Episode 467 | Projecting Rookie Playing Time + Ikaika Maloe Joins!

0:00 – Intro
1:26 – Kwity Paye Fifth Year Option
7:07 – Rookie Playing Time
27:56 – Ikaika Maloe
41:52 – Twitter Questions

Projecting Playing Time For Colts 2024 Rookies

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and we are back it is another edition of Kevin’s Corner we’re coming at you here May 6 it’s a Monday morning Colts rookie mini camp schedule for this weekend I believe maybe even a schedule release from the NFL later this week and this will be one of our annual post-draft podcasts we do in the early projection of rookie playing time for the Colts here in 2024 I think it’s a really interesting list when you look at it and try to project out playing time I mean hell they’re bringing back 22 starters so it’s not obvious where these guys are going to fit in I think you can make the cases not super obvious where the first two picks are going going to fit in just from a pure playing time standpoint so we’ll do that we’ll get into quiddy pay that fifth year option picked up by the Colts late last week Eddie Garrison how you doing man um I’m all right my whole body is sore um yesterday decided to do some landscapingyard work and uhhuh um yeah yeah hey look at it as a nice workout uh removing mulch should be an Olympic sport yes well um good for you you deserved the I guess I didn’t really ask you to sleep in at all because I asked you to come in and record this podcast but I was up anyway yeah the aches and the pains from the little lawn care action nice work it was a beautiful day it was a hot one honestly felt like June here in indie no complaints for me on that end um okay before we get to rookie playing time I want to start with quiddy pay Eddie and again that fifth year option picked up for 2025 13.4 million um I would say it’s probably one of the few times that I think Chris Boward has handed out some money and that I don’t think it’s truly been earned quite yet and you know to be fair the fifth year team option there’s always a projection with it you know it’s kind of the one time that you’re really you know giving a guy future money at such a young age um you know it’s not the end of the world by he means I I probably would not have done it um to me it’s just you know when you draft a rusher when you draft an a a defensive end at whatever 21 like he was um to me you have to have a pass rush element with your game that’s at a higher level than what he has proven so far in the NFL um if you look at the pressure numbers last year I think it was north of 70 I want to say he was like 78th in the league quarterback knockdown quarterback hit number really really poor um you know Sachs you know had eight and a half which is a fine number I think for year three but again just so much of that down so much of that comes down to pressure rate being a truer indicator of what you’re getting there uh and I’d like to see a higher number uh at that spot um you I’m curious the ramifications this will have for like a Dio atbo and what his you know future looks like here in Indie you know Doo now in a contract year uh quid’s contract year will not happen right away um and you know 13.4 million I’ve seen some people say well it’s not a lot of money it’s not a lot of money blah blah blah you know it’s not goingon to be that much money in 2025 I think 13.4 million is a lot of money when you’re Chris Ballard when you spend like the Colt spend 13.4 million is a lot of money um so again it it’s nothing crazy from a long-term risk I fully understand that quid is a very good run Defender and can help you out in those areas but I would have liked to have seen how he kind of reacted in a pro it year and I know some have countered with saying well what happens if he were to have a year of you know huge production and now his price tag goes up to 15 or 16 million if quiddy pay has that type of year here in 2024 Eddie Garrison we’re talking about the Colts as one of the last few teams standing this season I mean they if he has a whatever a 12 12 sack season with consistent pressure at the rate that kind of matches a 12 sack total there’s no question in my mind we’re talking about the Colts as a final four if not even final two AFC team in that end so um the career up at this Point’s been fine you know it’s just been it’s just a little too jabal sheery for me on that end and not enough potency from an edge pressure standpoint consistently so again not the end of the world I I’m not going to fret about it too too much but uh the pressure rate for me is just not worthy of 13.4 million I think when you look at what Gus Bradley said was that last week leading up to the decision of the fifth year option and talking about how you know we love what quiddy brings you know he brings consistency in the Run game and sometimes it just takes a little bit for guys to develop as a pass rusher and I mentioned this to Jake query and Jimmy Cook on the show last week after I got picked up um to me it wasn’t a little it wasn’t surprising at all just considering he’s 25 turning 26 so theoretically he should be entering the prime of his career right now and if you get the production of you know double digit sacks that um he was on Pace for not last year but the year before that but before getting rolled up on in that ankle injury against Denver I think you’re looking at a player that would warrant that $13 million that they’re going to give him and now that you just have to hope he develops into that a pass pressure yeah and again to me it’s getting away from the sack number um I think his pressure rate again one of the worst in the NFL for a starting Edge guy getting the amount of snaps that he’s getting that to me does not qualify for $1 13.4 million money here uh like I said it’s one year um you know by no means this is the end of the world um I I I do think quiddy is a really quality early down player for you um but 13 million in Colts terms that’s a good amount of money and you know if you’re looking at from a doo dbo Andor quiddy pay standpoint to me um you know Doo is probably a little bit more interesting of a player to me and I’m curious just how much more is there for quiddy you know we didn’t see a lot of sack production in college um and when you watch them I just don’t see the testing numbers like even if you look at like some of the sacks to me the sacks aren’t this like really poppy Edge rusher um I know I’m probably getting a little bit nitty-gritty into how he looks off the edge but um those are all think I think very fair questions to have about him going into year four so nonetheless the Colts pick up the fifth year team options so your free agents for next year among others Ryan Kelly Doo uh EJ speed Julian Blackman on the one-year deal um so I think that kind of qualify or that covers kind of all of the major free agent names for you here coming into 2025 anything else to add on quiddy or would you like to get into rookie playing time no yeah let’s uh let’s dive into that so if you go to 1075 The fan.com it’s