Locked On Colts - Daily Podcast On The Indianapolis Colts - WTHR's Dave Calabro on the Carson Wentz trade, T.Y. Hilton's future, and the Colts' potential in 2021

Episode Date: February 19, 2021

On today's episode, WTHR sports news director Dave Calabro joins to talk about the Carson Wentz trade and so much more. An Indy news legend, Calabro gives his unique insight here on Locked On Colts.What does Dave think of the Colts' low-risk, high-reward trade for Carson Wentz to be their new QB? The Frank Reich connection, plus the Indianapolis community as a whole, could play a big role in reviving Wentz's career.Closing the show, Evan and Dave go over the overall potential of Indy's 2021 roster, T.Y. Hilton's future as an upcoming unrestricted free agent, plus his favorite interviews on the Colts' current roster.Make sure to check this one out, Colts fans! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You are Locked On Colts, your daily Indianapolis Colts podcast. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello everybody, welcome back to your latest episode of Locked On Colts Party, Locked On Podcast Network. Today as always, your host Evan Sattery joined by Indianapolis news legend on our show today, Dave Calabro, the sports reporter and lead sports reporter over at WTHR. He's here to talk about the curse of Wynn's trade. Dave, how are you doing on this Friday afternoon? Hey Evan, nice to meet you, man. Use that term legend loosely. I'm an old guy. How's that sound? Absolutely. Hey, I grew up watching you, David. It's a pleasure to have you on the show just because I've been a huge fan of you growing up and to have you on the show is a real pleasure. So let me ask you this first off, Dave. You actually just mentioned to me that you just got back from Indianapolis Airport and Carson Wentz is already in town.

What's your overall thoughts on Carson Wentz coming to Indianapolis? Hey, before you jump in, I just want to quickly say welcome on board because you guys are all part of the Tegna family now, the Locked On NFL podcast. So we are excited to share information with you guys and to have you on board. So it'll be cool. Carson Wentz, I think it's a great, I think this is a great move for the Colts. If you look who's available right now and the situation they're in, I don't think that there was a better option out there. I don't think waiting in the draft to try to figure out another young guy. That's the cycle they've been in right now is just trying to figure out, all right, you know, who's going to be the quarterback? I mean, this is the fifth consecutive year that

we're going to have a different starting quarterback. I remember watching Scott Tolzien as a starter five years ago because of injuries and whatnot. And, of course, Andrew Luck retiring. So, yeah, I think Carson's the best option they have. I think the relationship he has with Frank Reich is huge. I don't think that that could be understated how big a deal that is. I also think it's a big deal that Carson's come to Indianapolis as opposed to Philadelphia. And it's a whole different mindset here in Indianapolis as opposed to Philly.

I think that he can have a chance to get his feet back under him a little bit, get his mind back into it, and have a fresh start with a whole different organization here. Yeah, like you mentioned, Dave, thanks to Tedna for setting this up, and now we are sort of partners, so to say, the Lockdown Podcast Network. We actually have great people like Dave that are able to come on the podcast now and share some info on the Colts. But let me dive in a little deeper with you because, obviously, you've been in Indianapolis your whole life, Dave.

What's it like, just from Carson Wentz's standpoint, coming to Indianapolis from Philadelphia, a city that can turn on you in just a second if you do not too well there. Indianapolis is a city that usually embraces their players right away. I've seen a lot of support from the Colts players but all the Colts fans recently about Carson Wentz even though he didn't have such a great season in 2020. Just from Wentz's standpoint, you have to imagine he's super excited about coming to a place that's really going to embrace him. Yeah, I think it's, like I said, just the way people approach life is totally different in Philadelphia than it is in Indy.

