July 30, 2025 • 33 mins
Inside Football with Rick Venturi is back for 2025! Rick joins Matt Taylor to break down the first six practices of Colts’ training camp. They dive into the quarterback battle between Anthony Richardson and Daniel Jones, with insight on where Richardson has shown noticeable growth since last season. Venturi also covers key storylines on both sides of the ball, including Bernhard Raimann's contract extension, Alec Pierce's consistency, the Colts' new defensive scheme and the revamped secondary.
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Football is about the Jimmy's and Joe's, and x's and o's.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Nice write numbers, three jets, Spielberg, I'm one far right
ast big fly, Turbo, Zelda fourteen, Diablo.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Whim out a bunch, right, Robert de Niro.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
It's time to get out the chotboard and diagram some plays. Hey,
sure you get enough dep like twul yard fourteen yards,
break on everything.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
This is Inside Football with former Colts and NFL coach
Rick venturi Well.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
You know, it's not football season until we do certain things,
and one of those things is fire up Inside Football
with Rick Venturrey here in the podcast. We are so
back now in twenty twenty five. Great to have the
podcast back here with RV. I'm Matt Taylor here at
Graham Park in Westfield, the side of Colt's training camp.
Presented by Coursing Fire and Security, the Indiana Union Construction
(00:50):
Industry Radio studio. It has been taken on the road
and it's time to talk some football with Rick Venturrey
and tap into his nearly thirty years of NFL coach experience. Rick,
Welcome back to training camp. I talked about the coaching
side of things, but in terms of following training camps
being part of them, you're well into the forties, my friend.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Welcome back.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
If you can't.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
If you count my year in the CFL, it's forty four. Yeah,
we've seen a few training camps. But you know, and
you've heard me say this, We've been together for a
long time now. Is I love training camp? I always did.
I loved it as a coach, no matter how hot
it got. No we had tough he got or monotonous.
And I always really like the first two weeks where
(01:32):
we're at right now, because you're still teaching the game,
you're still installing, you're still teaching your young kids, and
yet you're playing. You don't have the pressure of a
game yet, you know, And to me, this is in
a lot of ways, like a lot of us, why
we went into it is the teaching aspect of it.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
And so yeah, I'm in my wheelhouse here, no.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Doubt about it. We've got so much to talk about today.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
We're going to recap the first six days of colts practice.
Day number six just got done. Full disclosure. We're taping
this on Tuesday, the second day of full pads. We're
going to talk about the main topics on both sides
of the ball.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
So let's get right after it.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
Man, we want to start with quarterbacks, sure, all right,
I'm just gonna lay it out there on a tee
for you. In terms of these quarterbacks here, it's the
main highlight of camp. You've got this quarterback going on
right in quarterback battle, I should say, between Anthony Richardson
Daniel Jones. This is one of the very few true
quarterback battles in the NFL in terms of overall training
(02:29):
camps around the NFL this summer. So let's start first
with Anthony Richardson. Take into account what you saw here
this afternoon, Rick, how does ar look to you so
far as it relates to him improving in the intermediate
part of the passing game, which he vowed to improve
in all off season. It was a problem for the
Colts in the passing game last year.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
The two things that I was most critical or most
worried about with Ar five is his ability to anticipate
and to be pinpoint accurate between the numbers intermediate not deep.
He can throw the deep ball. You know, he's a
freight train running the ball. There was never any doubt
about that. He can make an off platform throw, but
(03:11):
that led to that low percentage, you know, that holding
the ball when he's not sure, which ends up incomplete
or intercepted.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
What I've been happy with.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Particularly the last two days actually the two padded practice,
which I think the pads have helped the offense tell
you the truth. And I also think that the offense
the defense came in here with a new concept with
lou and it's a.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Sticky get after you choke off receivers.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
And it was a long day and I think some
of the low percentage was really more product of the
receivers getting stuffed that not really was the quarterbacks in efficiency.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
But what I've liked.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
About him, and it's specifically what I've been looking for,
is he has been more decisive early in the down
and getting the ball either to the in side or
inside out routes. He threw a beautiful seven corner yesterday,
but he threw a lot of balls inside. And with
guys like Downs and warn you can make a living
(04:10):
in there, particularly with Pierce now, who can take.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
The top off.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
You got you know, Pidman, you got Mitchell on the outside,
you got a runner, So you know what you need
is that inside passing game, you know that can just
high percentage rip them. And so you know, I've seen
him consciously. I'm sure coaching has a lot to do
with it, but I've seen him really consciously look better
(04:35):
in that aspect.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
And as it relates to the entire team, you know
you hear me say this a lot leads to more
complimentary football, staying on the field longer, and time of
possession for the Colts as a team that was such
a problem last year.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Well, the two things you can't have, and I don't
want to bring up the negative, but they're there. They're real,
is you can't have forty percent completion and you can't
have eight touchdowns and twelve interceptions, because what that's telling
you is you're not moving the football. You're incomplete. Your
third down statistics are awful. You're not moving it. When
(05:08):
you miss fire on first down, you're second and ten,
you're behind in the count. And I'm not sure that
we'll ever get Anthony to you know, sixty eight percent,
sixty seven percent, but if we could get him at
least this year to fifty five with a better turnover
to touchdown ratio, you know this team is good. Enough
to contend. So yeah, I'm with you totally. And you
(05:31):
have to be able to use the intermediate part of
the field. All right.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
What about Daniel Jones. He's looked pretty steady since he
arrived in March. He's been a consummant pro. I think
the biggest compliment I can give him is that he doesn't.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Look like someone that's been here only since March. Right now.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
He's done a really good job of taking command of
the playbook, knows where to go with the football. That's
been the book on him since he was drafted in
twenty nineteen by the Giants in the first round.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
So what is Jones showing you so well?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
You use the term steady, okay, and you know he's
he's understated. He never is a guy that either personality
wise or necessarily playing that you go like, wow, man,
I've never seen that before.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
But you see steady performance.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
If you look at his career, he's sixty four to
sixty seven percent right in there, even in the bad years.
You know, if you look at twenty two in isolation,
you know, it's fifteen touchdowns, five interceptions, sixty sixty seven percent.
You know, and then the thing that I've noticed this.
He's a much better athlete. And I knew he's a
good athlete, but he's made a lot of escapes, a
(06:36):
lot of throws on a dead run, and he's pretty accurate.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
He gets rid of the football. Uh, you know.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
The I think the biggest thing with him and the biggest,
the toughest thing totally is you're gonna have to make
this decision from the gut. We can sit here and
watch these practices and there's five significant outcomes. There's the
two you know, the two combined practices and three preseason games,
but really, training camp is going to go like this.
