Episode 450 | Colts 2024 Opponents + Free Agents

0:00 – Intro
6:08 – Colts 2024 Opponents
10:44 – 2024 Colts Free Agent List
27:05 – Twitter Questions

Examining Colts 2024 Free Agents

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And we are back another edition of Kevin’s Corner I’m Kevin Bowen Eddie Garrison is with me as always apologies been a little bit longer than I would like in between these offseason pods we’re going to continue to stick to one a week but some scheduling Logistics has pushed us back a little bit

Later this week as expected uh pretty quiet start to the off season for the Colts honestly they’d probably fall on the one of the quieter offseason teams here so far uh today’s podcast just want to focus kind of on maybe a little bit more logistical offseason items you know

Go over the list of free agents take an early look at next year’s opponents I do think both of those areas look a lot different than they do on an annual basis and they certainly look a lot different than what you had last year I think the schedule is tougher uh

Certainly better quarterback play than you had last year uh and then free agency wise I I cannot recall a free agency class that has had this many names I mean Eddie I seem to remember one of the the years probably a couple years ago I sat here and thought

To myself is there one free agent you’d stand on a table for and this year you could probably stand on a table for four of them and I even think there’s like a second tier of free agents that no one’s talking about that I’m like wait those guys played

Pretty quality football uh for the Colts or or have played pretty qual quality football for the Colts as well so we’ll get into that uh as always offseason questions we’ll sprinkle in a few throughout the weeks um one that are very you know much more pertinent um you

Know we’ll we’ll we’ll certainly key in on that so um a little bit earlier in the pods Eddie Garrison how you doing man doing well just uh glad to be back in the studio talking about some Colts football a little bit and getting back to a little bit of a normal routine with

You yes uh again offseason wise if you’re looking at kind of dates to keep an eye on um you know we are now less than a month away from the franchise tag with window opening up that’ll be February 20th so um we are less than

What is that four weeks away one two 3 4 yeah it would have been four weeks ago yesterday uh that’s probably the first big item of note the combine of course will follow uh the weekend or the week after that and then the franchise tag window is a two- week period that ends

On March 5th and then free agency March 13th so I still think Eddie we could get some dominoes from a head coaching standpoint you know I I’m not 1,000% sold on the Colts having like full staff retention by any means this season and you know as we record this late on Wednesday

Morning again we are um you know still at a point of what five head coach openings I believe is correct Brian Callahan with Tennessee you know a guy that I liked during last year’s cycle you know the quarterback background of burrow and Derek Carr and pton Manning

And Matthew Stafford is pretty good good so um I get really I get a lot why um Tennessee decided to go that route there um for their new head coach when you consider the will lest development that is Paramount for them there so again some dominoes Could Happen uh with

Coaching staffs around the league as they get filled um but yeah that’s about it really uh news item wise again it’s been quiet here for the Colts not a bad thing um and yeah um I want to start here before we get into the opponents I know it’s something we talked about on

Our last podcast regarding the health of Jim ERS I know we have fans that are not only here within Indiana and Indianapolis but around United States and certainly around the world as well that may not be aware of what’s going on with jym right now do you have any

Update on the status or health of the Colts owner yeah I mean nothing official on that front I I’ll probably stick by kind of something that I said on last week’s podcast I think we might have had one um ERS uray related question maybe we didn’t for this week’s pie but

Um I mean yeah the the I I know it sounds cliche but I mean thoughts and prayers are with Jim mer and his family I mean I think Eddie and you know if you just want to read tea leaves when a organization stands sends out a press release of severe respiratory illness

Severe I would say is a big word there um you know I’ve Got Friends and and and you know friends parents that are of a similar age of Jim mer that certainly don’t have the same sort of Health you know concerns that Jim has had over the

Years when you’re in your mid-60s and you have a severe respiratory illness this time of year that’s a big deal and you know when was that last update was that about two weeks ago from the Colts um well there was one issued after the TMZ report which I think was last week

Correct right and just kind of stood by the first statement there and the first statement was released I think it was on on the Tuesday after the season ended so um again speculation is aound and I would just say that Jim mer and his family uh need your thoughts need your

Prayers there and uh when something official is needed to be passed along we’ll certainly do that but um yeah I kind of forget how much we got into last week I guess I’ll just reiterate you Jim mer is one of the more passionate humans I’ve ever come across

Certainly about his football team I would say more so than many if not any or not all of the owners out there in the league uh Eddie that was the biggest home game this stadium has had in nine years that game against the Texans and

For Jim Merc to have not been seen at that game is is jarring frankly um you know I had heard some Whispers around Christmas of of him dealing with something and all of a sudden when I didn’t see him the Raiders game and then not at that Texans game I’m like Oh my

This is serious so um yeah thinking about the Earth family and and U Carly and Casey and and kayin and everybody Pete Ward and everybody else involved with uh with the Colts organization with that being said let’s take a look now at the 2024 opponents for the Indianapolis Colts I know we did

This when it was first released but here are the home opponents for the Colts obviously the divisional teams Additionally the Steelers the Miami Dolphins the Buffalo Bills the Detroit Lions the Chicago Bears will all be coming to Lucas Oil Stadium and the Indianapolis Colts will be going

To the divisional opponents the New York Giants the New York Jets the New England Patriots the Green Bay Packers the Minnesota Vikings and the Denver Broncos what are your overall thoughts tougher much tougher especially at home Eddie um you know you only play one double digigit win team from last season on the

