanize the talent around him. And that's why I think he was such a great selection. He's going to be the key cog of this defense going forward

just because of his leadership abilities, his instincts. He trusts his keys and what he sees and he plays fast in everything that he does. I wanted to ask you as well, I know they got one all-pro rookie out there. It's the first time in franchise history they've ever had two All-Pro rookies, the first since Gale Sayers and Dick Buckus from the Chicago Bears. I want to talk more with you about Quentin Nelson for a second because I can't remember the last time offensive lineman highlights became such a mainstream thing, but Quentin Nelson kind of brought that back this year.

What's your thoughts on just how not only the winners change a team, but also Quentin Nelson? It's very rare, I think, in today's NFL you find two foundational cogs in the same draft yeah and I don't think it came as a surprise at how well he played early on just because he was seen as one of the best offensive lineman prospects ever we really hadn't seen a guard go that high since Brandon Scherf in 2015 I believe it was when the offensive lineman usually goes high it's usually an offensive tackle just because of how valuable the how valuable the position is and the offensive lineman usually goes high, it's usually an offensive tackle just because of how valuable the position is. And interior offensive linemen really have become more valuable

just because of how great these interior rushers are. And guys like Aaron Donald, Fletcher Cox, and the list goes on and on of all these dominant interior rushers. Now these centers and these guards, you're seeing them go higher and higher. And that's exactly what happened with Quentin Nelson. And, I mean, he's manning that left guard spot just like he did at Notre Dame. And it's not a surprise

of how much success he has had early on. But he did struggle early on. And there were a lot of people that kind of were frustrated. But with offensive linemen, it's really impossible to project how they're going to translate. But once he got more comfortable week three, week four,

you start to see that guy you saw on film at Notre Dame. And he started, the game started to slow down for him. He started to become that dominant player that eventually turned into all pro selection. Yeah, I think the Colts have two guys who are arguably some of the best players under the age of 25 moving forward. But I think another interesting guy I want to talk about from the 2018 draft class with Jordan was Braden Smith, because he kind of came out of nowhere. He was a top ranked guard. The Colts switched him to right tackle midseason. They turned to a guy who was shutting down Smith because he kind of came out of nowhere. He was a top-ranked guard. The Colts switched him to right tackle midseason. They turned to a guy who was shutting down J.J. Watt in the playoffs.

Seemed like he has a super high of sitting at right tackle. Did that stand out to you when you were watching him in Auburn before where you think, okay, maybe this guy could be a guy who could shift to the tackle and survive out there? Now, this was probably the biggest surprise of last year's draft class to me, and I didn't think he would go as high as he did. I thought he probably would go probably the top of the third round mid third round but when they took him in the second round I thought that was a bit high for him but it makes sense now just because they valued him more at tackle as opposed to guard which is what he played mostly at Auburn I thought he had some things to work out some kinks to get out of his repertoire

that he showed or some weaknesses that he showed at Auburn just because he played really high and if you notice Braden Smith he's more of a taller guy and when he is along the interior he let a guy a lot of guys or interior rushers get inside of his chest a lot so it makes sense why they opted to move him out to the exterior and play him at right tackle but as far as him being a rookie starter I did not see that but that just goes to show you how well put together Chris Ballard and his staff had this draft class, and they targeted certain areas, and Braden Smith is another starter that they found out of these top three selections that they had in the second round.

Yeah, speaking more on Chris Ballard for a second, just you look back at 2018 draft class, now there's 2019 draft class, which I think you are a fan of as well. Just how well has Chris Ballard set this team up for the future? I know they have Andrew Luck, who's going to be 30 this year, but with an elite quarterback, a young and setting roster, it seems like the GM knows exactly what he's doing. This team got a very extended run as far as a competitor for titles. Yeah, I'm a big fan. And I think the documentary that the Colts did,

just walking through the draft process, I think that shed light on just how special Chris Bowers is. And I've been a fan of him ever since he was with the Kansas City Chiefs. I knew he was going to be special back then, but he just needed his opportunity really to run his own show. And that's exactly what he's doing with the Colts. But the thing that I always love about Chris Ballard is that he does not have any ego. And that's what you notice on these documentaries when they're going behind the scenes with the Colts. He's not scared to give credit to others. And I know he trusts his process, but he puts supreme trust in his scouts.