the story right there on the front projecting playing time for the Colts 2024 rookies written by Kevin Bowen now this is on a scale from 1 to 10 one being lucky to make the Colts roster 10 being a definitive full-time starter so let’s start with the first pick the Colt T and the last last draft the 15th overall selection latu Lot 2 you have him as a seven or an eight yeah I don’t think he’ll be a 17 game starter Eddie like I don’t and this is just part of how you distribute snaps along your defensive line I mean hell if you looked at last year’s snap totals I Buckner is probably the only one over 70% of of your snaps um so you know from quiddy pay and Samson eacon being key guys on early Downs um then I think obviously latu enters the fold on pass rushing downs and certainly there will be some drives where you’re going to ask him to play on you know earlier Downs with that so this to me is much more of a I don’t think he needs to be a full-time starter to like truly evaluate him again if he can give you more of those timely pressure moments that is enough to qualify um so the 78 number I I I don’t know maybe it’s even like a hair high but I just don’t you know I could easily see a sub package I mean hell I don’t even think Dwight Frey was a starter right away as whatever he was the 11th pick something like that back in the day and he had absurd sack production in college you know probably even more so than uh than latu did so I still expect him in a huge pass rushing role um but again probably more of a rotational based defensive end spot with quy pay and ab I will say you know the thing about latu that makes him attractive early on to play is is you know if you look at it at UCLA he lined up on both sides a whole lot that’s not something that you see from a lot of defensive ends in college and again he Prides himself on having a variety of pass rush moves um so I think those are some key key ingredients for you on that end so you know if you had to map it out you know again latu and I don’t know ebukam probably being your main defensive ends in that Indie Car package and you know quiddy probably more of an early down getting quiddy lost his spot in that pass rush package late last year for taon Lewis a lot um so you know probably a Buckner a dbo ebukam latu consistent pressure packages that’s fair the second round pick for the cols was Adan I Mitchell you have him on that 1 to 10 scale as a five or a six yeah it’s kind of wild to look back and see how many snaps Michael Pitman Jr and Alec Pierce played for you last year Eddie uh if you look at I mentioned this in the story if you look at all the white outs in the NFL Pitman ranked second in the league uh average snaps per game north of 64 Alec Pier or excuse me Pierce ranked second in the league north of 64 and Pitman was fourth in the league just under 62 I mean think about that one team has got the second most snapped wide out and the fourth most snapped wide out of anybody in the NFL when you’re talking about the receiver position so frankly the Colts just need to not run those two into the ground more than anything and so I think that’s where ad Mitchell can you know step out or step into the fold and help you um I probably would like to see like Pitman kind of maintain a close percentage to what he has been playing but maybe have Mitchell and Pierce like split reps if you look at it at the end of the year um you know clearly they like Pierce enough as a route Runner as a blocker as just that deep threat to force an opposing defense to think twice to play him a lot of snaps and obviously some of that was just by hey this is all we got in the cupboard you know especially when Ashton Duan went down early in the year but um I’ll be really interested to see how much Mitchell plays because I think there’s some volatility in how much he could play here as a rookie I think there are some areas to his game that make you feel more optimistic about him being sort of a complete or a more complete route Runner than Pierce um I know that’s not maybe saying a whole lot but I do think that is there for Mitchell and I’ll reiterate what I said last week on the podcast about ad Mitchell um I think there are some people in that building very intrigued about his talent and tapping into that and I think there’s some people in that building that were really hesitant about making him a selection um and you get that in the draft I mean that’s not like you know welcome to the NFL draft it’s not always going to be be this sort of overwhelming 100% consensus from all of your major decision makers so um this is really going to be a fascinating one he plays the sexy position it directly impacts you know Anthony Richardson you watch the highlight film and it’s hard not to wake walk away from and be like that dude is going to be a star I mean he just he did it on the biggest stage in college football time in and timeout like all of that stands out to you um but there just some hesitancy about you know him being able to fully tap into all that so his rookie impact will be really really interesting to me you know you look at Josh DS’s rookie production that was a great great rookie season you know when you just look at the raw numbers for Josh DS but again he was literally asked to be the starting slot guy I don’t see it that obvious for ad Mitchell but is it one of these things where at the start of the year you know Pierce is out snapping him a good amount and then by the end of the year does that flip um I think that’ll be really interesting to watch something to note too Steve Smith had this uh Steve Smith Senor had this specific numbers on his um podcast on YouTube but I was watching his breakdown of AD Mitchell and he put out the number it was like 7525 in terms of percentage of the outside snaps ran and versus like the slot so uh Mitchell ran 75% of his routes between Georgia and Texas on the outside and 25% on the inside so like he does have some experience there uh in the slot and you and if you know Shane steen’s creative there’s possibly maybe there’s times where there’s four wide receivers on the field and you’ve got Josh DS in the backfield um just because I think that’s the kind of things that uh Shane can Envision with Josh STS you can use him in that little bit of a role yeah and there are a lot of similarities size and 40 yard dash time to pierce I mean very similar Prospect but again ad Mitchell’s got a little bit more of the stronger kind of short area testing which Pierce does not have as much of that and I bring that up to kind of further explain why I think the Colts feel like he can be more of that complete kind of Route tree guy versus Pierce there’s probably more of it on film uh from his days at Texas and you know even dating back to Georgia than for Pierce at uh at Cincinnati you have nothing else to add on ad Mitchell let’s move on to the first offensive lineman Matt Gonzalez you have him ranked four or a five in terms of opportunity to play and I should have mentioned this to you at the start going to throw