Road you got nine Road games and only one of those teams won double digit game last season Eddie of your eight home games five of the eight are against double digit win teams you know in your own building you’re going to get CJ stad you’re G to get Josh Allen you’re going

To get Trevor Lawrence you’re going to get Jared gof you’re going to get Tua um so that schedule at home again really stands out to me you know from a traveling standpoint nothing too abundant what Denver’s the longest road trip so you don’t have any road trips to

The Pacific time zone and I would say in all likelihood you’re not playing an international game um honestly one thing that stands out about the road schedule is and boy players have got to hate this how about two trips to MetLife in one Stadium talk about that Turf M you know

You hate to go down that path too early but um that is not ideal with playing the Jets and the Giants both on the road so yeah AFC East NFC North those are your uh divisional matchups for this season your crossover games based off finishing third in the division will be

The Giants Broncos and Steelers and I was thinking about this as the playoffs unfolded Eddie um of the eight teams we just saw play in the divisional round you’re going to face four of those quarterbacks and five games in total CJ strout of course being two of them and then Jared

Gof Josh Allen and Jordan love so certainly I know it doesn’t have momes or it doesn’t have Herbert or doesn’t have burrow or Lamar but still I think from a quarterback standpoint um it is a pretty pretty juicy schedule certainly much juicier than what you had this past

Season I was doing a story a couple weeks ago and was kind of getting into a quarterback Rabbit Hole of just schedule wise and what you faced last year compared to this year Eddie last year I think you faced of the 17 games you played I want to say 10 of them were

Against rookie backup quarterbacks and I think of like the top 15 passers I want to say I think you have had maybe two of the 15 in this coming season You’ll Play five of the 15 so again you know injuries are going to happen certainly but much much more

Difficult schedule um than you know what you um what you faced this past year so uh that is a little look obviously we’ll get in May you know we’ll get some hardcore dates slotted in there but I think just from an opponent standpoint it is much more difficult than you had

This past season totally agree with you me and um one of our listeners Alec have talked about going to Lambo field I could not encourage it more I was there in 2016 Eddie um absolutely love the vibe of GRE it was a beautiful beautiful

Day I think it was a November day I want to say it was Jordan toddman took the opening kickoff back for Touchdown luck through a couple picks I want to say early in that game but the Colts won that honestly one of the better regular season wins of the Pagano era but again

It was a uh it’s an awesome place you know there’s no corporate with it really you know at times I feel like you get into these you know modern stadiums Arenas and it’s very corporate and I get it there’s obviously a hefty dollar and a hefty price tag that comes

To being in those stadiums but and you know a lot of it is okay much more for The Fan Experience or just the entertainment experience I should say of no I want to bring clients to this game etc etc and I I get that top dollar

Probably pays but I just love the old school feel to what Lambo had to offer it was such a tight tunnel I remember remember that as well it was um the road Locker or the visiting locker room out onto the field was a very very um small environment there so

Yes I would say Do It Eddie I canot agree more on that it’s the uh Mecca of NFL stadiums for sure um if you have nothing else to add let’s move on to the Colts 2024 free agent list obviously the biggest name on this list Michael Pitman

Jr you can’t uh discredit either of the names of Grover Stewart Kenny Moore Julian Blackman on that list either no and and again I I have said all along Eddie will continue to say it as we’re a month and a half away from free agency beginning um I think it’s the most

Notable group of free agents and let’s just run down the offensive ones to begin with here um in just kind of in order by position Gardner muu Zach Moss at white out Michael Pitman Jr Isaiah McKenzie and Jawan Winfrey and then the o line just one that would be Danny pin

You know muu I think we all need to be realistic about expectations for a backup quarterback um my kind of 2024 QB vision is this resign a guy of menu’s ilk some somebody of that sort of resume I think that’s critically important for a team that has expectations as a

Playoff team you got to survive any moments without your starter and I also think it’s important when you know you can’t ignore the injuries that Anthony Richardson suffered this past year I also think it’s important come round five or six Eddie to draft a quarterback um I value Shane steen’s opinion

Immensely in that realm and I think getting him a quarterback that he has identified that has some traits that he likes makes a lot of sense uh my quarterback opinion has probably changed over the years to where I now think you know richer Investments even in the

Backup to third string parts are needed um Sam Ellinger is still under contract so it’s not like you’re in a Uber to move on um you know Kell M I know is still on the roster as well so um you know quantity wise you could probably

Get by but that’s how I would look at that again I think Vu the fact that he knows siken has plenty of familiar if Anthony Richardson is important and I look at it as you need a backup that gives you a chance to win a game via a

Coin flip and that’s Menchu at the same time you need one to grow and groom and develop and that’s where I kind of look at the draft pick route there so I do think menu is going to have suitors I do think he’s going to have opportunities for better playing time

And you know that could end up being the end allb all of his time here in Indie but I don’t know I’m a little bit more to Value real in-game experience been there done that bright lights aren’t too bright compared to like same quarterback stylistically I know some people differ

I know Tyler Huntley has kind of been a popular name people have thrown out there and you know even if you look at his record in Baltimore with a very similar offense very similar style quarterback he hasn’t had great success when he’s gone in there so um I would resign mchu if he

Wants to come back um you know Zach Moss I Eddie it’s kind of fascinating me how the boss fore agency is going to play out the running back class for 2024 is is very deep it’s Derrick Henry it’s Josh Jacobs it’s Tony Pard it’s you know saquan Barkley it’s Austin Eckler I mean

