Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS -7/12- Colts Weapons Are Underrated | Projecting Colts Record W/@CodyFelger55

Episode Date: July 12, 2017

Matt welcomes Cody Felger to the show today to speak on a recent article downplaying the #Colts weapons, certain player's reliability etc. The two also attempt to predict the Colts 2017 record and how Chris Ballard will handle Chuck Pagano. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Learn more about our healthy benefits at fepblue.org slash getmore. No, I'm not for sale. You are lockeded On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome back to Locked On Colts, ladies and gentlemen. I'm your host, Matt Dainley. Thank you guys for joining me again this week. Our yesterday's show, our Monday's show, rather, was really nice.

I appreciate you guys, all the great comments on there. Those Apple Podcasts ratings and reviews are getting exceedingly high, so continue to do that. I love seeing that. I mean, when I say exceedingly, I mean exceedingly for us, not a national show. But I appreciate them nonetheless. They're doing well. They're getting the show noticed and everything else. So thank you guys for all that. It's really been fantastic to see the support that you guys are offering the show. Tonight, we've got another

guest. I got Cody Felger in the building. What's going on, Cody? How are you? Hey, I'm good. How are you doing? Pretty good. Cody, you want to tell everybody what you're doing as far as who you're writing for and stuff like that right now? Yeah, yeah, for sure. Well, right now I'm just kind of working for Indiana Sports Coverage with Grand Access. We've got a team of writers, actually, and I'm really, really excited because they're all really talented guys. Young guys, which is good, relatively around early 20s, mid-20s. They're really talented. And I tweeted out something today.

I was just like, man, I wish we could pay these guys now. We're working towards that where we can pay our writers, but I wish we could pay them now because they're so talented and they're really awesome guys and really chill. And, yeah, I'm really happy with how many views it's got, the coverage that we've been able to provide for the fans. And I continue to look forward to providing their coverage. Yeah.

Good, good. That's good. I'm glad if you guys aren't checking that out, make sure you guys go to indysportscoverage.com. You guys can check Cody out on Twitter at CodyFelger55. Cody, you and I were talking about something offline offline and we're going to kind of start there there was an article in bleacher report and we're going to go ahead and name shame sean tomlinson here uh for hit for his work or you know lack thereof i don't know the guy i'm sure he's a nice guy i'm not trying to be overly

uh uh you know rude but look mean, when we get into this, if you guys don't know what we're talking about, he's talking about teams that are really heading for like a downtrodden season, basically. Teams that are stuck in a rut heading into 2017 is actually what the article is named. And the 2016 record, obviously, the Colts were 8-8 and he has the Colts for a variety of really I'm just going to say pathetic national stories that the 2017 record prediction being 6-10 and so we've kind of decided on this that this is basically just you know copy and paste not in the you know the literal form

but more or less when we hear a story, people jot it down and they assume that it's realistic, and it's just not. I mean, there's a lot of stuff that's in this little four or five paragraph section here that is just regurgitated garbage. And so let's kind of start at the beginning here. He talks about the rookies uh hooker and wilson and about basically that they're going to you know that they're they're a good group of uh first and second round picks more or less but that the transition is is unrealistic to be smooth

which i don't think that anybody would say again national story and, hey, Mr. Obvious, not that that's breaking news to anybody. But then he gets into Frank Gore talking about Marlon Mack. He starts basically saying that Andrew Luck doesn't have any support around him as far as weapons, aside from T.Y. Hilton and stuff like that. You said that you kind of wrote some reactionary piece on this. What is your initial thoughts on all of this altogether? Yeah, for sure. Well, in response to the rookies, first off, I really don't think that he gave them enough credit.

He said they had good picks, which I get. I agree with. They were great picks, good value picks. I really don't think that he gave the rookies as much credit as they deserve. I mean, when you have guys like TJ Green, who by the way, last range

safety, according to Pro Football Focus last year, and Patrick Robinson who didn't get an interception only like five pass deflections and hurt for nine games. I mean, you can't get any interception, only like five pass deflections, and hurt for nine games. I mean, you can't get any worse than that, right? Right. And I just don't think he's given enough credit.

I mean, if you look at what Malik Hooker did last year, I mean, he was a ball hawk. Like, I've seen tape of him going to the center of the field, all the way to the other side, making a one-handed interception. Like, that's the kind of range this guy's got. And keep in mind, he had seven interceptions last year. The Colts defense had eight, by the way. He had seven interceptions last year.

And he did this at the end of the year. He kept playing like this with a torn labrum and hernia. He was still playing at a superstar level. And, I mean, like Ohio State plays some good teams, first off. And I know there's transitions. There's always going to be that early curve, the transition from, you know, college to the NFL. Like, that's for sure.

But I just don't think he's given enough credit for the impact that Malik Hooker will have, you know, if he's healthy, if he gets the, you know, he still has, like, tackling issues, obviously. But this guy's a ball hawk, first off. There's no comparison to Ed Reed already. You know that this guy is going to make an impact on this defense.

And then Chrissy Wilson. I wrote that Wilson played arguably the best division in college football, arguably the SEC, with Florida last year. And he had three interceptions, which doesn't sound like a huge stat, but then you look at some more stats. He allowed fewer than 40% of the passes that were thrown his way completed. And he also, when thrown to his side of the field, he allowed a pass rate of 29.9 when quarterbacks threw it against him.

Like, I understand if it's like a weaker division, but this is like a tough division. And Quincy Wilson's shot. And, you know, he's obviously got some issues with speed and technique and stuff. But luckily, all these things can be fixed with good coaching. But I really, yeah, I don't think that he gave them enough credit, the Colts' two first-round picks, you know, to lift their hype.

