Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - QB COMPETITION: Any Movement in Indianapolis Colts' Race Between Richardson and Leonard?

Starting point is 00:00:00 We may not care about the results in a 13-13 pre-season tie, but there was actually some significant things to take away from the Colts performance against the Patriots on Thursday. 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. All right, welcome to Locked-on Colts on the Locked-on Podcast Network. I am your host, Jake Arthur, the Indianapolis Colts Beat,

Starting point is 00:00:36 writer for Roundtable Sports. And today we are wrapping up our coverage of the Indianapolis Colts 13 to 13 tie with the New England Patriots on Thursday night. It was their preseason opener the first time we have seen them on the field against somebody else since the beginning of January. They have put 10 training camp practices in the book so far this summer, including a joint practice against the Patriots on Tuesday. And now we finally got to see them in a real game setting again.

Starting point is 00:01:06 And again, wins and losses in the preseason are meaningless. But there was so many, I think, substantial things to take away from this game. A lot of things to look optimistically toward with the future. There was a lot of big rookie performances. I think there's plenty for us to talk about when it comes to the quarterback position. But defensively overall, I think we saw that this group does have some depth, and they actually could be pretty good because we really didn't see the vast majority

Starting point is 00:01:39 of the starters in this matchup, but there is a little bit of depth if the Colts were to need to tap into that a little bit. But let's just go ahead and talk about the offense. First, we're going to talk about the quarterbacks because, of course, why wouldn't we? So the plan for the Colts going into this with the quarterbacks was for Anthony Richardson

Starting point is 00:01:59 to start the game and play the first half. And then Riley Leonard would take over and play the second half. they're going to flip-flop that next week next Saturday against the Falcons. It'll be Riley Leonard starting, and then Anthony Richardson in the second half. And it didn't look like it was going to be a good day at the office for Anthony at first. You know, if you paid attention to Twitter and then saw nothing else for the rest of the day, you probably would have thought it was a disaster scenario. He did start out pretty shaky.

Starting point is 00:02:29 Initially, his first pass was he threw off platform to Will Mallory, and it was low and it was just an ugly ball. And then later in the drive, he threw an outside ball to Coleman Owen too high. Now, Owen should have caught it because he got both hands on it, but it slipped out of Owen's grasp and into the hands of a Patriots defender for an interception. So on that first drive alone, you get an ugly throw, you get an interception, and then, of course, here we go again. And then it didn't really improve right away either,

Starting point is 00:03:03 because you got a fumble in the red zone by Seth McGowan after they get all the way down to essentially the goal line. Richardson himself fumbled again after like a 10-yard run. So it really started to kind of spiral. And it wasn't until about four or five minutes left in the first half that we really saw Richardson settle in and perform really, really well. But here's kind of his body of work. He was 11 to 14 passing, which is 78.6. I've got to imagine that might be his best completion percentage ever in a game since being in the pros. Had 145 yards, which is a yards per attempt of over 10.

Starting point is 00:03:45 Great number. No passing touchdowns. He didn't have, he wasn't sacked either, which is great to see. He showed really good escapeability there when it came to pressure barren down on him. Again, had the interception and the fumble lost, ultimately a pass rating of 80.1, which is, okay. I mean, you obviously want to kind of shoot for higher. But when you're looking at specifically Richardson, there are, again, very specific things. You want to see him kind of excel at. And I think he kind of checked some of those boxes. As a rusher, he carried the ball six times for 53 yards, which is

Starting point is 00:04:20 almost nine yards per carry and a touchdown. So when I mentioned that, he started to really get more comfortable at the end of the first half. First and foremost, when you saw him, run the ball. I thought that was really opportunistic. At one point, he got the Colts out of deep in their own territory. Ran the ball had a pump fake, got them out. They still had to pump, but it was a good job to not get them backed up into their own goal line. He almost had a touchdown at one point, but he slipped down at like the inches marker. And then had a 22-yard run. The one where he fumbled was a 10-yard run, but, you know, if you don't fumble on that, then it looks like a pretty good run. So a really productive runner overall, but then when you get down

Starting point is 00:05:09 closer to the end of the first half, you know, he had a bunch of throws that resulted in first downs. And they weren't, you know, second and five or anything. They were beyond the sticks, like on early downs, over 10-yard throws, had a first-down one to DJ Montgomery, had one to Eli Pankle had three of them to Will Mallory, who will talk about more here in just a moment. Earlier in the game, had, I think, a 19-yard completion along the left sideline to Nick Westbrook, Akina. So I think we know what Anthony Richardson is at this point. I don't think he's ever going to be a quarterback that has the full catalog of, you know, he's going to have an entire game where he does just like this short, small, boring stuff.