in the iaka Malloy audio right correct into the podcast for those unfamiliar with who that is that was the uh position coach for latu latu at Washington then went to UCLA he’s currently the defensive coordinator he was a huge part of latu coming to UCLA and I thought Beyond enlightening on just latu as a person and um you on the field off the field all of that I I hope that you’ll learn a lot about that from him so again coach Malloy G to join us let’s do that here once we get through these um projecting of the plane Time Podcast the reason that why that popped in my head is because we had Matt Gonzalez Eddie on our show on Friday um which is where you’re going to hear the Malloy interview from uh Mr Gonzalez he dropped the old f word again I was about to say did uh Dyke didn’t have to hit the dump button yeah Mark Dy is our producer not um as already I believe Mark dyon almost had to hit the dump button for himself when he heard gonzalvez say the f word there so we’ll we’ll throw that on a future podcast here but you know I I put up number four or five for him and you know honestly I probably would have had a similar number for like Blake Freeland last year Eddie but you know theoretically he’s one injury away right it’s just where is the one injury is he a tackle is he a guard you know he doesn’t even I think fully know that he sounds a little bit more tackle inclin than guard incline but that’ll be something to watch for here at rookie mini camp you know coming up I I remember you know from really day one at rookie mini camp Blake Freeland was a right tackle well that ended up coming big time to frisan last year and you know Braden Smith going down and Freeland having to play so so much so uh if he’s the backup at any spot he’s just one Serious injury away from you know being needed a huge amount it’s just hard to kind of Peg exactly where that is for him I’m fascinated to hear your reasoning why why you have Matt ZZ as a four or five on the 1 to 10 scale but you have Tanner bortolini as a three or a four yeah again bordini the light at the end of the tunnel is much clearer it’s center of the future but this this is just 2024 rookie playing time bordini I think there’s some questions about him strengthwise you know how much does he just need a full NFL you know whatever offseason program weight room etc etc feel good about that I think the Colts have more interior options than they do exterior options exterior is not the right word but more inside options than they do outside guys if you think about it outside it’s really just BL Blake Freeland yeah the inside guys are Josh Sills uh we’ll see about Danny penser coming off the injury and Wesley French so there’s just a few more bodies interior-wise than there are again out on the outside so that’s why again I I dropped his number a little bit and you know some might say hey Gonzalez I mean like he played through a foot injury and you know only played three games as a senior how ready is he going to be well me anticipated to the Pittsburgh pro day and all accounts are you know he’s going to be ready ready to go for the spring I guess we’ll find out here soon um you know I I I just don’t see bordini even though he played a ton at Wisconsin I don’t see it as oh yeah he’s 1,00% going to be this backup heading into year one or you know even competing with with Will fry so you know it’s probably a coin flip I mean hell I only am one number off on the two but I did consciously think about it Eddie so I’m glad you brought that up why are you a little bit higher on Gonzalez and his rookie playing time than bortolini it comes to do with one I think could be a backup tackle maybe even your swing tackle and the other one maybe could be your swing guard swing interior guy I was going to say history has shown over the course of his career that Ryan Kelly is the most nicked up out of all five offensive linemen and right behind him is Braden Smith and we already know that tanor borellini is not a tackle so you would expect him to be the guy that would step in for Ryan Kelly if if he would Miss time yeah that that’s that’s pretty much why uh my thought process went where it did yeah Kelly had a really healthy year for him so so yeah the next pick Anthony G I think you have him ranked higher than most people and I think this is solely because of his special teams um priority that he’ll probably get over some of the other players you have him as a six or a seven yeah that’s spot on Eddie I mean it’s it’s purely because I expect him to be the starting Return Man in both units from day one Punt and kick and you know then just that gadgety role where Shane styken wakes up one week and says let’s get G involved on offense this week with whatever package you have carved out for him but yeah I’ve said it time and time again since he was drafted the kick return is more punt return like and I just think the ability to kind of make a guy Miss in a short area of the field will accentuate Gould’s punt return history at Oregon State and then the straight line speed comes in after that so um he was drafted for a reason and you got to give him a chance yeah you know Eddie I think I’ve never been a fan of playing starters too too much in return roles and so when I look at Dallas flowers or even Josh DS you know those guys I think have very important spots on the offense and defense respectively so that’s a part of the reason why um I would put put that there as well number six of the nine Colts drafted rookies playing time Jaylen Carli five or six linebacker yeah and this is one that I think could knock on the door for a little bit more you know obviously the third linebacker Eddie has been you know a bit slown down from an NFL standpoint and just how much you actually you know really rely on that guy um so I don’t think it’s going to be overwhelming by any means but still um the Colts drafted him with a clear plan in place uh there’s history of it with this coaching staff there’s history of it on the roster and the guy like Ronnie Harrison Jr um and the third linebacker I mean still plays a a a role for you again it’s not an abundant role but you know does he view himself as a tight end guy I I know the tight end schedule maybe isn’t loaded for the Colts this year but you know that could be a potential option for you so Carli is really intriguing to me uh to me outside of latu he’s easily the defender that can play the most um so this one is a I think the staff really likes him I think present day NFL really likes him uh clearly the Colts see athletic traits in him from a length standpoint that are very intriguing as well and I mean look at linebacker what’s your depth yeah exactly you know seuna Luby Grant Stewart um you know we’ll see Ronnie here and Junior lines up I mean there is an opportunity there certainly for Carlos to come in and make an early impression you have to wonder too how much time he’ll get on special teams I think for sure for sure that factored into your I tried to I I know with G I didn’t really I tried to focus it more