Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 6/9/20: Early 53-man roster predictions

Episode Date: June 9, 2020

On today's episode, 53-man roster predictions for the Colts! We run through the gamut of all the positions. Who makes it? Will their be any surprise cuts? Will the UDFA tradition continue?Three quarterbacks will be on board as Rivers, Brissett, and Eason will make it. How about the running backs? Is there enough room for Jordan Wilkins?On the defensive side, lots of camp battles coming in the trenches. Is Tyquan Lewis on the hot seat? Also, does Leonard/Walker/Okereke trio make carrying six LBs less likely?Who will win the kicking competition between McLaughlin and Blankenship?We close going over our biggest surprise cuts alongside some questions looking ahead to where Indy stacks up in the division. Make sure to subscribe on whatever platform you're listening to! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello, everybody. Welcome back into your latest episode of Locked on Colts, probably a Locked on Podcast Network. Today's host, Evan Sedrin. A bearish guest today shows we go through our early 53-man roster predictions. Anthony Smith of Coast to Coast Scouting. Anthony, how are you doing today? Doing pretty well. Thanks for having me back. And I'm ready to talk some Colts football again.

Yeah, absolutely. We're getting closer and closer to the season, hopefully starting on time. And in the doldrums of the summer here in the middle of June, early June, we're going to go through and do our 53-man roster predictions here. And we're going to go position by position here, going through quarterbacks, running backs, the whole gamut here. And we're going to start off with those quarterbacks I just mentioned there, Anthony, because this will be the first time in a while.

I know last year the Colts did this too because Bursette got injured and we saw what happened with Chad Kelly being on and off the roster a little bit. But this will be the first time in a while here where we might actually see three quarterbacks make the opening for the three-man roster. And it sounds like it's going to go that way with Phillip Roach, Jacob Brissett, and Jacob Eason. Would you be surprised at this point if they don't carry three quarterbacks?

Yeah, I think this feels like a position that's pretty much a lock. I don't see any way that, you know, you're going to keep Chad Kelly on the roster. We'll see as we get into it. There's some positions where it's going to be really tight. So I think, you know, one and done, we got the three quarterbacks, and that's a lock for me. Yeah, definitely agree with you there. We'll go straight into the running backs here too

because I think this might be a surprise here on the list, Anthony, because of this one. He's done well for the Colts here the last couple years, but I don't know if he's going to make the 53-man roster because we have Roosevelt Nix on board now, the fullback position, the first time in a while they're going to use that as an actual position. I know they had Ryan Hewitt a couple years ago. He was more of a tight end on the 53-man positional depth chart.

So for mine, I have four making the roster like it was last year. Jonathan Taylor, Marlon Mack, Naheem Hines, and then Roosevelt Nix taking that fourth spot there. So unfortunately, I have Jordan Wilkins on the 53-man roster. What's your thoughts on that? Yep, I have it the same way. And, you know, it's a bummer. I really like Jordan Wilkins on the 53-man roster. What's your thoughts on that? Yep, I have it the same way. And, you know, it's a bummer. I really like Jordan Wilkins.

He's averaging something crazy like 5.3 yards per carry or something like that, you know, for his career and limited touches. I just don't see any way we can keep four running backs. And like you said, adding the full back slash running back in Roosevelt Knicks. I don't think we can keep Wilkins, unfortunately. So I have the same way you do. Going on to the wideouts here, because once again, a huge position dial is going to be happening in training camp here.

The first four feel like locks, T.Y. Hilton, Michael Pittman Jr., Paris Campbell, Zach Paschal. Before we get into it, Anthony, do you think they're going to carry five wideouts this year, or do you think it's going to be six? So I'm leaning six. Like you said, there's the four locks in Paris four locks in, in Paris, T Y Zach and Pittman, but I think they, they will probably carry six. We've seen, you know, some injuries and stuff throughout our wide receiver core recently. So I feel like six makes sense. I would

throw in Reese fountain. I think that, you know, he's been kind of a preseason and offseason darling for a lot of Colts fans. If he can stay healthy, I think he's a guy that we'll see get added onto the roster. And then between Marcus Johnson and Ashton Doolin, that one's pretty tough for me. I do like Ashton Doolin quite a bit,

but they just re-signed Marcus Johnson, brought him back, and he showed some flashes in limited touches. So I'm going to roll with the six, you know, the four locks, and then give me Reese Fountain and Marcus Johnson. I'm right there with you on five of the six. I have Reese Fountain there as well. I went Ashton Doolin over Marcus Johnson because of special teams value.

