Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - Recapping Chris Ballard's pre-draft press conference + Mailbag with George Bremer

Episode Date: April 24, 2021

On today's episode, Evan and The Herald Bulletin's George Bremer deep dive into the NFL Draft from an Indianapolis Colts perspective. First up, what stood out most from Friday's pre-draft press confer...ence from GM Chris Ballard? Did Ballard drop any breadcrumbs along the way that can help us predict what will happen early for Indy?Closing out the show, Evan and George answer all of your draft-related Twitter questions! Don't be surprised if the Colts go in a few different directions than many expect.All of this, plus so much more, in a jam-packed episode! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Starting point is 00:00:00 You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Everybody, welcome back into the Locked On Colts, part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Today's always your host, Evan Cedery, joined by George Bremer, the Colts B-Rank for the Herald Bulletin. George, how are you doing on this Friday night? Great, glad to join you. Hey, absolutely.
Starting point is 00:00:35 Always enjoy having you on. And before we dive into what Chris Bauer had to say today, as well as looking ahead to the draft of some of our listener courses we had to close out today's show, George, I want to get your thoughts personally on how the Colts' offseason has gone so far. Obviously a big event here in six days with the NFL draft, but based on what the Colts have done so far in free agency, not really pretty much running it back outside of Justin Houston still sitting out there, what's been your overall impressions
Starting point is 00:00:58 of the way the Colts have handled the first part of the offseason? I've been surprised throughout the process that that edge wasn't more of a priority for this team. I thought there were a lot of young you know pass rushers on the market and I thought at some point the Colts are going to dip into that pool and find an addition for a spot that I think a lot of us thought needed to be addressed you know from from the end of the season really but I think today during his pre-draft presser, Chris Ballard kind of talked about that a little bit. He said, look, you know, any time you go out and you sign a guy
Starting point is 00:01:35 to a big free agent contract, a long, big money deal, it means you're going to have to be willing to let go of some other guys. And he's just not at that point yet. I think he still believes some of the younger pass rushers on this roster can develop he thinks that there's still potential there and they still want to uh you know cultivate that develop that a little bit uh but from my standpoint I thought that was the biggest surprise of the offseason I'm not that surprised that that they they didn't do a lot at tackle because I always thought that would come in the draft anyway. It's a deep group there.
Starting point is 00:02:09 But I think it's going to be tough to find that defensive end in the draft. It'll be interesting to see what they do. Absolutely. I have to think that if one of those top edge rushers falls, it's going to be a really big question of whether the Colts will pull a trigger there or not. Obviously, some medical concerns, a guy like Jalen Phillips, Cody Peck, a big good guy out of Michigan as well.
Starting point is 00:02:25 But let me ask you this, George, because you mentioned this, Chris Bauer had his media scrum earlier today, and George had a chance, like he always is, to be a part of those. And what was your overall impressions of Chris Bauer? And I guess the first overall point, was there any breadcrumbs you felt that Chris Bauer left along the way there? I think it's interesting with him because finally after four or five years here, he's starting to figure out how he does business.
Starting point is 00:02:50 And I think early on he told us, I'm not a smokescreen guy. I'm not going to put misinformation out there. I just don't think it's worth the time and the effort. And what I've realized is there's a couple different ways to kind of hide your intentions, and some people will put out you know purposely erroneous information that will mislead you I think with Ballard it's more overload of information I think that's the way that he kind of hides his attention it's by being honest I mean I think what came out of the session today is that there's a lot of different options for this team.