(07:04):
It's gonna be up and down, up and stock market
yet it is, it's up and down, so you know
in the end it's gonna come down.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
I think I think too.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Do you trust that Anthony has come that percentage as
a pure passer and then the other part of it,
do you trust that with Jonesy he has regained his
confidence as the kid from Minnesota did a year ago
Sam Darnold, if he's another Sam Darnold, because like I said,
(07:36):
the twenty two season was a winner totally, you know.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
And that's the most ideal outcome for the Colts as
it relates to Daniel Jones career resurgence.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Absolutely, absolutely that reassurgence to find twenty two and AR five,
to find the possession game and the consistency and a
higher percentage of throwing the football.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
I apologize, but if you had to play a game tomorrow,
what is.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Well you know, I would say based on this practice,
Based on practice so far, there hasn't been a big separation.
To be honest with you, it's not a huge separation.
So you probably would go with Richardson because of the
explosiveness of his play. If I look at history, I
(08:22):
don't know that I trust Anthony, and you could make
the case for Jones. So I'm not I'm not trying
to be vague on the hot seat, and I do
want to take this all the way to the end.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
I want to see.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Yeah, I think you've got to take it to the end,
and you've got to see live bullets flying, you know,
even though a preseason game isn't a regular season game,
but at least there's live bullets. And when you when
you have the combined practices and we'll talk about that
next week, at least you see a sophisticated defense that
you don't see in the preseason games.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
All right, let's go elsewhere within the offense.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
I want to talk about Tyler Warren, the rookie first
round draft pick out of Penn State. He had over
one hundred catches last year in the Big Ten. This
is the stat that just absolutely blows me away, because
everybody talks about his coming out party, if you want
to call it that. Against USC that's when I became
probably most privy to him. But in that game against
the Trojans Rick he had seventeen catches, two hundred and
(09:19):
twenty four yards and a touchdown. That was more than
the top Colts tight end had all of last season.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
That was Kylon Granson.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
So he had more production in one game than the
top Colts tight end did all of last season. So
how much of his presence alone is going to fix
the Colts intermediate part of that passing game the woes
they had last year.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Well, he's a terrific prospect, period and you can see it.
I mean you can see it every day in practice.
He does something that you like, you saw versatility today.
They had him in the backfield, they put him in motion.
They can displace him. He can play at the end
of the line as a true why he can play displaced,
he's been into backfield. He can even throw the ball.
(10:00):
He's going to be a terrific red zone threat because
of his length and you know, to use a cliche
term as catching radius, but he can catch it. He
catches it well. He's a three down guy. He never
comes off the field. I think he gives us a
middle of the field offensive weapon that we just haven't had.
In my opinion on Warren is he will be as
(10:24):
good as our quarterbacks make him.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Because it's not it's not gonna be about him. I mean,
he the.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Only thing he isn't He isn't blazing, but he's athletic
and quick. He has very quick movements. He's very fluid.
You know, he can turn and make a back door catch.
I mean and he can and he can separate with
both quickness and with that length.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
You know that get length. So I think if we structure.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Like the last couple of days, once we got in
the pads, we were struggling so hard on the outside
against our corners. When we brought the offense back inside
or inside out right, you know, then you saw him,
and you saw our quarterbacks flirst, but then you see
him how important he is to the game.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
Rick Venturry right there inside football. Another weapon I want
to talk about is Alec Pierce having a really consistent camp.
He's coming off or his dealing with a little bit
of a blister on his foot. Had to sit out
Monday as we take this on Tuesday, but he was
back in action today full pads and he's again consistent.
Led the NFL last year in yards per catch twenty
(11:24):
two point three. That was the highest NFL average per
catch since twenty ten.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Is as Piers.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Capable of being both a deep threat and a possession
or high volume type receiver. Is he capable of taking
on even more to round out his game?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
At one time I didn't think he was, And he is,
in my opinion, one of the most improved players in
three years that I've ever been around, either coaching or broadcasting.
He has gone from a one trick pony vertical beat
you win or else a year ago. He became a
terrific fifty fifty guy. And it started right out here
(12:01):
at Grand Park. We are seeing him do it every day.
He carried it right into the season and you know
what I've seen now is a much smoother guy off
the break. When you talk about more versatility, catching more
balls intermediate in and out. He was also very choppy
as a rookie. No, I think that he is a
game breaker. The fact that he's number one, that's not
(12:24):
an accident. I mean that's a big deal. And he's
gonna get paid. I mean he is going to get
paid because he's one of those guys. See what you know.
When I look at our offense and defense, I look
at it through the prism of I'm getting ready to
play these guys. As a coordinator, I use my coaching background,
and he's a guy I got a defense.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
Speaking of improvement, as we go to the offensive line,
the headline there is Bernard Yman has really improved as
a player. He is top ten left tackle in terms
of all the analytical grades run blocking, pass protection among
left tackles. And the story there is the Colts announced
today earlier on Tuesday that he did sign a contract extension.
(13:05):
Reports say, according to the NFL Network and the Indie Star,
it's a four year contract extension. How important was it
for the Colts to get that done with a player
that is a premium player at a premium position.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Yeah, and that's the key. He is a really good player.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
We were fortunate to get him in the third round
and the only reason for that was he didn't have
a big football background. I knew that he had all
the qualifications to be a left tackle. I thought he
was Anthony Costanzo without a big football background. Yeah, he's
done everything at TUX. He's learned the game, he's bulked
up with good weight. He is a premier player now
(13:42):
at left tackle, and the word is premiere.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
He can handle the edge and it's a premier position.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
The one thing in modern day football, with the hard
salary caps and the mobility of players, what you can't
let out of your building is guys that are game changers. Yeah,
and dreamium positions. You just you're going to lose some people.
It's just the nature of the game.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
And they never hit free agency.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
You cannot let those guys out of the building, right
And I respect the Colts for not waiting on it
to let's do it. You know, we know we got
to have them. Let's don't fool around with it. Make
him a very fair offer.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
Yeah, he was going into the last year of his
rookie deal, drafted in twenty twenty two, and again has
steadily improved his production elsewhere along this offensive line. I
got a two parter here. I want to combine these
two Rick. We got a battle at center, Tanner Bordolini
and Danny Pinter. They both have been running with the
first team offense at different points of camp so far.
So which of those guys do you favor based on
(14:40):
what you've seen in the grand picture of things. Both
guys started at center at times last year, and then
Matt Gonzalve is going from tackle to right guard in
this offseason. What's your confidence level that he's going to
be able to hold up and play a high level
of that position.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Well, first question, it's a tough choice between Danny and
bordel because in a way they're the same guy.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
They are almost clones of one another.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Danny's played pretty well at center when he's asked to
go in there, not so much at guard, But at center,
Mordelini is a career center. Both of them are a
bit undersize, but real smart can get up into the
second level, can make all the physical adjustments. The biggest
problem both of them would have and you can see
(15:26):
it in one on ones with big guys like Grover
that are monsters at nose tackles, not the quick guys,
the monsters. They may struggle a little bit, but I
think we're going to come out of there with a
good center. I got a feeling it'll be Bordolini just
because he's played center so long, but really that could
go either way. Gonzalvee is to me, and you know
(15:47):
you've heard me say this. He was he overplayed my
expectations a year ago. I didn't think that. I thought
he'd be a developmental guy, particularly at tackle, and then
he was forced into the action by injuries and the
thing with Brayden, and you know what, he played better
and not expected into play. I've always said that he
(16:09):
is a much better adept at guard because he is
no longer he's not isolated out in space. If he
has an issue, it's when he gets out on that island.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
This is this is why Ryman is so good. Ryman
can play on that island.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
He struggles a little bit with that speed in athleticism,
but when you put him in guard, it's condensed. You know,
now he will you know, like he had a little
trouble with Buckner yesterday in one on one.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
He will at right.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Guard face a lot of the top three techniques in
the league that are athletics.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
So but I am much more confident in him at guard.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
It's really funny when you look at our offensive line
and they come up, I mean, they're gigantic, and then
they come like this, and then the both centers they
come down.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
It's like it's like a little valley at center.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
And you know, but I mean that you know that
that potentially, you know, I mean, the left side is
Pro Bowl, Pro Bowl, it's a it's a're our offensive line.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Can win games and it's solid in place in the future.