Philly is a great town, but it's, let's face it, it's a rougher, people are rougher there. It's more of a gotcha town. And Indianapolis, I think, has a little more relaxed atmosphere as far as how you treat people and giving people a second chance. And, yes, Carson struggled mightily last year. We can sit here and talk about the 50 sacks and all the issues he went through last year. But the guy's been beat up and hurt. He has zero offensive line. So he comes to Indianapolis where he's going to get a breath of fresh air. He won't be in the

media spotlight nonstop. You know, here in Indianapolis, I think the players are treated a little bit differently, good or bad. We're not the gotcha kind of journalist where you go in the locker room and try to catch guys off guard on a situation. I found it interesting that Carson Wentz flew into town today. The deal's not done officially until March 17th, but on his own he has come into town on a private jet with his wife and clearly wants to get to Indianapolis to check out the town and check out the market and see what's going on. I wouldn't be surprised if he's going to be spending some time with some of the players this weekend getting to know some of the guys.

So I think it's an ideal situation. He's going to have to go out and prove himself. Obviously, the 2017 version of Carson Wentz is what everybody's hoping that we get. A guy who had 33 touchdowns and was on his way to an MVP title to a tour of his ligaments. Of course, we all know about he's been through a concussion, a back injury. So, you know, we'll see how this plays out. But I think it's a great roll of the dice by the Indianapolis Colts. I mean, look what they gave up a second pick next year and a third rounder this year.

If you would have told me two weeks ago they could get this deal. So, you know, big props to Chris Bowden, what he was able to do to pull this off. Absolutely. Yeah, the Colts get up there, number 85 overall pick, the third-round pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, and a conditional 2022 second-round pick that could turn to a first-round pick next year if he plays at least 70% to 75% of the snaps

and they go to the playoffs. Let me ask you this about Frank Reich specifically, that relationship with Carson Wentz. This is the second year now in a row where he's kind of convinced Chris Bauer, like, this is my guy. I want to go get him. And Bauer, it shows a lot of trust from Chris Bauer's point of view in Frank Reich to fix Carson Wentz.

Did it with Phillip Rivers last year after a really bad 2019. Rivers had a resurgent year in 2020. I mean, after what we saw with Phillip Rivers in 2020 with the Colts, you have to imagine that Bauer feels pretty confident in giving Reich his guy again. Yeah, no doubt about it. Frank Reich was the offensive coordinator in 2017, that big year we were talking about in Philly.

And he and Carson are close enough friends that they text and stay in contact with each other since then. They talk on a regular basis throughout the week. They exchange text messages and phone calls. So they have a close bond. And so, you know, the rip-on Carson has been that he doesn't like tough coaching. He doesn't like to be criticized. I think that he'll welcome that criticism from Frank because of the relationship they

have. And I think that, like you mentioned, that Chris Fowler has given Frank Reich a little rope here to kind of go out on his own here and see what he can do with this guy. And it worked well with Phillip, as you mentioned. Phillip loved it in Indianapolis. He loved the setup. He loved the relationship with Frank.

And I think that's what I was trying to get to about the relationship part of Indian Apples. That organization with the Colts is a tight-knit family. They are pretty much a team place. I don't know if you've been paying attention to some of the Twitter and social media from some of the players when this quarterback search was going on. They're like, we want a guy that's going to come in and it's going to be a team guy, not a me guy. And that's what this organization's been about, especially since Ballard and Frank Reich have kind of taken the reins of the place. So I think it's going to be a cool fit, and I'm looking forward to see what Carson can do here. Colts fans, as you all know, Bilt Bar is the best tasting protein bar ever.

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and under 20 minutes. Subscribe to the Locked On Today Podcast or read your podcast. Obviously, we all hope Carson Wentz, the long-term answer for the Colts, that he's on a four-year contract the Colts can get out of in a year or two if they want to with really not much dead money involved in that. But let me ask you this, Dave, just over the last couple years since Peyton Manning

and the shocking retirement of Andrew Luck, it was really 20 years of stability at the quarterback position for the Colts. We've seen Jacoby Bursette twice in the last three years. We've seen Phillip Rivers on board. Like you mentioned, Scott Tolzien played in week one of 2017 for a trade for Jacoby Bursette. It's been kind of different the last couple years. We've seen Phillip Rivers on board. Like you mentioned, Scott Tolzien played in week one of 2017 for a trade for Jacoby Bursette. It's been kind of different the last couple years, Dave,

with the instability of quarterback. I mean, you have to imagine hopefully Carson Wentz, that guy. But what's it been like over the last couple years watching them try to replace Andrew Luck? And before that, you get Peyton Manning on board. That transition from him to Andrew Luck was pretty seamless for two decades of success. But the Colts

are kind of right now in no man's land so to say and hopefully once the answer yeah it's been a carousel man it's been non-stop and in fact in the news business we were joking yesterday I was like okay can we get this thing settled and get a quarterback because everything starts at that point you know in the NFL success you got to have a guy who can sling it downfield you got to have a running game but you got a guy who has to have an arm and some weapons. And so it's been a struggle. They've been on the struggle bus.

