Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - LOCKED ON COLTS 8/20/19: Can the Colts trust Jacoby Brissett? + Players poised for breakout seasons
Episode Date: August 20, 2019On today's episode, George Bremer of The Herald Bulletin stops by to begin his weekly season guest spot to discuss plenty of Colts topics.Who were the biggest surprises from Colts training camp and pr...eseason thus far? Bremer believes Chris Ballard might've hit another home run with his 2019 draft class.Turning to the biggest elephant in the room: Andrew Luck's health. What's the latest updates via Frank Reich? Bremer lets us know plus how will the Colts function with Jacoby Brissett as QB1, if needed? I believe Brissett could lead Indianapolis to a .500 record the first month of the season, and Bremer agrees with that assessment. What say you, Colts fans?Who are the biggest breakout candidates on the Colts roster? Hint: One is a key weapon on offense while the other is a budding star on the defensive end.Finally, we wrap up the show with a quick chat on other rookies like Rock Ya-Sin and E.J. Speed. Are both primed for big roles during the 2019-20 season? Also, what about Bremer's boldest predictions for the upcoming year of Colts football? All of this, plus more, fills up this jam-packed podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Transcript
Discussion (0)
Hello, everybody. Welcome back into Locked On Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network.
Today's our host, Evan Thattery. I'm joined by a very special guest today, a weekly guest,
who will not be joining us every Tuesday, George Bremmer, the Herald Bulletin. How are you doing today, George?
Good. How are you doing?
Doing great. Thanks for coming on. I enjoyed meeting you also at training camp for the first time.
I know I talked with you and Jake often. Let's start off with training camp real quick,
since we're on the topic of that. Just what was your main takeaways?
Because I know, Meany, you were kind of fawning a little bit over EJ's speed.
Who were some other guys that stood out to you
as far as training camp goes
while it happened in Grand Park over the last couple weeks?
Yeah, I think Hale Hentges is a guy who's been talked about a lot,
and I think he was something of a pleasant surprise for everybody out there.
Everybody knew that he sort of could fill that H-back,
full-back type of role,
be the blocking tight end, and, you know, kind of have things handled from that aspect. But he came
out, and I think he's been a much more consistent producer in the passing game. I think his whole
career at Alabama, he only caught something like four passes, so it really wasn't something that
was on the radar. But he's gone out there in
almost every drill and it's carried over into preseason games and made play after play as a
receiver. So I think he's a guy who's kind of put himself squarely into the conversation for the 53
man roster. And then the other guy who's really stood out and it's another defensive player is
Kari Willis. Obviously, Chris Ballard
traded up, you know, 20 spots to get him in the draft. So we knew he was a guy that the Colts
really liked, but he's really shown ability both as a run stopper and in the passing game. So
I think both those guys have really put themselves in a spot where, much like EJ Speed,
maybe their role is going to be a little bit more involved,
a little bit more depth to it than we thought coming into the season.
You mentioned all rookies right there, and that kind of surprised me a little bit because I know the Colts had a very strong 2018 rookie class,
but just off early indications, I know Rocky Hussain had almost a pick
every single day.
It seemed like a camp for all the reports.
What's your early impressions of the rookies so far in this class? early indications on a rocky scene had almost a pick every single day. It's like a camp for all the reports. What was it?
What's your early impressions of the rookies so far in this class?
Cause I know we only saw a glimpse of Paris Campbell for about two or three presses. Therefore he got his hamstring tightened up there,
but he did really good the first couple of days. You mentioned Willow's speed.
I feel like a lot of guys could be in play here to get some early playing time
as a rookie.
Yeah. Injuries have slowed a couple of guys, Campbell in particular,
which is
it's really kind of heartbreaking because he had maybe as good a start to training camp as anybody
but obviously now still on the sideline with the hamstring and so we'll see how that affects his
development as the regular season rolls along Ben Banigou as well he obviously came back but he
he went on the sideline about the same time as Campbell.
And so he's a guy who's shown flashes and has done that in the preseason games as well as practice.
But also, you know, you wait to see how much both the depth at his position and his time out and his time off have cost him.
Other than that, pretty much every drafted player, except for maybe the two offensive linemen right at the end there of the draft,
have made some pretty good contribution at some point during camp.
And I think they've added to the overall feeling of competition.