Two yeah. Contract wise, Now, obviously with today's news.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Before we go to the defensive side of the ball,
anything else on offense, we need to talk about that.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
You're you're looking.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
At well, you know, I've been keeping my mind on everything,
and I think kind of the enigma, I'll say the enigma,
and the guy that could really give us a shot
in the arm is Mitchell.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Mitchell. You know.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Now, he had a couple of drops first couple of days.
Today today he was terrific. He's stacked two days Yeah,
he stacked him. I mean, he caught that post. But
what the more impressive one was the outcut he made
on the corner down here. Because what he can do
more than anybody downs might be close, is he can
separate off the break.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
No one separates like him.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
But he's got to make layups and he's got to
catch the ball consistently, be into the game, be on
the same page with quarterback. But my goodness, if we
could get him to play like the last two days
opposite Pierce on the other side, with those inside weapons,
we could be really good.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
All right, let's go defense now. And I know that
side of the ball you're very intrigued with. You can
already see. I said it day two because you could
see it that early, the scheme difference on defense. Yeah,
secondary is playing tight, they're making plays. You're already seeing
the defense send more pressures within the front seven. How
much do you like? And it's bare bones right because
(18:32):
it's training camp, but within the skeleton if you will,
of what you're seeing, how much do you like so far?
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Well?
Speaker 2 (18:37):
I thought, you know, we had a really good offseason.
I thought we made really good moves on free agents.
But maybe the best move was to change the defensive coordinator,
defensive staff. And you know, and you know, in all honesty,
you know, I'm gonna be caddy here. You know, the
last six years, five years, we've run a remediated defensive
(19:01):
coverage scheme. The coverage geame has been behind, it's been
over simple. It's allowed quarterbacks and receiver to eat us alive.
Now you come out and lou Annerumo brings in a
real NFL sophisticated, aggressive pressing matchup type of defense that
I've always favored. I'm not saying something out of school
(19:23):
that I haven't said for the last six years. And
all of a sudden, and then we go out and
we get a elite corner.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
In ward, we.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Get a premier safety in Combinam. You have a top
tier nickel in Kenny crosses on his way. So then
it looks like we got a steal, which isn't a
steel to me. But in Wally, you know, you know,
Jalen got hurt a little bit today on a hamstring,
but he's been playing great. So but what you're doing
(19:53):
is for that third and fourth and fifth corner, you're
talking about guys that were ones. So you know, between
on a Rumo scheme and the improvement on the back end,
I think and my goal, I'm looking at three areas
that we really have to that will make us a
better team. Won his offense, both Daniel Jones and Anthony
(20:16):
were twenty seven and twenty eighth last year back to
back in QBR.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
We got to get that up to fifteen. Okay, I'm
trying to be realized.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
The top half.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Okay, Now, defense twenty ninth, we got to get that
to fifteen. You do those two things and then get
that turnover ratio from a minus four into the top ten.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
With the rest of the talent on this team.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
You're looking at double digit wins.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
You are, you're looking at playoff time, and it's to
me if you look at those three absolute tangible statistics,
that's what you're shooting.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
For elsewhere within the secondary rookie justin Wally Adam, Minnesota,
Before I ask you a question about what we've seen
out of him so far, did you have him as
high on your board as the Colts did they took
him in Round three?
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Where were you at?
Speaker 2 (21:02):
I was right between three and four. He was one
of the guys that Chris actually had me look at.
You know, sometimes he'll give me a handful of guys
to look at, just just to get an opinion from
a thousand feet up. And I really liked him. And
the problem that he had was other than speed. His
workout was below you know, the vertical all that, you know,
(21:23):
his shuttles, and people kind of turned off on him,
and and you know, and Chris kept saying, I think
he could really play. I looked at the tape and
I said, speed. You know me, If you can't run,
I don't want you. But then if you have speed,
let the tape did take to you? Oh and a
kid is terrific on tape, then you know whether or
(21:44):
not you took him third or fourth, just thank god
you got him and give me you know, I got
to give Chris credit.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Who gives a damn with you? You're third or fourth?
Speaker 2 (21:52):
You know you and I always laugh. The draft now
has taken on a life of its own. It's like
a schedule to itself. That's all we talk about for threeident.
A week later in the first mini came. Nobody cares
about it. It doesn't matter. And no and on the team
or or not. He's confirmed it both in mini camp
and had a good day out here that had a
great breakup over in the middle, So you know, I
(22:13):
mean you know again that looks now. One thing about him,
I will say this, I think I mentioned this to
you the other day.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
With a guy like Ward on the other side, he's
gonna get tested well.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
But can you can you put in two words because
you mentioned Jalen Jones got banged up a little bit today,
we'll see the severity of that had to be carted
off the field. No Juju Brents today as again we're
taping this on Tuesday. But just the fact that he's
they're just throwing him out there and seeing how much
he can handle, how much they can trust him in
a couple of different positions. Can you put into words,
(22:44):
because you've been at this a long time, just how
rare this is this guy is.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
I don't want to use.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
The word against supplanting because we haven't played a game yet,
but if it does happen, he's going to be playing
over guys like Jalen Jones that have You know, he
started all seventeen games last year and started twenty seven
of the last twenty eight games in the.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Regular season, and he's had a great camp. Yeah, it's
not like Jones hasn't. Jones has competed.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
I think what it really comes down to, I think
Lou and I see the game the same way. We
see it as a matchup, pressing game at corner, and
we favor speed and quickness and toughness to everything. And
that's what he carries beyond everybody else. He has that
four four one speed, so we know he can catch up.
(23:28):
Like you know, the other day he was behind down
here in the red zone, but in five steps he
caught up and knocked the ball down. Yeah, and you
know again, you gotta let tape take you. You know,
unless you know, when a guy's over four or five,
it's always a little scary. And what Lou is looking
for and he's going to sacrifice everything before has been
(23:49):
length length length. No, He's like I was, I want speed, speed, speed.
You know, I knelt at the altar of Il Davis
for years and years and years, and that's what this
kid brings me. He he had really good on tape.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
Matt, all right, let's go to another layer of this defense.