Jacoby Brissett was given his opportunity. I don't think he's going to be back with the team. I think they'll – I don't know anything factually, but I'd be shocked if they bring him back or maybe let him compete. Will he want to be back? I don't know. I mean, he may be at the point now where he's like, I'm going to go try to be a starter somewhere

myself. We'll watch that situation play out. It's been a nonstop carousel of quarterbacks and trying to figure it out. Andrew Luck and a lot of people are like, oh, maybe he'll come out of retirement. No, Andrew's retired and just doesn't have the desire to come get beat

up anymore after what that offensive line put him through for several years, the last couple of years. So, yeah, it's all on Carson Wentz and Frank Reich's shoulders right now. And we'll see if this is the right move or not. But, again, you go back to what the risk is and the draft picks they had to give up. Why not go for it and see what happens?

It's the best option. Let me ask you, Dave, about Chris Ballard, who took over as the Colts GM in 2017, really from the ground up, rebuilt this team from what Ryan Grixen had in 2016. Really a very young roster, a lot of key young pieces on board. Jonathan Taylor looks like a future star running back in the NFL after his breakout in the last few weeks of the season last year.

What's your overall opinion of the way Chris Bowder has built this team and where he's able to make a gamble now, so to say, on Carson Wentz, where it's very low risk, high reward. And if he gets his quarterback for a future first-round pick and a third-round pick, that's a steal. I mean, what's your overall opinion of the way Bowder's done business so far in Indy? I've been very impressed with what he's been able to do.

I like the fact that he goes after some of these young players that you know, like Darius Leonard, who in our world had heard of Darius Leonard coming in. You know what I mean? It's like, okay, well, all right, Jonathan Taylor, we knew about him from the Badgers, but he's able to go find these younger players that can come in and make a huge difference that buy into the system and that can become lifers. And that's the situation we've seen with several young players. He's done a great job with the offensive line, which is another huge key. I think he's got to go out and find somebody to help with the edge rush now. They've got to come up with a guy who can rush the pass a little bit more.

But they've got money to spend right now. This deal with Carson is good. I was scrolling through my notes to see if I can see how much money. They have a ton of, I think it's like 53 mil they have yet to burn. So they've got money to spend. They've got some key

positions they've got to check into. Got to figure out what's going to happen to left tackle. Got to figure that situation out. Got to get a pass rusher. I've been very impressed with Chris Ballard. The players really like him. They'll play hard for him. They trust him.

They respect him. And he's easy to work with in the media. So that helps too. Dave, if this Carson Wentz trade works out, if he's even an average quarterback, let's say top 15, top 12 in the NFL the coming year, or if he's a 2017 version of Carson Wentz, a top five quarterback, and it's a home run hit for the Colts, how good do you think this team could be in 2021? I mean, obviously you still have free agency in the draft to come,

but from the foundation they've set, you add Carson Wentz to that, and they still have Frank Wright. What's the potential, you think? I think there's huge potential. I mean, it's all about can you beat the Kansas City Chiefs, and what about the Ravens? You know, that's where it starts in the AFC. So that's always the topic of conversation.

But when you look at their roster and what they've done, I mean, this is DeForest Buckner up front. You've got Darius Leonard. Kenny Moore's here for a while. Offense, you've got Taylor, of course, running back. You've got two-headed monster with the running back position. Don't forget about Michael Pittman's a young guy. Julian Blackman.