We saw last year how valuable he was as a gunner. He seemed to take over the spot that Chris Milton had and did it pretty well. I know Chris Bauer mentioned the year that he really liked what he saw from Ashton Doolin on special teams there. So just how much the Colts value special teams. I'm going to go with Ashton Doolin over Marcus Johnson, but I would not be shocked at all if Marcus Johnson does well for himself on special teams this year or even gets a bigger role

offensively like you saw last year against Tampa Bay. He can really get going if he gets some touches. So that's going to be an interesting battle there for the last spot between Ashton Doolin and Marcus Johnson. We deferred there a little bit. We're going to go to tight ends now, and this feels like an interesting one because we feel like the Colts usually carry four tight ends, but for this one I only have three because they have the fullback now and Roosevelt next.

I'm going Jack Doyle, Trey Burton, and Malia Cox. Any differences there, Anthony? Nope. That one, that seems like another lock for me. Just three tight ends this year. Colts fans, hope you're enjoying this episode with Anthony Smith at Coast Coast Gouting. As we go through our 53-man Ross predictions here in early June, I imagine

they will change and stay fluid throughout training camp, but this seems like a pretty firm prediction from both of us here. As we dive into the three-man Ross predictions, some surprise cuts may be on the list, some guys who are going to maybe keep the tradition going of underrated free agents. Will there be one making this roster? So hopefully you guys are enjoying this so far. We're going to talk about our main sponsor today's show though which is the best tasting protein bar ever built bar it's a protein bar taste aside candy bar with 16 amazing flavors eight chocolate nut flavors and eight chocolate nut free flavors the bar is covered in 100% chocolate and they're soft and easy to chew the built bar is great for a health conscious guy too

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I still feel like this Colts offensive line is incomplete. So to say they have the starters, but the depth is still very worse than me. I wouldn't be shocked at all. This is where Chris Bowden and co. really attack on the waiver wire in the training camp, or even before training camp starts because no really experience at all on the offensive line behind these starters. You have LaRaven Clark.

You have Jake Elder in camp. You also have Danny Pinter, the fifth-round pick out of Ball State. I think he's a lock to make the team, but outside of that, pretty much no one else outside of those six players. So I went with an undrafted free agent, the key to tradition going here. I went with O'Donnell from Canada, CFL. He seemed like he's a really intriguing prospect six foot seven six foot eight tackle you can develop them a little bit i'm

going to go with him then laverne clark jake elder and camp and danny pinter alongside the stars anthony costanzo quentin melson ryan kelly quentin melson and brantman bring me to nine offensive linemen what's your thoughts yeah i have nine as well and i think this is going to be you know a year where we you know if any injuries happen uh we're going to miss a guy like Joe Haig, who was kind of that versatile, you know, can play spot tackle, can slide into guard. Like you said, the experience is a little bit worrisome. I have nine as well. Of course, our starters in AC Anthony Costanzo, Quentin Nelson, Ryan Kelly, Mark Galinci, Braden Smith. As far as the other four, I'm looking at Danny Pinter as a lock, probably sliding into that right guard position. I do like Carter O'Donnell as well, keeping that undrafted free agent,

you know, streak going. And then LaRaven Clark as well. You know, they seem to really like him, even though we haven't seen a ton from him just yet the only difference i have i went with a true center in my opinion in javon patterson um over jake eldrum camp even though you know there's the the experience uh disparity there i do think that patterson um has some potential and can potentially slide into a backup role behind uh ryan kelly but than that, yeah, nine offensive linemen for me. Do you feel like maybe in case glass breaks the emergency here, Anthony,

that if, let's say, a Quentin Nelson gets hurt and it gets down to gets hurt, how much do you think this team is in trouble, should I say? Because just the lack of experience on this offensive line. I know it's hard to find nine quality starting offensive linemen in the NFL nowadays, but I feel like this is a position where, like I mentioned, I wouldn't be shocked at all. This is really where they try to attack before the season starts. Yeah. The, the waiver wire is going to be really interesting.

