Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - NEWCOMER SPOTLIGHT: Indianapolis Colts Offer Colby Wooden an Ideal Situation

Starting point is 00:00:00 The Colts killed two birds with one stone at the beginning of free agency, beginning the remake of their linebacker group while also adding some much-needed relief to the interior of the defensive line. Let's get to it. You are Locked-on Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to Locked-on Colts, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network. I am your host, Jake Arthur, the Indianapolis.

Starting point is 00:00:36 Colts beatwriter for Roundtable Sports. And today we are continuing our free agency spotlight series with a player who the Colts didn't acquire in free agency, but they did trade for him. We are talking about former Packers' defensive tackle Colby Wooden. The Colts, of course, sent linebacker Zeir Franklin to the Packers in exchange for Wooden. And if you're like me at the time I had forgotten, wouldn't even existed. But he was a fourth round pick by the Packers out of Auburn back in 23. And upon further review, it seems like a pretty good pick for the Colts. We kind of knew they

Starting point is 00:01:13 were going to have to rid themselves of Zaira Franklin's contract some way, whether it was cutting him, training him, whatever. So going ahead and getting that contract off the books while also acquiring a player in Wooden, who appears to be the third defensive tackle now since Neville Gallimore left in for agency, seems like a pretty solid move. So we'll get a And Wooden, three years in the NFL so far, really got his first extensive starting experience with the Packers last year after they traded Kenny Clark before the season. But Wooden did play a little bit out of position. He's naturally more of a three tech, five tech player at six, four, two hundred and seventy-five pounds. Had to be their nose tackle all year.

Starting point is 00:01:59 And honestly, was still productive and deared himself to Packers fans. and not necessarily a player they really wanted to part with. We spoke with Peter Bukowski, the host of Locked-on Packers, as well as he's got a publication, The Leap, a very popular Packers newsletter there. And Peter is going to tell us all about how wooden. It sounds like he's going into a pretty ideal situation here with the Colts, going into a scheme that is going to be asking him to play in a more natural position.

Starting point is 00:02:32 Again, three tech, five tech, backing up to Forrest Buckner, but also not requiring him to play so many of the snaps that he did last year. He'll be a rotational piece with Buckner, maybe in a little bit with Grover Stewart, which should be beneficial for all three players, to be honest with you. So I am going to quit Yappa now and bring you my conversation with Peter Bukowski host of Locked on Packers. All right, joining me today to talk a little bit about Colby Wooden is my friend Peter Rukowski from Locked on Packers and The Leap. Welcome to the show, Peter. The roles are reversed here. Usually I am telling you about whatever is the latest weird Colts turmoil. Yeah, and so now I get to tell you it's not really turmoil for Green Bay in this one.

Starting point is 00:03:22 I think this is a need for need situation for these two teams, but I think it worked out really well. I talked to Zach about Zaire Franklin on online. locked on Packers and had a good chat with him. And I know that when he dug into the tape with Kobe Wooden, he was pretty impressed with what he saw. Yeah, no, Zach likes him a lot. But what are, I guess, Packers fans seeing as this one? You get a former Pro Bowl linebacker in Franklin,

Starting point is 00:03:45 but Wooden, you know, began to be kind of a full-time starter it looks like last year. Like, are Packers fans a little bummed he's gone? Like, what's the vibe there? Yeah, I think he was such a great story. And not unlike Zeyer, Franklin, though never to that level, never like, oh, I became a pro bowl player. But he was a day three guy coming out of Auburn who they didn't really know what position he

Starting point is 00:04:09 was best at. And it wasn't even really they didn't know what position he was best at. He was sort of a victim of his own competency in that they used him as a defensive end full time. They used them as a defensive tackle full time. And the way his body type is, he is, he is really a tweener. Like he really, like he probably would be ideally suited to be a five tech in an old, you know, 90s, odd man front. And that was just not the way the Packers could use him. That was not the way that Auburn could use him. And what they found this year, coming into the year, he looked like he could be a camp

Starting point is 00:04:41 casualty. Not because he, you know, was not a, you know, a nice player, but because, you know, they had brought in Nazir Stackhouse and Warren Brinson from Georgia in the draft the year before. Stackhouse was a UDFA, but Brinson was a draft pick. And they had Carl Brooks, who was an ascending player. seemed like and they were really excited about what Devante, why it could bring them. And then the Kenny, the Micah Parsons trade happened.

Starting point is 00:05:06 And you don't have Kenny Clark. And it's like, oh, no, there's not a nose tackle on this team, really. And so they made Carl Brooks play some nose tackle at 290. They made Kobe Wooden play nose tackle at like 275, 280. Like he is not a nose tackle body by any means. And he's not like, we joke about with receivers being like, you know, a double cheese. burger away from being, you know, the right weight for the Packers because they like big, they like bigger bodies.

Starting point is 00:05:33 He's like, he's, he's, he's, you know, a reverse Ozempic away from being a nose tackle, right? So that's, that was a pretty tenuous plan going in. And then he so far outperformed expectation last year in that role to where he became a really quality role player for the Packers, a really quality run defender, a better pass rusher than we'd ever seen from him before. And when the trade happened, like Michael Parsons posted on social media, how disappointed he was to lose Kobe Wooden. He really liked Kobe Wooden.