Let's talk about linebacker. A lot of guys are rotating
in with the first team defense due to the absence
of a Zaire Franklin still rehabbing from off season ankle surgery.
So which players are catching your eye or starting to
flare up a little bit?
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Playing mic alongside Jaylen Carl.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Yeah, well, we know a Louvy and I thought a
Louvis played pretty well in relief a year ago. But
those weren't small samples, they weren't very long. But he
seems to he seems to have the ability to be
a ball magnet, you know, he just seems like he
alway gets his hands on it or something. But the
two guys that have caught my eye kind of out
(24:43):
of nowhere is the local kid mcgron and Batchie, the
kid that played for Lewett Cincinnati. I think you know
a Jaki also, but I would say mcgrone in Batchie
are the two guys that have really caught my eye.
They've they've made plays and uh, you know, it'll be
(25:06):
good to get Zaire back, but this also gives those
guys the opportunity to blow out.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Scale of one to ten.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
Before we move on from linebacker, how big of a
deal is it that Zaire the biggest leader of the
team emotionally, spiritually, and then I think also too, he's
just got great high football IQ. How big of a
deal is it that we haven't seen him yet?
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Scale one to ten with a new deal.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Yeah, you know, I'd say I'd say five. I think
he'll be just fine. You you hit it on the head.
He is rare intelligence. I mean this is a double
major how to Syracuse. One of them's economics. I mean,
do you think we could do that? I mean you
probably could. I got a couple of blocks for I
don't think, yeah that's what I still have a financial
(25:51):
guy in New Orleans.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
No, I don't. I think he'll be okay.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Uh and mentally, Uh, it would probably be very difficult
up for some guys. I think he has the ability
to do it, and he does. He has a great
leadership role on this team. There's a he you know,
he as an NFL presence. He's very important. I mean
he's really important to this defense. But you know, there's
(26:18):
no sense rushing him. I mean you want him fully
healthy when he comes in there.
Speaker 4 (26:22):
As we wrap up here, let's go to the defensive line.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
The Colts pass rush. It's gonna be pretty diverse this season.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
Quity pay lat year number two, j T Tuamoloau, Samson
Ebacom coming back after a torn achilles last year.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Taekwon Lewis is back.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
Rick, whis your confidence level in that group based on
what you've seen so far here in camp?
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Well, I think we haven't established this yet, and I
think this is a must because our secondary is gonna
be so much better that I can tell you.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
You can mark on that.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Our linebackers will be I worry less about that position
as far as premium position than any Yeah, defensive lines
of premium position. And we have to be able, whether
it's a lot too. We have to establish impact on
the orb. We have to have an impact restaurant on
the outside. So far, we don't have that. We've had,
(27:14):
you know, we've had guys that are okay, but nobody
that you on Tuesday night, you know, you're saying, oh
my god, I got to turn the protection of this guy.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
I gotta chip him every down. We need to get that.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
And I'm not, you know, just watching uh tummy Miloa,
you know, and the one on one down there. He's
pretty good, you know, a lot too, very slick tae
kwon is a combination guy.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
Yep, decent on the edge.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
He'll be the guy that comes in and plays the
the rush inside guy like our kid that we uh
that we let go Dingbo.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
He'll he'll have that. Well, I forget you quick when
you're gone. You know, I was like that as a
coach too. I love you and you're gone, then I
don't know. I don't know where the hell you are.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
But uh and and I think we you know we
you say, we have a lot of diversity, and we
have rushers. I think we'll be all right, but I
think we need those two young kids to bring impact.
I mean to where you're really worried about them. And
my biggest concern is backup tackle running game. Okay, not
(28:24):
back up tackle passing game, because we can move Timo
in there, lewis in there. I mean, it's not the
rush issue. It's whenever Grover and a problem. When Grover
and Buckner go out of the game, it's second and five,
it's almost a full yard. It's almost like the offense
goes run. You know, they have a sign right, you know,
(28:44):
and and you know we'd be frustrated doing the game.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Here we go on a drive that's all rushing and
you say.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
God, how did they get here?
Speaker 3 (28:51):
You know how they get here? And so you know,
I don't know Gallimore.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
We just we just signed a guy that played for
Lou three and forty pounds, you know.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
And I.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Think with Lou, just like with me in the old days,
you're gonna see more Sarah Gusa type, more more stuffersah
and let people run around them than just pure athletes
running the gaps.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
Last thing here before I wrap up. You're old school guy, right,
you can't bs Rick Venturi? What are some things that
you want to see that will lead hopefully to this
team getting off to a little bit of a faster start, right,
haven't won Week one since twenty thirteen? Closing seasons better?
You know you're five and nine record wise in Week
(29:34):
sixteen through eighteen since twenty twenty, trying to win close games.
The Colts played thirteen one score games last season. What
are some things that you want to see out of
this camp that will produce better results in those key
areas for the Colts that have to a decent degree
kept them out.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Of the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Well, I would say number one, number one, and it's
I don't know if it's an intangible bull or it's
it's not. You can't measure it numbers wise. We have
to we have to.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
Bring toughness to the picture. I mean, our padded practices
have to be tough.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
It's it's not bad for the first two days, mis
Scott improved.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
I I along with that.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
I want to see our starters play more in the
preseason games because that's the only time you're going to tackle.
And I don't bitch to me in September that we're
missing tackles when you never practice tackling.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
I mean you have to do it. I think that
the tone of toughness.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
I'm not a big believer in these in these rest days,
I'll tell you unfiltered because I think you establish toughness,
you don't talk about it.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Uh. I was talking with Casey earlier today.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
I worked for six of the toughest NFL coaches of
all times. Not a one of them ever talked toughness.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
But we practice lived it. Toughness. We lived it. Toughness
was a way of life.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
Or you could hit the road, you could get on
the bus, and I think we need to establish that.
I think beyond that, it goes back to those numbers
I talked about with you before quarterbacking. I think we've
got to get from that twenty seventh twenty eight QBR
up to fifteen. Let's get us in the top half
on QBR defense. You know the Anairumo handprint. Let's get
(31:22):
us from twenty nine. Just get us to fifteen. Don't
get it, you know, I'm not asking realistic to be
in the top three. Get us to fifteen, and then
get that turnover ratio, which right now is a minus four,
which is in the bottom twelve. You get us up
in the top ten. If you look at the NFL
over years, the top ten turnover ratio teams are always
(31:43):
in the playoffs. There's an outlier, like the Greatest Show
on Turf was an outlier, but there's not many.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
But there's scoring thirty eight exactly exactly.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
It's an outlier, you know. And you know the minus four.
We were always pretty good here and we really took
a step back. So if you get those three areas,
you know, and then you know, I don't you know,
he seems okay. I hope our place kicking is okay.
