Purple Insider - a Minnesota Vikings and NFL podcast - Zach Hicks talks about Deebo Samuel's trade request and whether the Colts should have tried harder to trade for Kirk Cousins

Episode Date: April 21, 2022

Matthew Coller and Colts reporter slash draft analyst Zach Hicks get together to talk about the rumors that the Colts tried to trade for Kirk Cousins and whether Indy made the right decision getting Matt Ryan. They discuss Deebo Samuel's trade demand and how it impacts the receiver draft and whether there are any great receiver prospects. And they play match game with draft prospects. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello and welcome to another episode of Purple Insider. Matthew Collar here along with Zach Hicks. He covers the Indianapolis Colts for Sports Illustrated and it turns out is a huge 1990s punk rock fan as I've discovered from his Offspring shirt. What is going on, Zach? How are you? I'm doing pretty good, man. I got to, you know, before we jump on here, I got to talk a little bit of punk from, from an era that I was barely even alive during, but you know, it's, it's an era I've been in luckily with, you know, with the, with internet and everything, you can go back and listen to everything. And yeah, I wish I was born a little bit earlier, so I could have experienced it, but I'm doing good, man. And yeah, it was a blast talking about that before we jumped on. You say that, but it was really hard to find music outside of going to a record store in my day before you

had youtube and i i remember this because you have the offspring shirt on that the offspring had a website in like the late 90s where they uploaded one of their videos to it and it was the only video that i knew how to find from a band on the internet so i just kept going and watching these two or three videos that the offspring had somehow like i used to go to official band websites to try to find their content and listen to their music and now you know youtube has absolutely everything and so it's at some point we'll do um a separate pod on all 90s football and music comparisons that's what we'll do because obviously the 90s nfl comes up a lot on the show. Not so much the punk, but you know, the reason you're here is not just because you cover the Colts and they're a really interesting off season team, but also because you do a ton of really great draft

work and I've created a match game. Are you familiar now? Neither one of us were around for match game, but are you familiar with match game? Uh, somewhat, somewhat. I'm a little bit. Okay. If you ever watched buzzer the channel with all the game shows in the 70s there was a game show called match game that had a certain way of setting things up and you have to fill in a blank and so i've got that for later and i think it's good but uh okay first before we get into draft stuff or match game we have to talk about two things and i'll let you pick which one you want to talk about first kirk cousins almost got traded to the colts it seems second thing is debo samuel's going to get traded to somebody which one you want to talk about we've talked

about kirk you know i was a washington guy before i uh went to indy and i was i covered the kirk cousins era a little bit when i was in was, grew up a Washington fan. He was probably honestly outside of the one RG three year. He's probably the best quarterback I ever covered or ever watched in Washington. Cause I grew up a Washington fan from like, Oh two to, you know, 2016. It was brutal. You had your, uh, your, uh, what was his name? Patrick Ramsey, Patrick Ramsey, Jason Campbell,

Todd Collins, Mark Brunel. When he was like 50, I mean, you mixed, yeah, you mixed in a Donovan McNabb for a brief time. Dude,

the best one I think was, Oh, eight. It was, uh, John Beck versus Rex Grossman to see who was going to be the starter. I mean, it was,

Oh, there's some great football right there. Yeah. I get it. You always get worse than going from carson wentz to whatever is left of matt ryan but do you think that the uh colts should have put on more of a press because the way that i understand it is the offers were what they were and nobody was willing to go all in to trade for kirkousins with some enormous offer that the Vikings would have accepted.

And my guess is, based on what they paid for Matt Ryan, it was probably similar. And the Vikings just said, you know what, we'll just keep Kirk Cousins. Do you think the Colts should have put on the full court press for Cousins or have gone the way that they did with Matt Ryan? I think, you know, in a sense, they kind of got lucky with Matt Ryan. I mean, the Falcons kind of overplayed their hand with the whole Sean Watson stuff. And it got to the point where they kind of jaded, you know, arguably the best player in the history of their franchise. And luckily, the Colts were there to scoop it up because at the end of the day, when the Falcons were officially having to trade him because he didn't want to play for him, he basically said, only want to go to indie i don't want to go anywhere else so then you to repair whatever relationship you have left with him for you know when the ring of honor stuff comes maybe hall of

fame comes later in his career uh you have to just kind of abide by that so they only got a third for a quarterback where in this market they probably could have got a little bit more uh and i think that's kind of where the vikings were where they weren't kind of forced to trade Kirk Cousins. So they didn't have to take just a third round pick. So the Colts kind of got lucky by waiting out the market and got a player like Matt Ryan, who's probably better than almost all of these options that they could have gotten. Jimmy G, Baker Mayfield, Jameis Winston. I think Matt Ryan's better than all those options there. But no, I don't think they should have gone more for Kirk Cousins. You know, going into the all season before I knew Matt Ryan would be available,