And you see the chemistry that they have in the room. Every time they make a selection, everybody's clapping and everybody's on the same page as far as the traits that they look for or they don't look for in these prospects that they're evaluating. Even this draft class that they had that we're going to talk about here soon, you're seeing all these guys match the traits that Chris Ballard is really outlining in the documentary, even going back to last year, the traits that they're setting out and that they're looking for

in these prospects. They're checking all these boxes that he values highly. Do you feel like that a GM giving credit or at least putting the scouts in the spotlight, I feel like Ballard's one of the few in the NFL that even does this because you hear more about GM saying, oh, that was my guy. In reality, it was really a local scouts guy saying that in the room for him behind the table.

Do you think that's a rare trait that maybe makes Chris Bauer a valuable person in today's NFL? Yeah, and it's very, very rare that especially a person that holds the position that he holds to not have an ego. And that's something that I value highly about him because he never said that this was my draft selection or this was my guy. He'll say whoever the scout was in that area, he's the guy that identified him. And we agreed upon that the traits that we're setting out or that we look for back prior to the draft,

that this guy exuberated everything that the Indianapolis Colts would welcome into their locker room. So with Chris Ballard, he loves giving credit to others, even though he's the guy behind the entire operation. And I just love how selfless he is. And that's something that you really don't find in these executives, because we both know that they're very prideful individuals, but he knows how to put his pride to the side and give credit when credit is due. Yeah, it definitely seems that way, because guys like Ed Dodds, Rex Hogan, from different organizations wanted to come and join the Colts once Bauer was hired.

He's really given all those guys the credit they deserve in the scouting process. But I wanted to dive in more on the 2019 draft class with you, Jordan, because Rakia Sen was their first pick to actually move back from 26-34, getting another future asset, the 2020 Redskins pick, which will probably be a top 35, top 40 selection. What do you think about them moving back and still getting the guy they're targeting in Rakia Sen? Loved him. I was a big fan of Rakia Sen. And when I went down to the senior bowl last year I did not have any idea who he was and I'm really mad that I did just because when I was leaving Mobile he probably was the top player that I love watching the most and what you notice about Rakia

Sin is just how competitive he is and how much he loves the game and I think you might have commented when I tweeted about this earlier last week and that the one thing that stood out about him that separated him from everybody is that prior to practice, he was already out there just in a dripping sweat. And I'm just like, man, who is this guy because he's not going to last through practice. And a lot of people were saying that's Rocky Sin. That's the guy that transferred from Presbyterian to Temple as a graduate transfer.

And I immediately wrote his name down in my notes and I put a star beside his name on the roster just because out of all the 90 plus guys that were there on each team, he was the only person that did that. And then throughout the week, you're just seeing him and Deebo Samuel competing against each other. So you're seeing this small school corner that previously was at Presbyterian stepping out right away and competing with this guy that was in the SEC, one of the best receivers in Debo Samuel in the SEC. And he's barking back and forth with him, and he just wants to get better. And he's not afraid to step up and be that alpha mentality type of corner, something that you love to see in that position specifically.

And that's what I loved about Rocky Sin. He made himself stand out throughout that weekend. I had only heard of him in the days prior to, but over those three practice days, he was by far one of the more impressive prospects that I saw of anybody in Mobile. Yeah, one trait that seems like Rocky Ascendant oozes out of him is his confidence, but also his work ethic too, where you mentioned the senior bowl story there. I know Tommy Spangler, the head coach of Presbyterian, said on the podcast earlier a couple weeks ago that Rocky Ascendant actually

texted him about wanting to move in with him for a month before minicamp starts. He seemed like he really wants to master his craft before he even steps foot on the field for the first time at the Colts. Is that a trait you're starting to value more? Maybe you've always valued a Jordan, just like that work ethic off the field, that mental fortitude. Absolutely. And just being draft Twitter type of guy, so to speak,

we don't really get to see the behind the scenes factors with these guys or what really makes them tick just because we're not at these top 30 visits. We don't have private meetings with them. So all we have is basically YouTube videos or the film that we watch, the All-22, or just certain media clippings that the team website does share. So we don't really get to see the behind-the-scenes things of exactly what these guys love or what they love to do or how much they love the game. But with Rakia saying it's clear to see that he is a football player.