It’s a loaded loaded group and I guess how do you kind of want the backup running back do you view it and say hey Jonathan Taylor’s getting up there a little bit and you need more of that bellal potential as an insurance policy as your backup or do you view and say no

No no I think you want a little bit more Spice in that back field again think of little Tyler Goodson I know they still have Evan Hall so similar to menu I just kind of view Moss is going to have better opportunities elsewhere slash again backup running

Backs there’s a part of me it’s like man don’t they kind of grow on trees I know it’s not necessarily maybe the most accurate statement in explaining Zach Moss’s season because he certainly helped you out in some very important moments but that’s kind of where I’m at with backup

Running back so I’m not married to a return of moss but again you are still going to uh probably uh um you know have to go down that that path with him there so um I’ll be curious to see what the market looks like for Moss you know he’s probably the

Sixth or seventh most accomplished running back in this free agency class but he had a really nice year and he’s going to obviously command a much cheaper deal you would think than some of those others out there uh wide out lies you guys know how I feel about

Pitman he’s the number one here and that’s all that matters really when you have Anthony Richardson like you got to focus on what you’ve got on your own depth chart and he is a consistent reliable presence he checks everything you want off the field as well um he’s

Not an all pro white out but again when you have a Young quarterback like Richardson you cannot cannot cannot sacrifice and play the cheap game and you know shop down the aisle where you know they’ve got all the fancy little signs that say 50% off and buy one get

One free no no no you can’t play that game you can’t play it you can’t play it so I am adamant about that 10 for 10 no matter what 10 for 10 that is a hell of a deal uh Mackenzie Winfree yeah what I I guess it is a

Little confusing to me how they cut Tony Brown but they kept Isaiah McKenzie uh I think it bring back Danny Pinter and I kind of look at that Andy or Andy oh there we go I might need to do the 10 for 10 Reeses after that comment there

Apologies to Eddie Garrison Andy Sweeney my morning uh co-host on the Wake Up Call but you know Pinter I kind of view it in like a jack muor remember like the muor one year yeah tawon LS is on this list they’ve done a couple times like

That’s kind of how I look at Piner I I’ve always been intrigued by Piner I don’t know maybe it’s a little bit of my L Raven Clark you know instate bias yeah L Raven Clark is a name um you know bring him in Camp body um I don’t know I

I I think he would have made the team I I don’t act like you know he was certainly 1 th% going to be that sixth guy but I do think he was kind of trending in that way before the season ending injury um again another guy this staff absolutely loves and the previous

Staff did as well so I would bring back Pinter on a very cheap oneyear deal anything on the offensive free agents Eddie Garrison that stand out to you agree disagree with that group I agree with everything you said um I wouldn’t want to bring I mean I understand Zach moss

And Jonathan Taylor were a good pair um to have just as an insurance policy but with the way running backs you’re able to find running backs in the draft now you still have Tyler Goodson Evan Hull and try Surman who have all produced for you and some in some capacity it doesn’t

Make sense to use any of that cap space that you have around 70 million towards um 6 to 8 million for a backup running back feel like those funds can be allocated elsewhere but I like your thought and your reasoning on bringing back tawon Lewis because I thought tawon

Lewis had a really really good year coming off um was it Toren patella again yeah and we’ll get into the defensive free agents here in just a second I would say one thing to add that you just brought up that I want to get to offensively before we move on you know

You look at moss and you look at menu they’re they’re going to be on the higher wage scale of backup players at their respective spots so to your point you know how Frugal are you going to be where’s your fiscal situation like I do think that is something that is

Really really important to keep an eye on and um they might not draw the same sort of price sag as some other guys but if you add that up you know mchu at whatever and I’m just throwing out numbers here if mu is at you know 6

Million a year and Moss is at 5 million a year you know that’s combined 11 million if you took the backup QB and backup running back and you combined it out to be you know 4 million or 5 million that gives you another handful of play with will that be something that

Could be at play here all right defensively you brought up taquon Lewis the D Lin’s got a couple of names jard Avery Jake Martin Tav Bryant Grover Stewart nobody at linebacker in the secondary the two big ones Kenny Moore and Julian Blackman and don’t forget about riberto Sanchez as

Well uh dline wise I guess we’ll just go in order I actually thought jard Avery had a few moments dur in training camp where I thought he was going to make the football team uh played in the league for a while 62 career games how about Jake Martin what do you

Remember about Jake Martin’s season Eddie um absolutely nothing did everybody have a jake Martin in their third grade class back in the day I did Growing Up all the way through high school shout out to the decor product Jake Martin there how about this Jake Martin played more snaps than Anthony Richardson this

Year that’s wild 191 defensive snaps for Jacob Jake Martin he did have two sacks uh Tav Bryant obviously was kind of the main backup there I I there were moments I’m kind of like H but then there are moments of like who else with him you know Grover Stewart Eddie is hovering

That age 30 um but boy has he been durable and and productive yes and and productive and you don’t use the word productive with a lot of defensive tackles you know you can use oh they occupy space and they do their job and they absorb blockers but yes I mean

Productive is the word to use and that’s why I found so difficult about the Big Four free agents Eddie when you think about it you know Michael Pitman Jr but then especially the three on defense Grover Stewart Kenny Moore Julian Blackman you have little to no obvious

Answers behind them and I think that is what creates such strong leverage for those three individuals in regards to the Colts um you know I’m trying to think of a good example of a young player at another spot but um you know I I know there are times on