I thought Kirk Cousins would be their best option to kind of upgrade because, you know, for everything that he is, he is definitely better than Carson Wentz. I don't think it was really that close. But at the end of the day, I think a big thing that the organization wanted was they didn't want a situation like with Carson Wentz, where like a big point of contention early in the season was Carson Wentz was not all in, you know, and that's kind of what Jim Marcy said after the year,

you know, we want players who are all in committed to winning. So the vaccination thing was a huge thing with that, you know, Carson Wentz decided not to get vaccinated. And then right before the last two games of the year, he had to sit out for a little bit, came back with very little practice against the Raiders. And then he played two of his worst games of the year to end the season. So I'm not saying it's because he was unvaccinated, but the Colts made it a big thing that they want players all in, do whatever it is to win, even if that is get vaccinated. So I just thought Kirk Cousins is a player they wouldn't really go too hard for considering all the stuff that was kind of coming with the Vikings last year when he wasn't vaccinated. Yeah, right. And that became a very contentious point here as well. And actually,

I mean, I was a little surprised when they decided to even do the extension that they did because I knew how upset some people were with that whole situation from last year and the way that we talked about it was through the lens of football like I'm not going to tell you what to do on this show there's plenty of other shows you could talk about with that sort of stuff but from a football perspective it meant something in a lot of markets and players who did not choose to get vaccinated missed time to a man, almost every single one, including Kirk Cousins. But then all of a sudden it's like, it's like weird. Cause for a little while we woke up from the dream and then COVID didn't exist anymore. Allegedly now we're in NFL facilities. We're going to be back in the

locker rooms, but then there's another wave is like, who knows even how to look at this stuff. But I think the world is starting to look at it. Um, you know, I was at the airport the other day, no one's wearing masks anymore. Uh, so it's like, they're starting to look at it. Like, that's just not a thing anymore. Right. And maybe they would have said with cousins, like, Oh, I guess that's just not a problem.

So we'll be interested in doing it i guess the question comes down to do you think that kirk cousins could win you more football games than matt ryan is what it really comes down to for the colts um because you know the price is going to be factored in as well what's left of matt ryan matt ryan in another day is much better than kirk cousins in my opinion but that day is not today. And so I think that's what they're, I think that's what they're dealing with is you're asking yourself. So, so how much of Matt Ryan's struggles were the Falcons team? How much of Kirk Cousins struggles were because his coach didn't like him and, and, and how much are, as you've seen, how much are based on cousinsousins just not being able to get to that next level

to take a team deep into a playoff run? I think that these are all very difficult factors for a team that has a legitimately very good roster in Indianapolis. Right, right. I think when it came down to it with Matt Ryan again, they tried the whole Carson Wentz experience. And I'm not here to speak on Carson Wentz's character or anything, especially regarding the vaccination stuff, because I don't know the inner workings of everything that happened there or anything, but from my read of the situation, just from what Ursa and Ballard have been saying, I mean, I've never seen a team separate themselves from a player so hard after a

season when he was still under contract. I mean, it was blatantly obvious to everyone that they were going to move on and they didn't even have a suitor lined up yet. You know, luckily Washington came in and, I mean, did beautiful work by giving Indy so much. Took the whole contract, gave them multiple picks. But, I mean, they were done. And I think the biggest thing is they wanted to go from a guy like Carson Wentz who wasn't really a leader in that locker room,

wasn't really somebody who was fully connected to the mentality of the team. And they wanted to go to someone who can step in right away, be the favorite franchise, be a guy who everyone looks to, all the younger players look to, a guy who's had success, a former MVP who's gone to the Super Bowl. And Matt Ryan may be not what he was in 2016. I mean, I'm not arguing that whatsoever. But in terms of bringing in a veteran who has done the work throughout his whole career,

who has been great in the community and great in everything that he's done on and off the field, and a guy who can operate an offense, you know, at the end of the day, Carson Wentz failed in Indy because he wasn't doing the little things. He wasn't hitting the layups. He wasn't making the safe and easy play. And then down the stretch, he was just missing shots down the field. Now, where Matt Ryan may be limited down the field, he can actually operate an offense. And yes, there have been struggles in recent seasons. No one's going to argue that he's been perfect, but a lot of that was, I mean, for most of the last season, Kyle Pitts was literally the only

option in that offense. One of the worst offensive lines, a new coach, Cordell Patterson was the second best player on that offense. So, again, I'm not trying to make excuses for him because then I sound like all the excuses I was making for Carson Wentz before. But Matt Rudd, I think, is a capable quarterback. And I think it's them trying to get back to what they had in 2020 with Phillip Rivers, but with a better roster around their quarterback. Because, you know, if you look at 2020 Phillip Rivers, he had a really strong season.