He absolutely loves the game of football. Yeah, he was definitely a pick. I think he's going to pay dividends down the line for the Colts. I think almost immediately, too. He might be a starter from day one. But one other prospect I wanted to talk with you. We're going to go through the first three rounds for the Colts here. And the second one on the list here is Ben Banigou,

the edge linebacker out of TCU. The Colts say he's going to play both Sam linebacker and edge rusher at times. It's going to be a versatile Swiss Army effort, so to say, on defense. What do you like about Banigou? I love him. And what I love about him the most is that outside of secondary, there wasn't a position that he didn't play for TCU. He's playing interior defensive tackle, defensive end, stand-up linebacker,

even some time at Mike Linebacker. And just some of that explosion that he did exuberate during his time at TCU. And he had another guy opposite of him in L.J. Collier that ended up being a first-round selection that ended up going a bit earlier than him to the Seattle Seahawks. But I thought Bonnegui, or Bonnegui, I should say, was the better player of the two just because of the flexibility and the explosion that he did exuberate and I thought he landed in a fantastic situation especially with the team that really needs help off of the edge and yes I know they bought in Justin Houston and they had Kamoko Ture and Taquan Lewis from a year ago but he has the explosive factor that none of those three guys still exuberate to this day so it wouldn't surprise me at all if he steps in and makes an instant impact on this defense. I know it's tough to like correlate

player comparisons right away but chris ballard mentioned in his post-draft press conference that he's going to be a guy who's sort of like bruce urban who plays both linebacker and defensive and that's that versatile role in this defense more seattle influence are there any comps maybe like the bruce everyone that makes sense for a ben banigou yeah i think that's a pretty fair one just because they're very similar sizes and same molds. And they have some work to do as far as run defenders. That's something that Bruce Irvin never was really good with. But I think Banigou is a bit more stronger than what Bruce Irvin was coming out. He's not quite as explosive, but he has that versatility

as far as a pass rusher that you're looking for. So I think Bruce Irvin is a very fair comp. And I think his career trajectory could end up being the same as well, if not even better. Let me ask you, this is from a prospect to prospect standpoint. I know Banigou made his living off the edge for a little bit. That's what he was originally hyped up as. But the Colts seem to really value him as a linebacker next to Anthony Walker.

Do you see a more brighter future for Banigou at linebacker? Or do you think maybe his speed, so to say, might be better used off the edge? I think off the edge would be better for him just because that's really where he's most comfortable at. He didn't really play much as far as in the box as a stand-up linebacker. Now he did stand up off the edge for the most part. And he did put his hand in the dirt from time to time. But as far as coming off the edge, I think that's where he probably will be most valuable.

But I think that he's a guy that's going to be all over the place, especially in Ibraflux defense. He likes to move guys around quite a bit, especially on third down when he likes to mix up some of those blitz packages. And with the amount of zone that he does play, Van de Geest definitely has shown that he's able to do that just because he was able to guard some running backs out of the backfield as well.

So that just goes to show you how well he can flip his hips and turn and cover. So he can play man covers, but he also can play zone too. So I think that's something that's another box that he that he did check for them as well yeah definitely interesting and before we go on to our next player on the list Paris Kimball wanted to ask you just really quickly about Banigou and also the guy who I think is gonna be his current partner for the next couple of years is Kimoko Ture what do you like about that long-term pairing with those guys in the opposite edges very explosive and that's something that you notice about Trey,

a guy that was very similar to Ben and you, and that he had some work to do as far as a run defender. But as far as explosion, getting up the field, using their hands as pass rushers and being crappy and just exuberating in repertoire moves, both of those guys already have that. And the biggest thing with Trey coming out was just staying healthy. He had some shoulder surgeries that he had to battle through.