I think Ballard's going to have his work cut out for him because like you said, if Costanzo goes down, if big Q goes down, that's, you know, that does not spell well for our prospects this season and the running game and even the passing game as a whole. So I would, I would look for them to get some extra experience. Of course, our guys have been pretty healthy for the last couple of seasons, but definitely going to be something to look out for. Moving on here to the defense side, you're going and starting in the trenches against who's just an offensive line or a defensive line. I have 10 making the roster this year, so 19 total in the trenches, nine offensive linemen, 10 defensive linemen. DeForest Buckner,

Danico Autry, Grover Stewart, Sheldon Day, and I have Robert Win total in the trenches, nine offense linemen, 10 defense linemen. DeForest Buckner, Danico Autry, Grover Stewart, Sheldon Day. And I have Robert Winster making the roster the sixth round pick. Then on the edges there, I have Justin Houston, Kamoka Ture, Ben Banigoon, Al-Qaidi Mohammed. So the surprise cut for me is Taekwon Lewis, but it seems like the writing's on the wall, so to say, because Taekwon hasn't proven much as far as injuries go.

And I really think Chris Godson had messaged at the end of the season press conference as well saying he really is on his last legs here. If he can't prove himself, it seems like he's going to be a long goner. So I think if Robert Winstead competes and really shows some of their production to Taequann Lewis in camp, I would not be shocked

if Lewis is a surprise cut. Yeah, this is another, this is one of the more interesting ones for me. I'm rolling with 10 as well. So I've got Autry, Bonnegut, Buckner, Day, Houston. I did include Taequann Lewis because I think rather than him spending much time on the interior, I'm hoping we'll see him at a true defensive end position. Hopefully, potentially trying to fill a little bit of that Jabal Shear role. Of course, Al-Qadeen Muhammad, Grover Stewart, Kamoko Touré, and then I'm going to

roll with Robert Windsor as well. So we'll see in a second. I think this is going to make us have to cut back a little bit on linebackers, but I do still see the potential with Lewis if he can stay healthy, if he can stay on the field. I do think he could make a potential on this team. So I'm going to roll with 10, but I've got type one Lewis making that roster. Going on a linebacker, like you mentioned, I still have six making the rosters because special teams reason, but really five, if you want to discount Jordan Glasgow, I think to make the roster is based on special teams and Chris Bowers raid by a special teams ability already. So Darius Leonard, Anthony Walker,

Bobby Okereke, EJ speed, Matthew Adams, and Jordan Glasgow. What do you think about that? I've got the same thing, except I do not have Matthew Adams making the roster. So I have five linebackers in Glasgow, Leonard, Okereke, Speed, and Walker. I like Matthew Adams. I like Zaire Franklin. I like Sky Moore a lot too. But unfortunately, with Ballard's emphasis on the defensive line

and wanting to have a full and healthy rotation there, I think we're only going to see five linebackers this year. That's a good point because we also saw last year at the end of the season Bobby Okereke played an awful lot of snaps at Sam. Also Anthony Walker did as well when Darius went down. So would it be shocking? I mean it wouldn't be shocking honestly to see those three play an awful lot of snaps. Maybe see Okereke start at Sam or Walker. Everyone's that open competition to Mike this year. Maybe that does maybe give you less of a chance of really worrying about something happening there because you have three star wars that are pretty much locked into those spots yep yeah i i like uh bobby okariki a ton uh we mentioned this last time i was on i'm a stanford fan so i was stoked when he came to town

um i think that he's going to be primed to take over anthony walker's role i think anthony walker still plays a huge role in 2020 for this season but but I think that that's going to be a line group led by Darius Leonard and Bobby Okereke. I definitely agree with that. I think Okereke will take the mic spot this year, and we'll see sort of Walker transition to a two-down role on first, second down, and you see Okereke and Leonard playing all three downs there. So let's go defensive backs for a second, Anthony,

because this is another interesting one. I have six making the roster here. Xavier Rhodes, Rakia Sin, Kenny Moore, Marvell Tell, TJ Carey, and Isaiah Rogers, the rookie, who I think is going to do a lot on special teams too, maybe as their returner. What's your thoughts on that? Yeah, I've got the same thing. I think obviously we've got Rhodes in here to potentially lock down that starting role

alongside Rakia Sin. Kenny Moore is going to be manning the slot most of the time. I do like TJ Carey quite a bit. And like I said, Rodgers, his potential as a punt returner, not just in other special teams aspects, is going to be huge, I think. So I've got the same exact six. Yeah, it's going to be interesting because I feel like it's almost a lock at this point with what they have as their backfield after guys like Rodgers

and Tell and Carey because it's a lot of undrafted guys, a lot of unproven guys in the practice squad. So this six feels pretty locked in here, especially with the trading away. Quincy Wilson, like we saw on draft day for a six-round pick, which turned to Isaiah Rodgers, probably has a replacement there. Let's go to the safeties here. For the four I have on the roster, I'm going to include Blackman here because I imagine he'll start on the pup list, but they're going to be carrying four most of the year.