offense defense related I know I cheated a little bit with G but yes I mean he has a strong special teams history at missou uh number seven Jaylen Simpson this is the lowest besides the final pick that we’ll get to eventually you have him a one or a two in terms of rookie playing time projection for the upcoming season yeah and this one I’m just a little bit more of like show me where Jaylen Simpson is going to get the first crack um I I don’t think the Colts are going to do anything imminent at DB right now but I do think at some point there will be a corner and/or safety added to this roster and you just look at it from a sheer number standpoint and let’s just call Jaylen Simpson a corner okay Juju Brent Kenny Moore Jaylen Jones Dallas flowers there’s four assume the veteran corner is somebody of note wouldn’t he be five are you keeping a six corner is that sixth Corner Simpson is that sixth Corner darl Daryl Becker Jr is it a guarantee that they even bring in a veteran Corner though I think at some point they will I don’t think it’s a guarantee to use those words again I I I just said I don’t think anything you know very soon’s going to happen there at all but I think that’s a fair question you have Amir speed’s a guy they put in a waiver claim for last year um you know Chris Lem man is still around um I guess this kind of bleeds into Mike or Abraham up up next Eddie I actually have Abraham a little bit higher than Simpson because to me Abraham plays a backup or should have a chance to be the backup nickel which is a very much of an insurance policy of somebody you want on your 53 man roster you know chrstms was kind of that guy Tony Brown was kind of that guy so that’s why I have Abraham a tick higher than I do crystal or um than I do Jaylen Simpson um for that very reason uh just because to me there is a little bit more of an insurance policy now you know maybe Simpson can kind of play a little bit of a safety hybrid and that helps his um you know versatility in making the team but right now it’s just weird for me to sit here and think DB corner and safety is probably the most unproven there’s little Sharpie written in in the depth chart and the playing time of that position having said that I still don’t know if these two are slam dunks to make the team mhm I mean again how many DBS are you keeping are you keeping 10 total okay Six Corners four safeties well are your four safeties Blackman Nick cross Rodney Thomas and Daniel Scott uhuh do out of safety so that’s where I yeah um very torn clearly on how I view both of these guys so I’ll go Abraham just slightly higher than Simpson because of that nickel slot uh ability and to kind of be the Kenny Moore backup um but still I don’t I don’t feel very you know I don’t have a lot of conviction behind this it’ll certainly be interesting to see how the 53 man roster plays out especially when you get into uh your positional projections because you do that every year where you predict the 53 man and you do it by position group and you expect six wide receivers you expect uh I don’t know what six to eight defensive linemen for sure so it’s like oh least yeah more like eight to 10 yeah so it’s like uh how’s it all going to play out in the secondary a tight end you know the one that you return everybody and you kept a big number there so you know part of this is just you know if you look at the roster Eddie like they brought back pretty much everybody uhhuh you know and then you know obviously you know Flaco’s out or Flaco’s in menchu’s out but like rayquan Davis was an ad so that kicks somebody off the the team and then naturally you don’t expect to be cutting a whole lot of you know draft picks but like do you go three running backs or do you go four running backs like that’s another part of this too yeah right now it’s clearly three to me so um we’ll see and the final rookie by the way Micah Abraham was a two to three unless you have anything else to add I think you pretty much summarized it all there yeah again slightly higher because he’s got that slot nickel versatility and the final pick defensive tackle Jonah laulu you have him as a one yeah I’d be stunned if he made the team stunned um it’s the deepest position group on the team uh even though age-wise he’s one of the older draft picks there’s just not a lot of college production to go off of so this just to me Eddie just screams practice squad you know more than you know Jake wit and Titus Leo last year scream practice squad probably more from the level of competition and I guess lack of football experience for wit um but this one to me is all about um you drafted him purely off traits purely off traits and so develop and see if you find something at a position group that yeah you rotate a lot and you know we’ll see what you have there coming up um at the defensive line we actually just got the rookie mini camp schedule for this weekend so yeah afternoon practices Friday and Saturday um so I’ll be out there for that so Eddie garon let’s pencil me in for 1 o’clock on Friday okay okay 1:50 is practice time officially so I’ll join you at uh at one glad we’re doing producing on the Fly here at that just got the email um if you have you as in listener if you have your observations feedback or whatever on on the situation always feel free drop them in the comment section on YouTube and you can always tweet at Kevin or you can get in his DMS with your thoughts of it as well if you have a Twitter question slide in there that’s right yeah not a lot of females have done that certainly before I was married but feel free to slide in as I look at that I’m like I should probably put my wedding ring back on well I’ve had Twitter you know dating back to my sophomore junior year of college so yeah I know yeah I found your burner it’s okay DM’s a little dry yeah yeah unfortunately uh before twiter questions you want to get into how do you say his first name iaka iaki Ika Malloy I think I have that right Ika Maloy uh UCLA currently defensive coordinator Washington position coach for latu latu I really enjoyed the combo and I hope you as well again this from our morning show the wakeup call with KB and Andy good morning to coach Malloy here as we are getting into more of latu latu and the draft pick for the Colts at 15 overall coach I got to start here I’m a little nervous to ask and we cannot thank you enough uh is it are are you out in the west coast right now is it really 6:30 local time and you agreed to do this call yeah actually I’m I’m actually finishing up my worship walk I kind of walk around the campus and get my mind right and clear before I get here but I usually get in about 5:30 I just want to make sure I’m here before any players and in case like someone like latu wants to watch film now now would latu have been a guy showing up at the crack of dawn oh he actually still does it you know like on the off season uh I’m talking about getting prepared for the draft he was in the training rooms our training rooms at 6:00 a.m. so he would do his treatment he did his