Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - QUESTIONS: Indianapolis Colts' Future at Quarterback in Doubt + a Look at the Offseason

Episode Date: December 17, 2025

The Indianapolis Colts future at quarterback looks bleak following the major injury to Daniel Jones. Do the Colts bring the veteran back or go a different route? Find and follow Locked On Colts on yo...ur favorite podcast platforms: 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-colts/ 📺YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLdpxJspi1hMh5HL7ExpWOQ Give the squad a follow on X/Twitter @Schultz975, @JakeArthurNFL, @ZachHicks2, @allenpinkett, @LockedOnColts, and @ColtsOn_SI, as well on TikTok and Instagram! Locked On NFL League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft & More 🎧 https://lockedonpodcasts.com/podcasts/locked-on-nfl/ Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Rocket MoneyTake control of your finances and cancel your unwanted subscriptions with Rocket Money.Go to https://RocketMoney.com/LOCKEDONtoday.Aura FramesFor a limited time, save on the perfect gift by visiting https://AuraFrames.com to get $35 off Aura’s best-selling Carver Mat frames - named #1 by Wirecutter - by using promo code LOCKEDON at checkout.FanDuelIf you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit FanDuel.com and place your NFL livebets all season long.PrizePicksDownload the PrizePicks app today and use codeLOCKEDONNFL to get $50 in lineups after you play your first $5 lineup.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFLfor $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Transcript
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Starting point is 00:00:00 Should the Indianapolis Colts make another move at the quarterback position this all season, or should they run it back with Daniel Jones coming off of a major injury? 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. Hello, everyone. my name is Zach Hicks, your resident film nerd of portionu huddle.com. Welcome back to the Locked on Colts podcast. Part of the Locked on podcast network, now the number one sports podcast network
Starting point is 00:00:38 around. Today's episode is brought to you by Fanduel. If you're going to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit Fanduel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. Hello, everyone, guys. We are diving into your guys' questions. I got hundreds of questions from you guys on social media, Twitter, YouTube, every such way. that you guys can ask me questions. So we're doing a big Q&A episode. We're going to dive into your hundreds of QB questions ranging from quarterback stuff for the rest of this season to quarterback futures with this team. We're going to dive into the conversation regarding edge rusher play and should they bring everything back in the offseason? Also what the future looks like for the
Starting point is 00:01:21 Colts going forward. We have a ton of questions. So without further ado, guys, let's dive into it. first question here we're going to focus more on this season is there a chance that philip river's arm gets a little bit better over these last few games uh as he gets back into a rhythm or is it just shot that was from our boy echo warrior there on socials and uh yeah the arm looked really really bad this past sunday it was just not a great day at all for philip rivers in that game against seahawks now they were able to manage the ball manage the ball and kind of compete with that seahawks team But, man, that arm was just rough. I did not love how it looked in there.
Starting point is 00:02:02 And, you know, there is this line of thinking where as he just acclimates more to the NFL again, and as his body gets back into NFL shape at least a little bit, then the arm could show improvement. But the other side of this is, this is a 44-year-old man. And as all of you guys listening know, as you get older, what's the toughest part about doing anything? It's recovery. Recovery is a very difficult thing as you get. as you age up you guys again a lot of you guys are listening here probably in your 30s your 40s it's difficult to recover as you get older uh so that's going to be the big question for philip
Starting point is 00:02:37 river is like as he does more of these throwing does he is he able to loosen up the arm a little bit is he able to get his legs under him or does the recovery aspect the slower recovery aspect kind of slow his ability to get back into shape uh that's going to be the big question i i think they can get a little bit more juice out of that arm. He's just not anywhere near football shape right now. And if he can just get into the rhythm of what he's doing, I think that we can get a little bit more juice out of it. But I don't think it's going to be great the rest of the season.