Starting point is 00:03:30 Everything from trading up for a guy who might be falling, you know, if the quarterbacks go the way people are expecting them to, and you have five of them in a top 10, which doesn't seem at all crazy right now from projections, you know, then some other guys are obviously going to drop. And so, you know, I think if that that happens he's left the door open to trading up if one of those guys falls into a range that they're comfortable with uh but at the same time they could trade down and add picks we know he wants to do that he talked about that today again uh about basically no matter how good you you think your people are and no matter how good a job they do evaluating any given class there's there's an element of luck that's involved in in because of that uh the more shots you have
Starting point is 00:04:12 at the board you know obviously the better chance of one of those hitting and so um yeah i think when he says those things it does kind of cloud the picture. But it's just an honest assessment of where they're at. And I think it's more effective in a lot of ways than some of the lying that goes on around the rest of the league. Because a lot of times when those smoke screens come up, you see right through them. But the Colts really are in a position, despite the two obvious needs, where they can do a lot of different things. And there's a lot of different ways to address that another um really key point that you mentioned george justin about chris boward and having the picks that the colts currently have at six it's honestly ever since the person went straight especially george where it felt like the colts were going to recoup that pick
Starting point is 00:05:00 back in the third round or maybe add another additional second round pick and get some of that value back they lost in the first and went to trade this offseason for a third round or maybe add another additional second round pick and get some of that value back they lost in the first and went to trade this offseason for a third round pick this year and a conditional first next year. When Chris Fowler said he only had six draft picks, he mentioned, quote, the more picks you have, look, this is not an exact science. You need a little luck. The more picks you have, the more chance of luck are going to show up.
Starting point is 00:05:20 Does it kind of feel inevitable to you, George, on your end that the Colts, with how Chris Fowler also mentioned to us, he feels really comfortable with that the Colts, with how Chris Bowles mentioned earlier, his press conference, that he feels really comfortable with a lot of guys there at 21 if they were to be available? It kind of smells like me the Colts are open for business there at 21. Yeah, absolutely. I think the most likely outcome is that they'll trade down. But, you know, there's so many factors that go into that. Do they get an offer that's good?
Starting point is 00:05:42 Because I think, you know, it's one thing to to trade down but how far are you willing to go and i think one of these is going to be really interesting here is the tackle the way that they rank the tackles because there's a really good chance tennessee's looking to fill the same hole or at least you know a tackle whether it's a right tackle probably tennessee's case uh but the idea that that they could be looking at the same position right behind you, a division rival at 22, you know, you've got to be – if there's a big drop-off in your chart somewhere, when you go on the clock at 21, you may have to take that tackle, you know, to keep them from going to Tennessee.
Starting point is 00:06:22 But I do think that the most likely outcome is that they will trade down and that they will get back, you know, either an extra second-round pick or get that third-rounder back and be able to take three guys in the top 100 because right now there's only two picks in the top 100 for this team. And, you know, it puts a lot of pressure on those two spots because right now you pretty much have got to hit left tackle and defensive end with those two spots. And that's not, that goes against everything that Ballard's shown us in his time here. You know, he's never a slave to need. He doesn't want to force it. He said that repeatedly today. He
Starting point is 00:07:01 doesn't want to force the issue. And so I think trading down, getting more picks, it gives you the opportunity to open up that playbook, so to speak, and look at a wider variety of guys. I think that's the goal that's probably most likely to be reached. But at the end of the day, again, you know, it comes down to how that board shakes out and what the offers are coming the Colts way. Yeah, very true point there. And I really am curious about the way Ballard answered the question about pass rush, George. I can mention at the top of the show some really high praise from Ballard on Tyquan Lewis, Kamoko Turi, even with the injury.
