0:00 – Intro
3:17 – 53-Man Roster Projection
19:57 – Twitter Questions
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We are back. It is another edition of Colts Corner with myself Kevin Bowen as always. Eddie Garrison is across the way. One month from I should say four weeks from today is probably the more accurate way to put it. It will be report day at Grand Park for Colts training camp and it’s about to begin in earnest. So today’s pod will focus on a spring 53man roster projection. Uh nothing says egg on your face like trying to do that. in mid June, late June, whatever we’re in. But nonetheless, we’ll give an effort at it today. A couple Twitter questions. Again, just a reminder, we’ll probably uh only have, I don’t know, maybe two or three pods between now and training camp before obviously it gets back into our season cadence. Eddie, good morning to you. 77 days from today, Kevin, that’s the regular season opener. Yes. 77 days. September 7th against the Dolphins. Yeah. Wow. That’s crazy. Um, I mean, in four weeks from Tuesday, man, it’s crazy. Sorry. 75. I can’t count. 75, 77. Yeah, once we get past the fingers and toes, I lose track sometimes. Amen to that, brother. Amen to that. So, again, we’ll go kind of position by position through this. Um, you know, I saw Anthony Richardson, I guess, before we get into anything. Just had a slight update from he’s doing, you know, camp tour. That’s that’s the popular time of year. 247 Sports, the Florida Gator site. had an update where, you know, Richardson I think really downplayed his current situation having to miss time in the spring and I think he didn’t even the analogy he maybe used was I I don’t call it I fell down. I call it I tripped, you know, just kind of something along those lines. Um I get that the magnitude of him having to just sit out and rest is not like as bad as it sounds. This is not Tyresese Hallebertton having to recover from a torn Achilles, but the reality is he did just miss seven of nine days of work. And yeah, teamwork, practice, offense, defense, 11 on 11 while Daniel Jones got those starting reps. That is the the part that I just can’t gloss over. Um, so I understand that. Again, the severity of, hey, he doesn’t need another surgery. It’s not like he’s going to be out four to five months. Yeah, I I I understand all of that, but I’d argue there’s no player in the NFL that needs the reps more than him, and he just missed precious reps here in the spring. So, unless you got anything to add on that, Eddie, I’m good to dive into little 53man roster action. Did I see a report by the way um over the weekend about I think it was the Athletics saying that right now Daniel Jones is on the fast track to be the QB1 which is no like shock or breaking news at all. Right. Yeah. I I I guess I maybe miss that level of report. I I I don’t know if I would even define that as a report that you could listen to our podcast and I’m sure I’ve said like Daniel Jones to me will be the week one starter. Yeah. I don’t know how else I could say it to garner a report. I I I believe that Daniel Jones will be the week one starter. We’ll see if that changes, but as of right now, if you ask me, on June 24th, things can change, but right now, I would say he is your week one starter. All right, this is all available 1075thefan.com. Kevin, I know we typically start with quarterback and work our way down to specialist, but how about we start with specialist and work our way to quarterbacks this time? Oh boy, that’s a galaxy brain. Okay. Well, I guess the specialists offer a little bit debate, right? Yeah, slightly. Um, I I have Spencer Trader winning the kicking battle here and obviously joining Roberto Sanchez and Luke Rhodess once again the 53man ros. I have an article coming up. I think it’ll be Wednesday. I’ll post on 1075thean.com. I really enjoyed Brian Mason, the Colts special teams coordinator. He got super deep into basically what they’re looking for in a kicker at the NFL level. Um, and if you notice, Trader and Maddox Trujiho, who is competing with Spencer to be the kicker, uh, neither of them had illustrious college careers, neither of them had great percentages necessarily in college, but it’s just a little bit of an explanation on why they feel like the type of mold those guys are cut out of, big leg, uh, probably being the most physical obvious attribute, and then a little bit more the mental makeup, why they think, um, they are built uh to be a long-term NFL kicker. So, I will go with