I just think he's kind of just looking down on about everything. This is kind of like a worst-case scenario. Like, if the picks don't pan out, if they really struggle, you know, if Wayne Tucker plays like he did last year. Yeah, I really didn't like that analysis because it kind of just discredited the rookies already. Like, one, he hasn't see him in the NFL stock yet. And then in regards to Frank Gore, I mean, I understand.

I get where he's coming from. Frank Gore's, you know, wrong side of 30. Not the backs he used to be for sure. But, I mean, it doesn't mean that he's not a good player still. You know, he scored last year. He eclipsed 1,000 yards again. He was the only running back to do it since John Riggins. He was the only running back to do it since John Riggins did it.

I mean, John Riggins was, like, one of the best players at the running back position. And then, you know, some of the other veterans, like Darius Butler, he's 31. But he's coming off a season where, you know, he missed a couple games with Adrian. He's banged up a little bit. But he led the Colts with interceptions last year. He had three.

And he shot a lot of ball hockey this year, which I think that the Colts defense really lacked. And they really missed him when he was off the field due to injuries. And, you know, Vontae Davis had it off the air. Well, that's for real. He's coming off, you know, a season before where he made the pro bowl in the season before that where he didn't allow a touchdown pass. So this guy's got a lot of potential still.

He can have a really good bounce that season. I mean, he's only 29. He's got a couple more years coming down the wrong side of the third. So yeah, those are kind of my reactions to those points that he raised. And I noticed that he said some other things like the lack of reliable weapons for quarterback Andrew Luck and little support for receiver T.Y. Hilton.

Yeah, I didn't get that at all. I did not either. I mean, there's a reason that T.Y. Hilton led the league in receiving yards last year, and mainly the reason is because that the other receivers that he had on the field with him were all capable of, of making catches and getting up field. And at the time we had, uh, you know, two tight ends, we had both Dwayne Allen and Jack Doyle. Jack Doyle was a huge get, or as far as, uh, as far as being able to attract attention away from

some of that, those receivers, uh, Jack Doyle was as big as anybody in that regard. That in itself, when you pair him in an elite speed and over-the-top receiver in T.Y. Hilton, that opens up both the underneath game and the deep game, and that's crucial. How you don't write that in here when you're talking about reliable weapons, I don't know because Jack Doyle has an 80% catch percentage throughout his career. I mean, granted, he had a ton more catches last year and targets

last year than he has yet. But when you add it up, it's basically two seasons of last year. Last year and everything before that add up to two seasons of last year's worth. 80% catch percentage. I don't know that you get a whole lot better than that in the NFL. Right. Yeah, and if you're going to talk about reliable, I mean, Jack Dole is your man. Like, he is so reliable. Like you said, 80% catch rate. Like, that's insane in the NFL.

Right. Well, not only that, but you can say that Frank Gore isn't an elite running back. He's not. I mean, the guy's not breaking 40-yard runs every single time. But what is Frank Gore? Reliable in just about everything. Pass protection. He's going to go where the play says he's supposed to go.

He's going to get out where he's supposed to as a check down. And he's going to put a block on somebody when he has to. I mean, the definition of reliable is there. I mean, the main reason Chester Rogers right now has been so hot and the reason he got hot last year is because he was reliable. I mean, don't get me wrong. There's a guy in Philip Dorsett who's yet to prove that he's reliable. I understand that, and I agree with that totally.

But basically, what are you saying? You're saying that there's one or two guys that aren't reliable on that skill set or on that skill position group. I mean, have you found me any NFL team that doesn't have one or two guys that are unreliable? Sure. I mean. Yeah, and are we going to just ignore the fact that the Colts find Kamar Aiken too?

I mean. Right. When he's used right, Kamar Aiken is a solid receiver and a reliable receiver. I mean, we saw that in Baltimore. I mean, he had Joe Flacco for good and safe, and he still produced good numbers when he was used right, when the Ravens decided to put him on the field. Right.

And then, yeah, Dante Moncrief, I know he was injured last year. I'm not dismissed from that. He struggled with the injury a little bit. But, I mean, last year, you look, he was reliable in the red zone. He was a real monster. He had seven touchdowns in the red zone, and he didn't even play all 16 games. This guy is definitely reliable when you're down in the red zone. And like you said, Chester Rogers, I mean, he emerged undrafted free agent.

You know, he became one of Luck's most reliable targets at the end of the year. And now, you know, he's practicing with the ones with T at the end of the year. And now, you know, he's practicing with the ones with T.Y. Hilton now. So he's starting to hit his stride too. I think one player that we're forgetting, you know, we talked about Frank Goldman reliable. How about Robert Turbin? Yeah, absolutely. Last year, this guy was the definition

of reliable. Third down back, he'd always do it. He was a goal line, you know, hog. He loved the goal line. You know, he was solid in pass protection. And also, you factor in Marlon Mack also, which he hit on a little bit. But Marlon Mack has that elite speed that you're looking for in a rain back. I think it's a good combination of gores, power, turbine sort of power, and pass protection down back.

And then Mack isis actually factors in, and he's the speed demon at the moment. So I think the Colts have a good combination of running back, drive, speed, strength, power. I just don't think he addressed that as well as he should have. He didn't factor that in. I agree. Yeah, yeah.

You know, the other thing on there is that he has Dante Moncrief entering a make-or-break season. Now, look, make-or- break season to me means, look, if you don't play well and you don't give me that seven to 10 touchdowns, then you're off the team. That's not make or break. And we said this off air, make or break type situation that Moncrief is in, is he going to get an A plus contract or is he going to get a C contract now if he doesn't play great he could be in that b minus to c you know range for his contract but other than that dante's got the the requisite size he's got some speed he's got really good hands the only thing

he's got is an injury last year that kept him out a good portion of the season and when he was in what did we see? Seven of the nine games that he finished, he scored a touchdown in. And, you know, I just – I have a hard time with saying make or break here. Don't get me wrong. That's the national narrative right now is can Dante Moncrief stay healthy? Well, tell me about his injury history first if you're going to ask me if he can stay healthy. You know, last year he was injured.