But as far as the explosion that he showed on film, the first step that was very, very, very good up the field, it was just a matter of staying healthy with him, and I think he's going to be a guy that eventually comes on as a full-time starter as well. We might as well dive into the guy. I think he's getting the most hype out of this draft class. Colts fans are giddy over him. I know the coaches as well are really raving about how he's doing in practice so far. He can seemingly run run every route even though that was a question about coming out of Ohio State that he's really thriving on the inside and outside in Colts OTAs so far what's to stand out to you Jordan about Paris Campbell another guy that really checks

the explosion box that the coach we're looking for in this draft class along with Banigou and also Rockison as well guys that are just very twitchy and explosive out of their stances, whether that's at cornerback or receiver or even defensive end with Paris Campbell. I mean, he can be gone at the blink of an eye. Now, the thing with Paris Campbell is that he does struggle as far as route running, and I know a lot of people are hyping up that he can run most of the routes in the route tree, but I don't think that's where he's best served as. But if you really cut down his route tree and you allow him to run basically shallow

crosses from opposite ends of the field or just vertical routes down the field or even big post routes to where he can provide those explosive plays, I think that's really where his best role will be. And I think he landed in a great spot just because of how creative Frank Reich is with this offense and all these various personnels that he's running. He can be that explosive factor that you can give some manufactured touches, whether that's simple bubble screens or even tunnel screens or even give him the ball out of the backfield with these slight little handoffs out of the backfield.

I think he's able to do that. It wouldn't surprise me at all if he has a couple hundred yard game, just off of two to three explosive plays out of each game. Yeah, that's definitely a weapon the Colts can utilize really well under Frank Reich's offense. I'm curious to hear your thoughts as well for a guy like Paris Campbell learning from a mentor like a T.Y. Holt for the next two to three years. Yeah, I think that's a really explosive pairing,

and I think while T.Y. is more of a short-to-intermediate-to-deep guy, I think Paris Campbell can really occupy those short to intermediate and even occasional deep shots down the field. So he's a guy that can attack all three levels of the field while TY really attacks the intermediate, the deep area. So I think they're both more smaller and skinnier type of guys, but I think as far as the explosive factor that they bring to the table, they feed off of each other really well.

As far as Campbell, I know you mentioned maybe the drag routes, the tunnel screens. If you had the opportunity of coaching Paris Campbell, how many touches would you give him a game? Maybe like eight or ten, or maybe that's a little too much his rookie year? No, he's one of those guys that when offensive coordinators like to say they have a corner of their play sheet that's designated to a guy to get four to five touches minimum a game, I think that's exactly what you do with Paris Campbell now like you said

whether that's tonal screens or bubble screens or even drag routes I think that's something you can exuberate with him just get the ball in his hands and just let him take over just because that's what he is whenever he gets the ball in his hands there's no telling what he's going to do with it and I'm telling you right now he's a guy that's going to make you say, wow. Some plays, just because he is really terrific once the ball gets in his hands, just because the straight line speed is so special. Yeah, 4-3-1 speed, that's going to be really fun on Lucas Lilliter. He already blew up the combine, so to say, now he's going to be there long-term. But I wanted to talk with you about one more prospect here before we go on to maybe some closing thoughts on the Apples quotes

overall, Jordan. That's Bobby Okereke, the linebacker out of Stanford, who, as if you watch that last pick series, the Colts put together, they were really debating Ben Banigou and Bobby Okereke at 53 overall, or excuse me, 46 overall, even before they did that. So they definitely valued Okereke very high, 189 overall seed. They're doing backups in the war room. What do you think about pairing Okereke with a guy like Darius Leonard?

I think it's a really good pairing. Now I don't think he's anywhere near as good as a prospect as what darius leonard was coming out just because he had some processing struggles as far as his instincts and really trusting what he sees and he is a bit hesitant as far as contact goes when he is fulfilling his needs in the hole as far as stepping up and welcoming contact but i think he walks into a situation where he can't be that number three baseline backer behind Darius Leonard and Anthony Walker. I think he walks into a situation where there's a really good situation for him just because he's not going to be forced to play right away. And he maybe can be depth,

whether that's behind Walker or even Darius Leonard. So he is that number three base guy in the base defense. So I wasn't, I wouldn't say I was a huge fan of Okereke, but I just understand exactly what his deficiencies are. But he's a really good depth piece behind the top two guys. What really intrigues me with Okereke, when you look at the numbers, their measurables, Darius Leonard and Okereke almost had the exact same length of arm, which is really the 95th percentile according to Mock Draftable. Do you feel like maybe that's a trait that Bauer is maybe zoning on?