I think that's really what Reich and Ballard have been focused on the most.
And that's where I think this rookie class will make its greatest contribution,
just pushing the guys in front of them and making everybody know that, you know,
no job is really safe because there is somebody behind you who can come in
and play well enough if needed.
You brought up Hill Hentges there, which I agree with you there.
I think right now if I had to pick up between him and Ross Traps,
I'd actually go with Hill Hentges because he offers more of that Ryan Hewitt blocking role.
If you had to say right now, I know we have a couple weeks left in preseason,
but I feel like tight end four between Hentges and Ross Travis
is going to be one of the most intriguing battles to watch for the next few weeks.
Where would you lean right now, George?
Yeah, I actually wrote about that today.
It's really, I think to me, that's the biggest, most exciting spot
because it is so different.
You've got Ross Travis, who's really more the Eric Ebron type,
pass-catching tight end, big, athletic, former basketball player.
And then you've got Hale Hentges, who's in that Ryan Hewitt,
Jack Doyle kind of mold.
And Frank Reich said today at his press conference
that they really don't even play the same position,
but there's only one spot probably on the roster.
So you've got to sit down, and it's not even really comparing apples to apples.
You've got to sit down and decide who can help the team the most.
And I think one thing to be said for Hentges here is he had his choice of any roster in the NFL.
It's an undrafted guy.
He knew Ebron was here.
He knew Doyle was here.
He knew the depth of tight end, and he still chose to come to Indianapolis.
I think it says something about kind of the fire that's inside of him.
And it'll be interesting to see how that resolves itself.
Beyond that, there's some questions still at wide receiver.
I think that's really between Marcus Johnson now, Zach Paschal,
and Krishan Hogan is to see who can get that final wide receiver spot.
And then corners kind of in the same spot, where really Jalen Collins has struggled a lot in camp.
I think he's going to need to have a really, really good final two preseason games to kind
of change people's mind there. But also an interesting battle similar to the Hentges-Travis battle
between Nate Harrison and Chris Milton,
where Harrison's really a slot guy and gives you more as a defensive player,
but Milton has shown already in the preseason his value as a special teams guy,
and that's another spot that I think is really up for grabs.
Yeah, speaking of the preseason, George,
I know we're only halfway through right now.
Still a couple more weeks to slog through here.
What's been your main impression so far in preseason action?
I know a lot of Chad Kelly talk around what I see on Colts Twitter.
He's looked really good.
Who else has caught your eye in preseason action?
I think that final scoring drive was a big, big drive for Jacoby Brissett.
We haven't seen a whole lot of the first team,
and really they haven't had a lot of time together.
We haven't seen T.Y. Hilton, for instance.
Quentin Nelson didn't play against the Browns.
So you don't want to make any too broad kind of decisions
on what we've seen so far from the first team.
But I thought that scoring drive showed you a lot from Jacoby Brissett
to give you more comfort if and when he has to play early this year. That touchdown pass to Ebron was really perfectly
placed. Everything about that play was good, I thought. The offensive line gave really good
protection. Ebron made a great catch after running a good route, and then Brissett put the ball where
really only Ebron could get to it. So I thought that was a big moment for him I think the running game is still going to show a lot more and there's a lot
that plays into that the first string line obviously has only had a couple days even in
practice where they've all been together Quentin Nelson's been out recently Ryan Kelly before that
there's been rest days for Anthony Costanzo I think Braden Smith missed a day in there.
They haven't game planned yet. I think that's the big thing that I'm looking for on Saturday.
They're going into this game watching film, trying to do things specifically to take advantage of what they see from the Bears. If the run game doesn't improve on Saturday, I think that'll be
a really big red flag. One interesting question I wanted to ask you, Jordan,
because you talked to Frank Reich over the past few days
on a conference call and in the press conference today.
What's your impression of how much the guys are going to play on Saturday?
Because I know Reich mentioned that more so than ever
that a lot of guys are sitting out as the key players around the NFL.
Do you think they're going to play the first half or maybe even less than that?
It sounds like it may not be the full first half. The Colts have definitely
joined that kind of conservative club this year of
being very careful with who plays and
how much time they play. You can go back to last preseason and see
what happened with Anthony Costanzo coming back a little too early to
training camp and he's out for the first month.