The roster well I how about Marlon Mack to Jonathan Taylor yeah you know and I know Marlon Mack had the injury but even if he did not you had a young player that was a pretty obvious passing of the T to I don’t see that anywhere maybe

Maybe with Nick cross at safety but then again if you’re going to say that I mean it’s not like Rodney Thomas II has entrenched himself as a guaranteed locked in starter there so I remember saying last week’s podcast you know rank the three that is the

Easiest to replace who would it be would it be Grover would it be Kenny or would it be Julian and it’s probably Julian but like all three of them you could could make strong cases for being that top and I think it’s a very difficult group to really separate I think taekwon

Lewis falls in the second tier of free agents Eddie that’s really important to bring back he’s versatile how about him playing all 17 games you know he had only reached double digit games in one of his I think five NFL seasons really important for him to play all 17 and if

You break down the numbers he was more disruptive than than quy pay and frankly it wasn’t even close wasn’t even close um so do think tawon Lewis is important to bring back again we’ve talked about Kenny more I I go back to the zier Franklin quote you know I tell Kenny all

The time I don’t know how it works without you um Kenny has been a guy that’s expressed a mutual interest in wanting to be back here uh and again there’s just no one behind I mean hell Tony Brown just got cut I I don’t know if Crystal LMS is the answer behind them

So um and I I’m going to stick by Blackman Blackman’s a guy that I would bring back I know safety is a position Eddie that you’ve gotten into before and found the one-year stop gaps in free agency but he just makes me sleep better at night and I get you can find guys

That can be a little bit stop gappy a bit bandaid at that position but man he just makes me sleep better at night and then of course in the back of my mind I start thinking myself well Kevin you want to bring back Pitman you want to

Bring back gr Grover you want to bring back Kenny you want to bring back Julian how much money you got mhm oh and Garder this and Zach Moss could be that and tawon L could be that and Rio Barto Sanchez deserves to be resigned I mean like how about

Rio zero zero touchbacks 68 punts last year zero touchbacks he actually had a career best in net pting average I know he got off to a poor start but I think he had a better year than people thought um when you look at it there so anything on those free agents Eddie

Because again I think it is a notable group I can talk myself into a lot of it and and I know that there will be Market values that get assigned to guys and you know we might get out of free agency and be like oh boy there’s a need there if

One of those big four walk um and I am open-minded to listening to letting one of those four walk and obviously using that money elsewhere in free agency because at the same time you know I don’t think all those positions are super premium that I just laid out there

Um but it is easily the more the most uh talk your into stand on a table to resign a lot of these guys that I can recall yes uh when looking at the defense as a whole like when you look at the most sure tacklers on the Colts

Defense number one zier Franklin number two Kenny is Kenny Moore for me he’s a guy that’s not going to miss often in space he’s going to either make the tackle or he’s going to slow the guy down and get uh a tackle with somebody else he plays so much bigger than his

Size yeah and the same can be said for Julian Blackman like you have to remember in those early games of his career career against Tennessee the Colts were really good against derck Henry and limiting darrk Henry in large part because they brought Julian Blackman down a little bit from the

Safety spot brought him Clos to the line of scrimmage and he was laying the wood on Derrik Henry and limiting the Titans in the Run game I think those two are very vital in that aspect because you have to think about the struggles the team had in total in tackling last year

At times especially down the stretch and a large part of that was without Julian Blackman back there in the secondary so I would put those two up there with Grover Stewart but it will all be so so so fascinating because like you talked about you’ve got $70 million you need to

Address some skill positions on the wide on the wide receiver tight end front because you don’t know if you’ve got the guy in the tight end room or not um and you need to help Supply Anthony Richardson but at the same time you’ve got some talented guys that you need to

Retain so I do not want to be Chris Ballard and I don’t want to be the guy who has to run the cap and all the numbers for the Colts I got to say this is probably the most plan A B CDE e f you know that sort of off season feel to

It when free agency gets underway on the 13th of March and again the Shane syen presence I think is really important to keep in mind as well on you know who does he like you know how does he kind of view free agency we saw you know

White out wise you know he wanted a smaller more of a jittery bug type of component to his offense that is not something we had seen in the previous regime so that is another element to it all uh I was going to say all this is on the website 107 F the

Fan.com yeah we’re going to have I would say Pro I try to keep it right around to a handful maybe you know probably four is probably the safer bet about four articles a week up on the website to kind of keep the offseason thirst there for Colts fans The Thirst so we will

Continue to do that here again none of it is super super pressing right now or I guess fresh news items um but still I I I do think there’s some quality content up on the website obviously I’m extremely biased but yeah you can check that out at 1075 theef fan.com first

Round of mock WFTS are starting to come out so those will be fun conversations we have in the future you ready for some Twitter questions let’s do it all right only a handful or so to get to uh let’s start with Jason not to be insensitive

But if Jim mer is not in a condition to make business decisions does that paralyze the Cults activity during free agency yeah that’s a good question um you know I think among the list of you know ERS related thoughts um this has probably got to be on it um now I do

Think this is the quietest January the organization has had in years now there was a part of me Eddie that thought okay Gus Bradley’s under contract if you were to make a move you know would you need Jim Mer’s sign off on that you know that would obviously be a significant

Financial hit and um you know I am of the belief that 90 some per of the day-to-day decisions that get done organizationally right now get sign off from Carly ERS I mean she is in the building daily and she’s running the show and if I had to rank kind of the