Maybe most GMs aren't just the length of arms for linebackers where he can maybe poke out some balls for forced fumbles or maybe get that extra length for a tip pass? Absolutely. Length and explosion are definitely some traits that it really does value. And you see it in the first two picks. I know Rocketson really isn't a relatively long guy, but he uses his hands really well,

and he likes disrupting guys at the line of scrimmage. So his lack of length really is overcompensated by his aggressiveness and just how powerful his hands are. And I'm sure you heard this a million times. He's a two-time wrestling state champion in the state of Georgia, so he's very physical with his hands when he was in high school. And then Bonagie is very good with his hands as a pass rusher. And then it translates over to Darius Leonard and now Bobby Okereke. And it's not just as far as the length that they're using, but being able to disrupt guys out of the backfield

when they're guarding these running backs and also when they're jamming these receivers in the slot, just disrupting that timing with this pass-happy NFL is something that the Colts really are starting to value as well. Yeah, they've really overhauled that linebacking group the last few years because you see it when Darius Leonard and Anthony Walker are on the field. It's definitely a slower pace. And Adi Okereke

is also a fast linebacker. They're really re-bowing that team on the fly in that position. But overall as a whole, Jordan, what did you think about the Colts draft? Do you think it was one of the stronger ones or how would you rank it? I think I ended up giving it a B. And I say that because I really like the top half but they really took some risks down the back stretch and Kari Willis I think is

more of a depth piece. Marvell Tell is another guy that could be a depth piece for Malik Hooker at that free safety spot on the back end and EJ Speed was a guy that a lot of people really didn't know about that probably projected best in the seventh round but they really liked what they saw out of him and I know he's probably a best in the seventh round, but they really liked what they saw out of him. And I know he's probably a relatively unknown, but he just adds more to that length at that linebacker spot. I believe he's like six, three, 230 pounds, but that can run really good as well.

Like Darius Leonard and Bobby Okereke guys that they have drafted in the past. So, and then Jerry Green at defensive end and Jackson Barton, the offensive tackle from Utah. And I believe the last pick was Javon Patterson, the guard from Ole Miss. So they wanted to get better at the first and second level of the defense while also provide some depth on the back end and the secondary, which everyone knew that pass rush was going to be the premium area that they wanted to attack this offseason. But what I love that Chris Ballard did the most was that you heard all the time that the Colts had 120 million plus in cap room but they weren't going to put themselves in bad situations as far as overpaying for guys whether that was Trey Flowers or any other guys that came about in free agency

and he wanted to build this roster through the draft just because that's how you save money to where you can pay these guys in the future because they have some guys coming up that they're going to have to pay in the future maybe a couple couple of few years from now. But he wants to supplant this roster with guys that are homegrown. And I wrote about this in my article this morning that I released on the Draft Network. And that the first thing that Chris Ballard mentioned when he took over the job was that all he saw was Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison jerseys and Dwight Freeney jerseys. He didn't see any homegrown guys like Andrewrew luck or ty hilton and he wanted to get homegrown talent on this roster and a year later now he's seen darius linda jerseys and quentin

nelson jerseys and ryan kelly jerseys so he's really happy with what he's brought to this roster over the past year since he's been the colts general manager yeah i definitely see like chris bowers a playing chess while everyone's playing checkers so to say the drought because i just love it that he's valuing the future more so than right now because we see it right in New York. I mean, Mike McKagan just got fired for being maybe overaggressive and maybe doing not the right things along the way in New York, but Bowers is saving his money for guys that are going to be free agents

or for the draft long term, which makes plenty of sense to me. I think it's the right way to build your team. But overall, Jordan, I want to get your opinions on the Colts roster overall, because it seems like there's hype rounding out right now. There's many writers, many puns saying that's the strongest team the Colts have had since they went to the Super Bowl and Super Bowl 44. What do you like about this Colts team heading into the next season? I like it a lot. And I say that because I think there's depth throughout, whether that's offensive line, even at quarterback. Jacoby Brissett as the backup to Andrew Luck,

who I think is one of the more better backup quarterbacks throughout the league. Running back is absolutely loaded, in my opinion. Marlon Mack, Naeem Hines, Jordan Wilkins, and the list goes on and on of guys that they do have there. Now, interior defensive line does worry me a bit. I thought they would address that a bit more than what they did. They only have Marcus Hunt and Grover Stewart, I believe, at that nose tackle position right now. So they do have some issues up the middle.