Starting point is 00:06:06 And there's, it's not hard to see why. Like the physicality that he, that he plays with, the effort that he plays with. He is regularly a fundamentally sound player that Packer fans really grew to like him. He's kind of the perfect Green Bay story, right? You have a Midwestern city. You kind of understand that vibe too. He's an underdog. And Packer fans really gravitated to that story.

Starting point is 00:06:27 not like he was a cult hero by any means in Green Bay, but I think that he is someone that the fan base had grown attached to. I think you mentioned something important with the pass rush that probably requires some good context from you here. So statistically, very little to show for him as a pass rusher, but moving from nose to three tech, like what have you seen from him where you're like, yeah, well, when playing in the correct spot,

Starting point is 00:06:54 like he could be pretty decent in that area. And that's the thing is we kind of don't know because he didn't really get that many opportunities to do it early in his career because they had Devante Wyatt, because they had Kenny Clark because they had Carl Brooks was an ascending player. Like I remember when Carl Brooks was a rookie, it was like, this is the next guy for the Packers. You know, forget Devante Wyatt, who was drafted the year before. Like this is the next interior defender for the Packers. And it just never really happened. And we didn't really see Kobe Wooden in those situations excel. We didn't see him make an impact in those situations.

Starting point is 00:07:29 Now, that's not to say he couldn't do it. But one of the things that he was really good that I think he got better at was taking on blocks at the point. And so that's why as a run defender, when he plays with the kind of violence that he does at times. And the kind of he does have because, remember, he played on the edge at Auburn at times, he does have pretty good first step quickness. And so when he can get on an offensive lineman, that's where you start to see what he's able to do. you know, we're not talking about someone who's going to come in and be a pro bowl player, but we are talking about someone who I think can come in and give you really quality reps in either the run or pass game,

Starting point is 00:08:06 you know, playing 35, 40% of snaps a game. And that's a really valuable football player, especially in a league where we're seeing more too high safety coverages. And you need defensive linemen who can defeat blocks, can make plays in the backfield. And that was something that he did with so much greater regularity than we ever thought possible. or that he ever really hinted it he could do before the 2025 season. And it sounds like that's probably the role that they envision for him, because obviously he's behind DeForest Buckner. And, you know, but Buckner and Grover Stewart as well,

Starting point is 00:08:40 they're both going to be 32 this year. Buckner was on IR twice with a neck injury last year that required a procedure. So there was not if he was going to keep playing football, right? Yeah, exactly. Now they say he's coming back and everything is to expectations. at this point, but surely you have to throttle a guy like that back. And a guy like Wooden, it sounds like can give them that good concentration of snaps coming off the bench.

Starting point is 00:09:04 Yeah. And look, there's a reason guys on the bench are on the bench. And so just giving them more opportunities is not any sort of assurances that they're going to perform. And so it's such a credit to Wooden that when he was given an opportunity, he came in and made the most of it, right? Like you have to always be ready. That's why you hear players, it's such a cliche to be like, I prepare every week like I'm going to play, even if I'm not going to play that much, right?

Starting point is 00:09:30 He embodied that. And it was, again, always someone going back to his time at Auburn, you know, I know that was a long time ago now. But to just say, I'll do it. I'll do it. I'll do it. Whatever you need, coach. And if you need me to play here, I can play here. And if you need me to be our best edge rusher, I'll be our best ed rusher.

Starting point is 00:09:45 Like, I think that adaptability, that malleability is really a value. and if you want you, I think he could play, you know, anywhere but on the edge. And that is something that, you know, not a lot of guys can say. Very few guys can play nose tackle out to like five technique. And, you know, he can. Is he going to hold down your run defense? Is he going to be the focal point of your run defense on first down? No.

Starting point is 00:10:09 But if you need him in there on second and eight and they run the ball, yeah, he can hold up. Well, I like the sound of that. It sounds like a good trade, like you mentioned, Zach, is really, high on him as well. So it was good to kind of get your perspective on there and get a little more detail on what the Colts might expect from him. So Peter, thanks again for joining us today. Yeah, of course. This time of year, all you really want is something warm, easy, and satisfying to eat. And that's why Home Chef has become such a go-to. It takes the stress out of dinner and it makes it simple to actually enjoy cooking again. Home Chef makes cooking easy with fresh,

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Starting point is 00:12:34 We will be back with you later with the Colts Squad Show. Make sure you subscribe to our show now so that you get all of our latest episodes. And if you don't already, follow at Locked on Colts at Jake Arthur NFL and at Zach Hicks 2 on social media. And remember if you never miss an episode, then the Every Dare Club is built just for you. Get Locked on Colts audio ad-free plus members-only Discord access and more. Head to LockdownColts.com to join the club or just follow the link in our show notes now. And with that, you guys have a great day and we will see you later tonight.

Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - NEWCOMER SPOTLIGHT: Indianapolis Colts Offer Colby Wooden an Ideal Situation

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