Three daughters on who would get the most responsibility moving forward I would say for sure it’s got to be Carly based off again how much of a presence she has um but you you know I I I think from a fiscal Frugal standpoint you know cash

Versus cap I do think from an ownership standpoint Jim Merc is not a guy that’s just going to throw out all this cash like a Stan Kony might up front and that allows them could kind of manipulate the cap a little bit more I would assume the

Daughters would fall in line to that sort of thinking but that is a question that you have to be asked and again Eddie that’s kind of I guess the next big item that we’re looking for is if you project out the off season really at the Super Bowl owners attend

So you know if you don’t see Jim there obviously that is of continued concern you know the combine I never really recall him having too much of a public Presence at the combine uh the next big one would be the league meetings and that’s in about two months late March is

When you have the league meetings and that is when if I’m not mistaken I think the NFL would even come out and say hey for whatever reason Jim mer is not able to be with us etc etc you know Carly ERS Gordon is the one that is going to be

Doing the voting on behalf of the Indianapolis Colts something along those lines there but um yeah I I I would think that it’s not going to impact free agency too too much you know not to act like you know every organization’s the same but I I think there’s an element of

Sign off from Jim mer you know wiggle room on what you can do cap wise and you know okay this is the amount of cash we have this is amount of you know the cap SP we have make the puzzle fit into this that’s kind of the approach that I would

Assume he’s been given to Mike Bloom their cap guy and and Chris Bard as well thank you I couldn’t remember his name when I was talking about being the cap guy yeah yeah good dude old Daner is next who has the final say onus Bradley between Shane styken and Chris Ballard

And if he has gone who would be on your list to fill his spot thanks Kevin yeah and obviously this doesn’t look like an item that’s going to play out I do find it interesting that I kind of came down to a half dozen person list Teddy when I

Thought about names I didn’t just want to say hey you got to look into removing Gus Bradley I think there should be some names that kind of back that up one of the names I had on the list is now the new DC in Jacksonville and Ryan neelon

Um he was with Atlanta last year on that staff the Falcons had a pretty good defense for not having a super Namy defense by any means and now he’s joining Doug Peterson staff um with that I think the first question here is a good one who has

Final say on Gus Bradley between syy and Ballard I would hope it’s pyken like I don’t know maybe I’m just one that’s a big hierarchy person but you know I view it as you know the head coach should have the responsibility of a coaching staff I mean they’re the ones that deal with

Those guys the most on a daily basis and um ultimately on game days Chris Bard’s in the booth you know Shane s’s right there two feet away from Gus Bradley so it should be Sten I think it’s Sten to answer that question and again I I go

Back to I go back to the final Manning cast of the year when you know Payton’s saying to Bruce arens in regards to Todd BS of like this is the defense I hated playing against it’s the defense that’s exotic it’s a defense that’s multiple it’s a defense

That I come to the line of scrimmage and I don’t know what the hell I’m about to encounter that’s the defense that stresses you you know other other defensive coordinators that you know certainly crossed my mind I thought about two head coaching candidates from last cycle in week marale and aerro

Evero and we’ll see how you know those processes play out you know the rest of the way um but those were a couple that I had thought of um dinard Wilson in Baltimore was the guy that Shane had some overlap with in Philly there was another person

That Shane had some overlap with that I was trying to think of I jotted that down I probably have to look through a couple of my notes there but those were just a couple of the names that I saw honestly and I know that that some people might say as a little another

Dame biased with this but you know Al golden is the defensive coordinator for um Marcus Freeman he’s been in the NFL um was the linebacker coach I want to say with Cincinnati when they won it or they got the AFC title game uh Notre Dame’s defense has been very good under

Him so he was somebody that I had thought of as well is that just because he’s the Notre Dame guy that is not that is not because of that uh Chris Harris was the other one the quarterback um the former DB um but there was you know

Rumor of him after EA flu went to Chicago and then you know Brandon saley had a great run with the Rams you know is he going to be you know kind of in line to go back into the coordinator pool and try to get a head coaching gig

After that you know you kind of get into this of like Josh McDaniels good offensive coordinator not a good head coach you know are some of these guys is Brandon Staley more of a coordinator than he is a head coach so those were some of the names that I thought about

But yeah and obviously looks like Gus Bradley is going to be back and we’ll see if there are any other you know defensive staff changes around him you’re pretty organized over there with your notes try to be you’re not like a high schooler you use one notebook for

All your classes you’ve got them all for different classes I I I I try to be organiz binders right yeah color specific for each classes I get just a couple things Gus related I did post a story about a week ago on him and I know

We haven’t had a podcast since then um the consistent pressure I think is a big issue um you know if you look at last year they were top 10 in Sachs you know franchise record in Sachs but you know Eddie they were 29th in hurry rate mhm

And this is a team that blitzes the least of any in the NFL so the consistent pressure get me off my spot all of a sudden the seven on seven throw the 11 on 11 hey boom three-step drop out five step drop out seven step drop read here read there boom disrupt that

If you disrupt that you make quarterbacks playoff platform and some quarterbacks struggle with that um I thought it was a bit tiresome to have you know Nico Collins go for a season High Rasheed Shahed go for a season High DeAndre Hopkins go for a season High puka NKU I think it was the

Second highest of any game this season Devonte Adams second highest of any game this season that to me happens too often I say this with the Pacers you know if you look at the Pacers right now they’re on a three-game losing streak Jeremy Grant on Friday night goes for his