You know, we never talk about that, do we miss one,
you know, you know, and and then I think, you know,
(32:12):
you know, I think it's Shane. I don't know how
to put this other tactfully. It's Shane's growth as a
head coach and that that comes in toughness, personnel decisions,
game management.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
You know, game management is one of the most underrated
things in football.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
We talk about it in basketball all the time, but
game management is everything in football as well.
Speaker 4 (32:30):
That's the great Rick van Turry and that's our first
installment of Inside Football here Training Camp twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Like I said earlier, we are so back. We are back.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
We are back.
Speaker 4 (32:42):
No no hiccups, no hitches, Yes, sir, that ball's coming
out on time when Rick Van Turrey's on the podcast,
no question about it, all right. So reminder that the
Cults are going to host that night practice tomorrow, that
is Thursday night this week from six to eight. They're
going to have an off day on Friday, then return
to work back to back over the weekend, working out
(33:03):
Saturday and Sunday here at Grand Park. And for that
complete camp schedule, all you gotta do head to colts
dot com slash Camp download your tickets there. It's a
one stop shop for everything you need to know about
training camp up at Graham Park. Rick Van Turrey bringing
the heat as he always does, right out of the gate.
I'm Matt Taylor. Thanks for listening to this first installment
(33:24):
here in twenty twenty five in training camp of Inside Football,
and we will talk to you next week
Football is about the Jimmy's and Joe's, and x's and o's.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
Nice write numbers, three jets, Spielberg, I'm one far right
ast big fly, Turbo, Zelda fourteen, Diablo.
Speaker 3 (00:13):
Whim out a bunch, right, Robert de Niro.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
It's time to get out the chotboard and diagram some plays. Hey,
sure you get enough dep like twul yard fourteen yards,
break on everything.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
This is Inside Football with former Colts and NFL coach
Rick venturi Well.
Speaker 4 (00:29):
You know, it's not football season until we do certain things,
and one of those things is fire up Inside Football
with Rick Venturrey here in the podcast. We are so
back now in twenty twenty five. Great to have the
podcast back here with RV. I'm Matt Taylor here at
Graham Park in Westfield, the side of Colt's training camp.
Presented by Coursing Fire and Security, the Indiana Union Construction
(00:50):
Industry Radio studio. It has been taken on the road
and it's time to talk some football with Rick Venturrey
and tap into his nearly thirty years of NFL coach experience. Rick,
Welcome back to training camp. I talked about the coaching
side of things, but in terms of following training camps
being part of them, you're well into the forties, my friend.
Speaker 1 (01:09):
Welcome back.
Speaker 3 (01:10):
If you can't.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
If you count my year in the CFL, it's forty four. Yeah,
we've seen a few training camps. But you know, and
you've heard me say this, We've been together for a
long time now. Is I love training camp? I always did.
I loved it as a coach, no matter how hot
it got. No we had tough he got or monotonous.
And I always really like the first two weeks where
(01:32):
we're at right now, because you're still teaching the game,
you're still installing, you're still teaching your young kids, and
yet you're playing. You don't have the pressure of a
game yet, you know, And to me, this is in
a lot of ways, like a lot of us, why
we went into it is the teaching aspect of it.
Speaker 3 (01:50):
And so yeah, I'm in my wheelhouse here, no.
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Doubt about it. We've got so much to talk about today.
Speaker 4 (01:55):
We're going to recap the first six days of colts practice.
Day number six just got done. Full disclosure. We're taping
this on Tuesday, the second day of full pads. We're
going to talk about the main topics on both sides
of the ball.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
So let's get right after it.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
Man, we want to start with quarterbacks, sure, all right,
I'm just gonna lay it out there on a tee
for you. In terms of these quarterbacks here, it's the
main highlight of camp. You've got this quarterback going on
right in quarterback battle, I should say, between Anthony Richardson
Daniel Jones. This is one of the very few true
quarterback battles in the NFL in terms of overall training
(02:29):
camps around the NFL this summer. So let's start first
with Anthony Richardson. Take into account what you saw here
this afternoon, Rick, how does ar look to you so
far as it relates to him improving in the intermediate
part of the passing game, which he vowed to improve
in all off season. It was a problem for the
Colts in the passing game last year.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (02:48):
The two things that I was most critical or most
worried about with Ar five is his ability to anticipate
and to be pinpoint accurate between the numbers intermediate not deep.
He can throw the deep ball. You know, he's a
freight train running the ball. There was never any doubt
about that. He can make an off platform throw, but
(03:11):
that led to that low percentage, you know, that holding
the ball when he's not sure, which ends up incomplete
or intercepted.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
What I've been happy with.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Particularly the last two days actually the two padded practice,
which I think the pads have helped the offense tell
you the truth. And I also think that the offense
the defense came in here with a new concept with
lou and it's a.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
Sticky get after you choke off receivers.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
And it was a long day and I think some
of the low percentage was really more product of the
receivers getting stuffed that not really was the quarterbacks in efficiency.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
But what I've liked.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
About him, and it's specifically what I've been looking for,
is he has been more decisive early in the down
and getting the ball either to the in side or
inside out routes. He threw a beautiful seven corner yesterday,
but he threw a lot of balls inside. And with
guys like Downs and warn you can make a living
(04:10):
in there, particularly with Pierce now, who can take.
Speaker 3 (04:12):
The top off.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
You got you know, Pidman, you got Mitchell on the outside,
you got a runner, So you know what you need
is that inside passing game, you know that can just
high percentage rip them. And so you know, I've seen
him consciously. I'm sure coaching has a lot to do
with it, but I've seen him really consciously look better
(04:35):
in that aspect.
Speaker 4 (04:36):
And as it relates to the entire team, you know
you hear me say this a lot leads to more
complimentary football, staying on the field longer, and time of
possession for the Colts as a team that was such
a problem last year.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
Well, the two things you can't have, and I don't
want to bring up the negative, but they're there. They're real,
is you can't have forty percent completion and you can't
have eight touchdowns and twelve interceptions, because what that's telling
you is you're not moving the football. You're incomplete. Your
third down statistics are awful. You're not moving it. When
(05:08):
you miss fire on first down, you're second and ten,
you're behind in the count. And I'm not sure that
we'll ever get Anthony to you know, sixty eight percent,
sixty seven percent, but if we could get him at
least this year to fifty five with a better turnover
to touchdown ratio, you know this team is good. Enough
to contend. So yeah, I'm with you totally. And you
(05:31):
have to be able to use the intermediate part of
the field. All right.
Speaker 4 (05:35):
What about Daniel Jones. He's looked pretty steady since he
arrived in March. He's been a consummant pro. I think
the biggest compliment I can give him is that he doesn't.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
Look like someone that's been here only since March. Right now.
Speaker 4 (05:47):
He's done a really good job of taking command of
the playbook, knows where to go with the football. That's
been the book on him since he was drafted in
twenty nineteen by the Giants in the first round.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
So what is Jones showing you so well?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
You use the term steady, okay, and you know he's
he's understated. He never is a guy that either personality
wise or necessarily playing that you go like, wow, man,
I've never seen that before.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
But you see steady performance.