And Danico Autry, he's a really good player at defensive tackle. I don't want to sell him short because he's a really good player. But as far as the depth that they do have up the middle, I think that's a bit concerning. But I think they really bought in some really nice depth as far as on the exterior with Justin Houston bringing him in, even if he is a 30-35 type player at game. Even if he only plays that amount of plays a game, I think that would be really good just because I thought his workload just was a bit too much with the Kansas City Chiefs over the past few years, and that's really what led to most of his injuries. But they have some young guys that they can back him up with and that we've talked about endlessly in Taequann Lewis and Kamoko Ture and Jabal Sheard and even Ben

Bonnegie. We'll see how quickly he progresses and enters this rotation as the year goes along. But their defensive line depth at the edge rush spot, I think, is miles ahead of what it was a year ago. And then we've talked about and we've raved about the linebacker position. And I think the secondary is really underrated as well. Kenny Moore is the guy that I think is by far one of the more underrated players in the league.

We'll see if Quincy Wilson can take a step up now entering his third year. Malik Hooker, I think he's a stud. He just has to stay healthy. Pierre Desir, I think he came on really nice last year. So they have some really nice pieces as far as throughout the roster. It's just a matter of them now translating all this into postseason success, which they did experience last year. But I want to see them win the big game,

and I think they do have the roster capable of doing that. And I'm mad I didn't get to talk about wide receiver. And I know a lot of people were really down on Devin Funches signing, but I think this is a similar situation to the Eric Ebron situation last year where they brought him in and he had a career year. We'll see if Devin Funches is able to do that. But I love how the different type of variety of receivers that they do have on this roster now bringing in Devin Funches and, you know, Paris Campbell, who brings an explosive dynamic to the table and even an undrafted guy like Penny Hart, who I think could have an outside chance of making this roster. And a lot of people

also forgetting that they have Deion Kane coming back from injury last year, who really showed a lot of promise in training camp and even at Clemson his final year there. So I think this roster is absolutely loaded. I know it's tough to make projections this early on in June, Jordan, but if you had to say in the AFC right now, I know New England's the team that's always going to be at the top until Brady and Belcher are gone. Also, Kansas City, who knows what's going to happen with the Tyreek Hill situation, but Kansas City, San Diego, or excuse me, not San Diego, the L.A. Chargers,

plus the Colts and the four or five teams at the top of the AFC. How would you shake those teams out right now if you had to rank them one to five? Well, I'm never going to bet against New England because of the dynasty that they do have right now. So I would go with them at the top. I would go with the Chiefs at the second spot. I think the Steelers are going to take a step back this year but i still have to include them no matter what just because ben roethlisberger is still under center and they're still going to have

the success that they did have even though they didn't experience a lot last year so i think they maybe could bounce back this year but i really wouldn't put my money on it but for the sake of this exercise i'll just go ahead and put them at that third spot and i'll put the Colts at that fourth spot right there with the Los Angeles Chargers I think they could battle for that fourth or fifth spot so I'm really excited to see what this team does heading into 2019. Yeah it's going to be really fun to see how this Colts team grows and matures because little maybe maybe people don't know this but if you take out Adam Vinatieri they're one of the youngest teams in the NFL so there's definitely a lot of experience left to be done with this Colts team.

They're just getting started. But, Jordan, before we let you go, if there's anything you want to plug with your work, your Twitter or on Draft Network, go right ahead. Yeah, so you can follow me on Twitter at jreidNFL. That's at J-R-E-I-D-N-F-L. You can also find my work on the draftnetwork.com. I just released an article this morning talking about the 12-month journey of an NFL scout. I actually got a chance to interview three current NFL scouts that chose to stay anonymous.

And they just showed me or they told me some of the experience that they have had during their journey leading up to the NFL draft and throughout their career as an NFL scout. So be sure to check that out. And also subscribe to my podcast called The Draft Board. You can find that on iTunes, Spotify, and any other podcast network that you so choose to do so. Jordan, this was awesome. I really appreciate the time. If you haven't already, go in and follow him over at jreidnfl.

I really appreciate it, Jordan. No problem. Thanks for having me on.