Starting point is 00:07:36 He mentioned his first four games of 2019 when he was one of the best-graded edge rushers in the NFL over that month's span. Even Ben Banigou did not play much at all last year. He seems still very high on Ben Banigou's potential. It seems like to me, George, if the Colts do not address pass rush early, that maybe it's fair to think that Chris Fowler is trying to see what those guys have. I would be surprised, honestly, if Tyquan Lewis is not in the Danico Autry role this upcoming year, and a bigger role with a couple hundred extra snaps
Starting point is 00:08:01 with Autry gone. And then we haven't seen Kamoko Ture yet in a big role either, George. I mean, being hurt the last couple of years, as well as you see with him, like the bend and the speed he possesses, Justin Houston still has not re-signed. Maybe to me, and also I just want to hear your thoughts on this as well, like Taekwon Lewis could be their Danico Autry, and then Banigou and Ture could be their new Justin Houston. And he's just betting on these young guys to hit right now
Starting point is 00:08:25 entering their prime years. Yeah, you know, I think there's definitely a lot of momentum to put Lewis in that Autry role. And he showed, you know, in a smaller workload last year that it's something that he can at least have the opportunity to do. And I think that's something that the Colts are going to definitely look at. Ture and Banigou will get their shots as sort of the Houston role. And, you know,
Starting point is 00:08:47 Fowler mentioned a couple of times today that Justin Houston is still out there. I don't think he's completely out of this team's plans. I think it's just a matter of really at this point, it's probably in both interests, you know, the interest of both sides to let the draft play out, see where the landscape is on May 2nd, and then revisit the idea of Justin Houston coming back
Starting point is 00:09:09 and rejoining this football team, or maybe getting a really good offer from somebody else who doesn't find that pass rusher. You know, he mentioned repeatedly with Ture that last year was just not a healthy year at any point. We know he had that major ankle injury. We know it took a long time to get better. And Ballard basically said it never did really get to a point
Starting point is 00:09:31 where anybody was comfortable with it. You know, he said he blames himself. He probably should have just shut him down, not dealt with that sort of situation last year at all. But, you know, I feel like that's been the case with Ture's whole career. You know, we keep waiting for him to have that healthy year where he gets a lot of snaps. Maybe that's 2021, but it seems dangerous to really count on it.
Starting point is 00:09:55 You know, I think you need to add somebody at that spot to at least give you some insurance. And really, as adamant as he was and as confident as he was in those pass rushers today he said very similar things a year ago about the wide receiver position and then you know first pick in the second round was michael pitman jr so uh i don't think that the defensive end is off the board by by any question i do think that they feel like they have some guys that they still want to look at, that they still think there's potential in, that they think can get to that ceiling. But it wouldn't surprise me still if you see an edge guy come off early on the board next weekend.
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Starting point is 00:11:40 Let's dive into our mailbag now, George, closing out the show here for the final 15 or so minutes with your listener questions. And the first one here is from Matthew Eldridge on Twitter. And he's asking just your opinion, George, who do you think will be the Colts first pick if they stay put at 21? Like I know you've been diving in with some great player profiles over on the Harrow Bulletin with around 17 guys so far.
Starting point is 00:12:02 From what you've seen so far and what you've gathered, George, are there any guys that really stand out to you as really Colts fits if they do stay put at 21? Yeah, you know, it's going to be an interesting year because I think they do have a lot of options, especially at need positions. My most intriguing guys, I don't – for whatever reason, and he's not a perfect Colts fit. He doesn't hit all of the boxes.
Starting point is 00:12:24 He checks some of them and some of them he doesn't. But for whatever reason, when I see Aziz Ojolari on film and even just his build and his stature, he reminds me a lot of Robert Mathis. And I feel like if the Colts feel that way too, then he's an obvious pick because of everything Mathis did for this franchise. But you never know.
Starting point is 00:12:45 I think this pass rush group is very interesting because there seems to be no consensus, not even just on who the top guy is, but any order on the top five or six of them. People seem to be all over the place with who they feel like should be the first round picks, who should be the first-round picks, who should be in the later rounds. And I think it's going to be really interesting to see how the Colts have that stack because obviously that's the opinion from our standpoint that matters most.
Starting point is 00:13:14 On the tackle side of things, I think my favorite fit is Sam Cosme from Texas, mostly because he's been a left tackle his whole career. And I know Ballard said today that's's not something that, that he's highly concerned with. He feels like if a guy has the athleticism and the strength, uh, like a Taven, Tevin Jenkins, uh, that moving over from the right to the left side won't be a problem. Uh, but I just think it's, it's easier for everybody. If it's something that's, that's a little more natural to the player.
