Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Philip Rivers retires as Colts' search for future franchise QB begins

Episode Date: January 21, 2021

On today's episode, Evan and Stampede Blue's Stephen Reed analyze the breaking news that Philip Rivers has retired from the NFL. With the Colts' QB1 officially gone, what are the Colts going to do next to address the most important position in sports?First, we go over Rivers' 2020 campaign. What stood out most? Also, how big of an upgrade was Rivers for the Colts' offense? Hint: it was huge.Then, it's time to analyze the legitimate options for Indy heading into a very important offseason. Whether it be trade, draft, or free agency, which route makes the most sense for Indy? Is there even a chance Jacoby Brissett or Jacob Eason could start next season?All of this, plus so much more, as it's time to hit the offseason full throttle with this massive breaking news. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hi there everybody, welcome back into your latest episode of Locked on Colts, part of the Locked on Podcast Network. Today's always your host, Evan Sider. I'm joined by Stephen Reed of Stampede Blue. As we were to recap today's breaking news, recording us about 12 or 15 hours after it happened. We're recording on Wednesday evening. Wednesday morning, though, we found out some pretty shocking news.

Maybe not so surprising to some people out there, but at least to me and you, Stephen. Phillip Rivers has retired from the NFL for 17 seasons, one year at the Annapolis Colts. What's your initial reaction? Because, I mean, honestly, we talked about it on Monday. We thought there was a pretty good shot. Even throughout the year, I was talking to either you, Stephen, or other guests on the show. I thought just the way he was playing, the way he seemed like he was with the organization, I felt like it was a very, very strong possibility. We're just gonna be back in 2021,

22 for a second season to go until his age 40 season. But we're just thinking that hangs at the queets after 16 years in San Diego, one year of the Colts. What was your instant reaction? Cause I mean, now the Colts really have to scramble now. Yeah, I was,

I think I'm with everybody else. I was pretty shocked. Like you said, we talked about it on Monday night and I thought that was Rivers coming back and then rolling with Rivers and then Eason as the main backup was the most likely option for them. The fact that two days later he retires, I don't know if I've ever been so wrong so quickly on that, but it also caught a lot of the local media off guard too. I mean,

Stephen Holder, Jim Aiello, Mike Chappell, you know, George Brimmer, the whole crew, we all kind of didn't see this coming and definitely not today. Now I will say the fact that he did it today, it's, I think it's probably more beneficial for the cults because it allows them to really have a good idea of what they're looking for or a good idea of the plan that they're going to have to take. So you wait a month, and Philip Rivers decides in February, hey, you guys know what? I'm going to go ahead and retire. My heart's not in it anymore. Then the Colts are left scrambling, to figure out you know what what their options are whether they can make a deal something like that I think that this gives them a little bit more time

and a little bit more clarity to make a decision and let's be real Chris Ballard's got a plan he's got workbooks upon notebooks upon binders upon binders of plans that he wants to accomplish and probably a lot of if-then scenarios for him. So I think the Colts will – I think Chris Bell has got a plan going forward. I think this just kind of accelerates that, and it really kind of calls into question what they're going to do long-term with the quarterback position. Yeah, last year the Colts, Phillip Rivers, had 4,100 yards.

He had 24 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, really almost cut his turnovers in half from where it was last year in Los Angeles with the Chargers. I mean, just looking back now on Rivers' 2020 season, Stephen, I mean, you have to say for his last year in the NFL, he was pretty damn good to me. I mean, just how efficient the offense was. There were some rocky moments like the Cleveland game,

the Bears game early on. But once he got into a rhythm with no OTAs, no training camp, no offseason activities due to COVID-19, he was on a roll the last three months of the season. I think he finished his last eight or so games with 20 touchdowns to four interceptions. Really incredible what Rivers did. We talked about it on Monday, too. Colts fans should be lucky that Phillip Rivers is playing at his level compared to guys like Drew Brees, who in the last part of his season

with the Saints, just a completely different player. The arm strength just disappeared with him. But Rivers, this is why we're always so confident, Stephen, that he was going to come back in 2021, was that it looked like he still had at least a year or two left. Even Chris Brown said it last week in his end-of-season press conference that it just seemed to everyone that he was not close to being finished. But, I mean, good for him for going out on top like this