Marlon Mack got dinged up in the game at Seattle, and he missed most of the first month.
I think you can see they're trying to be very, very careful with what they do and how they
take care of guys this offseason, trying to make sure that they're as healthy as they
can be going into week
one.
So I don't know that you'll see.
It sounds like they haven't made firm decisions yet on playing time, but I don't know if you'll
see a full first half from the starters.
Before we go into the next segment here, let me tell you guys really quickly about some
sponsors of today's show.
And the first one comes from the Lockdown Podcast Network.
The new Lockdown NFL is on fire.
Last week, it was one of the most listened to NFL shows.
With expert analysis of former NFL scout Matt Williamson,
hosted by Brian Peacock,
Locked On NFL is your daily national podcast
on all things NFL, at match, and each take on the game.
Follow Locked On NFL now on your favorite podcast provider.
This episode is also brought to you by Blue Chew.
Guys, let's have a chat real quick.
Remember the days when you were always ready to go?
Now you can increase your performance and get that extra confidence in bed. Blue Chew. Guys, let's have a chat real quick. Remember the days when you're always ready to go? Now you can increase your performance to get that extra confidence in bed.
BlueChew.com. That's blue, like the color blue. Blue Chew brings you the first chewable with the
same FDA-approved active ingredients as Viagra and Cialis, so you know they work. You can take
them anytime, day or night, even on a full stomach. And since they're chewable, they work
up to twice as fast as a pill, so you can be ready whenever an opportunity arises. That is Blue Chew,
like I said, the color blue, at BlueCheew.com for all your latest details on that.
Yeah, that wouldn't surprise me either, to be honest.
From how Frank Reich spoke today,
I'd be very surprised if they play a full first half on Saturday against the Bears.
But let's get to the elephant in the room here, George.
As far as Andrew Luck goes and his health,
what do you think right now, two weeks before the opener,
two and a half weeks before the opener,
what's your overall expectations, what you're hearing around the organization with Andrew Luck, and
do you think there's a possibility he's going to sit out week one? And then we saw those videos
surface last week at the Browns game with him warming up pregame. What's your thoughts on this
whole situation with Luck? It seems like it's changing by the day. Yeah, it's definitely
changing by the day, and maybe by the hour. It's definitely – there's certainly a chance that he won't play in week one,
maybe even week two.
You know, who knows how long that will go.
But until he's out and he's on the practice field,
there's something that they don't like.
There's something they don't feel comfortable with.
And as long as that's the case, I think there's –
you have to face the possibility that he's going to miss time.
I don't think that it's similar to 2017.
I don't think it's a debilitating type of injury where, you know,
the whole season is at risk or anything like that.
But I do believe that this is a situation where the Colts have a couple things
that they're not fully comfortable with.
I think Reich mentioned it today.
They want to see full speed movement from him, not just, you know, practice speed or getting close. They want to see full game speed
movement from him. And that really goes to the side-to-side movements, his ability to kind of
keep himself protected in the pocket, get away from defenders, that sort of thing.
And then, you know, where is the pain threshold? And Luck kind of addressed that during training camp,
that he's played with more pain than he's feeling right now.
You would think that in the few weeks that's passed since we last talked to him
that that's only gotten better, that situation.
So I think that's what makes it such a fluid situation.
He could go out there theoretically tonight
and show them what they want from a speed
standpoint and tell them what they want to hear from a pain standpoint and boom, you know, he's
ready to go. It's really anybody's guess at what point on this timeline they feel like those two
things meet and he's able to do the things they want to see from him and be ready to go full speed ahead
and start looking like a starting quarterback again. The more I've been thinking about Georgia,
this luck situation, the more I believe that he's going to have to play through this pain the entire
year. I don't think it's going to ever go away completely before week one. If that, if he does
play, we'll just have to see what happens over the next few weeks, of course. But where do you think
this team was going to be if Andrew Luck, let's say, plays at
80% health all season?
Do you think the Colts are still an elite NFL team?
Or do you think since the team is so different around Luck when it wasn't 2016-17 when he
played a full season with Latour and Labrum, that really the team should be able to help
elevate Luck to an even higher stat if he's not 100%?