Speaker 2 (06:14):
If you look at his career, he's sixty four to
sixty seven percent right in there, even in the bad years.
You know, if you look at twenty two in isolation,
you know, it's fifteen touchdowns, five interceptions, sixty sixty seven percent.
You know, and then the thing that I've noticed this.
He's a much better athlete. And I knew he's a
good athlete, but he's made a lot of escapes, a
(06:36):
lot of throws on a dead run, and he's pretty accurate.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
He gets rid of the football. Uh, you know.
Speaker 2 (06:42):
The I think the biggest thing with him and the biggest,
the toughest thing totally is you're gonna have to make
this decision from the gut. We can sit here and
watch these practices and there's five significant outcomes. There's the
two you know, the two combined practices and three preseason games,
but really, training camp is going to go like this.
(07:04):
It's gonna be up and down, up and stock market
yet it is, it's up and down, so you know
in the end it's gonna come down.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
I think I think too.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
Do you trust that Anthony has come that percentage as
a pure passer and then the other part of it,
do you trust that with Jonesy he has regained his
confidence as the kid from Minnesota did a year ago
Sam Darnold, if he's another Sam Darnold, because like I said,
(07:36):
the twenty two season was a winner totally, you know.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
And that's the most ideal outcome for the Colts as
it relates to Daniel Jones career resurgence.
Speaker 2 (07:45):
Absolutely, absolutely that reassurgence to find twenty two and AR five,
to find the possession game and the consistency and a
higher percentage of throwing the football.
Speaker 1 (07:56):
I apologize, but if you had to play a game tomorrow,
what is.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Well you know, I would say based on this practice,
Based on practice so far, there hasn't been a big separation.
To be honest with you, it's not a huge separation.
So you probably would go with Richardson because of the
explosiveness of his play. If I look at history, I
(08:22):
don't know that I trust Anthony, and you could make
the case for Jones. So I'm not I'm not trying
to be vague on the hot seat, and I do
want to take this all the way to the end.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
I want to see.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Yeah, I think you've got to take it to the end,
and you've got to see live bullets flying, you know,
even though a preseason game isn't a regular season game,
but at least there's live bullets. And when you when
you have the combined practices and we'll talk about that
next week, at least you see a sophisticated defense that
you don't see in the preseason games.
Speaker 1 (08:54):
All right, let's go elsewhere within the offense.
Speaker 4 (08:56):
I want to talk about Tyler Warren, the rookie first
round draft pick out of Penn State. He had over
one hundred catches last year in the Big Ten. This
is the stat that just absolutely blows me away, because
everybody talks about his coming out party, if you want
to call it that. Against USC that's when I became
probably most privy to him. But in that game against
the Trojans Rick he had seventeen catches, two hundred and
(09:19):
twenty four yards and a touchdown. That was more than
the top Colts tight end had all of last season.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
That was Kylon Granson.
Speaker 4 (09:28):
So he had more production in one game than the
top Colts tight end did all of last season. So
how much of his presence alone is going to fix
the Colts intermediate part of that passing game the woes
they had last year.
Speaker 2 (09:40):
Well, he's a terrific prospect, period and you can see it.
I mean you can see it every day in practice.
He does something that you like, you saw versatility today.
They had him in the backfield, they put him in motion.
They can displace him. He can play at the end
of the line as a true why he can play displaced,
he's been into backfield. He can even throw the ball.
(10:00):
He's going to be a terrific red zone threat because
of his length and you know, to use a cliche
term as catching radius, but he can catch it. He
catches it well. He's a three down guy. He never
comes off the field. I think he gives us a
middle of the field offensive weapon that we just haven't had.
In my opinion on Warren is he will be as
(10:24):
good as our quarterbacks make him.
Speaker 3 (10:25):
Because it's not it's not gonna be about him. I mean,
he the.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
Only thing he isn't He isn't blazing, but he's athletic
and quick. He has very quick movements. He's very fluid.
You know, he can turn and make a back door catch.
I mean and he can and he can separate with
both quickness and with that length.
Speaker 3 (10:44):
You know that get length. So I think if we structure.
Speaker 2 (10:48):
Like the last couple of days, once we got in
the pads, we were struggling so hard on the outside
against our corners. When we brought the offense back inside
or inside out right, you know, then you saw him,
and you saw our quarterbacks flirst, but then you see
him how important he is to the game.
Speaker 4 (11:04):
Rick Venturry right there inside football. Another weapon I want
to talk about is Alec Pierce having a really consistent camp.
He's coming off or his dealing with a little bit
of a blister on his foot. Had to sit out
Monday as we take this on Tuesday, but he was
back in action today full pads and he's again consistent.
Led the NFL last year in yards per catch twenty
(11:24):
two point three. That was the highest NFL average per
catch since twenty ten.
Speaker 1 (11:30):
Is as Piers.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
Capable of being both a deep threat and a possession
or high volume type receiver. Is he capable of taking
on even more to round out his game?
Speaker 2 (11:39):
At one time I didn't think he was, And he is,
in my opinion, one of the most improved players in
three years that I've ever been around, either coaching or broadcasting.
He has gone from a one trick pony vertical beat
you win or else a year ago. He became a
terrific fifty fifty guy. And it started right out here
(12:01):
at Grand Park. We are seeing him do it every day.
He carried it right into the season and you know
what I've seen now is a much smoother guy off
the break. When you talk about more versatility, catching more
balls intermediate in and out. He was also very choppy
as a rookie. No, I think that he is a
game breaker. The fact that he's number one, that's not
(12:24):
an accident. I mean that's a big deal. And he's
gonna get paid. I mean he is going to get
paid because he's one of those guys. See what you know.
When I look at our offense and defense, I look
at it through the prism of I'm getting ready to
play these guys. As a coordinator, I use my coaching background,
and he's a guy I got a defense.
Speaker 4 (12:44):
Speaking of improvement, as we go to the offensive line,
the headline there is Bernard Yman has really improved as
a player. He is top ten left tackle in terms
of all the analytical grades run blocking, pass protection among
left tackles. And the story there is the Colts announced
today earlier on Tuesday that he did sign a contract extension.
(13:05):
Reports say, according to the NFL Network and the Indie Star,
it's a four year contract extension. How important was it
for the Colts to get that done with a player
that is a premium player at a premium position.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
Yeah, and that's the key. He is a really good player.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
We were fortunate to get him in the third round
and the only reason for that was he didn't have
a big football background. I knew that he had all
the qualifications to be a left tackle. I thought he
was Anthony Costanzo without a big football background. Yeah, he's
done everything at TUX. He's learned the game, he's bulked
up with good weight. He is a premier player now
(13:42):
at left tackle, and the word is premiere.
Speaker 3 (13:44):
He can handle the edge and it's a premier position.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
The one thing in modern day football, with the hard
salary caps and the mobility of players, what you can't
let out of your building is guys that are game changers. Yeah,
and dreamium positions. You just you're going to lose some people.
It's just the nature of the game.