They took the number two seed Buffalo Bills to the wire in the first round of playoffs. Now you take that team, you add, you know, fringe MVP candidate Jonathan Taylor, thousand-yard receiver Michael Pittman Jr., who those guys were rookies that year. And then a defense that has Yannick Ngakwe and Stephon Gilmore, along with the players that they had in 2020. The idea is you can potentially repeat that season, but with better players around your quarterback. So I don't mind what they did, especially getting, you know, at the end of the day, they flipped Carson Wentz for a cheaper,

better quarterback and gained picks. So I can't really complain. Maybe Kirk Cousins would have been better on paper, but I completely understand the direction that went with quarterback and, and getting again, a mature leader like, like Matt Ryan to kind of step in and break the ship a little bit. Well, and you know, if the Colts Googled Kirk Cousins and leader, they wouldn't find a whole lot. I mean, that's just the truth that a lot of the things that you said about Carson Wentz are things that get said about Kirk Cousins here and behind the scenes. And one of the

reasons that despite his great statistics, they gave him a very short-term contract that it seems like the owners really made them do. And so, you know, there's a lot of those similarities of like Cousins is a better quarterback at throwing the football than Carson once. I don't think that's close, but when the same tendencies personality wise come up in multiple cities, it's not the people in the last city. That was the thing that Vikings fans talk themselves into. And I shouldn't blame the fans. The Vikings talk themselves into, uh, with cousins. The first time was okay. Well, it was Washington's fault. Look at them. They're a bus fire of a franchise, which is true.

But all the things that came up there came up here. But the irony of the situation is I think that if placed on a roster like Indianapolis that could run like they can with the offensive line that they have, especially the interior offensive line, I think that's Kirk's best chance ever to really take a team somewhere because it's the interior pressure that usually crushes him and quinton nelson plays for that football team i can assure you quinton nelson does not play for this football team and no one even close chris reed is the closest we've been chris reed you guys oh my father. Man, I love Chris Reed so much. I am so happy that he got a good deal.

Like, what was it, two years, four million, I think, for him? Like, I'm so happy for him. He's such a good guy. Like, I was a little bummed at first that he was gone. But, like, at the end of the day, I'm more player-centric over teams anyway. So I was just happy to see him get a good deal, go back to where his wife is from uh he's an awesome dude you guys are gonna love him oh yeah we we were already saying that um

he's the leader after one press conference for the right guard position um so anyway i you know i think that if they were looking for that part of things the leadership part of things then matt ryan probably is the better choice for them. Even if cousins is technically the better quarterback at the moment, um, are the Colts getting Debo Samuel? They seem to be getting lots of other people. I don't really know how they can get it done. Uh, cause you got teams like, like the Packers and the chiefs both had two first round picks. Uh, apparently Houston is interested and they have two first round picks with one being the 13th pick. Uh, the jets, I think have two first round picks. They're going toth pick. The Jets, I think, have two first round picks. They're going to be interested.

I mean, because they were close to getting Tyreek Hill. I don't see any way that Indy could get him. I just don't see the picks. Probably the best offer they could put together is 42 this year and either their first or one of their seconds for next year. But I don't know if that gets it done. I mean, this receiver market's insane right now. It is absolutely wild. These,

these receivers are going for a first and second round picks getting paid almost 30 million a year. Like it is, it is absolutely bonkers. I don't, I know, hopefully, obviously we all want to Debo Samuel on our team, but I don't think it's going to happen. I wouldn't put money on it with Indy. You know, what's interesting though, with the receiver thing is I just swing so hard back and forth because in one way, I think, well, if you've got that guy, it's a golden ticket. I mean, we've seen here receivers raise the level,

the play of all the quarterbacks, but at the same time, like, wow, don't pay him because there's always some other disgruntled guy that maybe you could get or there's another draft pick that's coming out i guess i i wonder how you view this entire thing because there has just been such a shift this off season into these players deciding look oh my contract isn't up for another year uh who cares i want what i want right now and you have to give it to me and uh it working for the players. Yeah. Again, I'm always player centric over these teams. I mean, these players, you got to know your worth. And if you can get paid that money, go out and get it. You have every right to do it. So I'm,

I'm always player centric over teams, but it's funny with all these receiver trades, I feel like I'm on the side of like each time I'm like, Oh, both sides are winning. Like, cause on one hand having a Devae Adams, having a Tyree Kill, that's a game changer. You know, like those are game-changing offensive pieces that could go off for 200 yards any game. You know, these are top, top-tier receivers. But on the other hand, the team that trades them,

you're getting a huge cap relief to improve your roster. And then you're also getting a first round pick where, you know, we're seeing what me and my buddy Hag call it is the seven on seven babies. You know, you're seeing these guys, these receivers nowadays, like they don't have much adjustment to the NFL. They're coming in right away and just taking off. I mean, you have guys like Justin Jefferson, A.J. Brown, D.K. Metcalf, Debo Samuel, Michael Pittman Jr. with Indy.