Yeah, I think it's definitely a different situation because of the roster. I think they're in a much better place to elevate him and to, you know, deal with whatever might be limiting him. And I think that's
a lot of why you see the approach you see right now in practice, because they could try to push
through the pain right now. And they really want to get him to a point where he doesn't have to
deal with it. I think they feel like if they can go a week, two weeks, a month,
whatever it might be with Jacoby Brissett,
and then get Andrew Luck back at 100%,
they're willing to make that trade right now because they don't want him to
have to deal with limited practices all season long to be dealt with,
you know, extra treatments, all the things that he dealt with in 2016.
They would like to not do that this time around.
I do think the roster is better suited to lift him up, if need be,
and to lift Jacoby Brissett up than it was in 2017 when Brissett was a starter
and he went 4-11 with him under center.
Yeah, speaking of Jacoby Brissett, George, it's been an up-and-down camp
from when I was there at camp.
He had his good days, he had his really bad days, and it went like a roller coaster, so to say.
And you wrote a good story on that during camp as well as with Bursette and what's going to be looking forward for him.
How confident are you if the Colts, let's say, have to start the first week or maybe in the first month of the season with him
that they can actually build a solid game plan around him?
I think they can be around a 500 team if need be.
I do think he's had his inconsistency and we've seen that.
I think as the last couple weeks have gone on,
and obviously we don't see practice now moving forward,
but what we saw the last week or so and what we saw against the Browns,
I think he's moving in the right direction.
You can see him getting more confident.
I think the team is starting to do things to take more advantage of his strength.
I think with Brissette, rhythm is a really important part of his game.
And so getting some of the more quick hitting plays,
we saw some of that in the preseason game against Cleveland,
giving him sort of fewer options and letting him play at a quicker tempo.
I think those are the things that are going to be important if, in fact, he does start the season.
The more time that he has to think back in the pocket,
it feels like the more he starts to second-guess himself
and then the more hesitant he is.
And that's when you see the offense start to kind of slog down a little bit.
It'll be really interesting to see if he does go in week one,
just how different of a quarterback he looks
from what we saw at the end of 2017.
Another hypothetical I want to throw your way, George,
just because it seems like this is a scenario we should continue to watch
with Luck moving forward with his ankle, calf area, and also with Bursette,
just his contract year as well.
Would it shock you at all if this team tries to re-sign Bursette after this year,
even though I know he wants to be a star in the NFL,
that they pay him maybe a lot more money than we expect as a backup quarterback
because, look, these injured concerns just continue to be looming for him
in the last couple of years just as an insurance policy.
Oh, absolutely.
I think Chris Ballard kind of mentioned that a little bit in the spring
that it was partially the reason that Jacoby Brissett is still here
is that they obviously didn't get the kind of offers that they wanted
or expected to see from the rest of the league.
But also, they really like Jacoby Brissett as a quarterback. And they understand that,
you know, Andrew Luck is not all the way 100% back as a franchise guy. You can't, at this point,
put all your eggs in his basket. And it really is good business to have somebody you feel
comfortable with behind him
I think that's going to be interesting to watch with Chad Kelly as they move forward too I mean
obviously right now Kelly's got a two-game suspension to start the year so he can't even
be the number two guy uh if need be in week one but I think he's a guy they'd like to keep around
on the practice squad if they're able to see how he continues to develop see if he can be
a guy who can serve as a backup role or even a number three role just in case because those
questions are going to continue until luck comes through an entire pre-season off-season regular
season and doesn't have to deal with any of these issues I think it's definitely a possibility that
they make a run at signing Brissette because of those questions. from training camp, but also maybe some guys you're looking forward to as far as breakout candidates. I know Marlon Mack's one of the guys for me.
I think the offensive line would be a big help for him.
He looks like he's built some muscle on, too, as far as Marlon Mack goes.
Who are some other guys maybe that you're watching for?
Maybe this is going to be the final of the year that he breaks through.
Yeah, I think Mack is right at the top of the list.
If the line can come out and play at the level that we saw last year
and he can be as healthy as we've seen, I mean, that's because Andrew Lux hurt and because some of the other situations that are going on on the roster,
you know, I think we've kind of underplayed the fact that Marlon Mack hasn't missed a practice.