Starting point is 00:03:07 I think it's going to be, you know, at best, you can maybe get it into the Matt Ryan range of what Matt Ryan look like in his year with the Colts in 2022, at least Matt Ryan before he suffered the leg injury that just completely zapped everything. But as of right now, like the way it looked on Sunday is, just dreadful. He made that really nice throw to Alec Pierce just because he's a Hall of Famer that's just done a lot of great things like that. But if you're going to ask him to do that stuff consistently or even like semi-consistently, I don't think he has the arm for it currently. But hopefully
Starting point is 00:03:37 as he gets more into a rhythm, we can see a little bit more from him in these last couple games. Next question here. After seeing Seattle adjust to fill in that second half, 37 yards passing, only 67 yards of offense and only three points and three first downs. How do you think San Fran will do against him with a whole week of prep. And yeah, I think this is a great question because now there's film on Philip Rivers. Now there's film on what the Colts did with Philip Rivers. And, you know, I don't want to say that Seattle completely figured them out in the second half. I think there was just a lot of extenuating circumstances from a bad snap here to a drop here to bad moments here. You know, one missed block leads to a stuff, which kills a whole drive. And that's kind of what led
Starting point is 00:04:17 to a lot of that stuff there. But I do think that, you know, When it comes to Sanfran, Sanfran, Sanfran's a lot different of a defense than Seattle. Seattle has pass rush. They have elite guys in the secondary. Sanfran is really, really banged up right now on defense. They're one of the worst pass rushing defenses in the NFL. They play hard and they play fast, but they don't have the same talent that Seattle has. So yes, there's film out there.
Starting point is 00:04:41 Yes, both sides are going to know that now going forward. But I do think it's a different kind of challenge. You know, it's not like you're going against the exact same team over and over again. And so certainly concerned about San Fran just because they're a difficult coach to play against. And Robert Salah, I think he does a great job there. But it's a very different challenge overall. So I wouldn't look too much into what happened in the second half against Seattle compared to this San Fran matchup because they're just very, very different teams overall. Getting now into transitioning more questions towards the future and still kind of a little bit the rest of the year.
Starting point is 00:05:18 As a Colts fan since the 90s, I'm concerned with our quarterback. Are we going with Rivers the remainder of the season to quickly answer that one? It does appear as though Rivers will be the quarterback the rest of the year. Riley Leonard doesn't really appear to be in the conversation to be out there and start. And the only other quarterback that would maybe be there in that conversation would be Anthony Richardson. But Anthony Richardson, just to clarify, guys, was only cleared for physical activity as of this week by outside doctors. There's still a lot more steps for clearing him for practice and contact and eventually getting back on the field. He suffered a very, very major injury that usually takes a long, long time to
Starting point is 00:05:57 recover from. So the fact that he can just work out now is amazing in itself, but I don't think he's going to be clear to play at all this season. So I don't expect Anthony Richardson to factor in to the rest of this year. I think it's going to be Philip River's job the rest of the season. And then furthering this question, if so, then do we want Daniel Jones back for next year or is it Anthony Richardson? He also says, P.S., he loves the, loves the pot. which I love you too. Thank you very much there. But yeah, this is this is kind of the big question that everybody had here. I got like five different questions on who's the starting quarterback to start next season? Do we bring back Daniel Jones? Is it Anthony Richardson's job
Starting point is 00:06:35 to start next year? So to answer all those questions here and one, ultimately I think the Colts do bring back Daniel Jones. This organization has always been very sentimental, especially if Chris Ballard is still the one in charge. And we have seen through his history of dealing with the Achilles injury, he doesn't fear it as much as I do. If I were in charge, guys, I would never sign anybody coming off an Achilles injury. I'm terrified of that injury. It's a horrible injury, and I never want a player coming off of that on my team. But Chris Ballard has constantly shown that he doesn't really fear that injury as much as I do. It's burnt him a lot in the past, but we'll see what that factors in with Daniel Jones.