Like Terry McLaurin a couple years ago. These guys are coming in from day one and becoming top 10, top 15 receivers in football. I mean, Justin Jefferson's arguably the best in the league. And he came in two years ago. Jamar Chase last year took the league by storm in his first year. And I know these are like some of these guys are early first round picks but others are late first early second so if you're giving me you know a mid first and early second and i get like 30 million in cap relief i totally get that too with these seven on seven babies i mean the guys like like the packers trade away davante adams now they have a shot at

chris olave trailing burks you know all these guys who they could be the next A.J. Brown or the next Kareem McLaurin. So it's super interesting. I think it's really cool. It's really fun for, you know, the offseason speculation part of football because, you know, NBA is kind of the sport that gets that love, that gets the, oh, who's going where, who's joining up with who. But now we're seeing in the NFL, it's just trade, trade, trade, trade, trade, which we never, never ever saw before. So I think it's great for media purposes. I think it's great for kind of both the teams. And it's going to be really interesting to look back at this, you know, four or five years down the line, like, did the Packers make the right choice?

Did the Chiefs make the right choice? So we'll be able to see some cool precedent with that. But overall, I mean, I think it's good for every party, and I'm excited to see where it goes. Folks, Minnesota sports teams are in the playoffs. Yes, that's right, playoffs. Minnesota sports teams is happening. And for all your Minnesota sports-inspired gear,

go to SodaStick.com. That's S-O-T-A-S-T-I-C-K.com. They have hockey, basketball, all sorts of great designs on hoodies on shirts on hats everything you need go there use the promo code purple insider for 15 off your purchase again that is soda stick s-o-t-a-s-t-i-c-k.com 15 off of the promo code purple insider you know i remember when i first started in radio it was the first day of free agency we didn't even have like a free agency special like there was so yeah there was so little that was going on and then now all of a sudden it's just absolutely wild pretty much from the end of the season all the way until right through the the end of the draft um but this class in particular when you've looked at this

receiver class is is it too much to say that the next jamar chase or justin jefferson is going to be there because i think it's weaker than it was in the past with just the level of prospects and maybe it's a little on the presumptuous side to say, oh, well, you know, you'll just find another one of those guys. I mean, that, that is always where I kind of draw the line a little bit because it's not like quarterback where if you get a quarterback on a rookie contract, who's just good enough, you can win with them. Um, if you stack up everything around them, it's not like you could stack up everything around the receiver. The guy has to be good. He can't be Jalen Rager,

for example. So how do you kind of stack up this receiver class? I've been on the train of the Vikings picking one at 12, even though nobody in the world thinks they will. But with Jefferson, now you just don't know. You got to start thinking ahead. Like he might want to go play with Jamar Chase and Joe Burrow.

You don't know. And he'll force his way there if he wants to. And eventually Adam Thielen will be on his way out as well. So is it worth taking anyone toward the top of the first round of this draft at wide receiver? Personally, I don't think I have anyone graded that high. I think it's a good class. Like I think, I think you're looking at, you know, 10, 20 guys who could be good producers in the NFL. I think there's a ton of guys who, if you told me they hit 500 yards in a season, like in the first couple seasons, like in one year, I'd be like, all right, yeah, makes sense. Guys like Calvin Austin, Sky Moore, who could probably get in the second or third round,

I think they can be productive guys that are out of the gate. But I don't think there's a Justin Jefferson. I mean, I was super high on Justin Jefferson coming out. I don't think there's a Jamar Chase for sure. Devante, Devante, she wasn't Smith, Devante Smith. Yeah. The easiest last name ever. And I couldn't get it there, but I don't think there's any kind of guys like that. You kind of come out the gate and just kind of explode. But I do think there's a lot of really good players. I mean, you can't go wrong with a Garrett Wilson or with a Chris Olave. Jamison Williams, even though he's got the ACL tear,

I think he's a really good player. Drake London has the potential to be kind of like that Michael Pittman Jr. type role guy where it's, you know, he's a bigger receiver, but we're not talking, you know, JJ Arcata white side type. You know, he's a guy who can actually run routes and actually get open. I think there's a lot of really good productive players where if you're the Vikings, if there's one where you fall in love with the upside, they bring pairing them with Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen.