Starting point is 00:05:54 I think very much he's a vertically minded quarterback who can run the ball. And as long as he takes care of the ball, I think that's what you're going to get in Anthony Richardson. Again, a guy who pushes the ball, he's going to run it a bit. That's probably what the best of Anthony Richardson looks like. So if he cleans up some of the mistakes from earlier in the game, I think this was like an optimal version of the Anthony Richardson experience. ultimately got the Colts, you know, into a couple of scoring opportunities. As far as Riley Leonard taking over in the second half, this looked a lot more like one of the ugly Anthony Richardson games,

Starting point is 00:06:33 to be honest with you. 10 to 21 passing, which is just 47.6%, 89 yards, which is a yards per attempt of 4.2. No touchdowns was sacked once. Do an interception. He fumbled, which he also recovered, so he didn't lose that. but really just kind of an ugly performance from Leonard. I thought he held on to the ball quite a bit.

Starting point is 00:06:56 Now, he dealt with pressure a lot in this game and had guys in his grill as he was throwing, but he was pretty inaccurate with that. On the interception he threw, it was on his first drive of the game in the second half. On first and 10, I think, was had a defender right in his face and just basically punted it. Just do it way up downfield.

Starting point is 00:07:19 was nowhere near the receiver. Just kind of, he's got some gunslinger in him. And I think when he makes mistakes, it's not necessary. It's just like careless throws. You know what I mean? With Anthony, when he throws interceptions, a lot of times, sometimes it's careless,

Starting point is 00:07:37 but the main issue is that it's just like an inaccurate pass that bounces off a receiver's hands because it wasn't put in the right spot. Or it's a miscommunication as to like the depth of the route or things like that. With Leonard, I think it's just like careless throws sometimes, and that's absolutely what this interception was. So a good opportunity for Leonard to bounce back next week against the Falcons.

Starting point is 00:08:03 He will get the run with some slightly better players than what he got to play with on Thursday. I don't think it's a total excuse, though, because they did play with a lot of the same players. Liner just happened to play all throughout and got really kind of the scraps once you're getting towards like the end of the game. The offensive line play wasn't quite as good

Starting point is 00:08:27 as when Richardson was out there. But Richardson also did a great job of avoiding pressure. Other offensive players who I thought had notable performances, Seth McGowan, I think, looked pretty good. He did have that fumble on the goal line. But I think the vast majority of us kind of disagree with the call on the referees there. McGowan, I thought, had already crossed the goal line.

Starting point is 00:08:51 And it was late in the play when the fumble even happened. And I think he was anticipating that it was going to be blown dead because he crossed the goal line. And kind of a vulnerable spot, the ball was punched out. And the referees didn't want to do anything about it, apparently, and go back and really scrutinize it further. So, yeah, it was ultimately ruled a fumble when it probably should have been a touchdown. Earlier in the game, he had a nine-yard run. He also had a good run in the low red zone, which really got them into position to score in the first place.

Starting point is 00:09:26 I think that was on the same drive with the fumble. So just a good, determined runner, had some productive runs there. Anderson Castle averaged over five yards per carry on nine carries, including an 18-yard run. I thought he looked good and physical. He looked exactly like you would hope he would look. And then Will Mallory, the final guy we're going to talk about on the offensive side of the ball, tied a game high with six catches on seven targets.

Starting point is 00:09:54 So he caught almost everything. Let all players in the game with 80 yards, had catches of seven, nine, 12, 15, 18, and 19 yards. So the guy was all over the place. Had a catch near the end of the first half where it was tipped by the defender and he caught it off of the tip. falling into the ground. So Will Mallory, incredibly talented player, really good pass catcher. You just hope that the Colts can finally,

Starting point is 00:10:22 finally figure this thing out and get him some playing time. Because in three years, he's been active for just 24 out of a possible 51 games because he just doesn't really play special teams and he doesn't block the run that well. Still, I think you're wasting a guy with that sort of talent by not being able to ever find a way to get him on the field. So however you need to do it, you know, they have two blocking tight ends. So why can they not have two pass catching tightens as well?

Starting point is 00:10:53 And just divvy it up a little bit. Like it doesn't always have to be Mo and Ogil Tree active every week. Maybe you give Mallory some of those opportunities against defenses that maybe don't do well against stretch tight ends. So I digress. That's for a different episode coming later on closer to the season. But yeah, Will Mallory was a stud, and we hope to see him a little bit more once the regular season gets here. So coming up, guys, I had a lot of notes for defensive players, and I honestly kind of cut myself short.