He's been out there every day through the preseason, through the offseason, and that's a
big deal because, you know, he's a guy who struggled with some nagging things early in his career. And so I think that's everything with Mack right now is pointing up. And I feel like he could have a
really big year and be a breakout star. The other guy I feel like really, and he showed a little bit
of it on Saturday, but you've seen it throughout camp when he's been healthy, is Kamoko Touré.
He's really well set up this year to kind of have a third down role to
come in for Jamal Sheard or Al-Kadim Mohamed or whoever it is who's in there on first and second
down, come in on third down and really just go after the quarterback. And when he can focus
on just that sort of role, if he can stay healthy, I think it could be a breakout season for Ture as well
and really add to the depth and the versatility of that defensive line.
Yeah, Ture's a really good neighbor out there, George. He's really popped off the last couple
of weeks of camp and preseason. Another question I wanted to ask you here, it relates to Marlon
Mack a little bit, also the line struggles in preseason. I know they've been missing Quentin
Nelson in preseason. Anthony Costando missed a game, so did Ryan Kelly. So I don't want to read
too much into it, but has the offensive line worried you as far as how good they were
last year? And then you see the preseason action. Marlon Mack only has
11 yards on about 12 carries so far in preseason. Yeah, I don't think we've
seen from the offensive line yet what you'd want to see from them coming off
a year like they had a year ago. I think you would want to see more production,
better pass protection, more yards in the running game.
And I think if nothing else right now, you're concerned about the depth.
I mean, so much of this roster right now looks good in so many places,
and they really don't have that on the offensive line.
I mean, you get past the five starters right now.
I don't know if there's anybody really that you feel extremely comfortable
with the way you did Mark Lewinsky a year ago, you know,
the way you saw some guys step in, you've seen those struggles in camp.
You've seen those struggles during the preseason.
And so, and then the starting five itself hasn't played together yet very much,
hasn't had a chance to gel. And they've obviously, they've got a new coach in Chris Strausser.
They got a new philosophy built from Howard Mudd. It's going to take some time to adjust to that.
So I think there are concerns about how this line will play early in the season,
how long it will take them to get used to the new style.
And until you see them as a group go out, have the kind of game you know
that they can have, those concerns will linger.
Let me ask you this, George.
I know it might seem crazy to some listeners out there
because they have such a good line from last year.
But would it shock you at all this time next year they brought in a couple
of rookies from the draft just to fill out that depth?
Because Chris Bowers mentioned multiple times
that he wants nine or ten guys in the offensive line as far as depth goes.
And I think right now, if we can comfortably say maybe there's six
or seven total guys they're comfortable with right now, that's not enough.
Yeah, that's not enough.
And he'll never stop building on this line.
I think they'll definitely look to go and add rookies.
I think it's possible they'll look around the league,
and if certain guys get cut anywhere,
they may try to add to that group this year after training camp,
after the preseason ends.
We've seen it the last few years, even during the season.
I mean, Mark Lewinsky was a late-season pickup from Seattle two years ago and then developed into a really top-line starter,
former right guard last year.
Evan Boehm was picked up in the middle of the year last year
and came in and gave them some good play at center.
So I think that even as soon as cutdowns this year,
you can see additions to this line as they try to address the depth issue.
A couple more sponsors today, Shoddy, for going to our final semi here with George.
And before we do, I want to tell you really quickly about the Locked On Fantasy Football
Show.
I know my fantasy drafts come up very soon.
I usually do it near the end of the preseason so I can avoid any injuries, all that pizzazz
going on with fantasy football this year.
I'm actually really curious to see how my team does.
I'm usually pretty good at it, if you guys were wondering.
But before we go on to that, like I said, fantasy football, I know a lot of people who listen to
the show play fantasy football. So if you want to get the inside scoop on how you can win your
fantasy this year, go and listen to Vinny Iron, Locked On Fantasy Football. Vinny gives you the
edge over 20 years covering fantasy football. Don't listen to the same stuff as everyone else
and you're the same. Get the edge from Vinny that will put you ahead on draft day and put you ahead
all season long. Locked On Fantasy Football on the Locked On Podcast Network on your favorite podcast provider.
Today's show is also brought to you by Postmates.
We need red wine at 4 p.m., sushi at 9 p.m., a breakfast burrito at 8 a.m., and ibuprofen at 10 a.m.
Postmate it.
Postmates is your personal food delivery, grocery delivery, whatever kind of service you want all year round.