I mean, that's, that's going to be freaky for the, and you can't think of a better situation for a young receiver. So, yeah, I mean, I can see them going one at 12 and see them having a great career. I just personally don't see anyone that great, but I think with the right quarterback, right offense, you know, they could be thousand yard receiver is the NFL. I think the best guy has the ACL injury. What do you think? I mean, I think that Jamison Williams for me, if the Vikings took him at 12, I would endorse, I would say, look, you know, you don't draft anybody for what they could do in their

rookie season. You draft them to be a part of your team for a long time he is the only guy that I've watched where I went whoa and and I that's that's my scouting process right there Zach is and I and I mean this that there will be a lot of prospects people talk about and I'll say okay let's find out what the deal is with this guy and be like okay be like, okay, I guess if you squint, you see something, it shouldn't be hard. You should be like, oh my gosh, look how fast he is. That's what guys should look like in college. And, and Williams coming from Bama, that's now like wide receiver you, I think that's somebody who is the only one with something special, which is his like next gear once he gets the ball. Yeah. You know, it's, it's funny that scouting, everyone always says,

Oh yeah. Watch a minimum of three games, watch the four games and stuff like that. But I've always personally loved the 10 play scouting method. Have you ever heard the 10 play scouting method? No, no. If you watch a player for 10 plays and you don't wreck and you don't notice them, they're not going to be that great of a process. And honestly, I subscribe to that. I think, you know, obviously if it's like a safety and they're just not involved I get it but like for the most part you should be able to notice the player in 10 plays if you're gonna you know

for them to be a legit NFL guy you shouldn't have to watch three or four games and then go like oh that's the guy I'm supposed to be watching so I totally get your you know your whole wow evaluation and Jameson Williams is definitely that he's my wide receiver one as well, even with the ACL injury. And I think the best argument I've seen against him is that, you know, he had to transfer away from Ohio state away from being behind Olave and Garrett Wilson, who are both in this class. So I do kind of get that argument. But when you look at Jameson Williams, I mean, he went to Alabama immediately established himself as wide receiver one.

And you could just see that growth in his first year being a receiver. You know, early in the year, it was you're the deep threat. You're going to open up things for the offense, which is fine. I mean, he basically did the Henry Ruggs role early in the season. And then as the year progressed, you know, we saw him take these steps and become, you know, a pure wide receiver one for that team. I mean, if you look at the Cincinnati game, they were sitting on everything deep. They were not letting anything deep. So what did James Williams do? He became, you know, an underneath zone catching receiver, a little run after the catch stuff, you know, sitting, just squatting in the cover three areas.

And he was productive. I think he had like eight catches for like 80 something yards. I think he can be a really good wide receiver in the NFL. I think I compared him to like Tyler Lockett. I think he's a guy who can kind of do a little bit of both, be a deep threat who can also do some things underneath. And I'm with you. I think if you're going to take someone at 12, even with the ACL injury and what, you know, what the Vikings currently have at the receiver group,

I think he's the right guy to take there. Yeah. Take someone who could be really good. Although I think Olave could be as well. I'm not as sold on some of the other ones but uh now if i apply your rule of watching 10 plays with quarterbacks i will tell you there's only two guys that would would uh that i would draft in the 10 play rule and that would be malik willis or sam howell because when the world is telling me to watch desmond ritter's footwork, I'm like, why should I have to do that? I mean, I believe everyone, what they're saying about someone's footwork,

but it should be really good, right? Like it should just be obvious with a quarterback. This is not a guard whose footwork or something that I wouldn't understand or would have to watch it closer with someone who played in the league to know what's going on. It's not like that with quarterback. Usually the guys who turn out to be great at very least, like someone like Josh Allen, at very least they were flashing greatness throughout their time in college. And I only see that with those two guys with Willis and Sam Holland. For that reason, those are the two that are at the top of the list

for me. But what do you think? So I think you had me on here just because you see me being one of the few Sam Howell guys on Twitter and I'm not a huge Sam Howell fan. Like I'm not saying he's, you know, first round guy. I don't, I don't think he's that high. I'm pretty low on this class in general. Uh, but I'm with you on Sam Howell. I think I better than what people are kind of saying. And, and I think that that that just crummy North Carolina offense last year was just really tough. I mean, Josh Downs is great, a really good slot receiver. And Ty Chandler had a good year at running back. But, you know, Sam Howell, you know, he has a deep ball.

He has really good precision on that deep ball. He drops in the bucket down the field. He's a tough as hell runner when he gets out of the pocket uh runs over dudes and i think he throws some of the best you know intermediate to deep balls in in the class especially over the middle into high level to like high dangerous situations so uh i'm with you i think i think if you're looking for a guy to develop i like sam howell a lot on like day two you know early to mid day two i like him better than most of these guys and then obviously malik willis is gonna go top 10 uh you can't teach the traits that he has even though you know early to mid day two I like him better than most of these guys and then obviously Malik Willis is gonna go top 10 you can't teach the traits that he has even though you know he might

be a while away from actually playing but the traits are traits are incredible do you think that the Vikings go quarterback in this class I mean they just went Kellen Mond but like it doesn't look like he's really gonna get much much of a shot there. No, I would not suspect so. Although, you know, like the one thing is the biggest gains are always made between year one and year two for any player. So I would always leave the door open before we completely say Kellen Mond is out. But I've never seen a guy struggle so much in training camp as he did last year that to get beat out by Jakeake browning and then sean manion

brought in like those are not good signs at all because jake browning's like an aaf level quarterback so he shouldn't be beating out your third round pick so i think that that dream is probably dead for everybody who you know celebrated his pick last year but including rg3 if you recall tackling on some broadcast. They kind of throw the same way. They got the really wide elbows and they throw it. That is true. It always looks like someone who sort of learned to throw yesterday.