Shrader over Truho here. Uh but yeah, that article will be up on 1075 the fan. Moving on to the next position group safeties. Obviously, they make the addition of Ken Bham. Nick Cross is still there and I think people still forget about Daniel Scott simply because he hasn’t played a game yet. He’s had two horrific injuries since the Colts drafted him. Rodney Thomas and then who else? What about Hunter Wooler? Is he a safety or a linebacker? What about you, KB? Yeah, I I am probably most uncertain about the depth here and probably the linebacker, but definitely here. I went with Scott and Thomas. I mean, Eddie, they love Daniel Scott as much as you love having Skyline Chili tonight at the Red’s game. Well, will you have some tonight at the Reds game? I will not. Okay. Well, what is your ballpark meal of choice? Well, it depends on temperature largely. Like with it being baking out there today, I’ll probably just go with a hot dog. Okay. Uh ice cream. I will throw back a couple or not. Well, I get it. And I’m not going to say a couple, but I will throw back some ice cream. Yeah. Okay. Okay. Tuesday nights at Great American Ballpark, they have a sweet special. KBS $3 uh like for the small cans of beers, $2 hot dogs, $1 ice cream. That is excellent, man. We need to dabble in that. Uh have a great time tonight. I’ll try down there. So, uh, Chris Boward loves Daniel Scott as much as you love that Tuesday menu there. So, um, I’ll go with him, but again, I mean, he missed time in the spring again. Uh, I think Hunter Waller’s got a great shot. I know I said this when he was drafted, but like for a seventh round pick, you could not walk into a better depth chart situation. And I don’t know, Trey Washington, the undrafted kid out of Old Miss, maybe he, you know, squee It’s not like, like, do you view Rodney Thomas as a slam dunk? No. People talk about Rodney Thomas being a cap a cap casualty guy. So, uh, very uncertain depth here at safety, but I kept four. Binham, Cross, Scott, and Thomas. Very light pencil on the last two. This is where I think we start getting a little bit of a debate uh for you, Kevin, just in terms of who makes the roster out of the quarterbacks just because they did do some investing in that category or in that position group this offseason. So, here are the 10 that the Colts currently have. Corey Ballentine, Juju Brent, Jonathan Edwards, Alex Johnson, Jaylen Jones, David Long Jr., Kenny Moore II, Justin Wallally, Javarius Ward, and Samuel Wulmac III. Yeah. So, I kept six here. I kept Brent Jones, and then I think probably the three guys that maybe impressed the most in the spring, or at least they’re they’re notable, and that would be Kenny Moore, Justin Wallally, the rookie, and Charvarius Ward. Um, Samuel Wulmarmac, I I also kept him. I, you know, I just I thought he did a nice job last season. Um, I know the bar wasn’t super high for him necessarily and he was asked to play probably a bigger role than, you know, maybe he would have thought or the Colts would have hoped for, but um, I thought I thought he did good work. So, um, you know, Valentine was somewhat of a notable free agent signing, uh, compared to maybe the lighter class the Colts had this season, uh, particularly on defense. So, he would maybe be a notable cut. And David Long Jr. at times was asked to play a little bit of a role late last season. So, those would be the two here. But, honestly, I feel relatively, I don’t know, comfortable about it, you know, with these six names. So, uh, six corners, four safeties. I’m good with that. Moving on to linebacker. This is a very weak position group. The Colts have nine right now. You have them rolling with five. Also, I’m surprised Cory Ballentine didn’t make your final cutting quarter, doesn’t he? Is he a special teamer? Yeah, but like are you keeping Valentine and cutting WAC? Is that what you would do here? That would probably have to be the the move, right? Yeah. again, unless you go with one less linebacker because you’ve got five. Maybe they go with four. Boy, four just seems light. You know, I think the kickoff has turned into more of a physical play and less than a speed play. So, I think linebackers help you out on kickoff a little bit more than, you know, maybe you just get the fast dudes out there. So, linebacker, I think Carli, Jaylen Carlines, and Zar Franklin are obvious. John Batchy who came came over from the um Bengals this off seasonason. Louis Anaruma obviously has history in him. He has plenty of special teams