workout with Eddie in terms of his pass rush and getting ready for the combine and he would come back in the afternoon get more treatment and then by 4:00 when I started to do my workouts he was back in the waight room so uh I think the Colt organization did a great job in terms of evaluating him I think you guys will be proud as as Colt fans uh of the person you’re about to get coach thank you so much for joining us uh you know I heard yesterday you were on with our afternoon guy and you told this story and I want you to tell it again and maybe we’ll have some follow-ups but you know lotu story is really amazing he’s told back you know around 2020 with Washington hey you can’t can’t play and then he basically had to move on from football right and you had the conversation you know uh with him of you do you want to become a fire fighter and what are you going to do next kind of uh in your life and then you fast forward a couple years later you’re at UCLA uh and he finally gets cleared and he goes on the field and he does what he does but can you tell us at the very beginning where you guys found out hey this is not a stinger you are really injured here he could not get cleared and then you guys kind of make the voyage to UCLA and Coach the rest is history he ends up being a first round draft pick over the weekend yeah so you know he had a stinger in practice after we pulled him out and we told him he can just relax for the rest of practice the next morning I out to called the doctor said that Stinger what we thought was a stinger is still there his numb his arms are numb uh so they end up taking him the to get an MRI and found out he had a neck injury uh through that process and in that surgery the doctors then thought he you know they deemed him unable to to play athletically anymore and obviously when you talk to 18-year-old 19y old kid who just played as a true freshman that’ll be hard for him to handle so that being said uh he went through a really dark time you know we we we did not let him with the team meetings or the the position meetings he wasn’t lifting with the players and I think that’s when our relationship grew a little bit because you know we kind of started our own Bible study and in my mind I was trying to make sure I can help him move forward and at the time you know he told me that one of the things that he did like was being a fireman and so I was trying to get him hooked up with the Seattle Fire Department and see if they can do like a shadow ship or something like that uh but while we’re going through all this you know he kept telling his mom I’m not done with football and you know at one point in time I think Mom even called and said I I don’t I don’t think this kid’s going to be done in fact I don’t know if it’s a spite me to prove himself right he went out for the rugby team and he started playing rugby so he’s sending pictures and the kids around the team are telling me coach he’s actually right on the other field and he’s playing rugby so you know he calls like coach I’m doing contact without Pats so why can’t I play football so in his mind he was set that somehow some way he was going to make this happen so from there m and I had to change our mindset you know if if the kids going to believe that then we have to work forward in doing that uh fast forward get I get let go from University of Washington and I go to UCLA and Mom myself and L we still try to find a doctor to clear him you know we took him to the Seahawks they wouldn’t clear him there’s a player at Georgia who ended up having the exact same injury goes to the NFL that doctor would not clear him so lo and behold we find a doctor in California that clears him so while I’m at Ile I I I tell Chip Kelly I said coach do you mind at least taking these these um MRIs and seeing if our team doctor will accept it and have out to Jord and said UCLA and so I give him the the the doctor’s name and coach Kelly goes are you sure that’s a doctor I said I’m positive why do you know him and he said that’s our teen doctor and so that’s what brought him you know because we were able to clear him and I was already there that’s what brought him to UCLA you know so obviously we’re crying in a phone and we got him here now when he’s here the doctor made sure there were steps and precaution that he was going to take him he had no contact through spring no contact through fall camp so his first Contact was actually the first game of his career so if you can imagine a person that is telling now you’re telling hey you got another shot you just can’t do no contact and you watch this kid on offseason workouts I mean it was hard it his mindset is so different you know like when they’re doing practice he was on a sideline sprinting like he couldn’t stop moving because in his mind if they’re practicing I’m practicing I don’t care if I do it on air you I don’t care if I do it in the waight room but somehow some way as long as they’re working out I’m going to work out and then on Saturdays I think that was probably the more impressive thing on Saturdays and especially in college we all know there’s a lot of distraction that goes on on Saturdays he was out here N9 o’clock in the morning working pass rush you know so as the season goes on we play a game one I think that was a moment in time where we kind of say hey we got a shot you know he hit somebody in the first play he looked at me I looked at him he kind of shrugged and like okay so that’s that’s pretty cool I guess we can keep going right and then I think game five we played University of Washington so I knew he would be emotional about that particular game I think I think he ended up with like three sacks or whatnot but I think at that moment as we’re walking in the locker room you’re like coach I’m ready I think I’m ready like I’m going to take the next step forward and from there you really saw him take off like his you know he has a mantra that he he tells himself every day it’s l like your last and to me the best way I can I can explain to you lau’s mind mindset is um he if you if somebody told you this will be your last day on earth like how are you going to treat this day well that’s the kid’s mentality every single day there is not a rep that goes by that he doesn’t want and that’s why I think he fits not only in your organization but at the next level you know I’ll give you a sword we’re practicing and we’re towards the ending of the year and at this point my job is to make sure I get him to Saturday you know so I I pull him out and I put the backups in and I can feel somebody breathing on my neck and so I turn around and SL out to I said bro what are you doing and he said coach I got to be on the field they’re going to practice I’m G to practice said no latu I got to get you to Saturday Saturday is where you perform so lo and behold those guys are done and the way we do it under your last rack you sprint to the anend Zone while behind me this guy slaps me and takes off running he tells me like Co I’m going to get it in no matter what so you might