Starting point is 00:07:11 We know Shane Steichen loves Daniel Jones. A quarterback could still be a little bit different than other positions. So I do think that they do bring back Daniel Jones. Jones next season. We'll see what kind of deal it is. I've heard a lot of insiders say the tag is on the table, but I don't know if that's going to be, if that's going to be more of agents speak there to insiders or if that is the Colts kind of leaking that out. So we'll see. But yeah, I think Daniel Jones will be back in some capacity. Now, if Jones is not able to go in week one next season, who is coming in there for, to start, I don't know if it's going to be Anthony Richardson, guys. You know, I, I, feel like Shane Steichen is pretty much out on Richardson, and I'm of the mind that I think
Starting point is 00:07:54 Richardson and Ballard and Stuyken are going to be back next season. So who starts week one? Your guess is as good as mine at this point. I mean, the free agent options are just abysmal right now. We have a comment here saying, would Philip Rivers come back in terms of starting next season? But Philip Rivers, again, he's coaching his son's high school team. I believe his son's about to be a senior in high school this next season. So does he want to be away from that? I'm not too sure how much that weighs for him there. But if you look at the free agent options,
Starting point is 00:08:26 it's like Marcus Marriota, Zach Wilson. Malik Willis is kind of interesting, but I mean, does it really move the needle much for you? And then you're paying another contract out there. I really don't know, man. I don't know who the cold starting quarterback is. Maybe you go to a quarterback on day two or day three, but then you get into the Riley Leonard discussion.
Starting point is 00:08:47 again. Like, if Leonard wasn't ready, what makes you think another rookie quarterback could be ready to go? So I think as of right now, like as Kenan asked here, like, as of right now, what do you think the quarterback room looks like going in a training camp? Let's go with Daniel Jones, Marcus Marriota, and Riley Leonard rolling into next year. I don't know. I don't know. I think Marcus Marietta maybe starts early next season. But if you really had to ask me that right now, I have no clue, guys. I truly have no clue what this quarterback situation is going to look like. Outside of, I think Daniel Jones will be back.
Starting point is 00:09:22 I don't really know who else will be in that room because I feel like anything is on the table right now. A couple other questions, though. We got questions about Tua Tagavala. He says that this question says Tua would thrive in this Colts offense. I disagree with that. I don't think Tua would thrive anymore in any offense. Kyler Murray, could you trade for Kyler Murray? I would personally not trade for Kyler Murray.
Starting point is 00:09:46 And then we got all these Joe Burrow questions coming in the comments. With what first round picks? One are you going to get Joe Burrow with? And the other, I don't see Joe Burrow ever being traded from Cincinnati. Cincinnati's hard to trade with for normal players, let alone to start quarterback. Cincinnati's not going to trade Joe Burrow away. So, yeah, the Colts quarterback situation going forward is kind of like what it's been for most of the Chris Ballard era, where I have no clue, guys.
Starting point is 00:10:11 It's like your guess is as good as mine. So maybe just throw out your craziest guesses in the comments section, have some fun with it. But coming up, guys, we're going to transition a little bit away from quarterback, talk about the rest of this season, talk about the outlook going forward, and some of your guys' other questions that you had regarding this Colts team. But first, do you ever feel like your money just disappears each month? It happens fast. A few subscriptions here and impulse buy here.
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Starting point is 00:11:37 So we're going to just get right back into it. But first, I do want to thank you guys for making Locked on Colts your first listen today and every day. And thank you for making Locked on Colts, the number, or locked on in general, the number one sports podcasting network. Some really quick questions here. One is, will you be doing some kind of autopsy on what went wrong with the second half of the season? Was it just getting away from the run game once defense has learned to stop Jonathan Taylor, DeForest Buckner and Mooney Ward being out, DJ fighting the broken fibula and Achilles, all the above? Great question. Thank you very much, Amy, for that entire question there.
Starting point is 00:12:09 But, yeah, the Colts had a lot of issues down the stretch here. You know, if we go into from the Steelers game onwards and what really went wrong with this Colts team, I think you can sum it up to a lot of different factors. One, they face tougher teams and those are going to be more coin flip games than what they faced early in the season. Two, the injuries really piled up. And it's not like the whole roster got hurt. It's like the most important players got hurt to Forrest Buckner, Mooney Ward, sauce Gardner, once he got in here, got hurt.