background and he got a ton. Him and Cameron Gone got a ton of starting reps in the spring. So, I’ll put both of them on there. And Shaguna Lubie has always kind of been, you know, a next man up and a special teamer. So, those are the five. Liam Anderson undrafted a couple years ago out of Villanova. I think he would be a one that I would look at a little bit. But, you know, in years past, Eddie, the linebacker position has been so easy. Like, you knew it as soon as the previous season ended. cut down. I don’t feel that way about the group at all. Obviously, Franklin and Carl would be your top two. And I think Mcgrron and Bachu would kind of have a a a leg up, if you will. But, um, you know, how many you keep and who you keep, you know, four, it again, it just sounds so light, but you know what? In today’s NFL, with how Anaruma looks at it, it’s not the most absurd thought you’ve ever had. No, but uh, it just Which sounded like a backhanded compliment. I didn’t mean it like that. You are a very smart dude. It just doesn’t seem like Inarumo has a priority of linebackers in his defensive scheme. No, he to continue our baseball food analogy. He prioritizes linebackers as much as people prioritize a salad at a baseball game. Um, moving on. This will be the final defensive position group uh with the defensive line. We know Chris Ballard loves his D lineman and his O lineman. Kevin, 16 on the roster right now. You have them trimming that down to nine. I won’t go through all the names, but I’ll highlight some outside of the obvious. Adi Tomwa Adabare, Devonte Davis, uh Neville Gallamore, Eric Johnson II, Isaiah Lan, Desmond Little, uh Quitty Pay, Tim Smith, and JT Tuimolo. So, I just wanted to throw that last one in there to practice. Yeah. No, that was very well done here. I’m a number short here. I just know I am. I I just know how Chris Boward operates. You know, if you keep an extra end, I’d probably say Isaiah Land. If you keep an extra big dude, I’d say Tim Smith, the six round pick out of Bama. I I did cut him. They love Gallammore in the free agent edition. Um, and I guess I added Tommy would be my other defensive tackle. Yep. You had him going with Tommy, uh, Buckner, Ebacom, Galammore, Latu, Lewis, Pay, Stewart, and Tui Molo. So yeah, again, if you add an edge land, if you add another big body, I guess Tim Smith, you know, cutting a six round pick is not the most alarming thing. I think last year they cut, maybe it was the year before they cut like a fifth, a six, and a seventh. So didn’t they cut a corner? Yeah. What was Rush? I was going to say Micah Abraham. Rush. Rush was a couple years back. Yeah. And they cut the other corner, too. Um kid from Auburn, Simpson. Jaylen Simpson there. So yeah, uh again, I’ve got nine here. I guess you keep 10 and then where do you pinch? Do you pinch? Do you only keep five corners? Do you only keep, you know, four linebackers to go back to that position group? Ballard loves it. He loves it. He loves defensive linemen. I would make another baseball food analogy, but I I just need to stop and move on here and let it let it die. So, um I got nine, but I could easily see 10. Moving to the offensive side of the football. Starting up front with the offensive lineman. Almost an identical number uh in terms of players that are on the roster roster right now that are offensive linemen, but the number in terms of the 53man roster for the position group is the same as the defensive lineman. Kevin, you’ve got them going with nine. The 15 they currently have Tanner Borolini, Marshall Forner, Blake Freeland, Wesley French, Matt Gonzalez, Quinton Nelson, Danny Pinter, Bernard Ryman, Josh Sills, Braden Smith, uh Luke Tenuda, Jaylen Travis, J uh Daltton Tucker, um Mo Vavva, and Jack Wilson. And I’m hoping I’m saying that one right. Yeah. Again, I have nine here. And the acknowledgement is, am I a number short now? You know, I would say it’s easier to incorporate nine defensive linemen than it is nine offensive linemen. And you know, who can you move to the practice squad? So, um, obviously I have the five starters, which to me would be Braden Smith, Matt Gonzalez, Quinton Nelson, Bernard Ryman, and then either Tanner Bordellini or Danny Pinter. My backups, Josh Sills at guard, and then out at tackle I’ve got Jaylen Travis and Blake Freeland. Um, you know, Wesley French and Daltton Tucker are two names I thought about. By the way, it’s Chris Boward’s birthday today. Oh, really? There you go. Happy birthday to Chris Boward. Um, only