You can just go down the list of the young players they have on this team. Naheem Hines, Grover Stewart. All of a sudden, you got Grover Stewart, who's been a sack attack man. So, the potential for this team is very high when you look at how young they are, players under that 30, 28 age, and I think that's where you got to build the roster anymore. But again, I'd say my areas of concern you got to find a pass rusher right now I'm not very impressed I know their defense was high ranked and all that but their pass rush from the corner was not as strong as I'd like to be you know that left tackle position is going to be huge to figuring that situation out.

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wherever you get your podcasts. Let me ask you this as well, Dave, because you have to imagine, you've seen T.Y. Hilton's career from day one in Indianapolis. Just a small guy from FIU coming on board here with Andrew Luck in 2012 has grown to really the face of the franchise over the last decade. Indianapolis, he's a free agent for the first time really in his career next month. What's your overall opinion of T.Y. Hilton, Dave? Do you think he'll be back in Indy next year?

Well, I mean, what's the market going to bear for a guy like T.Y. and can he get more out of Indianapolis? Where is he more valuable than here? I think that's the big issue right now is what other teams would be able to offer him. I know that the Colts would love to have him back if they can figure out the situation. I know he'd love to be back. He's got a wife and kids who are comfortable here. He knows this system. He knows what the expectations are. He's been playing for Frank. He likes Frank. I think he'll be excited to see a new slinger coming into town. So we'll just see how this plays out and what kind of money is there. In fact, I was down at the stadium today and I took a picture with my phone of the backside of the stadium and

the only picture still up there is of T.Y. Hilton, the lucky number 13. Will he be with the Colts in a month from now? We'll watch him play out, but I think that's a guy they want back, and he'd like to be back, but it's just to see who's going to offer the stupid money, and will he go? Does he want to start over again for an extra $10 million? I don't think it's about the money at this point, unless he gets some really stupid offer

from somebody to move on and start over again. Because I don't think he's at that point in his career he wants to start over. I think he'd like to retire here and be in that ring of honor eventually. Totally agree with you there, Dave. Last two questions I had for you. Really appreciate the time.

And I know it's been around just over 24 hours since the Carson-Wentz trade officially went through. It'll be, of course, next month in March when they have to officially announce it, the Colts will. But the terms have been agreed to as of yesterday. What's been the buzz like in the city of Indianapolis right now with Carson Wentz on board? I think people are pretty fired up about it. I think that people are tired of the carousel quarterback situation. And Phillip Rivers, yes, he did a nice job, but everybody knew about his age and the situation and he can't scramble and, you know, let's get another guy in here. So the buzz

seems pretty positive so far. But again, we won't know until we see what plays out in the fall. But so far, I think everybody's willing to give the guy a shot and believing in the Colts organization is making the right step. Last one for you here, Dave. I have to end here on a news question for you because you've interviewed everyone it feels like in the state of Indianapolis as far as sports go. On the current Colts roster, give me a couple of names here that you really enjoy talking to. Oh, on the current roster, who do I enjoy?

There's a bunch of guys on this team that are fun to talk to. You know, Ryan Kelly is a hoot because he's a country boy, likes to talk about fishing and hunting. He's always fun to talk to. And Darius Leonard is a blast to be around. That guy is Mr. Energy all the time. In fact, this year we really missed, we couldn't be in the locker room because of COVID. First time in 28 years that covering the Colts that haven't been in there with the players. But Darius is just an energetic, fun-loving kid who just rubs off on you, you know, that personality.

Walker's a great kid, Anthony Walker. Naheem Hines is just fantastic people. That's what I love about this Colts organization, just a bunch of class guys and a class organization, and they've been a joy to cover. Dave, appreciate the time as always. You guys can go follow Dave on Twitter. You're not already at Collabro13sports. He's the NBC Indy Sports Director, also the PA announcer for the Annapolis Motor Speedway. The voice you hear around the track is Dave Collabro, and it's, like I said at the top of the podcast, I know it's a very, very big words, Dave, but you are an Annapolis news sports legend, so I really appreciate you coming on today's podcast and I

really enjoyed having you on well Evan I appreciate the time it's fun to talk Colts and fun to talk with you and good luck with the podcast and proud to be a part of it and let's go and see what happens you know maybe we'll be talking about a playoff run a year from now that'd be kind of fun