because I feel like for the circumstances placed in front of him his 2020 season was really really good yeah like you said it's it's one of those things where he went out on his own terms he had a great season I think I saw the stat that the Phillip Rivers has the second most yards by a quarterback in their final season in the NFL, which is second only to Andrew Luck. So that's a really disappointing stat for Colts fans. But the fact is, Philip Rivers didn't have his heart in it, and he just decided to step away. He had a really good season, though, though to end and that's why the the decision at least in my mind and a lot of other people's mind was so so confusing or so shocking it's not confusing it's it's just shocking because by the end of the season he was in a he was in a groove

like that's he wasn't making bad throws he He had a full grasp of the offense. He was able to make every throw. It wasn't like you said, like Drew Brees or Tom Brady, where, you know, their arm strength's not quite there. And like Philip Rivers is never really known to have a big arm. Shocking that that's what he decided to do today in terms of retiring out of nowhere. But like I said, when you know you know, and good for him to get out when he did. He said it puts the Colts in a rough spot to be looking for a quarterback and now a left tackle in the same offseason. You're one of a kind, and so are your taxes. That's why TurboTax Live has experienced tax experts who are ready to listen to you, wonder about your unique tax situation, and help you get the best tax outcome possible.

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Go to BlueNile.com right now, Colts fans. Check out these exclusive engagement rings. Yeah, it's going to be a wild offseason for the Colts. There could be a lot of turnover now, especially with Andy Costanzo and Phillip Rivers now leaving the NFL, leaving the Colts organization in 2020. But let's now pivot now to the future a little bit, Stephen, because with this Rivers news, luckily it came only about two weeks after the season ended, even less than two weeks after the season ended the Colts after they lost in Buffalo on wildcard weekend because it seems like to me honestly this team now they

have three months from the draft they have around two months from free agency of the league you're officially opening where they can really just buckle down now Chris Bauer, Ed Dodds and the rest of that front office they can really just buckle down now and figure out this correct situation because this team is built to win right now, Stephen. They're not in a position – I know they have a good young core of guys that you can grow with, but this team is the way they're built right now with how solid these young guys are. They're winning out young players.

You have Buckner on board there in his prime as well. You have other solid pieces all across the board. This team feels like it's ready to win now, but they're also in a position where you don't really have to win now, so to say, in my opinion, with this young core in place. There's really any direction it could go to. And so, I mean, what's your thoughts right now? We officially now know Fulber is off the table for 2021.

It seems like to me, it's not going to be Jacob Easton from what Chris Bowd said about 10 days ago in his end of season press conference. So, I mean, what do you think happens next? Do you think you're going to export trades, free agency, draft? I feel like everything's on the table now. Yeah, I think you're right that everything's on the table.

I, you know, there are times where Chris Ballard kind of gives mixed signals on Jacob Eason. And part of his press conference, he talks about how opposing coaches come over and ask him, you know, who's that guy? Wow, he talks about how opposing coaches come over and ask him, who's that guy? Wow, he can really sling it. He's like, oh, that's my backup quarterback, Jacob Beeson, all that.

And he's really proud of him. And then you hear him in the press conference saying, I'm not necessarily comfortable saying that he's going to be the backup quarterback. And I'm like, well, OK, that's a weird thing to say about somebody who's going to come in as arguably your quarterback too. And I get it. They want to go through the process and see where he's at mentally, see where he's been able to pick up things here and there.

But, yeah, trades are there. You've got Matthew Stafford is reportedly available. Deshaun watson very much wants out and here's the thing with the deshaun watson trade is you know people like to poo-poo it and say oh houston's not going to trade a top quarterback within the division but you know the eagles traded donovan mab interdivision to the to the redskins um. You know, it's not unheard of, but Colts would have to pay a premium to get it. And so if you send three or four first round picks down to Nick Casario in

the Houston Texans, I mean, I don't know if he says no to that. And Deshaun Watson has that no trade clause that he'd have to waive. So he'd have to approve. And if he's saying the only franchise he really wants to play for is indianapolis and play for the colts then it kind of puts houston in a bind as well because they can't sit there and negotiate with you know a team like miami or the new york jets and anything like that if deshaun watson can effectively veto any trade, then they don't really have a case. They can't really go anywhere with it. We talked about Matthew Stafford as an option, Sam Darnold, depending on what the