fitting we’re talking about the hog ball. He’s up front. Sure. I might. Should I fire Are you a birthday textter? Should I fire off a birthday text? If I remember. Yeah, you are. If I remember, it’s your birthday then. Yeah. Yeah. I’m kind of in the same boat there. I used to be pretty religious about it, but then I got off Facebook. Really? Um, you know, if I get to 10, Daltton Tucker, you know, Daltton Tucker started seven games last year. So, you know, would he be the one go to go there? Wesley French, you know, do you keep both Freeland and Travis? It looked like Travis was doing some position uh flex in the spring. I thought he was doing a little bit of left tackle as well as right. You know, that is obviously a key key uh swing tackle is always a vital piece to your roster even though it’s not a obvious starter. So, you know, again, trenches on Chris Boward’s birthday, it’s probably appalling that I only kept nine offensive linemen and nine defensive linemen. I could easily see him wanting to keep one more. Uh, you’re talking about positions where there could be a cut. Maybe this is one, Kevin. Maybe instead of four, they go with three tight ends. Right now, they have uh Moali Cox, Will Mallerie, uh, Shawn Macau, Drew Ogulry, Albert O, Tyler Warren, and Gelani Woods. Yeah, I I cut Galani Woods. I guess that’s notable. I kept Ali Cox, Mallalerie, Ogal Tree, and Warren. Yeah. I mean, to your point, Eddie, could you cut one more? Would it be Mallerie? Probably. But I I think they like him and I think I I I’m still a little curious about him. Um, could they get him on a practice squad? Right. No, that’s a good point. What was he a fifth rounder? Yeah, probably. Um, so for me, you know, it’s obviously very difficult to keep five tight ends, and you could make the argument it’s slightly difficult to keep four. So, um, those are the four I went with, but that is definitely one to keep an eye on. Uh, the other pass catching group, wide receivers, by the way, before we get into the numbers, uh, Kevin, 80 Mitchell, how do you look physique-wise? I know a lot of times like players after the rookie year, they come back either a stronger or more lean, or was he more or less the same as his rookie year? Yeah, I’ve always thought he’s a pretty good-looking athlete, so I I guess I didn’t observe anything too drastic. Um, you know, one thing that’s so impressive about him is just his body control. You know, his ability to create separation. Um, and then you just kind of make, you know, make an attempt at it when the ball is kind of in that general vicinity. Um, he can be a pretty smooth operator and I thought he was super consistent this spring. You know, again, the five practices we watched, I would say when he was targeted, because remember, last year it wasn’t his drops. It was, “No, dude, you’re not in the right place.” Yeah. I thought for the most part, he was very much both not dropping it and in the right place throughout the spring. All right, I’m going to try this name right off the bat. A sure. You could have told me anything. I didn’t I would have believed you. Josh DS, Ashton Dulan, Anthony Gold, Tyler Common, AD Mitchell, JD Montgomery, Coleman Owen, Landon Parker, Alec Pierce, Michael Bitman Jr., Blaine Taylor, and Laquan Treadill are the receivers under contract right now. This seems relatively straightforward to me. I kept six. Downs, Duelan Gold, Mitchell, Pierce, and Pitman. Right now, Duel and Gold would be the backend guys. Gould again, I I I I think he’s your punt returner. um getting a chance to, you know, re-establish himself there. And then, you know, we know what they think of Dulan on special teams. Plus, you know, if a big injury occurs, Dulan would kind of be next man up after those top four guys. So, yeah, I don’t really have too much debate. They got a ton of undrafted guys in here. I think they have four undrafted wide outs, which is a big number. Not something you typically see, especially at a position that I don’t think has a lot of open roster action, but yeah, I kept those six. Two position groups left. Running back. The six the Colts currently have Savon Akmed Ulissiz Bentley. You don’t see too many Ulisses anymore. No. No. Presidents. Yes. But no, not even still. It’s been a while for one of those. Uh DJ Giddens, Tyler Goodson, Khalil Herbert, and Jonathan Taylor. Yeah. To me, um I look at it and view it as four. Goodson is the question mark. DJ Giddon’s a lock. Khalil Herbert, I think, is a lock. you know, are you