Second highest total of the season so when you face Jeremy Grant this year his second and third highest point totals of the year are against you Kevin Durant on Sunday I think it was the second highest point total had had up to that point of the season when he went off for 40

Against you it’s take away the other team’s top option to the point where you just make them average to Grant and Durant’s point you know they’ve played what 30 some games this season make them have the 14th highest game they’ve had this season or the 17th highest game

They’ve had this season you know to those white outs that I mentioned they are good white outs you know puku is a very good white out puku also had a lot of games this year where he only had 80 or 90 yards you know again it’s I’m not

Saying you should totally eliminate them and hold them to season lows I’m not unrealistic with those expectations here but create more of an average aspect um and and try and do that at a better rate and I just the word continuity kind of rubs me

The wrong way when I hear that as a as a big defense or a big backing of someone you know I mean in Shane s’s case if Nick serani believed in continuity Shane s would never have gotten a chance to call plays in Philly and wouldn’t be

Here right in Indie in all likelihoods so it’s to me it’s a little cop out I get that there’s an element of like you want consistency and that matters but also when things are not going well consistency is not necessarily the recipe that has to be followed here so

That was just a couple other Gus items that I put in story I wanted to make sure that I share with our pod audience Yim apparently this upcoming draft ised to be deep at both wide out and cornerback but not so much at edge with that being said do you think Edge should

Be selected with the Colts first pick and the following two rounds should be wide out and corner or do you think it’s more of a best player available situation and they take whatever Difference Maker is there even if it’s not particularly a position of need thanks love the pot and tune in every

Week so I I am a very much a and I do this exercise probably early April each year I’m a very much of a positional mock draft um where are your needs most pressing how does that match up with best player available marry those two things I do

Think you know depth matters when you’re breaking ties um and both I guess are right there with me if you’re going to boil it down to you know white out or corner or Edge um if you said to me all right Kevin bow you have to rank them

One two and three you have to what’s the most pressing need I would say Edge rusher wide out corner like if I had to rank them one two and three um now again scarcity at the position I’m trying to put that to the side when I answer that first question when I factor

In scarcity it’s definitely Edge rusher to me that’s the hardest thing to find out of those three um and there is a little part of me at corner right now Eddie that says this should you let Juju Bren Jaylen Jones and Dallas flowers figure it out at least the first two

Names on that list I would say yes the Achilles injury I assume for Dallas is where you have some risk in there um that that’s fair and maybe you throw in one more name you know you go out there and make a little bit more of a

Quarterback Splash than you did aan year yeah in fre so maybe you you say okay here are four names and those four can figure it out because two of those four will play assuming you resign kymore two of those four will obviously be out there a lot and you know inevitably an

Injury is going to happen so you’re going to have to rely on three of those four but I kind of feel like I’m there at corner I still think it’s a need but again I if I did a positional Mock Draft today I would not have it round one and

15 overall and the first positional mock or the first mock draft look that I did I posted to the website on Monday there were several Corner picks at 15 and I looked at it and thought man it’s just a hair Rich for me especially when you run

A system that I don’t think is like uberly reliant on keeping your corners on Islands oh yeah now we didn’t see any Edge rushers I didn’t love that and you know obviously the G the the Brock Bowers debate you know could be one that we we have a whole lot here over the

Next few months of several mock drafts had Bowers at 15 now I know Mel Kyper for example I think had him going five so you know Daniel Daniel Jeremiah says he’s getting to 15 Mel Kyper says he’s you know gone at five so obviously that

Will dictate a lot but yeah how do you view tight end because I I look at tight end a lot of ways Eddie look at the final four teams and the tight ends they got studs Sam leapa early second round Travis Kelce in the third round Mark Andrews in the third

Round George KD in the fifth so none of those guys were top 30 picks um of course you had dton King Cade as one of the eight yeah finalist too with with Buffalo um so I look at that and then I think man haven’t the Colts kind of

Drafted a bunch of tight ends in that in that realm I mean if you look at the Colts tight ends galani Woods was a third round pick kylin granson was a fourth rounder will Maller is a fifth rounder Drew ogry is a sixth rounder they’ve drafted a lot of tight ends here

As of late and obviously the Ogle tree thing off the field is going to have to play out and mo Cox technically is still under contract now you could save a little money if you parted ways but you know I don’t get I didn’t get the vibe I don’t know if ballot ever

Even mentioned tight end in the season inning pressor a couple weeks ago M so now when you say more explosive Brock Bowers can give you that oh yeah so I’m probably a little bit more of I’d be okay with taking him there but I also can view tight end as and again labeling

Bowers strictly as a tight end might be unfair but I think you can view tight end in in the spot of you can find answers on day two even day three at that spot um so that’s going to be a fascinating one to see how the NFL views

Bowers and to see how the Colts even view him as well but I would say the early Returns on this draft going back to Yem is is probably pretty deep at white out and and even a little bit of corner as well you know pass rusher is much more

Of a question mark Colts fish he’s the first of three that we have left I know you said you wouldn’t pick up quiddy pay’s fifth year option so it got me looking more into the cost it would be about $14 million the exact number that

He gave was 13, 856 th000 for his fifth year fully guaranteed since he didn’t meet the criteria for a higher salary he’s been a good run Defender but just an average pass rusher so far he was very raw coming out of Michigan with great athleticism I would be inclined to