What about – what do you got for the rest of it you know what i mean and i'm okay with that i mean because that was a big downtrodden part of the season last year is that moncrieff was out for a significant amount of time but when you bring moncrieff in you know even if we don't know anything about kamariken right now, we know what his potential is, you know, and we know that when he gets targeted, he can be a real factor in this offense. We also have seen Chester Rogers do what he does. With or without Philip Dorsett, this wide receiver core is very skilled. They've definitely got the experience,

and we've got the help with the tight end group that can make a lot of things happen that can make a lot of interesting things happen and not only with frank gore being the the the natural veteran back there who isn't going to be a breakout superstar this year either and he may take a dip in in product and production as well i don't doubt that's a possibility at all but you've got a reliable guy in Turbin. Hopefully he stays healthy. I'm not saying that he's been injury prone or anything. I'm just saying, I hope he stays healthy because even if Frank Gore can't

produce, you've got Turbin who looked good last year. And I think you've got a guy similar to Donald Brown's contract year, right before he left the Colts in Marlon Mack, a guy that can hit those long, big plays. Andrew Luck's very first pass of his career in the preseason was a shovel pass touchdown to Donald Brown. I mean, do people remember that? Because that was one of the most amazing things that I think everybody's just like, oh my God, every single pass he throws is going to be a touchdown. But that was all Donald Brown.

That was all Donald Brown rork working off of his blockers. And Donald Brown didn't do a lot previous to that. But at that year or in that year in his contract season, he played really good football. And if they can get about 80% of that year of Donald Brown out of Marlon Mack this year, even in like just getting a few touches, however many touches he gets a game, seven to eight touches a game or something like that, even if they can just get the ability that that season proved, then that would be a huge help in the backfield because you've got that elite speed and you've got a guy

who can really shake some things up in the secondaries of some teams if he does bust loose at all. Yeah, for sure. Yeah, absolutely. And I think they have a good balance, like I said, of different kinds of running backs, which I think is needed. You know, you need those big power backs, and you also need the fast guys, the shifty guys that can make people miss and, you know,

extend and make long plays out of nothing, really. Yeah, and you were kind of talking about, like, Dante Moncrief a little bit and, like, how he might have to earn his contract this year. And that kind of leads me into another point that I thought that Tomlinson didn't really factor in is the competition level that chris ballard brought you know before before chris ballard and ryan rickson was still with the franchise um you really noticed a lot of times that it seemed you know i can't say for sure but it seemed like a lot of players had positions that were safe you know no matter what the competition level it seemed like there was there was positions that were safe, you know, no matter what the competition level. It seemed like there was positions that were promised to players

based on, like, status, like first-round pick. I mean, there was exceptions like Jarrell Freeman and stuff like that. But you saw, you know, a lot of times, you know, there wasn't a whole lot of competition level. And Chris Ballard really brought that. I remember I have a quote here. He said, the biggest thing I want to make sure we're emphasizing is that competition, that they have to earn it. It doesn't matter where you come from and how we build it.

From the first-round pick to undrafted free agent to street free agent, guy was cut at the 53 future signing. So he's basically saying, like, you know what? If you come in and you compete, it doesn't matter if you're a first-round pick or undrafted free agent. You know, if you prove that you belong on this roster, you're going to be an Indianapolis Colt. I really say that. And it's even more critical for them to believe it. Because if he continues to show that that's what he truly believes, that that's how he wants this team to go forward. And that's the, I don't even want to call it a mantra anymore, but a mindset that he can instill in these guys and that they believe it and they can act on it and they can play like that in training camp. That's going to make them play better. I mean, it sounds ridiculous because you

say, oh, because a guy says something that it's going to make me play better, but it will, because you believe that you can make that roster. I mean, if you believe you're, you're good enough to be in training camp on a 90 man squad, then you couldn't, you feel that you're good enough to make the 53. And if you hear your GM say, he doesn't care if you are, you know, an undrafted guy, you've got an opportunity to make this team. Man, you know what you're doing? You're being real serious about your skills. You're being in camp. You're not out messing around at night. You're in there proving that you can be part of this 53-man roster and make a name for yourself in the NFL, which is why you're in camp to begin

with, because you want a career in the league. I mean, I can't explain how important that is and how imperative that is for the mindset of these rookies, especially, and not only that, but for any of the free agents that came in. You don't think Jonathan Hankins loved hearing that? Because he knows he's the man. I mean, and that's fine. But you know what he also knows? He knows that everybody around him that's playing, that's going to be drawing off of him and his skillset and what he does at nose or three tech or wherever he ends up playing the majority of his snaps. He knows that the guys around him are going to, those guys have busted their butt to get where they're at on that roster and in that starting lineup that there's nothing more crucial for a mindset for an entire team. And as far as I'm concerned, I think it's a, an absolute brilliant plan. It's nothing more crucial for a mindset for an entire team as far as I'm concerned. I think it's an absolute brilliant plan. It's a brilliant statement, and it's even more brilliant

for him to actually follow through with it and to keep this team on tabs and make them believe that that's exactly what's going to happen if they do what they do in camp. Absolutely, and you even saw it last year. Chris Ballard is not afraid to back up what he's talking about. Last year, they drafted a guy in the third round, and they actually cut it. They cut their third-round picks because he wasn't up to the standards. And that shows you something right there, that Ballard is serious about it. Yeah, absolutely. That's where he's come from.