Anything you're craving, Postmates can deliver.
They're the largest on-demand network in the U.S.,
and they offer delivery from all restaurants, grocery stores,
and convenience stores.
In traditional retailers, you could possibly want or need.
24 hours a day, 365 days a year, Postmates is right there for you guys.
No more trips to the store.
You can just Postmate it right to your bed.
For a limited time only, Postmates is giving our listeners $100
of free delivery credit for your first seven days.
That's a great deal.
To start your free deliveries,
download the app and use code LOCKEDON.
That's code LOCKEDON for $100 off a free delivery credit for your first seven days
when you download the Postmates app.
Anything you need, anytime you need it, Postmate it.
Download Postmates and save now with code LOCKEDON.
Yeah, it's definitely something to watch for
if you're listening out there
as far as what could happen in the future
with the Colts and their position in the draft,
maybe in 2020. But let's move on here George to some
rookie talk for a few minutes I want to get your thoughts on Rocky Haseen for a second because he
obviously was one of the breakout stars at camp as a rookie their top pick at 34 overall
just up close and seeing Rock over the last few weeks to the last month and even in OTAs
what stood out most about him to you? How competitive he is.
You know, I think he's one of the guys who has the right mentality at
cornerback in that a bad play doesn't linger with him.
He learns from it and he adjusts quickly, but he doesn't,
he doesn't take it with him from into the next snap.
And I think that's,
it's something you see with young guys that they struggle with from time to
time, letting go of mistakes.
You know, this is a kid that was a wrestler in high school, I think a two-time state champion in Georgia.
So he's got that kind of one-on-one competitive mentality anyway. He takes that out onto the
field with him. He's extremely physical. He's a smart guy. He plays with a high football IQ.
I think all of that is going to eventually lead to him
having a lot of success in this league. I don't know that we've seen yet in the preseason,
in the games. I don't know that we've seen the highlight type of plays that he's made carry over
yet, but I think it's just a matter of time. Yeah, I definitely like what I've seen from
Rock so far. It seems right now, would you lean as far as the camp battle goes
between him and Quincy Wilson, that Rock's kind of taking a slight lead
over him as far as the starting nickel package goes?
Yeah, I think that they like him on the outside in the nickel right now.
And I also think with Quincy, his value is so much in his versatility.
He's played a little safety.
He's come in and been a fourth corner in dime packages. He's played a little safety.
He's come in and been a fourth corner in dime packages.
They've played him inside.
They've played him outside.
And so I think they like the idea of Quincy being a jack-of-all-trades,
you know, a guy who can come in,
and if they want to move Kenny more to the outside at some point,
they can do that.
Wilson comes in and plays in the spot.
I think his versatility makes them even more comfortable making Rock sort of that third cornerback and the outside guy in the nickel
because you know you can bring Wilson in in so many different circumstances
and so many different situations and let him do his thing.
Another rookie I want to hang with you for a minute, George, is EJ Speed.
We were both there talking to each other on Westfield, just how impactful he was in person and practice
that one day. He had about, I think he never counted the field in that one 11-on-11 drill we
saw, and also seven-on-seven at the same linebacker spot. We've seen Matthew Adams start,
though. We've seen Zaire Franklin start, Sam. What have you seen so far of EJ Speed that's
really caught your eye? Because it seems like for a guy his size,
it seems like he's more of a stretched out defensive back than a linebacker.
And that's some really physical, unique specimen there.
Yeah, he's got so much speed that he brings to the table.
And he's just got a nose for the ball.
I think that's something that you really can't teach.
He's just one of those guys that always seems to be around the play.
And so I think it's going to be interesting to see how they use him.
He's played all three linebacker spots at one point or another in this preseason.
I don't think you're going to see him much at the mic.
That's really Anthony Walker and Bobby Okereke's area.
But I think he's a real possibility to play that Sam spot
because you're only looking at maybe 15 to 20 snaps a game,
and depending on the opponent.
I think that's one of the things.
If you're playing Tennessee, you're probably not going to want EJ Speed
out there as much as you would want Adams or Franklin
because they've got more of that thump.
They're more likely to come up and be a major factor in the running game.
But if you're playing somebody like Kansas City and you go back to the playoff game,
one of the things the Chiefs did so well is they were able to, with tempo and formations,
trap the Colts in that base defense early in that game.