as well put me back in and that’s him like he he values and treasures every single rep he could possibly get you know the push part of it I think that’s what everybody’s starting to recognize him for uh what people appreciated in the fall you know I got to appreciate on Saturday mornings beginning in January in January he was out there pass rushing and it kind of became a contagious thing and before you know the whole D line was out there which I think had a huge uh effect on our success as as a front uh but more importantly like holidays you know there’s holidays coming up in in May June so we send the kids home his mom had to drive from Sacramento to visit her son like he wouldn’t leave the complex you’re like coach I don’t have weights at at Sacramento I don’t have a field at Sacramento so I’m going to stay here and so the mom and I we just keep laughing like this kid but so what what when he got drafted you know we were in a green room and the mom and I just talking from the first official visit at the University of Washington through the inury through his journey and now we’re seeing go we actually might make our dreams a reality and L B becomes not only drafted in the first round but the first defensive player picked in the draft and I think at that moment that was a proud parent moment for myself as well as Mom his family because uh you know you this is a in my opinion I mean I I think somebody should make a movie of this because this is like a story it’s very Rudy is so to speak where you know it’s such an inspirational thing but you know in his mind like he that’s just how he lives life like he never wants to take anything else for granted because of what happened in the injury it is certainly a hell of a story great great stuff here from AKA Malloy again the defensive coordinator at UCLA and he was the position coach at Washington before that obviously a a tremendously close relationship with lotu latu the Colts 15th overall pick coach I want to share this quote I was talking to a member of the Colt staff and they and they sent me this about latu he goes there’s guys who say they love football then there’s latu who literally had it taken away and had to scratch and Claw to get it back literally took matters into his own hands to get back on the field I think that is what is special about this dude and what should be highlighted when you hear that quote what do you what do you think about 100% exactly right I mean um I actually this is weird to to to say this but while his stay here his Junior his sophomore junior year I actually had to try to encourage him to do something else other than football yeah he told us he has no interest other than football that’s it I mean I would call him on Sunday say hey what you doing he goes oh just watch some film he had his iPad with him I’m like bro go do something like go walk you know you live about two miles from the beach maybe no I’m good and that that’s his mindset like coach hit it right on the head I mean that’s or whoever had that quote that’s exactly who you guys will get you know at the coach organization you know uh yesterday I think your crew actually asked asked me about a comparison to the NFL um to the detail of how he pass rushes I I you know and I’m I’m GNA be really mindful of what I’m saying and who I’m comparing him to but I think he takes it to the level of Aaron Donald and KH Mack his energy on the field though I think it’s Max Crosby you know the intensity that Max Crosby plays with and he plays with a Non-Stop Reckless abandon until he gets to where he needs to get to and I really believe that’s what you guys will see and the the beauty for it for me I told him I said L you you’re actually walking into a a program that has a great front already I mean like I’m from Hawaii so the forest Buckner I mean I knew him growing up all the way and I thought about the W you know Kitty pay the the the wisdom that they already have there I said you know it’s just going to add value to what you already have and you know I think you’re gonna be something special for that for that franchise coach one thing that’s really stood out to me about lot I was mention this to our listeners earlier today first off you guys used him in a variety of ways like both sides of the line in college you know when you ask him to describe his own game he quickly mentions the variety of pass rush moves he has but more than even that which is very impressive to me it seems like he’s kind of an artist and has really embraced the the the science behind preparing for offensive lines week in and week out like you know I I he’s not just some speed rusher that dominated poor competition in college I feel like he really has embraced the art to pass rushing is that something you have observed in him it’s actually what I call him I call him the artist and the reason I said it cuz I’m going to repeat what you said it is not just the get off at sometimes if you actually watch him you would say his get off is actually slower than most but because he studies so much film in two steps he’s gonna he’s going to know what side you’re going to give him and then what move he will execute so he’s he practices this obvious on Saturdays and and when he watches film then he goes out and he tries to prepare for that that certain individual now when he does that right in his mind this is the best of the best then he puts him in category so this is you know next week’s opponent that’ll be in this category next the following opponent that’ll be in this category so all of the mve he’s working is really specific to that position um and then because of that we were able to move him all across the board if if um you know at the time we think that is the the the best matchup for us we will put him at a three technique sometimes we’ll put them at the zero or the shade and he has no problem not only pass rushing there but he’s learned to play run technique from those positions cuz you know when we’re on a third down we have four linebackers on the field so if they go no huddle if they convert it obviously they’ll go no huddle they got what they think is the better personnel and latu has learned how to play defensive tackle in case that happens so he’s B he’s really well-rounded but he takes pass rushing to just a whole another level and just studying I mean I got every single clip for him from practice a game because that’s all he does he’ll open his own folder and start stying himself and then he’ll open every other folder and start stying somebody else again that is coach Malloy right there we’ll have a couple other draft for later we had Pat ardi on Coach Matt Gonzalez and then we had Matt Gonzalez on as well so we’ll continue to sprinkle those in on future pods ready to get into Twitter questions now let’s do it we have five of them starting with Randall we added two pass catchers Colts keep six wide receivers crowded tight end room let’s say you can keep three who you got oh gosh well at first I’d say keep three running backs you know if I’m going to kind