Starting point is 00:12:39 The quarterback getting hurt is the most important player on the roster. And now recently, Braden Smith is out for the year. Berenhardt Riemann, we don't know if he's going to be back this season as well. We still have to wait on the practice for tomorrow. And yeah, the injuries to keep players play a big factor in this. In terms of the offense slowing down and the team slowing down, I think part of this was Daniel Jones's fibula injury. The Colts couldn't rely on their easy button that they were relying on early in the season
Starting point is 00:13:03 with the play action boot game. But also, yeah, I mean, the Colts were very much, They were very much a pass-first team that let the pass open up the running game. And as the pass started to slow down because they lost some easy buttons, then it became the running game suffered as well. So, yeah, they played better teams. They got hurt at the most important positions. And they had some cracks in the armor really showing up in terms of like the blitzes
Starting point is 00:13:31 really getting after them. But I do still think that this team would have made the playoffs if Daniel Jones were healthy. If Daniel Jones didn't ever break the fibula, or, yeah, I get the break in the fibula. And if he certainly didn't tear the Achilles, I think they would be in the playoffs. I mean, they lost two coin flip games to Kansas City and Houston. And I'm firmly of the opinion they could have squeaked out two to three more wins here down the stretch in coin flip fashion because that's how coin flips work. You know, sometimes you just have the bounces go your way. I think they certainly get in there and make the playoffs.
Starting point is 00:14:04 even with all the other injuries as long as Daniel Jones doesn't break the fibula and then tears Achilles. But unfortunately that's what happened and now we have to live with this world where all that happens. So great question, Amy, and probably a thing for the rest of, for like a future video for the channel here. But yeah, I think a lot of things just compiled and really led to this downfall for this Colts team. Not a question, but I do think the calls for firing Shane and Chris Ballard are not considering how much worse it can be. the replacements aren't adequate. And I've heard this a lot. And I completely understand, you know, what's the, there's, I'm sure there's a fallacy with that where it's like, look,
Starting point is 00:14:43 things could always be worse. But yes, things could always be better as well. And I think maybe with Shane Steichen, you can make an argument that way. It's only been three years with Shane Steichen. And his quarterback position has just been in hell since he's been here. But with Chris Ballard, man, it has been so long with Ballard at the helm where eventually you got to take the chance and maybe change it up. You know, like that is. That is so long for there to be these like, like, yeah, Chris Ballard might give you a stable baseline of like an adequate general manager who does some good things and some bad things. And maybe you run the risk of having someone worse.
Starting point is 00:15:17 But after 10 years, man, you eventually have to take that chance of potentially getting better than that. And I think Shane falls into the same category. Like, we'll see what it looks like with another general manager in here. But it's just been, yeah, like it's just been such a long time with Chris Ballard, you know. Um, it's just so tough to make arguments for him at this, at this point. Like, yes, we can keep going on these individualized things with Ballard, but it's been a long time with only two playoff appearances, a lot of almost with him. And they keep running back the same core every single season to little results.
Starting point is 00:15:52 So it's really tough to make that argument there. Next question we have here is, I remember you were a big Shane Steichen fan before the Colts named him head coach. Yes, uh, I was a big Shane Steig fan. I still like Shane Steakin a lot. It's just there's been a lot of ups and downs of this head coaching tenure. Let's say the colds do blow things up this all season, which I know is kind of unlikely. Are there any head coach and general manager candidates that you have your eyes on?