It was just like someone gave them the basics. Like, well, you know, just hold your arms up like that. Cock the ball back. Hold it there. You ever see those golfers who... The slow swings. swing yeah the slow swing and they hold it for a sec that's kellen mon just like no kellen mon was hilarious last year because i watched like in the 10 play rule the first couple plays i watched i was like he's really good but also really bad at the same time and i don't get it and the more i watched the more i was confused and watching him

and with me and my buddies i came with a ranking where i just called the kellen mond ranking like whenever i ranked quarterbacks or whatever he was just off by himself like in like a little nether region just all all off by himself like he doesn't he just gets his own ranking because i had no clue watching his college show if he was good or bad i didn't get it but i guess it seems like that's your answer that's yeah that's your answer though like it's it seems to me that what undoes prospects is always like the things that they did poorly in college you could see it coming like once you get to that level you go oh okay i mean it's not always jamarcus russell where he was physically perfect but just didn't care about being an NFL quarterback.

That's rare. Most of the time it's like, oh, yeah, inaccurate in college. Didn't work. Shocker. Yeah. Josh Allen is going to ruin so many GMs because he is such the rare case where like his accuracy just – I mean, early on it wasn't great, but because he put so much work into his mechanics, it got so much better.

And GMs are going to be convincing themselves for years that they could do that with. I mean, Malik Willis, for instance, was what, like a 60% passer in college or something like that? Like, how high is he really going to get in the NFL? You know, so it's not going to be Josh Allen levels because that's a crazy, crazy jump that never happens. But teams will talk themselves into it. It always happens yeah i think malik willis if it works it ends up being like kyler murray where it's big plays or just nothing and that's exactly what i compared him to i compared in a blind kyler murray yeah yeah right um but they but murray still has those moments where you're like

you see and everything okay out there you, blitzes and whatever else. I mean, he is very short. So Malik Wallace doesn't have that to your question though. I think it's possible in the second round for someone like Sam. How I think it's possible. They trade back into the first round, but more likely than not.

I think that when you have 18 teams who are going 2023 draft class guys, there's only going to be like five quarterbacks all 18 of you can't pick quarterbacks in 2023 so that to me is a fascinating dynamic because i was going to ask you the same question are the colts going to draft one of these guys not this year i i they've actually one of the 18 they have brought in more quarterbacks than i'm comfortable with them i keep seeing these like you know insider mocks where they have like carson strong to them in the second i'm like please stop you already did jacob eason same thing right yeah that basically honestly basically um but like i just don't i don't get a quarterback selection because they made all these

moves to be competitive now you know yanit nagakwe stefan gilmore matt ryan every position looks pretty good except receiver is just desolate right now and then you have a really really good receiver class you have a prime pick in 42 that you got from washington why would you take a quarterback there that doesn't make any sense especially when you know they redid matt ryan's deal to where basically he's going to be here next year he's going to be the quarterback next year uh they've even talked about wanting him for the next two or three maybe four years uh i don't see why take a quarterback just to do the jordan love where you keep him on the bench for two or three years i

just don't think it makes any sense and i really hope they don't i don't care if it's like a day three pick for like a backup quarterback but man please don't take a quarterback on day two. Please, especially in this class. I mean, we're not even talking about a good class. Like, please don't. Folks, just wanted to mention that you can get the Purple Insider draft guide next Monday by going to purpleinsider.com anytime. Click on any of the articles to go subscribe to our newsletter.

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our draft guide comes free with one month subscription go check it out today i can't decide though if that makes it 2015 ish or just bad like yeah because with 2015 i remember the same sort of things well there's no great quarterback here and there we're just going to take the physical freak which sounds similar to malik willis and blake bortles at the top of the draft yeah and then they sort of miss the forest through the trees with what quarterbacks can do if they're decent on rookie contracts right or low contracts in the case of jimmy garoppolo when he first went out to san francisco derrick carr gets a 12 win season teddy bridgewater wins a division it's like i feel the same way about these guys every single one of

them has something that you like and every single one of them has plenty of reasons to go like now that's not generational it's just the question is if you need generational and the answer in today's environment is probably not i mean you mentioned all the great wide receivers it seems to be almost as much about what you could put around them for as anything else but if they're thinking matt ryan is going to play until he's 62 years old and just be their quarterback i would just caution because i've seen some matt ryan up close the last couple years like i don't know man i don't think you can blame everything on atlanta I honestly think that they should, I think that the Colts should take one. And then if he looks halfway decent, fine. You know, when you can start to move him

into that starting role and take advantage of as many years as you can come up with of his rookie deal, um, because it's just about swings at bats and other teams will draft those quarterbacks for next year. I promise you, you know, so if you win 12 games or 11 or 10, and this is Colts, you're not getting a top three or top four quarterback in the next draft. And then you're onto the next draft. And if Matt Ryan is washed, what are you doing? Well, then you're going to have a high pick. Then you're going to have a high pick and it's all good. I was going to say, Jacoby Brissett? Yeah, gosh. Bring him back again, like another run.