That's the mindset that he's brought with him from everybody that's helped him along the way, whether it was in Chicago or in Kansas City or just whatever. Those are the guys that have made it real for him, and he's bringing that mindset along with him. And like I said, that's a great thing. And let's talk real quick about the schedule because I see that he's got these – that the Colts are at 6-10 for his prediction. And I just want to run through this real quick. And now look, the Rams, Cardinals, Browns, and Seahawks,

one through four, weeks one through four. Obviously, the Cardinals and the Seahawks are legitimate contenders, I think, depending on what they look like initially. But, I mean, you know what kind of talent they can provide for each game. The Rams are a hot mess. The Browns are a hot mess. But what have we also seen from the Colts? The Colts often play down to their competition. I mean, it's just something that's happened in the past. Those first four games right there are going to tell a lot about Chuck Pagano's future, I think, because if the Colts come out 0-2, that means they've

lost to the Rams and they've lost to the Cardinals. They go into week three with a, I mean, I think ultimately you go into week three on 0-2. Now the Colts have started 0-2 in the past few seasons. So it's nothing, it's not exactly brand new, you know, something that would just not have been heard of. But if you go into week three against the Browns and you lose that game, I mean, boy, you better hope that if you're Chuck Pagano, you better hope you've got the best freaking post-game speech at 0-3 after losing to the Browns before you head over to Seattle to play the Seahawks at their place. Because there's a pretty dang good chance that you're starting 0-4 in that case. And if that's the case, Chuck Pagano better be looking for a job at a factory.

Oh, absolutely. Yeah, they cannot afford to go 0-2 again, start 0-2 again. Right. Because there's no reason. You can't blame the GM anymore. You can't blame your coordinators because you fired your offensive and defensive coordinator. You got new coaches. You got a great offensive line coach, I think, in Joe Philbin.

So your staff is not your staff. If it comes to the point where they're 0-2 again, I think that they've got to do something. They've got to pull the plug. They've got to shake up the team or something. Yep. And you see that often where teams will give a coach the boot right before a team.

And it's like, oh, because, I mean, it seems, I mean, maybe I'm exaggerating, but at least in my head I remember, you know, you hear these storylines, whether it's on ESPN or just wherever, and you're saying they've just fired their coach and now they've got to go play blah, blah, blah, who's typically a great team or something like that. What are they, you know, that's going to be a rough game. But then they almost always, it seems like, come out on top. Is that the impetus game right there where the season turns around

if the Colts blow it? I mean, it doesn't really get – I mean, I understand that nationally people think that the Colts schedule is weak. And overall, I agree because, I mean, you're playing, you know, six games against AFC South opponents. And aside from the Titans and the Texans right now, the only ones that have really proved anything, I mean, Jacksonville wins the offseason often, so we don't really know what to expect from them. But you still have the 49ers. And I understand that the 49ers are in complete and total rebuild as well. But, I mean, there's a different mindset in their head coach

and in the front office. So, I mean, we're kind of halfway with the 49ers right now at the point. The big difference is the quarterback in that matchup. And then we're going to play the Bengals and we're going to play the Steelers all within week 10. I mean, these are all games in week 10. There's a very real chance the Colts are 500 at that time. And it's possible that they're worse than 500.

So, I mean, I'm not totally discounting the six and 10, because I think that there are definitely some things that could happen during the first half of that season that could put the Colts en route to being 6-10. I mean, an injury or two to one of these key additions. I mean, just a complete disaster of coaching job. You know, I mean, there are some things that could happen that put them on pace for that. But the Colts really, I mean, then you look at, you know, they get back on top possibly in the second half of the season with the Titans, Jags, and Bills. But I mean, again, those are three teams that are really kind of rebuilding what

they've done. I mean, you've got two new head coaches there between the Jaguars and the Bills, and the Titans are as hot as anybody right now as far as offseason player acquisition and front office. I mean, and then Broncos, Ravens, and Texans to end the season. This could be a bad season for the Colts. It could also be a season where, you know what, okay, we beat the Rams, we'll beat the Browns, we'll beat the Niners, we'll beat the Jaguars, we'll, you know, maybe beat the Bengals or Texans, you know, for a fifth win early in there, then maybe a game or two out of the Titans, Jaguars, and Bills. There's a seven or eight victory possibility right here

if the Colts don't look like garbage. You know what I mean? Where do you stand as far as just mindless prediction right now for the Colts season? Yeah, I think I'm going to say 9-7 or 10-6, only because the Titans have not beat Andrew Luck ever in a Colts uniform. I don't think that'll start now. I think the Titans, while they're on the up-and-coming, I just don't see them'll start now. You know, I think the Titans, while they're on the up and coming, I just don't see them, you know, coming in and winning.

You know, they lost last year to the Colts who had, like, what, the 30th red defense, and they still came in and lost two games. They got swept last year. And with this improved defense, you know, on paper it's improved at least. I think it'll be improved a little bit. You know,'ll be 20, if we're lucky, middle of the pack. I think if they can even get to the middle of the pack, they could definitely do a lot of damage. They have an elite offense.

I think the offense could take the next step next year if all goes well. Dante Moncrief emerges, has a great year. Jack Doyle continues to do his thing. I think they could do really well. Dante Moncrief emerges, has a great year. Jack Doyle continues to do his thing. I think they could be really well. But I also see inconsistency, and an inconsistency stems from Chuck Babano. He's a really inconsistent coach. His players aren't accountable a lot of times.

You saw that with T.J. Green constantly last year, committing stupid penalties and not getting anything for it, not taking responsibility. And I think you need a head coach that does that, that wants people accountable. And that's something I didn't understand, why Jim Irsay kind of made Chris Ballard, even though he didn't say it, you could tell he kind of made Chris Ballard keep Chuck Favaro for one more year. And I didn't get that.