Starting point is 00:16:17 And for me, I think when I look at just Carly Ursa's background and her experience and people in the NFL that she's reportedly pretty close with, I know she got pretty close with the Vikings general manager in times working with him in the past and working with, I think like a lot of like what Cleveland's synergy that they have up top there, a lot of the like analytics minded guys of the NFL. I kind of view it as potentially going that route with the Colts is more of an analytics based approach with Carly if she had full control over who the next GM and new head coach would be. And I think one of the like shining examples of analytics, which I know is a horrible thing
Starting point is 00:16:57 that people probably don't want to hear right now, would be Alec Hallaby over in Philadelphia. I only say it's a horrible thing because we keep going into that Philadelphia Eagles mold, whatever, is going over to that organization. But Alec Halliby is a rising star out there when it comes to Philly and doing a lot of great things with their analytics. So I could see her going like that route, just that type of mind. I don't know who, again, outside of Halliby, I don't know too many of the general manager candidates around the league, but I think it could be a similar-ish mold to that kind
Starting point is 00:17:29 of guy. And then maybe getting a coach that just, again, that just, again, that just, general manager really is going crazy for or maybe just again more of like the new age type coaches more of the analytics heavy coaches and stuff like that so um i just think like again i don't know the exact type of coach she would go for but i think that those are the type of mold she would go for i think she believes in the analytics approach to the game uh which i completely understand it's where we're seeing a lot of the best organizations have success we've seen that with the baltimore ravens we've seen that with the philadelphia eagles in recent years uh so we will see
Starting point is 00:18:01 what approach she goes there but yeah i i i kind of struggle with her right now because we knew how jim operated we know how chris ballard operates but she's such a new a new person to all this right now in terms of like what we know about her that she could really go in just multiple different different different approaches there with her time now as the main operator of this team and last one here and this i think will be a kind of a fun one to go over what is the realistically optimistic view for the 2026 and 27 seasons. Christian Shane seem unlikely to leave.
Starting point is 00:18:35 This person in particular doesn't believe in Daniel Jones is a top 10 quarterback. No first round picks in 2026 or 2027. No impact edge rusher. Michael Pittman Jr., $29 million in his last year. Everyone's a free agent in 2027. Like send me some opium.
Starting point is 00:18:51 It's hard to send the hopium right now because the question market quarterback is a big thing for this Colts team and it's hard to win with a lot of the question marks they have at quarterback right now. But if I do want to put a little bit of hope in the air right now, I will say I think when it comes to like the offensive line, I think four of their five spots are pretty set for a long time.
Starting point is 00:19:13 I think they have four good players across the offensive line. I know there's been some criticism for them recently, but I think four of the five on the offensive line are really good. They still have, you know, a good player in Jonathan Taylor for the next couple of years. Hopefully we'll see if he's able to maintain. his pace or at least be kind of close to that pace. If they re-sign Alec Pierce and they have two good pass catchers and Alec Pearson, Tyler Warren for the future.
Starting point is 00:19:37 And on defense, I think they have some good pieces. Like, again, the first round picks that they burned, it's not like they just threw them in the trash can. They're gone. Like, Sauce Gardner, I still think, can be a pretty good player for them. And he's still relatively young on a long-term deal. So, yeah, I think there's some decent pieces with this team. But in terms of Hopium, I think a lot of it is just after 2026.
Starting point is 00:19:57 you tear down a lot of this roster to its studs. You keep the offensive line in place, obviously, for the next quarterback and the next young quarterback to maintain, like, that protection up front. But, you know, outside of Sauce Gardner and that offensive line, I don't know how much you bring back. You know, it's a pretty old roster in terms of their starters. So you probably do make a lot of changes with this team.
Starting point is 00:20:19 So I don't know what the hopium is for 2026 and 27, but maybe after that we could have some hopium. You know, it's always fun talking about speculating, like next head coaches and next general managers. So we'll certainly see after that. But it is tough to get excited. Like that Achilles injury just changed the trajectory of this franchise in so many ways. Like if it was any other injury, I'd feel way more confident going forward.
Starting point is 00:20:40 But it being an Achilles is certainly a tough injury right there for the Colts and for Daniel Jones. But coming up, guys, we're going to continue this conversation. You guys still have so many questions for me. I know I'm going a little bit rapid fire today, but I want to get as many questions and as much information out to you guys as possible. So we're going to finish up today's show with even more questions that you guys sent me and keep this train rolling. But first, NFL Sundays move fast.