So I'll go Malik Hooker, Kari Willis, George Odom, and Blackman. What's your thoughts on that? Yeah, so I kind of cheated. I guess I have five since Blackman's not going to count against the roster if he's on the pup list. I do think they'll carry four throughout most of the season once he gets back, but in his absence, I think we'll see Malik, Hooker, George Odom, Kari Willis, and I think they'll keep Roland Milligan around for a little while until Blackman's back and fully healthy.

Yeah, I definitely agree with you. Roland Milligan would be the pseudo-force safety as Julian Blackman is recovering from his knee injury they suffered in December in the Pac-12 title against Oregon. So I imagine he'll be back around October. That's what Ballard said before, so let's keep on that with the October return day for him. Last group here, the special teams unit.

And who do you have winning the kicking competition here, Anthony? Because I imagine Luke Rhodes, a long snapper, Rigoberto Sanchez, a punter, or locked in. You going with Hot Rod or Rodrigo Blankenship? Or you going with Chase McLaughlin keeping his spot? This one's interesting. I was pretty excited when we signed Hot Rod as an undrafted free agent. But I think that we've seen Chase McLaughlin.

He's proven it, taken over for Vinatieri in the latter half of the season. I think his NFL experience is going to give him a little bit of an edge. Unless Hot Rod comes out and can't miss a kick, I feel like we'll see them lean Chase McLaughlin for this one. Yeah, it's going to be a really fun competition. I went with Blankenship over McLaughlin just because marketing reasons. I like the idea of Hot Rod and Rigo together. That sounds like it's a fun little marketing combination you could do.

I imagine Rodrigo, like we saw in Georgia, he's consistent, but also you have to see if he's clutch enough in this situation. We saw him miss a really important kick last year against South Carolina. He could have won the game over them. A huge upset the game, Cox Paul against the Bulldogs at home. So we'll have to see on that. I think it's one of the more intriguing competitions this year at camp. But the notable cuts I have on my list, like you mentioned,

Zaire Franklin, I have Chad Kelly, Chase McLaughlin, Jordan Wilkins, Javon Patterson, and Robert Windsor. Excuse me, Taequann Lewis not making the roster there. So what's your surprise cuts? We kind of went through them all there, but what do you think is the biggest ones to add to you? Yeah, biggest ones that I left off that were tough to leave off. As you mentioned, Ashton Doolin with his special teams presence.

I think that's a real toss up between him and Marcus Johnson. So if he gets cut, that'd be a little bit of a bummer. And then Jordan Wilkins, like I mentioned, I think he's going to be a guy that, you know, he'll never be an RB one, but you know, when we see him on a different roster, potentially this, this upcoming season, I think we'll see him make an impact, even if it's in a committee squad. I think that we'll see Jordan Wilkins make a big impact in a different roster, unfortunately.

And then, like you mentioned, the linebackers. I cut Matthew Adams and Zaire Franklin. I think those are two big names that have contributed throughout the past couple seasons, but fortunately, it's a numbers game. Colts fans, I want of my near as well to describe to you locked on Colts the only daily Colts podcast out there myself Evan Sider I bring you excellent guests throughout the week here like George Bremer Kevin Bowen Anthony Smith of Coast Coast Scouting Jim Ilo of IndyStar Zach Hickstein Peeble who we have a round robin of a top-notch guest you bring you guys all the time here on the show, whether it's on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify.