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Starting point is 00:12:13 And that's true in sports just like it is in business. Look at some of the kind of Colts-based items we're talking about here. I think they all were kind of on the same page this offseason where it was, you know, defensively we need to get younger, more athletic, but offensively we kind of need to lean into what made us good in the first half. You re-signed Daniel Jones, you re-sign Alex Pierce. And then, you know, you maybe get fresher and more explosive on offense by

Starting point is 00:12:40 taking Michael Pittman Jr.'s targets and divvying them up to your more, you know, you're more high-end players. So everyone seemed to be on board with that. You can tell it wasn't just a reactionary move. It was really thought out. The organization had a vision and they stuck to it. And now you're seeing the results throughout the summer because everyone was working from the same playbook.

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Starting point is 00:14:29 We are talking about the Colts 13 to 13 tie against the Patriots in the preseason opener. Before we move on to talk about the defense, though, don't forget to check out the Everydayer Club for ad-free audio episodes and access to a group chat with other listeners of the show as well as Zach and myself. Just tap the link in the show notes or go to Lockedoncultz.com to join today. All right. So again, let's talk about this defense. I had a ton of notes when I rewatched. I just started jotting down all these like really solid plays that I saw from the

Starting point is 00:15:01 depth players on the Colts. So let's start with something that was a little unchill first. And it leads me to, I think we all really can agree that, The Colts needs Sauce Gardner, Charverius Ward, and Justin Wallet to stay healthy this year. I don't dislike the depth of Mackay Blackman and Jonathan Edwards and Cam Taylor Britt, but those guys I much more would like to see in like dime scenarios where they're complementary pieces and not having to play 55, 60 snaps because the other guys are banged up.

Starting point is 00:15:39 So Blackman on the first defensive drive of the day had two defensive pass and interference calls, which in a preseason game, that's inexcusable. In a regular season game, that's the kind of stuff that can get some guys cut. So it was really not good. One of them was on third down, which, of course, extended the drive. Another one was on first and 10, which got the defense, the Patriots offense into the red zone. They ultimately got a field goal out of that, and it was basically all just gifted to them by

Starting point is 00:16:09 Blackman. Later on, if we're talking about guys who kind of struggled in coverage a little bit. Jonathan Edwards, I had really high hopes for him coming into this season. And I don't, I'm not like completely out on him. But Zach and I have talked about last year he was typically in position to make a play. He just like had no awareness of where the ball was. He was always playing the receiver and never turned around to play the ball.

Starting point is 00:16:39 And so he was always where he needed to be, but not reacting quickly enough to, to make a play on the ball. I thought on Thursday, not only was he a step behind receivers and playing chase a lot, but he still didn't know where the ball was. I thought he got victimized quite a few times. There was even one where he gave up a deep shot of like 48 yards,

Starting point is 00:17:04 and he got fortunate enough that it got called back by a penalty on the offense. I think it was like a legal man downfield or something, Like something that really didn't factor into what Edwards allowed to happen. But then later he gave up like a 12-yard touchdown. There was one where he was playing catch up on a drag route. And the first down occurred. So it was really a not good performance for Edwards. It was not a good performance for Blackman.

Starting point is 00:17:34 I didn't really notice anything bad happening to Cam Taylor Britt in this one. He, I think, played generally fine. But he is just one part of that three-man backup core to the starters there. So certainly not the best performance we have seen from the Colts' depth corners, especially considering we've been saying this might be the deepest group on the entire roster. Where the cornerbacks really struggled, I thought the linebackers were phenomenal. So there was a play early in the game where Austin GK made a tackle on third down in the red zone. which force a field goal.

Starting point is 00:18:15 Jaylen Carlis had a run stuff. And then there was a series where in three consecutive plays, back to back to back, Bryce Betcher, Austin, Ajiega, and Jaylen Carlis, all made big plays to force a field goal attempt and the Patriots missed this one. So those three guys really put the defense in a great position to succeed there, quickly got the Patriots offense off the field.

Starting point is 00:18:38 And again, missed field goal. Three missed field goals by New England. kicker is not having a good time. Mike Brable did not lend him any support after the game either. I don't know if you guys saw the quotes on that one, but Mike Brable kind of flamed his kicker after this one. On the interior line, I noticed a lot from Atatomiwa, Attauwara,

Starting point is 00:19:01 and Michael Clemens, who plays inside and out. I thought Tommy was very active as a pass rusher on the interior. I had a good pressure on third down, which set up a punt by the Patriots. offense. I had another one later on that set up a third and long. I think, not I think, but Michael Clemens and Tommy, they came together on a run stuff on a third down deep in Patriots territory. Clemens had a quarterback hit later on as well. So I've been very pleasantly surprised by Clemens. I had kind of low expectations of him coming into this just because

Starting point is 00:19:38 his history in New York has not been great. We liked him coming. I'm going to Texas A&M several years ago, just because he's a big, strong guy with, you know, position, flexibility to play inside and out. But it's done very little in the NFL. But I think he's had a really solid summer going from training camp and now into the preseason. So Jonathan Edwards, if we're talking defense, not maybe the greatest day, but special teams, I thought he made a couple big plays. him and Jonathan Owens both are going to be stepping into significant special teams roles. I saw them both make some special team stops in this one. A.J. Halsey,

Starting point is 00:20:17 rookie presumably starting rookie strong safety. I thought he showed really good ability to make tackles in the open field. He didn't play a whole lot in this one, mostly just the first half. But I thought he had some good open field stops, including one on third down, a force to field goal attempt. Let's see. Rob Carter Jr., who is probably one of the very last corners on the roster. He's probably your third nickel.