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Starting point is 00:22:06 Fan duel, the game moves fast, and so can you. All right, locked on Colts, everydayers. We are back diving into these questions that you guys had. You guys have so many for me talking about offseason, talking about the rest of this regular season, talking about quarterbacks, so much fun stuff to talk about here. And yeah, we're going to just keep it going here because I want to get as much information as possible to you guys. So next question we have here, how do you fix the front seven? The pass rush has been non-existent and age is becoming a big factor. And I think that's
Starting point is 00:22:46 absolutely the case with this defensive line here. You know, DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart aren't getting any younger. Now, I do think Grover Stewart, being more of a nose tackle, those positions do age a little bit more gracefully than some other positions. But DeForest Buckner is not getting any younger at all. I think he's probably coming close to one of his last couple seasons with the Colts. And then at edge rusher, you know, I think Laotu is better than some people think, but he's also worse than other people think. Like, I think he's firmly in that good young player like mold right now, but he's not the impact player that you hope for out of the 15th overall pick two years into his career. But
Starting point is 00:23:24 I still think in the future he can make that jump. As long as he can start finally beating some true offensive tackles and vertical sets, I think he can be a very good pass rusher. But aside from that, I mean, they really do need to revamp this entire defensive line and probably get some younger linebackers as well. We're talking to the front seven. But defensive line, I think they need a true backup nose tackle, like run stuffing nose tackle. Run defense has been a lot better recently, but I want to get another big guy in there for sure.
Starting point is 00:23:53 And then in the edge room, I do think, like, outside of J.T. to Moloow and Laotu, they got to just let everybody else go. Get all the other guys out of that room and kind of go like the money ball approach there at defensive end in terms of like just get in some guys who are like just coming off of their rookie contract that just didn't resign, have some speed, have some upside and bring them in here and just see what they can do. And who knows, maybe you'll hit big. Like that's what happened with Shaquille Barrett, for instance, when he
Starting point is 00:24:23 went to the Broncos, or I think he went from the Broncos to the Buccaneers after his rookie contract and became the superstar pass rusher after he was kind of just a fine player with the Broncos. So I think you've got to take those swings on just young pass rushers coming off the rookie deals and maybe you can get on there. But your guys like Quitty Pei, Taiquan Lewis, Sansaubucom, I think it's easy to let those three guys walk and then just bring in some cheaper like one-year option guys. and see what they have.
Starting point is 00:24:55 It's not the best approach, but honestly, you're not getting anything out of those three guys, and they're all older. I mean, Pay is a little bit younger, but Lewis and Ebukom, they're not getting any younger. Those guys are in their 30s now,
Starting point is 00:25:06 and they have not had good seasons. So I do think they need to revamp this edge rush room for sure. I like the potential that JTT has, and I think Layatu is better than what some people expect, but they do need to make some changes in that edge room. And I want to see like some input from Luana Ruma but when it comes to the edge room as well. We have a tongue-and-cheek question with this next one.
Starting point is 00:25:28 How many Bengals defensive free agents is Chris Ballard or wherever the GM is? Are they going to bring in? Now, I don't know how many of the Bengals guys in. They only brought in one, I think, this past off season with Joe Batchy, and he didn't even stick around. So we will certainly see if they go after more Bengals guys, but that would be funny if they just go out there and get all of Luz Bengals guys because we know that he has a pretty big influence
Starting point is 00:25:53 when it comes to what Chris Ballard is doing. The next one here, is there any more, is there any realistic plan that the Colts can have going to next year to fix their pass rush? Again, I think just going more into that money ball mold where just taking an approach for like guys coming off that rookie contract that didn't really fit with their past team. I'm thinking like Boy Mothay with the Seattle Seahawks who didn't have a huge role there. I think you can maybe get a chance with him.