We're on every single streaming platform. Just search Locked on Colts. If you like what you're hearing as well, we'll give you a safe five-star review. And a written review, too. We'll make sure to read the reviews out on the air here whenever we get those. So, again, subscribe to Locked on Colts on whatever platform you're listening to. And also go follow us on Twitter as well, as our Twitter support is growing more and more each day at locked on cold so appreciate the support and we'll be back to you guys in just a second as you continue our 53-man roster predictions here on the show when you look over this roster Anthony I mean maybe outside the offensive line depth this roster feels pretty strong doesn't I

feel like outside of maybe like you mentioned go on the waiver wire in the offseason and get some more experienced guys from a really proven playoff teams for backup offensive lin. I really think this team outside of that is pretty strong and pretty well rounded to the point where if someone does go down, you have a really talented group to step behind them. Yeah, absolutely. If we are able to get some more experience on that offensive line, like we've mentioned a couple times now, if we see jumps from guys on the defensive line, like Ben Banigou,

Kamoko Ture, who we're all so excited about. I think this is a team that, you know, could potentially be reckoned with. I don't see any major weak spots. You know, we might not have necessarily the star potential throughout the roster, but we've got a lot of good guys that should be able to make an impact on this team. Yeah, definitely agree with you there. And before I let you go, Anthony,

just a couple of general quotes I had for you. As we get closer to the training camp hopefully starting, I know Grand Park and Westfield, it's not going to happen this year due to COVID-19. It's going to be an indoors their facility privately for their training camp, and who knows what's going to happen with the games and what's going to happen with the fans and the stands or anything like that. But as we get closer and closer to the season, Anthony, how excited are you for this Colts team? Because it feels like the improvements they made across the board are pretty noticeable when you go down the roster like this. Yeah, this looks like a team that should be head and shoulders

above what they were last season. Of course, we mentioned this before, it starts with the quarterback. If Rivers is on his game, if he gets back to his 2018 form where he got a really good grade from pro football focus and was able to do some things on that offense, I think this could be a team that should run away with AFC South or at least get it locked up, you know, by week 14, week 15, hopefully. It's going to be really interesting if everything comes together. I mean, the division is really the Colts for the taking.

It's just a matter of putting it all together. Yeah. How do you stack up the AFC South or not, Anthony? Because I think we had this on last episode. We went through it really quickly, but do you think there's some separation growing the more we get close to the season that the Colts could be heading towards above Tennessee, above Houston, and of course, Jacksonville's in the Trevor Lawrence race. We don't have to count them right now, but do you think there's separation between them and Tennessee and Houston?

Absolutely, yeah. This is something I talked about on the Coast to Coast Scouting podcast as well is that it seems like the Texans were in a great position to really run the division, you know, after luck went down and, you know, subsequently retired. It seemed like the Texans were primed.

They have a top five quarterback in Sean Watson, and it looked like they were potentially going to be running the AFC South. But, you know, with Bill O'Brien, the GM and the coach there, they've taken some hits, of course, trading away DeAndre Hopkins. I think that's going to be a big regression for that team, as talented as their quarterback and some of their players are. So I see Indy in first place. I'm not a huge believer in Tennessee repeating.

If you're banking on Derrick Henry, Ryan Tannehill, to have that magic all over again for an entire season, I think that's a big ask. I think they'll still be a formidable smash-mouth football team, but I think that they'll slide into second maybe around 8-8 or so. And then, like you said, Jacksonville, I'd be very surprised to not see them at the bottom at the end of the season. I think one more thing before I let you go, Anthony,

I always enjoy having you on the show. And talking about just the AFC overall, as we get closer to the season now in the indulgence of June we're getting closer to July and chain crime starts August preseason will begin here so it's going to come pretty fast and pretty quickly down the line here but what do you think the Colts stack up in the AFC do you think they really run that tier two in the AFC I know tier one is obviously Kansas City and Baltimore do that the Colts are right below my tier two really leading that pack of Tennessee Buffalo or where do you slot them out yeah I think they they pretty comfortably would settle into that secondary

tier. Like you said, you have the teams like Baltimore like Kansas City that we're expecting to probably get those buys in the playoffs. But beyond that, I mean, Buffalo stands out to me. I think they're in a really good position to run the AFC East. If the Browns finally put it together, you know, potentially they could be the team that we thought they were going to be a couple seasons ago. But I don't see any reason, like I said, that that shouldn't be, you know,

an Indianapolis Colts team that doesn't comfortably find their way into the playoffs. Always enjoy having you on, Anthony, and hopefully you're going to be a recurring guest on throughout the offseason and the season. I know our listeners enjoyed having you on last time we did our first episode together. You guys can follow him on Twitter at Ant underscore the Oreo and go follow his work over at Coast to Coast Scouting at CC Scouting on Twitter.

They do some awesome stuff over there. Anthony, appreciate the time and have us go through his roster predictions. Yeah. Thanks again, man.