Starting point is 00:20:48 He could play outside as well. But he made a couple of big plays. He blew up a screen pass. He had a pass breakup that he nearly intercepted. He's been kind of hot and cold throughout training camp. If he's going up against Anthony Richardson, he's really, really good. but if he's going up against Riley Leonard, he has struggled a little bit. So it's kind of interesting to see that dynamic there.

Starting point is 00:21:10 But arguably, the biggest defensive performer of the entire game on either side, the Patriots or the Colts, I thought was Caden Curry. I noticed him immediately, and I noticed him throughout the remainder of the game until the final whistle blew. He was everywhere. Statistically, six tackles, two for first. loss, a sack, three quarterback hits and two batted passes, but it felt like so much more than that. He was always around the ball. When he was on the back side of the play, he was chasing and he was

Starting point is 00:21:44 in hot pursuit of the ball at all times. Like, Kate and Curry, like, I know this was a preseason game against other backups and everything, but I'm super encouraged by this performance. He's the kind of guy where you look at his production at Ohio State, and he does not have good measurable. He's not like an elite athlete or anything. So you're like, how does he win? It's just like the guy has such a natural feel for how to play football. He is absolutely a gamer. And I kind of have high hopes for him going forward that he might be able to contribute defensively more than I initially thought. I thought because of the amount of guys that Colts have at defensive end, you know, George Gumbs, who also had a really solid performance. Guy flies around the ball,

Starting point is 00:22:32 makes a lot of plays. He's always very noticeable as well. But Cady and Curry and George Gumbs, I figured defensively, probably mostly a red shirt year for them and they'll get in quite a bit on special teams. But man, these guys might be vying for more snaps on defense than I initially thought.

Starting point is 00:22:51 Like, if they're popping and making this many plays and they're keeping themselves this involved with the ball, and like Jalen to him, a lowell out, for example, who really underwhelmed in this matchup, Like I saw him around the ball a little bit. Like I had him with a pressure. I had him, you know, with at least one run stop. But overall, as a password, very underwhelming,

Starting point is 00:23:14 if a guy like that is just kind of floating out in the ether, not really doing much. And you got guys like Caden Curry and George Gumbs actually making a difference, then they might start to eat into his snaps a little bit. So overall, I was really encouraged by this game. the Colts probably not only should have won, but probably should have won comfortably before turnovers just really did them in.

Starting point is 00:23:38 And when you look at a game that ends in a tie and one team turned the ball over four times, that's the determining factor there and the win and loss or tie. So yeah, that's all I've got for this one, guys. The Colts hit the practice field again, Saturday and Sunday. And then they've got two joint practices

Starting point is 00:23:56 with the Atlanta Falcons this next week before their preseason home opener on Saturday at Lucas Oil Stadium again against the Falcons. So we have got a loaded next several days for you. It's going to be a really good week to follow us, of course. And so again, thanks for joining me. It's kind of late at night here. I've been waiting on NFL Plus to load all day so that I could rewatch the game. So again, thank you for making this concession and joining us late tonight.

Starting point is 00:24:24 So after this list, go ahead and check out the Locked-on NFL top. Top 100, where you can find that on Locked On sports today. We also did a reaction show about it. So the Lockdown NFL Top 100 was voted on by an NFL host of the Lockdown Podcast Network, including yours truly. Our Top 100 was formed by experts to cover these teams and players every single day. Again, find the full list on Lockdown Sports Today on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcast.

Starting point is 00:24:53 Again, we also released a reaction show based on the Colts that made the list and the ones that did not make the list. So go back and check that out as well. If you don't already, follow at Lockdown Colts at Jake Arthur, NFL, and at Zach Hicks, too, all on social media. If you never miss an episode, then the Everydayer Club is built just for you. Get our audio ad-free plus members-only Discord access and much more. Just head to LockdownColts.com to join the club today.

Starting point is 00:25:21 And with that, you guys have a great night, and we will be back with you Saturday, cover and practice.

Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - QB COMPETITION: Any Movement in Indianapolis Colts' Race Between Richardson and Leonard?

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