I didn't understand why he did that. Why didn't he just let the GM bring in his own coaching staff and stuff? But we'll see how it goes. Maybe it was all Ryan Gerson. I hope it was all Ryan Gerson because I love Chuck Magano as a person. I think he's a great person. But, yeah, for right now, I'd say he's a below-average coach. It's nothing that changed me to say, you know,

because he's blown so many games with terrible, you know, decisions. So that's just me. Oh, but you're right, though. I mean, they've got him ranked somewhere around the 26th or 27th in just about any poll that anybody takes as far as coaching, you know, whatever you want to call it, coaching strengths between each team. I mean, he's, you know, my assumption, and I think that this is just, you know, what you would expect if this is a situation that you're in. You've kept your coach with a new GM, okay?

You've ultimately forced the GM to keep the coach. What are you telling him? Especially in the Colts' situation right now, you're telling both the GM and the coach ultimately, look, this guy's complaining that he doesn't have the players, even though he's technically stood on the table for a couple that were garbage and are no longer on the team. But Ryan Grigson, by and large, is the guy who has bought the groceries.

So this guy, Chuck Pagano, is the one who is complaining about not getting the talent that he needs for his defense, for his team to be successful. You got one year, Chuck. We're going to let a new GM come in. And if you can't win with those guys, you're done. I mean, I don't see how that started any other way. And I don't see how that could have finished in that conversation any other way. There's just no reason that he should be the coach next year

if the Colts don't have, at minimum, a winning record. I don't believe that if he doesn't get to the playoffs. I don't believe in that. I believe that they are going to gauge Chuck Pagano's staying power by a lot. There's got to be chemistry with this team. There's got to be people that actually feel within the Colts organization, this new front office with Ed Dodds and Rex Hogan and all these other guys that he's brought in, that they believe that he is a good coach. Not a good guy to be on the centerpiece of a team, you know, be the first guy to the podium after a game. He's got to be a guy who can coach people, not just walk around

to each position group and say, good work, good work. This guy's got to be able to coach people. They brought in Philbin. Like you said, it's definitely not the position coaches. It's not those guys. Philbin did a good job last year, and I think the offensive line is going to considerably take an uptick this year. I think that when they brought in the new wide receivers coach from Buffalo, everybody rants and raves about that guy. So, I mean, they've got that. They've got a good running backs coach. They've got, you know, I don't think that they've got a good defensive coordinator,

but that doesn't really make much of a difference because Pagano's obviously pulling the strings on that. But this is just a season. I wouldn't even call it a waste, but I would definitely say that, you know, really make much of a difference because Pagano's obviously pulling the strings on that. But this is just a season, I wouldn't even call it a waste, but I would definitely say that, you know, I think, and I've said this before, I know that I've had George Bremer on here and he said it before, whether he said it on air or not, I'm not sure, but there could be a 10-6 season from the Colts and Pagano could still get fired. There's a possibility that the Colts could go 6-10 and Pagano could get retained. It all depends on what they feel that the team that's around Pagano

has actually earned and deserves to do and how well Pagano's done coaching these guys and keeping them in line. Yeah, it'll be interesting to see next year. This is definitely an intriguing season. Because there's a lot of optimism, but there's also, you know, it'll be interesting to see how the coaching staff responds. I don't know. I'm interested to see this season.

I honestly can say I have no idea what's going to happen. That's exciting. Yeah, I agree. And that adds a lot of intrigue to it um there was a a piece on pro football focus where the they basically said that you know they're taking the best player from the team and then they wanted to put up somebody who they felt had the best chance to supplant that person as the best uh player on the team for example if the best player was no longer on the team. Obviously, the best player is Andrew Luck, but their young contender was Ryan Kelly at center.

What are your thoughts on that? Oh, yeah, Ryan Kelly, man. Probably my favorite pick of the Ryan Grixen era, besides Andrew Luck, obviously. Because this guy came in as a rookie, became the center anchor of the offensive line. There's a lot of sack raps here, and he's still underrated. I think it's really criminal that he didn't, you know, receive more recognition than he did. But that's a different story. But, yeah, man, Ryan Kelly is the real deal.

Like, I was watching him, and this wasn't from his take from last year. And, man, like, you see, you know, you see, like, the left tackle position. Costanza is inconsistent. You know, you see, like, the left tackle position, Costanza's inconsistent. You know, you see kind of the flux at the right side. But then you see the center position just kind of, you know, pushing the guys forward, you know, just holding their own, holding his own. And it's really good to see, especially after, you know,

kind of the turnstile at center for Andrew Luck's first couple years. Right. It's really, it was really refreshing to see. Yeah. I'm a big, big fan of Ryan Kelly. Really appreciate the pick. I think he did a good job, and I'm excited. What I'm not excited about is that they picked him to be the best player.

I mean, look, if Andrew Luck goes down and if I hear a story, somebody say, at least we've got Ryan Kelly, I'm going to puke. Because he's our center. We don't want our best player to be our center, even though we want him to be great. I mean, we need a running back, a wide receiver, a tight end, a top offensive lineman, a top defender. I mean, of some sort, a playmaker or something to be our best player. The fact that they put a center as the best option to supplant Andrew Luck,

if he were to go down as the best player on this team, is disgusting. And first and foremost, I don't agree with it. I mean, this was written after Hankins was brought in, obviously. This is a recent article. So you're telling me Jonathan Hankins isn't better than Kelly right now. I disagree with that. I mean, you can tell me that Henry Anderson would be the best player. I'd be okay with that. Even though, you know, obviously he's still got some more proof. He has been nicked up quite a bit, but we don't really know a lot about the inside linebackers, outside linebackers

much to this point or anything like that. But give me a corner like Quincy Wilson or give me even Malik Hooker, even though he's a rookie, or Clayton Gethers, who I truly believe is probably one of the top three or four best players on this roster top down when he's healthy. I think it just made me want to puke when I saw Ryan Kelly on that list. I thought, what? He's a center. Why would we ever want him to be that? And why would you ever put that? I mean, that's such a boring, I didn't want to take five more minutes to actually write, you know, an interesting player in here. Because as good as Ryan Kelly is, and as crucial as he's going to be to the mix of that offensive line, that's the most boring thing I've ever read. Yeah, I agree.