Pick up his option as I still believe he can make gains over the next two seasons either way we’ll be interested to see what Ballard chooses thanks you 13.8 million Eddie that is the fifth year team option for 2025 for quy pay that is a big number could you convince

Somebody during draft time to trade for him and you get some sort of compensation you use that to move up in the first round to get a guy that you love maybe boy I I I don’t you open up some cap space niie you know you’ve got

A little more room to sign somebody like a Brian Burns I like I like a lot of the thought behind that um I don’t know what exactly Fair compensation would be for pay and again you got to go off some of Bard’s comments I think Bard’s higher on

Pay than than I am I think you really likes what he brings as a run Defender I’d rather see him in approv IT contract here might it cost me a little bit of money on the end sure but um I I’d rather see him have to play out that

Contract and prove it 13.8 million on the books is a lot if he does not take the jump oh yeah that he and again we’re now going on you know we’re going on about six years of a little bit of the slobbering over the f atic testing traits and the sack

Production not being there MH I mean Michigan and then now here in the NFL and again it’s it’s the consistent rushes for me I brought up the taekwon Lewis for example okay Eddie this past season quiddy pay eight tackles for loss nine quarterback hits taquon Lewis nine tackles for loss

13 quarterback hits so very similar tackle for loss numbers tawon Lewis with four more QB hits than quiddy pay uh snap count for the two 700 for pay 436 for taquon and uh did you list their sack numbers sacks are what eight and a half for quiddy four for taquin right and I

Go tackles for lost QB hits again to me it’s more of the consistent disruption numbers you get into pressure stuff you get into hurry stuff those sorts of things when you get a little bit deeper into those numbers dobo certainly he played a lot more snaps than tawon but he had much you

Know very similar numbers to taekwon more snaps but not as many as quiddy again there were moments late in the year where I didn’t even see quiddy on the field for some third down moments because I just don’t think he had earned it or other guys I should say probably

Have earned it yeah more than him so um I’d be willing to bet on it and I guess the good news Eddie is this you got to pick up that fifth year option by what May 3rd or May 5th it’s after the draft I think it’s at first week after the

Draft so maybe if you get out of the draft and you haven’t selected a guy early maybe you picked that up but IA you’ve got to earn the fifth year option that age big deal it’s a big pay increase look at the 13.8 million and compare that to some

Other defensive ends Edge rushers it’s a notable number and to me he has not earned that so you know might have bite me down the road a little bit sure but that obviously will be a good problem to run into and a good problem to have

There with that so that’s kind of how I view pay when it comes to again consistent pressures if you Sachs are the S and I we I don’t know I think this this audience that I’m talking to is a very intelligent audience I don’t think it’s a group that just looks at sacks

And thinks that’s the end all Beall eight and a half sacks is a nice number certainly but when you look at the consistent pressure you’re getting into the 70s 80s 90s hundreds of Defenders that had better consistent pressure rates than quidie pay this past year that would put him as the

20th Edge rusher in terms of average salary per year at 13.86% the other press rate numbers from um from quiddy go ahead and ask the next question I’ll uh and I’ll try and find that some players around that $13.86 million that you’re looking at right now Josh sweat of the Eagles Demarcus

Lawrence of the Cowboys Cameron Jordan and Carl Granderson of the Saints Preston Smith of the Packers and Marcus Davenport for the Vikings all of those players $13 million 78th in pressures for quitty last year 185th in quarterback knockdowns 33rd in sacks so again those consistent pressure numbers that’s what I’ll keep on coming

Back to with that and Dao and taquon outstanding not to mention there’s the development of Addy Tommy well adabari as well to look out for I know I think he’s a little more interior yeah probably than quiddy but again finding the bending bending Edge still a need two questions left Chris I always

Thought Danny Pinter has played well at Center in previous years I’ve thought he’s been subpar at guard but I always thought he looked good at Center I’m not certainly an expert and was wondering what your thoughts about Pinter are yeah I again I would I should probably turny

On my mic um I would bring him back um cheap muor tawan one-year deal uh nice insurance policy uh you know I also think kind of fifth and sixth round Eddie probably makes sense to go a little bit interior as well you know when you get in that day three some POS

Positions that kind of stand out to me you know it’s probably time to draft a linebacker you know just tap into the Chris Boward guarantee of finding a successful linebacker that he’s done so well of over the years um and then also you can you get a little bit into

Uh that interio line you know backup quarterback those sorts of things as well final Twitter question comes from Wake Spike should we feel better about or more terrified after seeing the Browns being dismantled in the Wild Card round I’m guessing this in reference to the Texans yeah and possibly being in

That opportunity you know I I hate to get into one game over reactions um I think you’re kind of laid out leading into the Texans game and after it just how big of a bummer it was to have the Miss opportunity of a home playoff game of a

Cleveland team that obviously has had plenty of ups and downs and you know I would say watching Houston in the season finale watching them in their first playoff game you are reminded of this 1 to 53 I think the Colts probably have the deeper roster probably have the more talented

Roster yep where Houston separates themselves though is they have the premium positions figured out yep largely figured out and the Colts right now they did take a step forward in this this past season but they don’t and they haven’t been there in the Chris Boward era whether you look at CJ Stout at

Quarterback or Nico Collins at wide out or laramy tunel at left tackle or will Anderson Jr at defensive end or Derrick Stingley Jr at corner they can really check all of those boxes and a lot of it is youth man oh yeah there is I mean what everybody’s under 25 besides tunel