Jets do with the number two pick. If I were the Jets, I would trade back and just recoup a King's Ransom of picks. And then you also have the Colts possibly drafting a quarterback in what it would take to trade up. I've not been a huge fan of Justin Fields. I think I'd like Trey Lance and Zach Wilson a little bit more in that scenario. And so if either of those guys are available at the nine or 10 spot, then that's a, that's a place where Chris Ballard could make a move up from 21 and it would

cost them 21, their 2022 first round pick and probably a third round pick. And that's not a crazy amount of picks, but if I could get to Sean Watson, somebody that I know is a proven player who's 25 years old and he's got that no trade clause, but if he approves it to go to Indianapolis and Houston is desperate, I mean, I'd send four first round picks for him. He's it's,

I know it's kind of crazy to say that, but Chris Ballard hits so well on second round picks. So you get a guy that is going to win you championships basically and allows you to compete in the AFC South and potentially win it every year and just compete for the AFC Championship every year yeah Deshaun Watson is something I would definitely look into if I'm Chris Ballard and like you mentioned it's unfortunate you stood at A South. I can't imagine they would do that. Houston, even if it's four first-round picks, I can't imagine if I'm the owner

or the GM of that team, I'd have to see Watson twice a year. Maybe see him win a couple of Super Bowl ranks for your division rival. That would be tough to swallow. But I think four first-round picks makes a lot of sense for Sean Watson. Let's take him off the board for a second, though, and look at a couple guys. Our betting partners here at Locked On Podcast, our betonline..ag they put out a odds list for the colts week one starting quarterback as of january 20 2021 after the rivers news today shock i don't know if it's shocking or not steven but the leader in the clubhouse according to bet online ag is jacoby bursette at three to one odds then you

have carson wentz matthew staff Stafford Andy Dalton and Jacob Eason for the top five there I mean if you're in Jacoby's position Steven I mean with this Rivers news yeah you have to think like the whole year you probably walk out the door of Indianapolis and go maybe to a team like Miami it'd be a solid backup or go to the Redskins or the Washington ball team excuse me to be and maybe a possible starter next year there's a lot of options for Jacoby Brissett out there but I mean you have to imagine he's familiar with the system. He's familiar with Frank Reich. Chris Bowers seems to like him even though he doesn't love him, so to say.

With those odds, it really caught me off guard a little bit because maybe Jacoby Brissett thinks to himself, you know what? Sign a one-year deal back in Indy. Compete for a starting job. If they draft the guy, I'll probably be starting anyway his first few weeks of the season. What do you think about that? Do you think Jacoby Brissett's a legitimate option now I at first you know when

the offseason started I didn't think he was an option really at all um now that Phillip Rivers retired I think that it's a pretty safe option for the Colts because it allows them to draft however they want to draft. It allows them to trade up for a quarterback and not have to tip their hand. If they go into the draft and they've just got like Jacob Eason on the roster or they just had Brian Lewerke in for a tryout today. They've got quarterbacks that people are saying, yeah, okay, you're definitely not rolling with them in week one. Then it really kind of ups the ante on what teams are able to get out of the Colts in terms of draft compensation.

To be fair, if the Colts are moving up, it's for a quarterback and all the teams know it and I don't think there's going to be too much discrepancy on how much the Colts are giving up like it's pretty set in stone like when they the Chiefs moved up for Patrick Mahomes when shoot when the Texans moved up for Deshaun Watson um that's what the cost was it was that year's first round pick the next year's first round pick and then a mid-round pick somewhere i don't even know if texans ended up having to give up more than more than one future pick um but i look at that and i go okay just percent makes a lot of sense in terms of of the betting odds just because of his familiarity with the system

and allows them to really kind of see what Jacob Beeson has this offseason and it doesn't force them to take a quarterback if Chris Ballard doesn't want to take a quarterback um and then let's see you said Stafford was number two yes staff or Wentz was number two then matthew staffed after that i have a hard time with wentz um being number two just because uh all the reports out of philadelphia was that jeffrey leary the owner of the philadelphia eagles really likes wentz and that was one of the reasons why doug peterson got canned is because peterson was a huge jalen hertz fan and so i think carson wentz is staying in philadelphia plus his albatross of a contract is really hard for him to move. Not saying that two days from now we'll find out that Carson Wentz has been