We'd love to have a position player, which I think there are players that definitely could do that. But I don't know. It's an interesting choice for Ryan Kelly. I mean, obviously he was great last year, but he doesn't really, you know, centers don't really get a lot of recognition. I'm actually surprised that they picked him over, you know,

some of the exciting players that Colts brought in this year. That's really interesting to me. I'm not quite sure why they did that, but anyway. That's funny. What's your favorite position to look at this summer at training camp? You know, I'm really intrigued to see the inside linebacker position like you were talking about. Like there are legitimately like five players who could, you know,

win starting jobs. Like that's crazy. I honestly have no idea. I can make an educated guess, but I have no idea who's going to start the inside linebacker. And that's good. And there's a lot of depth there. And that,

I think that tells you something. I mean, with the inside linebackers, the two that are starting, they may not even start next year. That talks about the competition that Chris Ballard has brought in. It really speaks to that. And also, with the defensive line with David Perry, you know, the starter last year, I mean, he may not even beat the roster. I know a lot of people think he will.

But honestly, you know, you have Jonathan Hankins first off. You have Berger Stewart, who you drafted, big man. You have Al Woods. I mean, T.Y. McGill. You have all these guys. Like, where did David Perry fit into that? Right. Yep.

Well, you got four guys right there with Hankins, Woods, McGill, and Stewart that can all play nose. Right. I mean, I'm sorry. David Perry cannot play anything other than nose. And if you've got four guys on that defense that you're going to keep on the roster, David Perry's gone. There's no question about it.

Yeah. Like, I think he did, he's done, you know, okay for a fifth round pick, but honestly you don't want to build a defense around a fifth round pick. Right. I'm sorry to say. Yeah, you sure can't do that. There's more talented players on the roster. Like'm sorry you have to make the cut and you you alluded to that inside linebacker group that is a really interesting crew because i mean virtually

everybody that i've spoken to has said that bostic has really impressed them down there which is something that i think a lot and i don't know if it's because he's actually impressed them with what he can do or if it's they didn't expect it from him and he's proving a little bit more than what they expected. So I can't really gauge that quite yet until we see what's going on at training camp. But the fact that Bostic kind of is the guy to beat for that initial starting job, I mean, I like Sean Spence's chances to do that. I like Antonio Morrison. If he's legitimately taken the steps that they have continued to talk about him, that he's better in coverage, he's better at run stop, he's got his head about him now. That's a big jump for him from last year

because he definitely didn't. I think that you could legitimately, depending on how many linebackers they keep on the roster here, We could see a real kind of battle between Edwin Jackson, I think, and Anthony Walker. Now, Jackson definitely got some premier experience last year with the starting role, but when they were talking about bringing in, or for an interview just the other day, I thought that could right there send Edwin Jackson packing, you know, and maybe not right away, but that could be his ticket out of the building in camp, you know, because, or is definitely a keeper. And if you would put him in there, that knocks everybody down a rung. They're not getting rid of Antonio Morrison because of his athletic ability, his upside,

his ceiling. Edwin Jackson doesn't have that ceiling. He's a good player. I appreciate the kind of player he is, but he's not any of those guys. And that was really interesting to me that if they brought him in and signed him that, okay, we've seen the last of Edwin Jackson, at least on game day, you know? Sure. Hey, I have a stat for you with kind of regards to the inside linebacker position. I tweeted it about a week ago or so. Okay. So out of 978 defensive plays, the Colts defense missed 89 tackles. So that means that 9.1% of the time the defense took a snap, a defensive snap, they missed a tackle.

And that's terrible. Yes. That's just awful. This is why I like Sean Spence so much. His tackling efficiency last year, the number of attempted tackles per miss, it was

third best in the NFL last season. That would greatly improve the Colts defense who could not tackle to save their life last year. He was also one of three linebackers to not miss a tackle in the run game during the 2016 season. Like, not one tackle. Like, wow.

That's phenomenal. The more I watch of him, the more I hear about him, the more I like him a lot. I just hope that – I really hope that none of his knee injuries come back to haunt him. I just hope that he can play the whole season and all that's behind him and that he's completely healed. You know how that goes because knee injuries, leg injuries are just scary in the NFL, especially with defensive or offensive linemen. People dive around there all the time.

You don't have to even have a weakness in that leg or that knee, and you're going to have an ACL surgery if somebody dives on your knee. I mean, that's just the way it goes. But, man, I'm really excited about Sean Spence, I think, more than anybody because I don't know what I'm going to see when I see Bostic at all. But I'm really excited to see Spence and kind of see him running that defense if that's the role that he gets as far as the quarterback of the defense. That really intrigues me. And this also kind of brings up another question that I wanted to ask you,

because it's something I wrote today. I'm not going to comment necessarily on the guys that I picked for this, but I wanted to get your interest and kind of see if there was somebody that was on your mind at all. Is there any move right now, like some sort of a trade, in which position would it be at, if you could, that the Colts could make to really bolster this team a little bit more? Because I think there's still some weak areas, obviously. I mean, you can't do everything all in one year. But I mean, I think that they've got the right amount of salary cap. I think they've got just a couple windows here that need closed on a couple of these areas and positions.

If they shored them up, this season could really turn, you know, significantly towards the better. Well, I said this before the draft, and I think it could still be true today. Let me find it here. Are you familiar with Sheldon Richardson at all? Yeah, from the Jets. Yeah. So apparently, May 26th, there was a report out

that the Jets shot Sheldon Richardson to the Bucs, Colts, and Seahawks. But the only thing that I'd be hesitant about, two things I'd be hesitant about are his character, you know. Chris Bowden wants those good guys, those good character guys. And he's had some character issues in the past.