Starting point is 00:13:42 I think Cosme has the athleticism. He has the upside that the Colts look for. So if I was going left tackle, I'd go with Cosme. If I was going edge rusher, I'd go with Ogilari. But, you know, really it remains to be seen what the Colts are thinking. I'm really glad you said Aziz Ogilari, George, because I actually brought up before on the show, like especially that Cincinnati game, you can go back and watch it.
Starting point is 00:14:04 He does it with Robert Mathis off the edge there with just his speed and his explosion off his stance. I think it's a really good comparison. They do seem like a Mathis 2.0. I love that pick. And then Sam Cosme really is an elite athlete in Georgia, so he can make a lot of sense for the Colts as well at 21. A really intriguing question here.
Starting point is 00:14:21 Maybe this is more so like a Jonathan Taylor idea with drafting a year ahead of time with a guy like Marlon Mack, who was an upcoming free agent. Kent and at Indy Colts 2021 have the same question here, asking about Rashad Bateman or Terrace Marshall out of LSU. Would you be surprised at all, George, if they went that direction at first? I think that'd be pretty stunning, but honestly, with Jonathan Taylor last year, no one thought they would take Marlon Mack's replacement. Yeah, it was stunning when they took Taylor and traded up to do it. It was the second round, but, you know, they ended up getting the pick back,
Starting point is 00:14:49 and that became Julian Blackman. But that was a really surprising move at the time and obviously worked out. And I don't think anybody's unhappy that Jonathan Taylor's here now. You know, Jim Irsay very early this offseason mentioned a couple times that he felt like adding another wide receiver was what this offense needed to kind of put it over the top. Frank Reich has leaned more towards kind of a field stretching tight end. We really haven't heard Ballard talk about it very much, you know, one way or another, but I don't think it's, I think it would be surprising, obviously, but I don't think it's out of the question at all. I mean, we know one thing about Ballard,
Starting point is 00:15:23 he's going to stick to that board. And if he feels like there's a wide receiver late in the first round that he can't pass on, I don't think he'd hesitate to pull the trigger. And I think both those guys you mentioned fit that mold very well. Bateman, you know, extremely productive during his time at Minnesota and also a really high-character guy, which I know matters a lot with this team. And I really – Terrace Marshall is one of my favorite guys in this draft. He was a five-star receiver coming out of high school. He was supposed to be kind of the guy that took that LSU offense
Starting point is 00:15:55 to the next level. And obviously Jamar Chase and Justin Jefferson kind of broke out ahead of him and took that mantle. But from all reports, Marshall handled it very well, very mature about it, another high-character leader kind of guy. And I think he might be one of those guys that's a better NFL player than he was a college player. So it would be a surprise, certainly, if the Colts go that way.
Starting point is 00:16:19 But, you know, T.Y. Hilton's in the last year of his deal. It's hard to say exactly, you know, what the future holds for Zach Paschal. He's back on an exclusive rights free agent deal, but he doesn't have a long-term contract either. You know, we'll see what happens with Paris Campbell's health, if he can get healthy. There's definitely down the road this is a position you need to fill. So I think it's certainly a possibility.
Starting point is 00:16:41 One really good question I saw here on the list is from Dan Wouters, and he's asking about really would Braden Smith be able to move from right guard to right tackle? He was drafted to be actually in Mark Lewinsky's position at right guard before the injuries happened, and Smith ended up just thriving at right tackle. He has very short arms, though, George, for being a tackle, but he makes up with his athleticism in his feet. I know this is from Dan. He's mentioning about the scouts taking value on braden's maneuverability and flexibility between positions would that be would that be surprising to you george dan's asking if they were to go in the direction of like a liam eikenberg or a tevin jenkins or an elijah barrett tucker these guys
Starting point is 00:17:18 with smaller arms but maybe braden smith is the really the case study for this where maybe short arms don't really matter for the Colts on the offensive line. Yeah, you know, Chris Ballard mentioned him specifically today, and he talked about when they drafted him, it wasn't even in his wildest imagination that Braden Smith was going to be the right tackle of the future. But that was something that Morocco Brown, in particular, was high on that possibility from the start.