Speaker 1 (14:04):
And they never hit free agency.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
You cannot let those guys out of the building, right
And I respect the Colts for not waiting on it
to let's do it. You know, we know we got
to have them. Let's don't fool around with it. Make
him a very fair offer.
Speaker 4 (14:19):
Yeah, he was going into the last year of his
rookie deal, drafted in twenty twenty two, and again has
steadily improved his production elsewhere along this offensive line. I
got a two parter here. I want to combine these
two Rick. We got a battle at center, Tanner Bordolini
and Danny Pinter. They both have been running with the
first team offense at different points of camp so far.
So which of those guys do you favor based on
(14:40):
what you've seen in the grand picture of things. Both
guys started at center at times last year, and then
Matt Gonzalve is going from tackle to right guard in
this offseason. What's your confidence level that he's going to
be able to hold up and play a high level
of that position.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Well, first question, it's a tough choice between Danny and
bordel because in a way they're the same guy.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
They are almost clones of one another.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
Danny's played pretty well at center when he's asked to
go in there, not so much at guard, But at center,
Mordelini is a career center. Both of them are a
bit undersize, but real smart can get up into the
second level, can make all the physical adjustments. The biggest
problem both of them would have and you can see
(15:26):
it in one on ones with big guys like Grover
that are monsters at nose tackles, not the quick guys,
the monsters. They may struggle a little bit, but I
think we're going to come out of there with a
good center. I got a feeling it'll be Bordolini just
because he's played center so long, but really that could
go either way. Gonzalvee is to me, and you know
(15:47):
you've heard me say this. He was he overplayed my
expectations a year ago. I didn't think that. I thought
he'd be a developmental guy, particularly at tackle, and then
he was forced into the action by injuries and the
thing with Brayden, and you know what, he played better
and not expected into play. I've always said that he
(16:09):
is a much better adept at guard because he is
no longer he's not isolated out in space. If he
has an issue, it's when he gets out on that island.
Speaker 3 (16:20):
This is this is why Ryman is so good. Ryman
can play on that island.
Speaker 2 (16:23):
He struggles a little bit with that speed in athleticism,
but when you put him in guard, it's condensed. You know,
now he will you know, like he had a little
trouble with Buckner yesterday in one on one.
Speaker 3 (16:35):
He will at right.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
Guard face a lot of the top three techniques in
the league that are athletics.
Speaker 3 (16:40):
So but I am much more confident in him at guard.
Speaker 2 (16:44):
It's really funny when you look at our offensive line
and they come up, I mean, they're gigantic, and then
they come like this, and then the both centers they
come down.
Speaker 3 (16:55):
It's like it's like a little valley at center.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
And you know, but I mean that you know that
that potentially, you know, I mean, the left side is
Pro Bowl, Pro Bowl, it's a it's a're our offensive line.
Speaker 1 (17:10):
Can win games and it's solid in place in the future.
Two yeah. Contract wise, Now, obviously with today's news.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Before we go to the defensive side of the ball,
anything else on offense, we need to talk about that.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
You're you're looking.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
At well, you know, I've been keeping my mind on everything,
and I think kind of the enigma, I'll say the enigma,
and the guy that could really give us a shot
in the arm is Mitchell.
Speaker 3 (17:32):
Mitchell. You know.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Now, he had a couple of drops first couple of days.
Today today he was terrific. He's stacked two days Yeah,
he stacked him. I mean, he caught that post. But
what the more impressive one was the outcut he made
on the corner down here. Because what he can do
more than anybody downs might be close, is he can
separate off the break.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
No one separates like him.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
But he's got to make layups and he's got to
catch the ball consistently, be into the game, be on
the same page with quarterback. But my goodness, if we
could get him to play like the last two days
opposite Pierce on the other side, with those inside weapons,
we could be really good.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
All right, let's go defense now. And I know that
side of the ball you're very intrigued with. You can
already see. I said it day two because you could
see it that early, the scheme difference on defense. Yeah,
secondary is playing tight, they're making plays. You're already seeing
the defense send more pressures within the front seven. How
much do you like? And it's bare bones right because
(18:32):
it's training camp, but within the skeleton if you will,
of what you're seeing, how much do you like so far?
Speaker 3 (18:37):
Well?
Speaker 2 (18:37):
I thought, you know, we had a really good offseason.
I thought we made really good moves on free agents.
But maybe the best move was to change the defensive coordinator,
defensive staff. And you know, and you know, in all honesty,
you know, I'm gonna be caddy here. You know, the
last six years, five years, we've run a remediated defensive
(19:01):
coverage scheme. The coverage geame has been behind, it's been
over simple. It's allowed quarterbacks and receiver to eat us alive.
Now you come out and lou Annerumo brings in a
real NFL sophisticated, aggressive pressing matchup type of defense that
I've always favored. I'm not saying something out of school
(19:23):
that I haven't said for the last six years. And
all of a sudden, and then we go out and
we get a elite corner.
Speaker 3 (19:30):
In ward, we.
Speaker 2 (19:31):
Get a premier safety in Combinam. You have a top
tier nickel in Kenny crosses on his way. So then
it looks like we got a steal, which isn't a
steel to me. But in Wally, you know, you know,
Jalen got hurt a little bit today on a hamstring,
but he's been playing great. So but what you're doing
(19:53):
is for that third and fourth and fifth corner, you're
talking about guys that were ones. So you know, between
on a Rumo scheme and the improvement on the back end,
I think and my goal, I'm looking at three areas
that we really have to that will make us a
better team. Won his offense, both Daniel Jones and Anthony
(20:16):
were twenty seven and twenty eighth last year back to
back in QBR.
Speaker 3 (20:21):
We got to get that up to fifteen. Okay, I'm
trying to be realized.
Speaker 1 (20:24):
The top half.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Okay, Now, defense twenty ninth, we got to get that
to fifteen. You do those two things and then get
that turnover ratio from a minus four into the top ten.
Speaker 1 (20:35):
With the rest of the talent on this team.
Speaker 3 (20:36):
That's what I'm saying.
Speaker 1 (20:37):
You're looking at double digit wins.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
You are, you're looking at playoff time, and it's to
me if you look at those three absolute tangible statistics,
that's what you're shooting.
Speaker 4 (20:47):
For elsewhere within the secondary rookie justin Wally Adam, Minnesota,
Before I ask you a question about what we've seen
out of him so far, did you have him as
high on your board as the Colts did they took
him in Round three?
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Where were you at?
Speaker 2 (21:02):
I was right between three and four. He was one
of the guys that Chris actually had me look at.
You know, sometimes he'll give me a handful of guys
to look at, just just to get an opinion from
a thousand feet up. And I really liked him. And
the problem that he had was other than speed. His
workout was below you know, the vertical all that, you know,
(21:23):
his shuttles, and people kind of turned off on him,
and and you know, and Chris kept saying, I think
he could really play. I looked at the tape and
I said, speed. You know me, If you can't run,
I don't want you. But then if you have speed,
let the tape did take to you? Oh and a
kid is terrific on tape, then you know whether or
(21:44):
not you took him third or fourth, just thank god
you got him and give me you know, I got
to give Chris credit.