Starting point is 00:26:21 But just take some shots like that. Just get some good rotational guys in here and see if you can pass rush by committee with guys who have a little bit more juice than what we've seen from Quiti Pei Pei and Taekwon Lewis and Samson, Ebukam. I think that's certainly where they can really find some surplus value here for this team next year. Another edge rusher question here. It's always a big question here. Chris Bowdo has failed to draft a legitimate pass rusher in his nine years in Indy. What do you think the main issue is? I don't know, man.
Starting point is 00:26:52 I really don't know what the main issue is. is because when we look at all the edge rushers that he has drafted, it's not like they're all the exact same mold. You know, it just seems that he's taking the wrong guy, you know, every single time, you know, whether it's the speed rushers, the Ben Banagou's, and the Kamoko Ture's, you know, those speed rushers just didn't work. And then he went to more of the explosive pass rushers like Quiti Pei Pei and Daiwa Dangbo, pure athletes, pure explosion.
Starting point is 00:27:21 and then, hey, all these projects aren't working. Let me go to this super polished player in Laotou, Latu, who's a bit older and should hit the ground running, and it's still been kind of a slow development for him, too. And, you know, Chris Ballard's kind of the only consistent in all the edge rusher draft picks because it's been multiple defensive coordinators. It's been multiple D-line coaches. It's been multiple head coaches even. So it's hard to really say, like, oh, these guys are just bad at developing his talent
Starting point is 00:27:49 where he's the one drafting, but it's not like he's taking the same mold over and over again. He's completely changing all the molds that he's taking. It's just these guys haven't hit so far. So we'll see. I think Layatou Lottu is probably the best one he's taken, but it's also the highest one he's ever drafted. And that certainly plays a factor here. You know, look at the best passers in football, and most of these guys go pretty early.
Starting point is 00:28:11 I know there's a handful that were like late first round picks as well, but the Miles Garrets and the Will Anderson's you've got to take in the top five. And that's why they're the superstar players. are and Latu being probably the best of the Colts of the Chris Ballard pass rushers he's taken. It's no secret that he's the highest one they drafted. So I think that plays a factor as well. But yeah, I think it's a combination of bad luck, just stuff not working, things, not, you know, factors that we can't really control. And that's part of what it is here. So yeah, it's a tough one. It's a tough one. He's just struck out so much at such an important position
Starting point is 00:28:47 that's very difficult there. Do you think the solution for right tackle in 2026 is currently on the roster? I sure hope so. I really hope so that Jalen Travis can be that guy. It would be really nice to have another cheap option there at right tackle, but we'll have to see what he looks like these next couple games, has a really easy matchup, easy matchup against the 49ers in terms of what he's facing the rest of the way. but then to end the season, he gets the Jaguars and the Texans,
Starting point is 00:29:19 two of the toughest matchups in the league. So if he can stand up to those challenges, I think he can be that guy that the Colts can rely on going forward. But I'm very intrigued by Jayland Trass. I think he's too big and too explosive to be a complete failure. But I do think there are some leverage issues that could limit his potential as a starting right tackle in the NFL. But I do like a lot of elements of his game.
Starting point is 00:29:41 And I think he can certainly be a cheap option at right tackle. I just want to see how he finishes this rest of the season. But, yeah, I think they certainly could have their option there on the roster. But that is all I have for today, guys. That is my little long-winded Q&A's. I hope you guys don't mind me going on a little bit rapid fire there. I really wanted to get to, I want to say, answer like 18 questions for you guys on here. I wanted to get like a good five or six in every segment there.
Starting point is 00:30:07 So again, I do appreciate you guys sticking with me and listening to the rapid fire, but I wanted to get to as many questions as possible. answer what is on your mind. Let me know if you have any more questions in the comment section below because I might take those on my other YouTube channel, my Zach Hicks YouTube channel, my personal one, and just make a video of that later this week too because I know there's a lot of things on your guys' minds. So leave some more questions in the comment section below. But before I get out of here, if you guys need a last minute holiday gift or someone keeps asking what you want, make it easy, ask for the everyday or club, add free episodes
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