traded to the Colts and we'll all be wrong. But that's why I just don't feel like Wentz is probably the best option for the Colts and especially for a system that requires ball security and not turning it over. His fumble issues and interceptions is just, it would drive Chris Ballard mad. He'd be throwing things, I feel like. I think the most logical option is Matthew Stafford

with the Detroit Lions because it's pretty clear that they're looking to go in a new direction with the new coaching staff there. And then I still would want to see what Dallas does with Dak Prescott. I don't think that they're going to try to trade up and draft a young quarterback, and I think they'd be idiots to let Dak Prescott test the market. But he doesn't have a contract. If they franchise tag him again, that contract,

that tag number goes up significantly. Dallas already is crushed against the cap. If they franchise tag Dak Prescott, because it's going to cost $30 million for that year. And they've only think got 20 million in cap space. And so they'd have to make some tough decisions as well. So that that's one name that I think a lot of people tend to forget or don't mention because it seems unlikely that he's going to become available.

But as of right now, like all options are on the table. Yeah. With Dak Prescott, it's something to watch out for. Like you mentioned the cap situation with Dallas could be very interesting. Maybe they do the transition tag instead of Prescott try workout during the off season. If things go south there, the relationship sours a little bit. Maybe the Colts give up a bounty of picks and attacks the tag and trade situation. That could really be intriguing to me. Dak's off the board for me right now, just cause I think like Deshaun Watson,

I just can't see an elite talent like that going to the Colts. Hopefully I'm wrong because DeForest Buckner, that trade last year, really caught everyone off guard. Maybe Dak Prescott could be the same way in 2021. But another name on this list, I mean, it's one that everyone's been saying through the day, even myself. Me and you have been peddling this for about a couple weeks now with the possibility that Phillip Rivers could retire

or they'd go elsewhere for an upgrade in 2021. Matthew Stafford, the Lions quarterback, he's been just stuck in mediocrity there for over a decade in Detroit. No roster building around him. Calvin Johnson, Kenny Galladay were the only true weapons around in the last 10-plus years in Detroit. Never had an offensive line. The defense has been horrible the whole time he's been there.

It'd be poetic to me to just see Matthew Stafford get the respect he deserves in Indianapolis, Stephen, for like a five, six-year swan song with the Colts and have a legit team around him, probably get the respect he'll finally deserve in Indianapolis as well. But the question is, Stephen, they just hired Dan Campbell, the Saints assistant coach, to be their new head coach in Detroit. Is it going to be a reset there? I know they also hired a GM, Brad Holmes, from the Los Angeles Rams.

He's the director of college scouting there. Is it going to be a full rebuild in Detroit? Are they going to try to win this year and beyond with Matthew Stafford? To me, just the trajectories and the time, this doesn't make sense to me to keep Stafford there long term. It's going to be super interesting to see what happens there because if Stafford is available, I imagine a lot of teams will want him, like the Saints, the Steelers, 49ers. A lot of teams

are going to probably get on Matthew Stafford as well. He's a win-now quarterback, a franchise quarterback as well. But man, Stafford in this system is a perfect fit to that. Yeah, and Stafford, he's still got a huge arm. Like the guys, when he came out

in the draft, he had a huge arm. He's never left him. He's mobile enough to extend plays. He's not, you know, he's not the athlete that Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes, any of those guys are. But he's mobile enough. He's not a statue like Phillip Rivers is. And he really has been just thrown to the wolves out there being with the Lions. It's just they haven't put any talent around him.

They've got to – I feel like they have to be in rebuild mode because they've got – they don't have a lot of talent, kind of period. And they really need to look to try to get as many assets as they can to build this team the way that the new GM and the new coach wants it. I would say that their best bet is probably to trade Matthew Stafford and try to get at least a second round pick, if not better for him. I think that's probably where the compensation will lie for Matthew Stafford at this point. And the reason why is I don't see Chris Ballard giving up a first-round pick for Matthew Stafford.

Just because he's on the other side of 30, you're only going to get, you know, five years out of him, maybe tops, top quarterback play. I mean, especially given the other needs. So I think Matthew Stafford would be a great fit for this team and for the weapons that they have. Like, the one issue that I could find with Matthew Stafford is that he doesn't have great, like, he throws a fastball, and that's pretty much it.