And while Patrick Mahomes was just carving them up,
if you were able to put EJ Speed in as the same linebacker
in a situation like that, you can mitigate some of that.
It might not look as bad as it did a year ago.
So I think he's definitely going to have a role in this defense,
and it'll be interesting to see just how big that is.
I'm glad you brought that Kansas City game, George,
because Chris Bowden really hammered that hole in this offseason.
He really built the draft and what they did around adding speed on that defense. You've seen it
every day at camp and preseason so far. Has that added speed they've added
stood out to you? Is that noticeable? I think that's
been the number one difference between training camp a year ago and training camp
this year. If you were out there at all in 2018, every day
the offense won.
All three quarterbacks, Luck, Brissette, Walker,
were tearing up the defense on a regular basis.
They were learning their assignments.
They were learning their schemes, and it showed.
And this year, I think you saw the defense playing,
especially in the back end, so much more together.
They fly around so much more.
The speed is very evident out there, just how quickly plays get shut down.
Not a lot of big plays, even when the Browns were there,
not a lot of big plays, breakaway-type plays,
because the defensive speed is such that even if they do make a mistake,
they can kind of quickly recover and get back into where they want to be.
Another final point here on the rookie series,
close out the show at your bowl predictions, George.
Do you expect a lot of these rookies, maybe outside of Rocky Hussain,
maybe also Paris Campbell, who's been hurt, nursing an injury,
kind of hampering his role as far as special teams go?
Do you think the rest of those guys are going to be heavy contributors
on special teams throughout the year, just based off depth?
Yeah, I think so.
I think most of them are going to contribute there.
I think the one guy who probably has a chance besides Campbell
and Yassin to be a big part of the regular defense is Bobby Okereke.
We've seen him pretty much split snaps with Anthony Walker at times.
I do think Walker's going to be the starting mic,
and I think he's going to get the majority of the reps there.
But you see Okereke a lot in the nickel defense, and I think they like that package. They like
that formation with Leonard and Okereke, the athleticism, the speed that those two bring,
the pass coverage ability. So I think Okereke, while he may not be a starter, I think he is a
guy who will have an impact and have a very defined role on defense this year.
Yeah, Okereke is certainly a name to watch there.
I think he's going to be a long-term piece to this defense.
Let's close out the show, George, with your bowl prediction.
I know it's tough to say right now because we don't even know
if Andrew Luck's going to play week one,
but if you had to give one or two or three bowl predictions
for the 2019-20 season, what do you think they'd be?
Yeah, I think one thing, this defense is going to be a problem for people.
I don't know if it's really a bold prediction there,
but I think they've got a real focus on turnovers.
I think they've got a lot more guys in that secondary right now
with ball hawk ability than they had a year ago.
That's one of the things that Rocky Seen has shown.
I think Quincy Wilson's
improved in that area. I think you saw
Malik Hooker on Saturday
when he closed the play that you've seen
got flagged for pass interference on.
Hooker came all the way across the field,
got his hands on that ball, almost intercepted
it. I think you're going to see a lot more
playmaking from this defense.
I think they're going to be, not necessarily
carrying the team, but I think they're going to be not necessarily carrying the team,
but I think they're going to be a much bigger part of why this team wins games than they were
a year ago. I think also, as we mentioned with Marlon Mack, if the offensive line can get back
to where it was in 2018, I think the running game is going to be a much bigger impact than it was last year.
I think all of that combined is going to make it easier.
If Jacoby Brissett does have to play for a week or two weeks or three or four,
it's going to make it easier for this team to stay with its head above water,
stay in contention.
I think my bold prediction would be if Andrew Luck misses the first month
of the season, if he comes back for week five,
I don't think this team's any worse than two and two when he gets here.
I actually totally agree with you there.
I think if we're playing the waiting game,
if he had to play the first five games, I think they'd go two and three
in that span, which is pretty good for where they'd be at this point last year.
They were one and five, one and six.
But, George, hey, this is a really fun conversation.
You can follow George on Twitter if you haven't already.
You can go do so right now.
I have GM Bremer.
He's the Colt Fee writer for the Herald Bulletin.
George, thanks again.
We'll talk to you again next Tuesday.
No problem.
Thanks a lot.