But I think my biggest pushback would be, like, I don't even see much upside in this class. Like, if you give me the best-case scenarios for most of these quarterbacks, I don't think it's that good. Like, I don't even think it's really worth even a second-round pick. I don't even think I'd have a second-round grade on any of these guys. Like, I have all, like, third-round grades because I'm just like – I just don't see it.

Like, again, I think these guys could be high-level backups, low-end QB1s, but that's not what you spend a decent pick on. So, even – I completely understand what you're saying, where there's always a next year, and then there's always the next year, and then always – and then you keep putting off kind of, like, I, I completely understand what you're saying, where there's always a next year and then there's always the next year and then always, and then you keep putting off kind of like what the Colts have done, uh, at quarterback, you know, they keep kind of putting it off, but I just don't think this is the year at all. And, and, you know, it's always said that next year's class is better. Uh, but I'm, I'm perfectly fine skipping this one. I'm fine with

it. You know, what I like about the Colts this before we play our draft match game is that they have become the 90s vikings of quarterbacks where the vikings in the 90s had jeff george and randall cunningham and they would just sort of warren moon they just pick up whoever's quarterback was washed out of wherever they had been really good and in for jeff george it's atl's Atlanta and Warren moon is obviously Houston. And that's exactly what Indy keeps doing now with Phillip rivers and Carson Wentz, Matt Ryan. It's like work with one.

It worked with Phillip. Right. No, it definitely did not with Carson. We'll, we'll see Carson Wentz. Was Jeff George good for you guys? Or was he bad for you guys?

No, he was, it was like his best year. This is, this is, this is kind of the point though about quarterbacks that have upside some upside something they can do but are not perfect is Jeff George and Randall Cunningham came into this team and Jeff George I think went like seven and two and Randall Cunningham went 15 and one in one year

just have something that you do well and have Randy Moss and Chris Carter, and you've got a chance. You always have a chance with Randy Moss and Chris Carter. I will definitely not disagree with that at all. Right. That is something you don't have in Indy for sure. No, no, but the Vikings kind of do with Jefferson. So, all right, let's play this match game. So the way that it works is I have written sentences about six different things here involving the draft, and you have to fill in the blank, and you can be as serious or funny as you want to be. Okay? Okay, okay.

And anybody who's seen the show will know exactly that this is written in the same form that they do it on Match Game. And since you haven't, go to Buzzer, watch it tonight. So here we go. I got you. All right, okay. Here's our first one. Have you heard that Kenny Pickett's hands are small? game and since you haven't go to buzzer watch it tonight so here we go i got you all right okay here's our first one have you heard that kenny pickett's hands are small and and on the show the whole crowd would go how small uh kenny pickett's hands are so small he can't even grip a blank

okay so i can see the way that this is going i don't even know if he if he can grip a softball okay i like it yeah i was gonna say the obvious answer here is a football right right you would think that his hands are like toddler size with the way that this has been talked i mean and you know it's hilarious i I actually have super, super tiny hands and I kind of get offended every time I hear people say his are so tiny because they're like noticeably bigger than mine.

And we're like the same height. Yeah, I also am team not exactly huge, ginormous hands. And I am always laughing hysterically when I shake players' hands in the locker room. Like Daniil Hunter, who are big. Or Stefan Diggs, who's unreal. I was like, what what the hell you're like 5'10 what is this dude I met Doug Williams at the senior bowl oh my gosh yeah his are like 11 and a half like it's like they're like out to here man he's like the Grinch fingers from Jim Carrey's Grinch and he was just like

curled them around it's like where he's like wearing a baseball mitt all the time. Oh my gosh, dude. I was like, I'm so sorry. Yeah. I, I technically, my answer was grapefruits because I just thought it was a funny word, but football is probably the acceptable answer. All right, next one. There's a lot of talk about Matt Corral's offense and how he only ran run pass options because they're easy. I've heard that Matt Corral's offense and how he only ran run pass options because they're easy I've heard that Matt Corral's offense was so simple it was written on a blank oh gosh this offense was so simple

they had to write it on a blank I mean it's probably like a cave drawing or something like that just on a cave wall or something I mean dude I don't know if he could operate anything too much any more difficult than that though it's probably the only way they could relay it to him i like that you are catching on quick to how this is done i went with a coloring book so simple they had to put in a coloring book for him yep um and it is and that is another truth by the way of having uh so here's here's my secret to quarterback scouting i just watch watch everything JTO Sullivan does on YouTube. It's easy.