And we heard this when Eric Ebrbron came over um and the difference between playing with andrew luck and matthew stafford and talked about how you know it was just it was one speed with matthew stafford so it'd be a little bit different um going from you know andrew luck to philip rivers to or andrew luck did you know we were set to philip rivers to you know now Andrew Luck to Chukobi Reset to Phillip Rivers to now Matthew Stafford for those wide receivers because those balls can be tough to catch. Now you play indoors so it's a lot different in terms of catching a ball indoors versus catching a ball in cold weather. Matthew Stafford makes a lot of sense for this

team especially given the the depth and talent at the offensive line and the depth and talent at the skilled position players are you ready for some football some basketball whatever sport you may want to watch betonline.ag is the place to go that's only one place you can go and that's betonline.ag you can sign up today for a free account at betonline.ag and use that promo code locked on edlow ck adon for your 50% off welcome bonus. Don't sign the signs anymore. Get in on the action.

Then we're going to use that promo code LOCKEDON to receive 50% off welcome bonus for your first deposit. Bet online. You're online sportsbook experts. Definitely send the watch out. We're going to explore more about Matthew Stafford as the offseason progresses. If the Lions do officially make him available, we'll probably know via Adam Schefter or someone else out there that the Lions are exploring talks with Matthew Stafford,

and you'll probably hear a lot about the Colts if that does indeed happen. Another name here on the list that we should hit on, we talked about Matt Ryan before. I think I heard Arthur Smith, his press conference, sounded like they want to keep Matt Ryan around. Who knows, come draft time, maybe that could change. Maybe they keep Ryan around for one year, and then they trade him off after they draft someone number four

over like a Justin Field or Zach Wilson. But free agency, let's talk free agency for a second. We talk about Dak Prescott. It seems very, very unlikely he even hits the market, honestly. We'll probably at least tag him to have him avoid the open market. But, man, this 2020 free agency class for quarterback Stephen is really rough. You have Jacoby Broussard on there, of course, but then you have Ryan Fitzpatrick, Cam Newton,

who is a shell of himself from when he used to be, Andy Dalton, Mitch Trubisky, Jameis Winston, and Tyrod Taylor as the marquee names of that. Not really marquees, so to say, any of those names at all, Stephen. I feel like for A&T, we have the worst-case scenario for this Colts team unless you really believe, like, hey, let's go ahead and draft someone in the first round, let's trade up, or even to get, like, a Mac Jones or a Kyle Trask in round one, round two.

You go out and get, like, a Ryan Fitzpatrick for one year you have maybe play for six weeks of the season then you put your rookie or jacob b's in there i think he's probably the most logical name off that list to him what do you think about that free agency class uh that free agency class class just makes me want to cry like it's not very good at all um it's not yeah it's it's not great uh you know ryan fitzpatrick would be an interesting player to bring in uh i think out of the group he's probably you know obviously dak prescott is number one like number one uh for the colts if they can get him in free agency i think chris ballard jumps at that because then he gets to keep all his draft picks. And I think they probably are definitely considering bringing

Jacoby Brissett back at this point just to have him there as a backup if nothing else. But Ryan Fitzpatrick, he's a great player. He can make a lot You know, he's, he's can, can make a lot of throws and he's tough and guys get behind him and, you know, it's the free agency class is rough, man. I'm trying to convince myself and that this is, this could work, but I have a hard time with it.

I'd rather them just roll with Eason at that point than invest in a free agent just because you got to see what you got and if Eason flames out then you get a really good traffic in 2022 and maybe at that point you take your quarterback yeah it's gonna be very interesting on that front I mean it makes a lot of sense maybe if like I said the Colts go out and draft someone or they trade up you can get a Fitzpatrick on board so veteran leadership at that point I'd prefer him honestly or Jacoby Brissett I never said in those a system but I mean Fitzpatrick will probably win your games with his arm he's not afraid to take risks unlike Jacoby Brissett which we'll be seeing 2017 and 2019 but let's say on the draft for a second if you want Sam Darnall content me and Steve

actually went in depth on him a little bit we've got a mailbag on Monday we hit on a Sam Darnall question and went about five or six minutes on that so if you want Sam Darnall content. Me and Steve actually went in-depth on him a little bit. We've got our mailbag on Monday. We hit on a Sam Darnall question and went about five or six minutes on that. So if you want Sam Darnall takes, go to Monday and listen to that episode. But let's hit on the draft for a second. We already know sort of the big three for the Colts they want to trade up. Justin Fields of Ohio State, Zach Wilson out of BYU and Trey Lance out of North Dakota State.