Starting point is 00:17:43 He kept hammering that home with Chris Ballard. And obviously they had some injuries and he had circumstances and it led to a spot where Brayden got that opportunity, made the most of it. And now you could argue he should have been in the Pro Bowl this year. From my point of view, he should have been a Pro Bowler this year. I think one of the things that's so intriguing about this offensive line position that they have open is that I don't think they're married to the idea that it has to be a left tackle, that they have to bring –
Starting point is 00:18:10 I talk about Cosme being kind of my favorite because that's his history. But I don't think the Colts are thinking that way. They've talked several times about just trying to get the five best players on the field. So I think short arms, long arms, whatever it may be, I think it's definitely possible that they take an offensive lineman that they feel like has a huge upside that they think will come in and fit well with this group,
Starting point is 00:18:34 and then you just let the rest of the line fit around that person. So they'll get a tryout. If it's Tevin Jenkins, for instance, they'll probably try him on the left side early on, and this is where you hope there's a lot of spring work where you can do these kinds of things. But try him out on the left side early on, see how that works. If it doesn't go as well, maybe you move him to the right side. Maybe try Braden Smith over there. Maybe even move Jenkins to guard and put Quentin Nelson out there. You know, there's a lot of possibilities. And I think that's one of the
Starting point is 00:19:00 things they've got guys on that line. They got four guys on that line. They feel really good about really confident what they can do. And I I think they're they're looking to bring a rookie in and just sort of fit around him uh if it you know obviously the ideal situation would be somebody come in and take over and start day one at left tackle and and you just kind of put that need to rest but I think they're open to the idea of shuffling some things around and you know just as they say repeatedly get the best five guys on the field. Great question here from Edward J Ormsby here on Twitter. George is asking, I know you mentioned earlier in the show,
Starting point is 00:19:32 Sam Cosme left tackle and Aziz Ojolari out of Georgia on the edge, but any other players Edward is asking from those positions, that's down to you as bona fide day one guys, the Colts draft about 21 or 54 or wherever those guys from day one are going to be immediate starters in your opinion. Yeah, it's going to be interesting because I don't know how many guys are like immediate starters in this draft. I thought it was interesting that today Ballard said that he's really got five or six difference makers in this class.
Starting point is 00:19:59 That's obviously a pretty little number. But he also said that he feels like there's a number of names that will be there at 21 that they feel happy in drafting. And, you know, I think a lot of those names have been out and about. You know, we've talked about Tevin Jenkins already a couple times here. I think one of the intriguing guys, and he's more of a 54 type of guy and maybe even a third-round guy or lower, depending on how that turns out. But Walker Little from San Stanford, to me,
Starting point is 00:20:26 is one of the more intriguing guys in this draft, just because if you go back to 2018, you know, he's a breakout guy. I think he was the first freshman to start at Stanford in 17 years or something like that at left tackle. You know, he was definitely a guy on the rise. Everything's kind of pointing in his way. He gets injured in 2019. It's a knee injury. He misses all but, I think, a guy on the rise. Everything's kind of pointing in his way. He gets injured in 2019. It's a knee injury.
Starting point is 00:20:46 He misses all but, I think, a couple snaps that season. And then he opts out this year. So you've got to go way back in that tape. But here's a guy who a lot of people feel like he's got high upside now. Can he start day one? Probably depends on where his health is and, you know, how much rust he's got. But he might have the potential to be as good as as any tackle in this draft or he might be you know done his best days may have been his sophomore year in college so I think that there's a lot of that in this
Starting point is 00:21:15 draft where guys and that's why the rankings are are where they are all over the place there's a lot of guys that haven't played in a long time either because they opted out in 2020 or they had injuries or whatever the case may be. You know, another guy is not a day one guy, but I think Brady Christensen is an interesting guy from BYU. Uber athletic, 38 straight starts there, a hard worker, a mauler, you know, but he played center field in high school on his baseball team. How many left tackles can say that?