of pinch numbers elsewhere I mean didn’t they keep five tight ends last year yep until I did I’m trying to think of when galani Woods went on IR I I maybe went on IR really early but Mo Aly Cox galani Woods Drew Ogle tree will mallerie kylin granson that’s five I I that’s going to be tough I mean I’m also curious how the Special Teams real changes with the kickoff will change things you know Brian Mason mentioned do you just want strictly your 11 best tacklers out there where in the olden days you wanted guys that could not be spent by the time they sprinted 30 or 40 yards as well it’s worth noting out of the tight ends Mo Aly Cox does play special teams he is a blocker and the field goal uh unit and he’s a blocker um in kick return so I I just don’t I I’d be stunned if they only kept three tight ends stunned I if they did only keep three uh Mo Woods granson I I I don’t yeah listen to me laugh about it that shows you how confident I am in even saying that so I just think this is one of those years where maybe you look at the o line and say hey do you keep eight and try to sneak a couple to the practice squad you know is Arlington hamite you know yeah GNA be a big waiver claim guy is Wesley French going to be a big I mean theoretically you’re backup three if you kept eight offensive lineman would be Freeland and your two draft picks and then you try to get Sills over the practice you know some of those guys over there so uh great great great questions I should probably spend a little bit more time on that Randall Sam’s Twitter question is up next late last season Ronnie Harrison became the team’s third linebacker and backup safety when injuries arose with the Colts selection of Jaylen Carly do you think Carly becomes the team’s third linebacker and Ronnie Harrison moves back to safety or does Harrison stay as the third linebacker and Carly gets buried in the linebacker room also which golfer is better 2023 2024 Scotty sheffler or 2201 Tiger Woods now we already know the answer to that question so Sam thank you so much for sending in questions um this a great question question in my opinion here uh in relation to the Harrison Carli linebacker as far as the golf question it’s probably top three dumbest questions I’ve ever heard in all due respect if you say that you’re allowed to say anything after that right I should have in all due respect Sam one of the dumbest questions I’ve ever heard Barone in the history of this podcast in the history of this studio that we’re currently in it’s always going to be Tiger Woods no matter what the answer is always eldri thank you Eddie Garrison for that this is why you’re my favorite producer in the history of this podcast um yeah I think kind of keep Ronnie in that hybrid role I I I know that maybe isn’t great for him but you know I just think that’s kind of how present day NFL defenses need to adapt a little bit of hey you know some weeks if we’re playing run heavy maybe throw them back there at safety and he cheats a little bit down the Box some weeks if they’ve got a great tight end maybe it’s more of a of a linebacker so you know safety is a really interesting position though it’s just it’s a it’s probably the position group you have the most short and long-term questions at you know corner you could maybe talk yourself into some long-term answers there with ju guu and and potentially Jaylen Jones potentially Dallas flowers at safety though I I mean do you feel that way about Nick cross and Rodney Thomas right now I mean they continue to talk extremely highly of Daniel Scott I me the guy’s practiced probably what three times in the NFL for tours ACL so um yeah Harrison will be one you know when we get out there for OTAs coming up in a couple weeks it he’ll be one of those to to look at but you know I I kind of like a little bit of that hybrid role three questions left Q why didn’t the Colts move up in the draft every other team moves up when they want a specific player but it seems like only we never do this year is a Prov it year for Chris Ballard if we don’t make the playoffs and win the division he’s got to go no more excuses I look on social media and people still excuse him from the luck retirement even though he decided to go bandan quarterback for four years straight instead of getting a rookie sooner yeah boy I I can’t say I see as much of that I mean granted I don’t try to get too deep in the weeds of you know Chris balard defend rip uh you know rants on on Twitter um I get tagged in enough of it again I think they had I think they had some interest well first off let’s just start here round one they wanted to try and move up we we talked about it on that Friday pot after draft the only team that moved up was what the Vikings right yes the flip-flop of one spot there to get JJ McCarthy so it takes two to 10o uh I will reiterate this of what I’ve said since the draft I think there was some DB interest that went just before the Colts both in two and three now granted they traded back in two then they traded up in three um I do think there comes a level as a drafting team where you know the amount of day three picks I mean we just went through the exercise and it’s like wait I mean are all these guys going to make the team and I think there are times where if you’re in a huge rebuild if you’re changing systems that that sort of thought process of having whatever six day three picks kind of makes sense but I do think at times you’re trying to pack his Adam move up in some other rounds if there’s a guy to Target I do think to Q’s point that makes sense you know as far as the Ballard excuses I mean we’re so beyond done with that I mean we’re about ready to get year five of that I mean that stuff is is exhausting to me I said it to you I guarantee you can find audio of the podcast after the luck retirement where I said something effective right here right now once you get through the Weeping and the crying about this you bring your Scouts together and that was what late August 2019 and you say guys we did not emphasize quarterbacks before this college football season necessarily started we now have to emphasize it you know like you are now scouting with a quarterback Centric Focus before any other position yes you’re doing the whole country as a whole but we need to get into the weeds and lo and behold what happened the 2020 draft class for quarterback was gold pure gold I mean you me you could talk about five hits out of that class Herbert two burrow Jaylen Herz Jordan love I mean you know five of them so that’s where I would push back on again the Colts just kind of I I thought they lacked urgency there in their kind of quarterback hungriness post luck and again they obviously did the Band-Aid thing and now here we are Anthony Richardson you know a handful of years later Ben says with the edition of skilled wide receivers including gold and offensive-defensive lineman do you think there will be an odd man out in the tight end room and whom if not what position will see cuts to make room daily streamer from Evansville