So that is super encouraging if you are a Texans fan now they still need a support and they still need to obviously you know they they made a huge trade in the draft and you know the Bobby slowick right now Colts fans should be cheering

For Bobby SLO to go get a head coaching gig because again the lack of stability there you know does that impact CJ strout at all moving forward whereas when the Jim Bob cter rumor was out there about him to Philly I really didn’t pay much attention to it Eddie

Because and this is unfair to Jim Bob cter but I kind of thought about who cares they got stying yeah like that you’re not as worried here in this market because you have that guy in place and you know he’s not going anywhere unlike Houston where they could

Be playing that song and dance for years to come yeah if stoud continues to perform at that level so you know to me if you just want to boil it down to Texans Colts it honestly was a reminder of kind of the age-old Ballard question there are a lot of good and talented

Players on Chris balard rosters a lot of them he’s drafted some very good football players but all 22 positions were not created the same no and that’s what you’ve ran into here where Houston has had more of an emphasis on it and they’ve obviously had some very high

Draft picks to get those players and then made a huge trade to get Anderson but um you know n Collins is a third round find is huge for him and again I said the Colts have taken steps in the right direction because they in my opinion have got a third round find on

Their end in Bernard Ryman at left tackle I think that is an answer so that is very very important for this franchise to make sure that you continue to try and find that and continue to invest in those those positions might get a lot of hate or Mean Tweets for

This but um you know who CJ strad reminds me of who is that 12 yeah I um yeah I could see that just the smoothness mhm boy Smooth Operator delivering from the pocket yeah everything is just On Target he hardly makes mistakes um the only major difference stra doesn’t put himself in compromised positions outside the pocket yeah Stout

Is um boy stoud gets it he just gets it oh yeah and to be in that moment and whether it was the throw to Nico to start the game or certainly the plays on that second to last drive and um he is a special talent and he got rocked early

Last season and to B you know six sacks Baltimore week one I think Colts had six in week two and the big hit number to bounce back from that and you know have the injuries that he had and those around him had as well all the o line

Issues that they had in front of him him um yeah I I’ve joked before the AFC South is the true TV of quarterback divisions it’s no longer that and just in general quarterbacks in the AFC Eddie I mean right here in our little bubble when’s the last time you’ve had every

Organization feel like the head coach and quarterback is somewhat solved oh boy and again it’s varying degrees of it I’m not saying all of them should feel as comfortable as they do ever but demo Ryan and CJ strouch Shane sty and Anthony Richardson Trevor Lawrence and Doug Peterson you know Brian Callahan

And will Levis obviously that would be fourth on the list but still they’ve attempted to create you know their own siken situation there um the division is on the right path yeah and obviously the Colts are is well but then again this conference I mean you didn’t have you

Had burrow Trevor Lawrence and Herbert watching the playoffs yeah you think those are three dudes that are going to be consistent playoff type QBs moving forward at least two of the three I mean like yeah so um it is a golden erir of AFC quarterback depth and deshun Watson watching as well

I know he didn’t play well at all last year but right but their team made it I I was Bas saying QB’s and teams it didn’t make it I know some could say Aaron Rogers obviously he’s not on the youth meter that some of the others are

But uh it’s quite the time to be an AFC AFC fan AFC South Fan uh etc etc Eddie Garrison have a great week brother who you got in the conference Championship Games oo the heart is saying let’s go fighting Dan Campbell is Debo playing I don’t know

Have you seen the Debo numbers with or without him oh it’s it’s staggering you suffer that hairline fracture in a game they scored 17 they scored 17 each of the next two weeks without him and you look at with him in the lineup it’s like 30 or 40 falling out of bed seemingly

Every week I bet Green Bay to win as soon as Debo went out I think that was a smart obviously didn’t win it but I totally get why you would have done that um I jberry I want to go lions and Ravens but my head says

49ers in Chiefs a few weeks ago I bet Ravens to beat 49ers in the Super Bowl wasn’t like great odds but you know you can do the matchup and the win so was this to make up for the Dallas Cowboys this was to make up for the Cowboys and

The Raiders from last year I wanted two yeah yeah next year next year I had Jets this year with the Cowboys by the way in case anyone forgot on that end I I’ll go Lions Ravens I’m sticking with my preseason prediction that you asked me for Baltimore San Francisco and I told

You then Baltimore was going to win the Super Bowl I should have placed money on it you think about Baltimore is like what are they going to look like with Mark Andrews you know I mean he’s been the most consistent Target guy I do think a couple things to note on these

Championship Games the Lions have allowed a bunch of random quarterbacks to torch them lately and they’ve struggled in J golf era in outdoor stadiums now going on the road you know again when does that does that emotional just it seems like they’re on just such an emotional ride does that end at all

For them now again I think the Debo injury is huge and then you flip over to Baltimore it’s amazing to me I saw a stat where Baltimore entering the playoffs they had beat I think 11 of their wins had been over teams with better than 500 record yeah most in the

History of the NFL and they’ve LED every game in the final two minutes yeah I mean it’s astonishing what they’ve been like and that defense I don’t think has rightfully deserved the credit that it should be given and has can they absolutely dominating can they play the

Keep away game a little bit better than Buffalo did I think they can um so yeah again I’ll go Detroit Baltimore but I certainly hear you out on that end cannot wait for it hopefully we get two good ones leading in to the Super Bowl he’s Eddie Garrison I’m Kevin bow and

Everybody have a great week we’ll be back next week with another edition of Kevin’s Corner