keeping a fourth running back without a role as a return man? I think that is a bit of a luxury. Now, that’s how Goodson is though right now. Like, I don’t view him as a returner. Um, so I think that is something that you do that you have to keep an eye on. If you’re pinching, is this a spot that you do pinch? Obviously, you’d have a fourth running back on your practice squad, but right now, I will keep four. But this could be, hey, drop us to three and bump defensive line to, you know, 10. And finally, the quarterback position, Jason Bane, Daniel Jones, Riley Leonard, Anthony Richardson. Who do you have making the roster? So, I am going to go with again in quotes here, um, I’m going to go with three. And, you know, that would obviously include Richardson, Jones, and Leonard. Now, you can play around with this a little bit here. Um, you could you sneak Leonard to the practice squad? uh is he in that Sam Elling Inger kind of dressing as a third quarterback role? And then, you know, we obviously saw Desmond Ritter come and go, you know, what happens a month from today? Do we see any roster moves with that veteran quarterback? Do you need an extra arm in there if Richardson’s going to miss any time? So, you know, this is a um this is one to watch certainly. And again, quarterback has been, I think, relatively straightforward, especially with Sam Ellinger’s presence on the roster. You know, is there a Leonard Jason Bean battle? I I don’t know if I saw that quite. You know, Leonard seemed to take the pretty consistent second team reps in the spring uh once Richardson went down, but that would be something to keep an eye on as well. So, training camp will start July the 22nd and then roster cuts will happen on August the 26th or by August the 26th, I should say. Yeah. And it’s just one big one, right? The NFL’s adopted that. Yeah. Um so, yes. So those would be the the dates to keep an eye on. But yeah, report day the 22nd. I would assume their first practice the 23rd. I think Shane Stiken said he doesn’t want to have the early day off like they did last year. So I would guess they practice, you know, pretty consistently through that first week. Are you ready for the two questions that we have? I am ready. We will start with Jamie. JT and AP, that being Jonathan Taylor and Alec Pierce, have similar stats in 2025 as they did in 2024. Alec Pierce due to a big payday. Would you cut JT to keep Alec Pierce? Eddie, would you have traded Alec Pierce for a second round pick in this past draft? I’d have to go back and look. I’ve already forgotten about the draft. You know, Pierce is a um boy, he’s such a interesting player because he has the specialist of all special traits. Would you get a second round pick for him? Do it again. Would you get a second round pick for him? I think the Colts potentially had to weigh that trade offer. So, that’s why I ask you. Now, that one trade he has is just so damn special, right? you know, and in a league where you’re trying to create big plays, he I mean, hell, he mossed probably two or three dudes back in the spring now that I’m thinking back to the five practices that we watch. Um, you know, he is due, I would say, a a notable payday coming up next off season. And, you know, the thing about it is you drafted AD Mitchell last year in the second round and just purely off of, hey, second round out, hey, second round out. One walks out the door, the other one ascends. that, you know, that that’s that’s kind of logical. You know, passing of the baton. We’ve got into a lot of these debates before, Ryan Kelly to Tanner Bordellini, for example. You know, on paper, that would seem to be, hey, you let Pierce walk and then Mitchell grows into that role. Granted, Mitchell’s not the same player. He has strengths in other areas, but he’s not the same player as deep ball home run hitter. Um, would I cut Taylor to Keith Pierce? I mean, I don’t I’ve always said this about Taylor. I I I do think he has the ability to be a little bit more primy late into his 20s than other running backs, but he’s also been one that has started to raise a little concern. I know. No, it’s it’s a it’s a great point you bring up. And I am very high on DJ Giddens. Really high on DJ Giddon. So, um, this is one that I think is a really good offseason question from Jamie. I don’t think I would do it, but I don’t probably need much convincing, honestly. But again, at White Out, it’s like, well, theoretically, couldn’t you just say, hey, and look, you might have some other