It's super easy. He knows more than I do. And that's so much great information. He does like super deep dives. And then I feel like I know. And that offense, the same with like Sam Howell's offense was just preposterous. And that's why I kind of like him more than other people. Anyway, moving on, moving on.

There seems to be a lot of confusion over Drake London. You see, some people are saying that he's great at contested catches and others call him slow, but the most confused people are the one that get his name mixed up. You see, they didn't even know someone named Drake London would play football. They thought he was a blank. Oh man. Probably like a rapper or something. It sounds like a rapper name. It kind of does sound a little bit like a rapper name something it sounds like a rapper name it kind of does sound a little bit like a rapper name very much very much uh my first thought was a rapper from england uh seems too obvious i went with a star from all my children paris hilton's boyfriend or something oh good yes that's a good answer uh okay we'll keep moving

everyone's having these debates over trayvon walker he's a good answer. Okay, we'll keep moving. Everyone's having these debates over Trayvon Walker. He's a physical freak, but he didn't produce in college. I'm not saying that Trayvon Walker's a bad football player, but he was so lost out there, he thought his job was to sack the blank. Probably just sack the left tackle. These are hilarious. These are ridiculous. i hope you're all playing at home did you come up with this or is this like a random generator that you put them into or something

no no i did yeah these are mine i uh my in-laws love watching match game from the 70s on on the buzzer channel so i've watched a ton of it and i should be singing the music along do do do do do um it's great so i went with uh let's see he's i'm not saying he's a bad football player but he was so lost out there he thought his job was to sack the prime minister of malaysia is what i went with oh okay zoolander reference for all who have seen yeah yeah i'm sure he could i mean he's a physical freak you could probably get it done derrick zoolander was made to assassinate the prime minister of malaysia anyway so if you've seen it you get it if you don't you think this is the dumbest thing you've ever heard um all right net two more during draft season everyone has

these crazy comparisons zach it's nuts i get tired of And you know, it truly gets out of control. I mean, for gosh sakes, the other day I saw a draft analyst comparing Kingsley and Ibarre to blank. Oh man. Kingsley and Ibarre. That's kind of a deeper cut pull right there. I don't even know. He's not even as high of a prospect as the other guys. I don't know. Let's see. So I think he's bored on film. So I'll go with Plank from Ed, Edd n Eddy is what I'll go with. I don't know if you guys get that reference at all. I do not.

But it's literally just a wooden plank. But, yeah, he's stiff as a board. Jalen Ferguson was actually my comp for him. This, this is why we play the game because I didn't know that. I didn't know that he was a plank. Uh, I went with, since his name is Kingsley and I went with King Richard the fourth. Yeah. So he's probably a little bit bigger, just a little bit. Similarly violent is kind of what I was thinking. His name is Kingsley. Okay.

There you go. Last one. Last one. I'm not saying the Vikings are in a bad spot in this draft, but it's gotten so bad that I saw one very well-connected reporter saying they could pick blank. They could pick? It's so bad they could pick blank oh man wait say that again say it

one more time i gotta hear it again the vikings are in a tough spot here in this draft it's so bad that i saw a connected reporter saying they could pick blank well i mean the worst position you could ever pick is a kicker so absolutely a kicker that's how bad it is well there's a there is a uh a cousin of that answer which would be kicker slash punter because they once traded for carrie vedvik i forgot about that i went with ragnar ragnar their former uh mascot it's gotten so bad out there they're drafting former mascots. Any type of Viking ship would have been acceptable there, but lots of potential answers.

So maybe we'll put that one out on social media and see what people say. Yeah, let's see. People will love that. So feel free to steal it for your podcast, Match Game. It's always great. Zach Hicks, follow him on Twitter, add Zach Hicks 2. A great follow even if you're not a colts fan or don't care about the colts you're just a really good football follow so

i appreciate your work and all that you put in and i respect too you cover the colts all year long and then still do the draft grind of watching the players you interview prospects things like that so uh much respect on the grind that you put in to covering the colts there. And I appreciate having you on dude. We'll definitely do it again. Yeah, absolutely. I remember last year I had Kenny, I came on here and was in hyping up Kenny Nwongu before he got drafted by the Vikings and he had a pretty good rookie year. Pretty good. You know, stay healthy. We'll be good. But I know I appreciate you having me on man. Always fun. And again, hit me up when you want to talk that pop,

that punk podcast. We'll, we'll get that going there for for all the um the people who were born in the 70s whose parents watch match game and they grew up with 80s punks that's what that's who we're talking to so uh very select few yes right only you people thanks zach thanks Zach yep thanks