Those are really the three names to watch for in the top five, top ten range. I think it's fair to say, Steve, I think a lot of Colts fans would agree. I think Zach Wilson and Justin Fields would be top five picks by the time we get to April. I think both those guys, along with Trevor Lawrence, would be picked within the first five picks of the draft, all three of those quarterbacks. So it kind of leaves you, unless you want to get a whole farm, like the Ricky Williams Saints trade from a long time ago, unless you want to do something like that or get multiple future first-round picks.

I think Trey Lance makes the most sense out of North Dakota State. For those who have watched him, Stephen, what's your overall opinion of Trey Lance? Because, I mean, from what I saw in 2019, he only played one game in 2020. Man, he looks really good, and I think he'd be a great fit in Frank Reich's system. Yeah, he's much more that more modern quarterback where he's mobile and he's able to

get around he makes really good decisions um for the most part and he's able to extend plays with his legs and so he's a guy that i i think is more towards what the nfl is evolving to so it's one of those things where he can play in any system. You know, he's, he's gone under center. He's gone on the shotgun. So he's got experience in that and they've got a pretty good rep at developing quarterbacks up there in North Dakota state. You know, obviously Carson Wentz went there and he went number two overall. So he's an electric player as some people may may may remember in his only game this past season

they didn't have fans in the game but the camera crew zoomed in and said oh look we are able to have some fans in the game look here and they showed a picture of Ed Dodds there with his computer out scouting the game and so the fact that Ed Dodds went there in person makes you kind of look at that a little different light. Um, but he needs to, um, like he can make all the throws and he can extend plays and he's a smart kid from, from everything we've seen. You really kind of got to got to get down into the tape a little bit more before I can make like a full-on assessment of him. But from just the little clips that you've seen, and the tough part is you didn't really get to see him a lot this year because they only had one game. It makes it a little bit more difficult to find out where he's going to be.

But from everything I'd seen before, i'm a big fan of trey lance yeah we're going to dive in to a lot of these guys trey lance even mac jones out of alabama not really the biggest fan of mac jones kyle trask the same way i just think nowadays you need to go for these mobile quarterbacks or be justin field zach wilson trey lance i think trading up probably is the most logical step for this team i mean now with the philip rivers new steven where are you leaning are you leaning Steven, where are you leaning? Are you leaning towards a trade? Are you leaning towards like a Sam Darnold, Matthew Stafford trade?

Are you leaning more towards a stopgap and free answer? Are you, let's say, push the chips in for a Lance or a Wilson or Fields in the draft? I mean, personally, I think it might make the most sense. Maybe betonline.ag is up to something there. You re-signed Jacoby Brissett for a year. I mean, you guys all know I'm not the biggest fan of Jacoby Brissett at all. I think he's a very below-average quarterback in the NFL. I don't think he's starting material.

But maybe you sign Jacoby Brissett for one year. You understart the first month of the season. You let Trey Lance integrate into the system for a little bit. Then you let him play the rest of the season. I bet that may be the most logical step for this team unless they go out and get a Stafford. What do you think is the best direction for this Colts team heading into 2021 if they would officially know Phillip Rivers?

So the way that I would handle this situation is I would resign, Jacoby reset, just to have somebody on your roster. And then I'd go into the draft, and I don't think they're going to make a trade for any kind of veteran prior to the draft just because it would show their cards that they're going to make a trade for any kind of veteran prior to the draft just because it would show their cards that they're no longer looking to move up for a quarterback in case they do want to move up for a quarterback. And so I would go into the draft and Ballard's been pretty consistent about going in. If he's going to get a quarterback in the first round, it's got

to be the right quarterback, not just a quarterback, but it's got to be the right guy. I don't know how Ballard feels about this quarterback class. We haven't really gotten any chance to ask him too many questions about, about this class yet. He hasn't done any press conferences regarding the draft. So we'll probably know more when it comes in February or, or, you know,

the, the lead up to the draft when he does a couple of press conferences in there, kind of a better idea of where they, they might be going with that. I think like you said, the most likely option to me is that they re-signed Jacoby Rousset and they let him have the starting spot to start.