decisions to make. You might say, hey, Pitman, will you let Pitman go? Yeah. And resign Pierce. Is Mitchell more Pitman or is Mitchell more Pierce? Mitchell’s probably more Pitman, right? Uh, I don’t know. Well, yeah, I think he’s somewhere in the middle, right? Yeah, that’s probably a good way to put it, but I think he’s closer to Pitman than he is to Pierce. Yeah. If we’re really really getting into the weeds. Yeah. With this. But, um, I think I guess to summarize all, I think Alec Pierce is very valued around the NFL. And so, what does that look like? You know, would he sign an extension if presented or would he say, you know what, let me bet on it. If I’ve created deep balls with these quarterbacks, can you imagine what the rest of the NFL is going to think of me? Right now, is that question from a a podcast listener or is that from Jamie Moore? Do we know? Jamie Moore Aeros Scout. I don’t know. He’s like assistant director of college scout. Yeah, nice dude. Jamie Moore. Uh, final question is from Colton. It’s week 11 and both Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson are out for the year and it’s a Riley Leonard opportunity. KB, I’m sure you’re uh thrilled about that one, seeing the former Notre Dame quarterback. Boy, Colton, he’s putting on his Notre Dame hat here. Okay, so he has Riley Leonard as the starting quarterback. Interesting. Uh-huh. And Riley Leonard starts the last eight games of the year and throws for 14 touchdowns, four interceptions, and a 66% completion percentage. And rushes for 315 uh 350 yards and five touchdowns. So that’s in total a 19-4 touchdown to interception ratio. If you are Chris Ballard, are you giving him the reigns next year? Is Chris Bard making that call? Can I go there? If Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson are no longer the answers, does Chris Bower make that call in 2026? Good question. Nothing like answering a question with a question. Uh, you know, it’s a Isn’t it supposed to be a good 2026 quarterback class? Aren’t we higher on this upcoming class than last year’s? Yeah, perhaps. Yeah. Holton, boy, I first off, I just would be dumbfounded by Leonard producing that. Let me start there. Um, I mean, he completed 66% of his passes at Notre Dame and prior to that, a career best at Duke in three years was 64%. I don’t I what I saw in the spring continues to remind me that there’s a lot of development needed from the pocket as a thrower. I don’t think I’m breaking any news with that, but that was continued to be my thought. I’ll remind our audience. I just think the AFC is in a golden age of quarterbacks. And not just they’re good, they’re also young. I mean, gone over the list a million times. Momes, Allen, Lamar, Straoud, Burrow, Herbert, whatever you think Tua has left. If you whatever you think is there a Trevor Lawrence resurrection is Cam Ward the real deal Drake May Drake May that’s a that that’s a very good one that’s up and coming. So yeah, even if you laugh at some of those names, you don’t laugh at all of them. And it’s not like this is 2010 where Payton Rivers, Big Ben, and Brady were walking up the 14th, 15th hole. And you forgot about Bo Knicks. Bo Knicks. God, that’s unbelievable. Thank you. Uh unfortunately for the Colts sake. Uh but yes, uh you can’t do band-aids in this conference. And not that I mean, I don’t know, maybe Leonard under that premise wouldn’t be a band-aid. Maybe he would offer something. It isn’t like if you could like there there are gifted throwers of the football. If you could just put some gifted throwers of the football onto like the Riley Leonard head of his, man, that could be just a dream dream situation. If you’re from a national perspective and you’re looking at the quarterbacks, you probably look at six of the teams in the AFC and wonder what their future is at the quarterback position. Three of them are in the AFC South in my opinion. Right. Right. But again, Ward and Lawrence are attempts at it. Obviously, Richardson was an attempt. We’ll see how effective he is at it. Um, yeah. I mean, who’s in the most d I guess the Raiders are very dire. They got Gino. Gino. Um, Pittsburgh. Yeah. And all they do is make the playoffs. And then I guess the Jets, right? Justin Fields time. Fascinating. Eddie Garrison, thank you, sir. Yes, sir. Uh, I’m Kevin Bowen. We’re signing off uh maybe next Wednesdayish. Yeah, let’s target that for a little podcast action here. Thank you for listening to Colts Corner with myself, Kevin Bone, Eddie Garrison.