let’s go Ben go purple Aces appreciate that shout out to the pocket City shout out to the purple Aces maybe the Screaming Eagles right Southern Indiana that’s true you know the thing about white out that’s interesting Eddie is duelan and ghould theoretically are wide receiver five and six right mhm but they’re locks for special teams yeah is also the theoretic nature so you do you really need 10 up front I’ll go back there can you just keep five linebackers yeah you know that’s a smaller number than normal um so I should probably nerd out over the 53 man roster here soon I haven’t done it in a while um but that would be kind of my early thought you know is there that fifth linebacker is going to be hard to predict my opinion yeah oh yeah definitely cuz Stuart will be the fourth because of special teams right and Al Luby you know is he kind of the zier Franklin backup if you know zire were to go down etc etc um you know you guys asked me a question on Friday’s show of like would Drew Ogle trees off the field stuff would that impact his roster spot at all or kind of give you a hey look at that I don’t think it’s there with Ogle tree I mean Ballard has spoken I I hate to say very highly the situation that that would undermine what what went on but you know Ballard said something to the fact of he’s very com comfortable with how the legal process played out yeah so if you take him at at his word you know Ogle Tre is not in the dogghouse by any means um but he’s the one that probably lacks the most playing time I thought mallerie had a couple nice flashes last year I’d like to see a little bit more of mallerie and again on the field I’ve always kind of been intrigued by Ogle tree and at times I thought there was more there I I mean galani Woods would have to have just a horrific offseason for him him to be in Jeopardy you know I’ve always looked at the mo Cox cap hit and thought boy that’s a lot for the return on investment there yeah but again they seem to be fans of it so yeah tight end is going to be one that yeah I I right now without doing the math keeping five tight end seems like a ton a ton I said this after the draft that I felt like Balor was in a lose lose situation with matter what he did other than trading up to get a wide receiver and this is a prime example as to why Josh’s Twitter question rounds us out on today’s Twitter questions and in the podcast absolutely livid that the Chiefs traded up for Xavier worthy and we wouldn’t we aren’t making it out of the AFC for another decade why are you bringing back 22 starters you aren’t willing to take a risk on moving up for game-changing offensive Talent using your cap space for signing your own and free agency only makes sense if you are willing to be aggressive in the draft there are only 53 roster spots available and we would have filled all of them if we only took two guys in the draft this year Well Josh I appreciate the cander um I guess let’s just start there clearly Josh n too pleased um again I guess kind of part of my disagreement on the Chris Ballard front at times is I just think you finding more the gamechanging talent of your top end of the roster albe it difficult that’s what has held the Colts back um you know we talk so much about you know guy 47 48 hey 16-man practice squad we rely on those guys there’s just so much turnover in those areas I think at times that stuff just becomes a bit of a shrug of the shoulders whereas the studs really impact and you I’ve brought this up before directly related to Houston last year they just had studs at the right spots and you saw that in week 18 and that would probably be where um some of the disagreement comes into it now of course the ad Mitchell pick and you know what want to look at Xavier worthy or I don’t know Keon Coleman or lad makoni I’m trying to think of the other white outs that kind of went in that range I mean hell there are probably some mock drafts that add ad Mitchell going before all those guys may maybe not worthy but some of the others as well um so I I I think in years past there can be you know some push back on that hesitancy on emphasizing some of those premium spots I don’t think there’s maybe as much of it here again it there is a two-way street to it um I think there’s if you want to take on the criticizing Chris Ballard hat I think there’s enough of it that I don’t necessarily walk away from this year’s draft and think oh my gosh you know why did he not do that why did he not do this I don’t have that sort of thought process and I’ve probably been one that’s you know maybe criticize Ballard more than most uh I do think there’s some validity if if you’re going to react to free agency the way the Colts do then there is more pressure on the draft certainly I think that’s a really fair statement with that um I would argue maybe there’s some unfair pressure on the draft and that’s your own doing with how you’ve handled that there but um I think more than anything Eddie the ad Mitchell pick is going to be absolutely fascinating to watch play out oh yeah because in behind the is it called behind the Colts this year MH yeah or whatever it is yeah their postd draft video released you can tell there was a little bit of all right let’s talk about him because Balor goes all right let’s talk about the Texas wide receiver I’m like oh so that kind of is like yeah I I can’t emphasize that enough there is certain hesitancy by key people in that building when it comes to ad Mitchell and that’s not totally uncommon I want to reiterate that um but I think there’s a lot I mean hell you trade it back from 46 yeah you know like even if you you know actions speak to that as well um like the ad Mitchell drafting SLC career Arc development path however you want to describe it Eddie I don’t want to speak in hyperbole that’s going to have a massive impact on Anthony Richardson oh yeah and just in general this era um I really really believe that I think and I probably would have said that for most white outs really drafted by the Colts this year yeah you know it’s something we talked about as kind of one of my pre-draft goals but yeah that that one’s going to be really really interesting like you said Colts rookie mini camp starts Thursday correct Friday Friday Friday Friday yeah yeah yeah Friday and Saturday so I’ll be out there for that so stay tuned to the website we’ll recap that next week probably recap a schedule release it sounds like that could be coming later this week still nothing official on that but seems like uh that kind of is how the NFLs typically operate either this week or next if you are craving the content between now and then make sure you follow Kevin if you don’t already at k 1070 on Twix give yourself a plug Eddie Garrison um I am Eddie Garrison on Twix uh Eddie Garrison will be busy with Pacers and nicks series I got Nicks in seven Eddie you six Nickson six man I thought you might go Pacers on that uh I can’t wait for it to unfold everybody thank you for listening to this podcast have a great great week Kevin’s Corner signing off