Starting point is 00:21:42 But, you know, he's almost certainly going to be there in the third round by almost all projections right now. So that offensive tackle group is particularly deep. I don't think defensive end is as deep. I know a guy that his name has come up a lot. I haven't gotten to him yet. He's going to be this week on the features. But Peyton Turner out of Houston, he checks, like, all the boxes.
Starting point is 00:22:05 I mean, he's athletic. He's got the experience he's been productive and he's also a captain and we know that that that tends to go hand in hand with Ballard Pick so uh you know as far as the edge rushers go aside from the guys you always hear Quiddy Paye and Bojalari and and uh Jalen Phillips I think the other guy that really fits what the Colts want to do is Peyton Turner. Colts fans, Bilt Bar is the best tasting protein bar ever. I can attest to that. So can so many listeners around the Locked On Podcast Network. They have 18 amazing flavors that include nut
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Starting point is 00:23:18 Our local experts for every team making trades, picking the next stars of their team. Search the Ultimate Mog Draft 2021 and new Odyssey app, or wherever you get podcasts odyssey is a new home for all the sports podcast music and news that matter to you that's aud acy let's move on here another question from dan asking just about jen phillips george because he's one of the wild card tier he's probably he probably has a top 10 pick if he's fully healthy and never has the concussion issues but obviously that's there on the board and he could be the reason why he slips down to 21 george he's asking about just the medicals and how out of questionnaire this year due to the no combine i think it was only around 144 guys medical records they got in a recheck in indianapolis last month do you feel like a guy
Starting point is 00:23:58 phillips there george the colts might not pass it i know it's different from a heart issue for montez sweat but concussions nowadays are a big deal. Do you feel like if Phillips is there at 21, it's going to be pretty much a heavily debated thing in the war? Because if he hits, he's an elite pass rusher, but there's also the chance of the concussion issues. The Colts don't want to take that risk. We saw Montez Sweat a couple years ago.
Starting point is 00:24:18 Yeah, I think it's a debate that's already happened. I don't think it'll happen on the clock. I think it's something that they've already gone round and round on it, and they've made that decision ahead of time because you have to with this one. You know, you're either all in on it or you're not. And it is very difficult because of that medical situation. You know, he talked today of all the things that are unique
Starting point is 00:24:43 about this year's draft of all the problems that that are out there you know trying to to judge guys character you know he talked about not being able to get into practices so you don't get that kind of extra look at guys that you normally would of all those kind of setbacks and negatives out there he said the number one one to me from the way that he talked today was medical because they just weren't able to get their hands on these guys. And I think I might be mistaken, but I thought I read somewhere that Jalen Phillips even missed that Indy checkup.
Starting point is 00:25:17 He won those 144 guys. I think he was initially supposed to be in that group, but he wasn't able to make it for some reason. So I think it's going to be whoever drafts him could well end up with the steal the draft there's no doubt about it like you said he'd probably be a top 10 guy uh if everything checked out medically uh but whoever drafts him is going to be taking a big risk uh they could get a big reward uh but it could be you know obviously we've come a long way and how we deal with concussions and how we understand that.
Starting point is 00:25:48 And my gut feeling is he's not a guy the Colts would draft, just based on what they've done with medicals before, especially given that they're just not going to be able to get their hands on him, get their own doctors looking at him. It would be a big gamble by anyone who does that. Another surprise, maybe a position the Colts have taken this year's draft, maybe not early on, but probably in the mid to late rounds, George, would be linebacker, and Josh Sutton is asking about this here.
Starting point is 00:26:16 Would you be surprised at all, George, if the Colts did draft a linebacker? Because looking at their depth chart right now, they do have a couple of key guys in contract years upcoming, and Zaire Franklin and Matthew Adams are special teams, and that's Sam Linebacker's spot. Maybe this is the year the Colts go ahead and add in a Linebacker's spot. Maybe this is a year at the Colts. Go ahead and add in a guy there at Linebacker just to be a year ahead of time. I think Linebacker is definitely a possibility. We've seen him do it before with Bobby Okereke.