And then they might make a trade up in the draft. I think if Ballard's guy's there, I would love for them to get a Zach Wilson or a Trey Lance and have them grow in this offense and give them time, like you said, and give them a recovery set the first month or two and then pop them in. Or go in with recovery set and Jacob Beeson and let them fight out for the starting job see if jacob eason's learned because

quite honestly when it comes to arm talent jacob eason's right up there um in terms of guys that can make make all the throws what you worry about with jacob eason is how he's going to be able to handle live action in the NFL and the speed of the NFL game and whether he can handle it mentally. So that's your big question with Jacob Eason. He's one of those quarterbacks that he can still move. He's similar to like a Matthew Stafford. He's not a statue. He's mobile. Like he can extend plays when he has to but that's not his forte I think you know as you're seeing the NFL involve guys like Zach Wilson Trey Lance guys that are more mobile they give you more variety in the ways that you can attack a defense those guys are really kind of the wave of the future and if Chris Ballard gets an opportunity

to move up to get those guys and it doesn't cost him a huge amount, because, again, Chris Ballard likes them picks, then if it doesn't cost him a huge amount, then he'll move up for them. Otherwise, you know, I could see them doing a post-June 1st trade for Matthew Stafford or Sam Darnold. If the Jets decide to go ahead and take Justin Fields at second overall, then Sam Darnold obviously becomes available at that point. And so that's why I feel like any trade for a veteran would not happen until draft day. The only one that might happen before is the Matthew Stafford trade.

Last one I had for you, Stu, and appreciate the time as always. I mean, this reverse news today really puts a emphasis on how important this 2020 offseason is going to be for Chris Bauer and this entire Colts organization. I mean, is it fair to say we've almost said this every year with Chris Bauer, he's just taken over as the GM with all the turbulence and turmoil he's gone through the sudden retirement of Andrew Luck,

et cetera, et cetera. But 2021, I mean, this is his chance to put a stamp on the organization, maybe find his future franchise correct after Phillip Rivers. It's really going to tell you maybe how the next year goes, but also maybe the next 10 years.

Yeah. Well, and for Chris Ballard, he's going to get a contract extension. And so far he's done so well to build this roster up from basically nothing. With what Ryan Griskin left, Chris Ballard is just a bare cabinet with a couple of decent ingredients. But other than that, it was pretty bare, pretty raw. And so Chris Ballard has done just a phenomenal job to take that roster and build it up to a playoff team. And to have a decent quarterback really kind of

sets them over the top. Now, again, Colts have got a couple of big holes to fill. And if Chris Ballard can fill that massive hole at the quarterback position with somebody that's a long-term starter in the league and that he's really confident with, then it's going to change the shape of the franchise because quite honestly, the Colts are a good quarterback away from just crushing the AFC South for the next five to 10 years. Like I don't have a lot of faith in the

longevity of Derrick Henry and Tennessee that I think the history of running backs that have the number of carries that he has and the number of yards he has, they drop precipitously after that second season of that number of carries. And so I don't have a lot of faith in Ryan Tannehill to carry them after that. And so after that, Houston's a big dumpster fire right now, and Jacksonville is getting a new coach in Urban Meyer and a new GM, and they're going to get Trevor Lawrence, but you know, are they going to be able to build a team around him? And so far Jacksonville, with the exception of one year, hasn't been able to build

a consistent contender. And so the Colts really have an opportunity because they have the best roster in the AFC South. And if they can, Chris Ballard can solve this quarterback position and come up with somebody even for the next five years, like a trade for Matthew Stafford or, you know, the trade for Sam Darnold that we talked about on Monday. It's, you know, if they're able to make that move and get somebody that can come in as a long-term starter that gives them average to above average quarterback play and puts their defense in a good position so they don't have these turnovers in short fields

or give up points on pick sixes, the Colts have a chance to just dominate the AFC South. And if they can get in the playoffs, you never know. Steven, always appreciate the time. Yes, go follow him on Twitter if you're not already, at NiceReadSteve. And go read and listen to his work, as always, over on Stampede Blue. A big episode today as Phillip Rivers officially retires from the NFL.

The Colts now have a massive hole at quarterback. Appreciate your time, Steven. All right, thanks, Evan. Have a good one.