Or maybe it's just he needs a change of scenery, possibly. You may never know. And also, you know, he has a pretty large contract. But, you know, when healthy, when focused, he is, you know, an elite defender. Like, he is one of the top defense events, three, four defense events in the league. And no offense to Kendall Lankford, but you give me Sheldon Richardson over Kendall Lankford, you know, 10 out of 10 times.

Mm-hmm. Absolutely. You know, Kendall Lankford, he's been a great signing. You know, he's been a solid veteran on the defensive line. But why not keep both of them and keep Sheldon Richardson on there? You know, Bruce Sheldon Richardson, you know, he has so much upside, so much potential. And maybe you kind of restructure his contract so it's, you know, more Hilton, Richard Simmons, you know, he has so much upside, so much potential, and maybe he kind of restructures contract so it's, you know, more cap-friendly.

That's one move I think that I would make. But I think I'd be hesitant to make it, but that's one move I think could greatly, you know, change the course of the defense. Because just like you have Henry Anderson, one of the best run defenders in 2016 before his ACL injury, now fully recovered. So he's back to his old self, hopefully. best run defenders in 2016 before his ACL injury. Now fully recovered. So he's back to his old self, hopefully. And you have Jonathan Hankins in the middle.

And then you have Stoddard and Richardson, you know, an elite defender on the other side. Yeah. Like that, that's a good defensive line right there. And, you know, the Colts don't really have a bona fide stud middle linebacker at the moment, but that could really, you know, help their linebackers tremendously if their their guys are eating up blocks and making plays and stuff like that. Oh, for sure.

Absolutely. And, you know, speaking of inside linebacker, I mean, I wouldn't necessarily call it a weakness, but look at Spence, look at Bostick, and then look at the guys behind them. Okay, you got Spence and Bostick with some severe, they both missed an entire season at one point or another in their career because of injuries okay uh and spence pretty much has missed two complete seasons but you've got morrison and jackson both with some experience not a lot and and weren't real weren't great last year by any stretch of the imagination then you've got rookie anthony walker luke Jeremiah George. When you brought that up as far as they were shopping Sheldon Richardson, what do you think about the fact that the Eagles at one time were trying to shop

Michael Kendricks? Is that somebody that you would be interested in? This is a while ago. I want to say it was around draft time. Is that somebody that you would go for? I don't think that they'd necessarily trade him, but I think that the Colts could make a sweet offer, even if it's only a single draft pick, even for next year's draft or for a 2019 draft or just whatever. I think that he would be a heck of a boost to that inside linebacker or that linebacker in general because he can play the will as well.

So is that somebody that you would be interested in at all? Yeah, possibly. I mean, I don't know a whole lot about him, I have to admit. But I do know he's a young player. He looks like he's a big player. You know, he's maybe a little bit short, but he's 240, 26 years old. Yeah, I'd definitely say he's got to be somebody. And, you know, it kind of refreshes me.

How good is Michael Kendrick? Because I really have no idea. Well, he's pretty good. But the thing is is that once Schwartz came into Philadelphia last year, his playing time dropped significantly. So there's something between those two that they're not meshing well with, whether he just doesn't fit his scheme or maybe he felt that somebody else fit it better or just whatever. So I don't necessarily think it's a skill set

issue. I think it's more of a personal preference issue between those two, the skill set and the defensive coordinator. How much better is he than Antonio Morrison right now? And is he how much better is he than Antonio Morrison right now and is he actually better than Sean Spence and John Bostic I don't think so um but I think that he could definitely I think I ultimately what I would be trying to do with this is maybe it's risky giving up any sort of a pick for a guy like Michael Kendricks but when you can get a guy like Edwin Jackson off the inside linebacking core and add a guy who's significantly better than he is, in my opinion, I think that you've already created a better competition in camp for that because he, Kendricks has the ability to be a starter. There's no two ways about it,

but he also has, you know, obviously, you know, he was still productive though. I mean, so that's kind of the thing where I go with that. Other than that, I look at cornerback because I think that they need to get another corner in there. At some point, I really thought that they kind of missed the boat on a couple of restricted free agent guys or tendered guys that I thought they could have, like Ross Cockrell from Pittsburgh. I thought they could have. All they would have had to do is offer a fourth rounder for him uh and they would have at least had to our pittsburgh would have at least had to match and do all that good stuff uh i just i thought that they missed the boat on a couple of those moves but they've got they've got room to do all this

in the future i just you know you see how much they've done in one year and you just want them to finish it you know what i'm saying it's like i know you can't do it all in one year but i really want you to try you know so yeah but yeah there's some there's some holes still left but i think that they've done a good job and when you look at the 90 man roster i mean they've got 45 receivers on the freaking roster right now there's about four of those guys that can go away because they don't stand a chance of making the roster. So I just want them to bring another guy in, and I think that a lot of this is going to be done, like Ballard said, towards the 53-man cuts for every team. I think that a lot of the, maybe not the immediate backup, but the backups to the backups will be maybe and possibly significantly different throughout the roster.

We could see four to five changes on this roster on cut-down day, and that's interesting within itself. Yeah, for sure. I'm kind of curious, do you think that TJ Green, what do you think about him? I know he was terrible last year. We all know that. But do you see him making any sort of jump? Do you see him learning from last season's atrocious season?