Starting point is 00:26:36 He was kind of the middle of Linebacker and waiting for a couple years there behind Anthony Walker. Now Walker moves on free agency, and it's Okereke's job. I think you might see a similar situation where they go get another athletic guy who they feel like can, can do a lot of things for him, play at Sam for now, and maybe eventually, you know, move on up in that chart because it's going to be hard, you know, pretty soon,
Starting point is 00:26:58 pretty soon Darius Leonard is going to be one of the highest paid defensive players in the NFL. And so I think you're going to keep churning that linebacker spot in all likelihood. And I think it makes perfect sense this year to go out there and add to that group. If there's somebody who fits the value and the need at the right spot in the draft.
Starting point is 00:27:15 Yeah, that's a really fair point. And one to watch out for maybe late on day three, the Colts adding another linebacker to that already really stacked position group there, George, but last few thoughts before we close out today's show, we pretty much went through all the mailbag questions there, so I appreciate everyone listening in and chiming in as always. But, George, if you're there in the draft room, I don't know if they are going to be this year due to COVID-19.
Starting point is 00:27:36 Maybe we'll have to do some Zooms still for that. But if you're sitting in your office or if you're at the facility on Thursday night, George, if you had to bet right now, I think you're going to be writing a story about the Colts making a selection that night or now? I think I will, but I don't think it's going to be at 21. I think they're going to trade down, but I think ideally it won't be out of the first round because I think if you look at those tackles
Starting point is 00:27:55 and even most of the defensive ends that might drop there, I think they're probably more in that 25 to 29-ish range ideally. So I think if they can do that, you know, get the guy they want and pick up an extra pick, that's obviously what they want to do. But, you know, as we talked about before, there's a lot of different scenarios that play into that. I don't think they're going to pick a 21, but, you know, we'll see.
Starting point is 00:28:19 And I know Ballard has said, if the right guy is there, they don't have a problem doing it. What do you think is your personal dream scenario, George? Let's say just at 21 and 54, who knows if they get a third-round pick. You can throw it in if you want for a tradeback. But what do you think is your most ideal scenario for the Colts if they were to land at 21 and 54 or adding a pick later on? What do you think is the perfect blueprint for them to follow yeah you know I think if they could get somebody like a Cosme at 21 and fill that left tackle spot and feel
Starting point is 00:28:51 pretty good about that for the next few years and then get somebody like a Peyton Turner at 54 who I think could be a really productive pass rusher for them as well I think that might be one of the best ways for it to play out but I also think you know me, the one scenario that will be really interesting is if a guy like Rashawn Slater starts to slide because of those quarterbacks, you know, if you really see them start pushing him out of the top 10, if the Giants pass at 11, he gets into that 12, 13, 14, 15 range. How far does he have to fall before Ballard wants to go up and get, you know, probably the number two tackle in this class.
Starting point is 00:29:25 And I don't know that he will fall. I mean, maybe he goes in the top ten as well. But I think that's something to watch. A guy like that, you know, starting to slide down the draft board on draft day, that could be an ideal scenario for them too where they're ready to pounce and they go up and they get a guy that in any other year where you didn't have five quarterbacks in the top ten wouldn't even be on your radar.
Starting point is 00:29:47 George, always amazing stuff as always. Really appreciate coming on tonight for our episode. Looking ahead to less than a week away now, the 2029 called draft, and an important one, obviously, for the Annapolis Colts. Colts fans, go ahead if you're not already, follow George on Twitter at GMBremmer and also go read his work, as always, over in the Herald Bulletin doing some great draft profile stuff as well right now. George, appreciate the time.
Starting point is 00:30:07 We'll probably have you back on again after the draft sometime to go over, but appreciate it, man. No problem. Looking forward to it.

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