What do you think about him? I would like to say yes, but I can't because he still isn't proving it on the field. When you get the opportunity to show that you've had an offseason, you've learned from mistakes, you know where you need to get better, and you're going to do it, and you don't do it, to me that's a problem not only upstairs, but, you know, or not only physically, but upstairs. You know, if you can't get yourself wound up enough to where you can get in there and beat out a guy like Matthias Farley and Andrew Williamson, Tyson Graham, Lehigh Tower, nobody's ultimately in

the grand scheme of things, then not only are you... And Dorsett's done the same thing. You've allowed the door to open on the competition for your head, for your job, for your livelihood in the NFL. He could be well out of a job. I mean, and there's no mistaking that he's got the natural ability to be really good. He's a good in-the-box safety. He really is. I think that he, man, he has to work so hard on his coverage because he can't even carry tight ends to the flats. He can't carry running backs across the middle.

He struggles bad in coverage, and especially in the back end when he's trying to track a ball. He can't find it. He doesn't know how to play the receiver off the ball and the ball off the receiver. He just doesn't have the natural, I don't even, like instincts for that for some reason. And it drives me nuts watching him do it because he looks clueless at times when it should be something natural for a guy that's in that position. I mean, he was ultimately moved to safety in college because he wasn't a good corner. So what do you do with a guy who's been through that transition already and then

still isn't a good safety other than, you know, helping in the box? And I remember a fear in reports last year in the Colts draft and he was a corner and they wanted to find that corner. And I was like, and after seeing his coverage, I'm like, why would they even consider that? Right. Like that is like the worst decision you could ever make. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. I was just curious on your, uh, your opinion on TJ Green. Yeah, I want to like him. I want him to be better. He's just not, and that's the issue with it.

I think that, and I've mentioned this a couple times, but I think Tyvus Powell has a real chance to get past him on the depth chart because Ed Dodds out of Seattle brought him in shortly after he was added to the group, and I think that they've got some sort of a past to where, you know, it's, look, if TJ's not making the necessary steps to improve, then we've got a guy, Tybus Powell. I know everything about him. He's a hard worker. He knows what he's doing, this, that, and the other.

I don't know this about him, but I can't find another reason for ed dodds to to bring him in ultimately uh if that's not the case you know if if they don't know that much about him so yeah i there's so many fun storylines and we are like less than three weeks three full weeks from camp and i'm really getting itchy and and stuff for i just i want to see the competition take place. I'm excited to see Bowerd out on the field. I'm excited to see the players coming out with a renewed sense of importance for both themselves and the team. And it's just a really exciting offseason. I think that one of the things that really kind of drives me nuts about this camp though is that they're not opening up to fans more than twice i mean they have the one at lucas oil and they have the other

one and i think it was warren central uh high school and i just don't understand the whole point i mean i know that they moved to to the farm bureau uh center but i don't understand that that's just i think it was bad timing. I mean, I understand that they've – I think they've tried to kind of close it down a little bit because of everything that's so new right now. But you've still got – man, these fans love coming out there. They love coming out to camp. They're there all the time, every year.

It's packed up there, sweating their butts off, eating terrible hot dogs, and they come anyways. And it's just, I think that they missed the boat on an exciting year to really draw in a big, big crowd for this year's camp. I agree. Yeah, I went to camp a couple times last year. Man, it's been a great experience. But yeah, I don't know if I'll be able to go to camp this year

because they only have two. And one weekend they have in the end of July, I'll be gone. But I'm hoping to get to Warren Central. That's the one I'm hoping for. But, yeah, like two practices out of the whole camp, like that's just – that's atrocious. Like that's terrible. I would do that to the fans.

Yeah, I agree. I mean, I'm. But, yeah. I'm not real sure what went within that thought process, but Anderson's always been really good to them. Anderson's always been a really easy place to navigate to. So, I mean, it's nice to do that, I think. You know, what do you do after this? You're going to allow fans over to the complex, you know, next year maybe?

I mean, or are you going to shut down camp a little more allow fans over to the complex next year, maybe? Or are you going to shut down camp a little more and kind of keep the fans less involved, which I think would be, I mean, it's not going to ultimately make a difference in their record each year, but I think it's a mistake if you're trying to grow a mid-tier fan base, because that's ultimately what we are. We're not a huge fan base. People have to understand that's reality. The Colts are not a huge market. And when you have one of these mid to low tier markets, you need all the fans you can get because the Colts still have to sell merchandise. They still have to sell season tickets. And, you know, at the end of the last season, because of how ugly things were, the Colts were one of few teams that didn't have a waiting list on their season tickets.

Now they do, obviously, but they didn't. And that's a scary position to be in, I think. I mean, that shows you how emotional the fan base is as well. And that's a good thing. But, Cody, I really enjoyed having you on, man. Did you got any parting shots for tonight? No, man. It i passed my bedtime i gotta say but yeah dude it was great i'll do it again absolutely enjoyed having you on uh again you guys can catch cody on twitter at cody felger 55 uh cody you got anything else you want to plug other than the website

or anything like that? Actually, I'm going to be working on another article tonight, kind of just talking about the Colts defense last year, a little bit what we talked about, and just how they've improved it and how they're hoping for improvement. It's going to be titled Colts Defense Looking for Improvement in 2017. So I hope to have that up tonight or tomorrow morning, most of the season. Absolutely.

It cannot get here quick enough. I am pretty excited for it myself, and I think that the fans are just desperately awaiting some excitement and something real to talk about. What did we see instead of what do we expect to see? Questions time is almost over, questions, time is almost over and answer time is almost here. So that's the one of the best parts of this time of year getting within a couple weeks of camp. So thanks, Cody, again, for jumping on and I enjoyed our conversation. Be having you

back for sure. Thank you guys for listening. Thank you for continually, like I said at the beginning of the show, going on Apple Podcasts and getting those rating and reviews up. They've been fantastic. Make sure you guys are using the call in line, 574-516-2881. Leave me a message. We'll get it on the show. As you've heard, we'll do it every single time.

Thank you guys for listening. I'll talk to you guys all on Friday right here on Locked on Colts. You are Locked on Colts. Your daily podcast on the Indianapolis Colts. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network. Your team every day.