Speaker 3 (21:50):
Who gives a damn with you? You're third or fourth?
Speaker 2 (21:52):
You know you and I always laugh. The draft now
has taken on a life of its own. It's like
a schedule to itself. That's all we talk about for threeident.
A week later in the first mini came. Nobody cares
about it. It doesn't matter. And no and on the team
or or not. He's confirmed it both in mini camp
and had a good day out here that had a
great breakup over in the middle, So you know, I
(22:13):
mean you know again that looks now. One thing about him,
I will say this, I think I mentioned this to
you the other day.
Speaker 3 (22:21):
With a guy like Ward on the other side, he's
gonna get tested well.
Speaker 4 (22:24):
But can you can you put in two words because
you mentioned Jalen Jones got banged up a little bit today,
we'll see the severity of that had to be carted
off the field. No Juju Brents today as again we're
taping this on Tuesday. But just the fact that he's
they're just throwing him out there and seeing how much
he can handle, how much they can trust him in
a couple of different positions. Can you put into words,
(22:44):
because you've been at this a long time, just how
rare this is this guy is.
Speaker 1 (22:48):
I don't want to use.
Speaker 4 (22:49):
The word against supplanting because we haven't played a game yet,
but if it does happen, he's going to be playing
over guys like Jalen Jones that have You know, he
started all seventeen games last year and started twenty seven
of the last twenty eight games in the.
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Regular season, and he's had a great camp. Yeah, it's
not like Jones hasn't. Jones has competed.
Speaker 2 (23:08):
I think what it really comes down to, I think
Lou and I see the game the same way. We
see it as a matchup, pressing game at corner, and
we favor speed and quickness and toughness to everything. And
that's what he carries beyond everybody else. He has that
four four one speed, so we know he can catch up.
(23:28):
Like you know, the other day he was behind down
here in the red zone, but in five steps he
caught up and knocked the ball down. Yeah, and you
know again, you gotta let tape take you. You know,
unless you know, when a guy's over four or five,
it's always a little scary. And what Lou is looking
for and he's going to sacrifice everything before has been
(23:49):
length length length. No, He's like I was, I want speed, speed, speed.
You know, I knelt at the altar of Il Davis
for years and years and years, and that's what this
kid brings me. He he had really good on tape.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
Matt, all right, let's go to another layer of this defense.
Let's talk about linebacker. A lot of guys are rotating
in with the first team defense due to the absence
of a Zaire Franklin still rehabbing from off season ankle surgery.
So which players are catching your eye or starting to
flare up a little bit?
Speaker 1 (24:20):
Playing mic alongside Jaylen Carl.
Speaker 2 (24:21):
Yeah, well, we know a Louvy and I thought a
Louvis played pretty well in relief a year ago. But
those weren't small samples, they weren't very long. But he
seems to he seems to have the ability to be
a ball magnet, you know, he just seems like he
alway gets his hands on it or something. But the
two guys that have caught my eye kind of out
(24:43):
of nowhere is the local kid mcgron and Batchie, the
kid that played for Lewett Cincinnati. I think you know
a Jaki also, but I would say mcgrone in Batchie
are the two guys that have really caught my eye.
They've they've made plays and uh, you know, it'll be
(25:06):
good to get Zaire back, but this also gives those
guys the opportunity to blow out.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Scale of one to ten.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
Before we move on from linebacker, how big of a
deal is it that Zaire the biggest leader of the
team emotionally, spiritually, and then I think also too, he's
just got great high football IQ. How big of a
deal is it that we haven't seen him yet?
Speaker 2 (25:25):
Uh?
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Scale one to ten with a new deal.
Speaker 2 (25:28):
Yeah, you know, I'd say I'd say five. I think
he'll be just fine. You you hit it on the head.
He is rare intelligence. I mean this is a double
major how to Syracuse. One of them's economics. I mean,
do you think we could do that? I mean you
probably could. I got a couple of blocks for I
don't think, yeah that's what I still have a financial
(25:51):
guy in New Orleans.
Speaker 3 (25:52):
No, I don't. I think he'll be okay.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
Uh and mentally, Uh, it would probably be very difficult
up for some guys. I think he has the ability
to do it, and he does. He has a great
leadership role on this team. There's a he you know,
he as an NFL presence. He's very important. I mean
he's really important to this defense. But you know, there's
(26:18):
no sense rushing him. I mean you want him fully
healthy when he comes in there.
Speaker 4 (26:22):
As we wrap up here, let's go to the defensive line.
Speaker 1 (26:25):
The Colts pass rush. It's gonna be pretty diverse this season.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
Quity pay lat year number two, j T Tuamoloau, Samson
Ebacom coming back after a torn achilles last year.
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Taekwon Lewis is back.
Speaker 4 (26:37):
Rick, whis your confidence level in that group based on
what you've seen so far here in camp?
Speaker 2 (26:42):
Well, I think we haven't established this yet, and I
think this is a must because our secondary is gonna
be so much better that I can tell you.
Speaker 3 (26:52):
You can mark on that.
Speaker 2 (26:53):
Our linebackers will be I worry less about that position
as far as premium position than any Yeah, defensive lines
of premium position. And we have to be able, whether
it's a lot too. We have to establish impact on
the orb. We have to have an impact restaurant on
the outside. So far, we don't have that. We've had,
(27:14):
you know, we've had guys that are okay, but nobody
that you on Tuesday night, you know, you're saying, oh
my god, I got to turn the protection of this guy.
Speaker 3 (27:23):
I gotta chip him every down. We need to get that.
Speaker 2 (27:26):
And I'm not, you know, just watching uh tummy Miloa,
you know, and the one on one down there. He's
pretty good, you know, a lot too, very slick tae
kwon is a combination guy.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
Yep, decent on the edge.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
He'll be the guy that comes in and plays the
the rush inside guy like our kid that we uh
that we let go Dingbo.
Speaker 3 (27:52):
He'll he'll have that. Well, I forget you quick when
you're gone. You know, I was like that as a
coach too. I love you and you're gone, then I
don't know. I don't know where the hell you are.
Speaker 2 (28:02):
But uh and and I think we you know we
you say, we have a lot of diversity, and we
have rushers. I think we'll be all right, but I
think we need those two young kids to bring impact.
I mean to where you're really worried about them. And
my biggest concern is backup tackle running game. Okay, not
(28:24):
back up tackle passing game, because we can move Timo
in there, lewis in there. I mean, it's not the
rush issue. It's whenever Grover and a problem. When Grover
and Buckner go out of the game, it's second and five,
it's almost a full yard. It's almost like the offense
goes run. You know, they have a sign right, you know,
(28:44):
and and you know we'd be frustrated doing the game.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
Here we go on a drive that's all rushing and
you say.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
God, how did they get here?
Speaker 3 (28:51):
You know how they get here? And so you know,
I don't know Gallimore.
Speaker 2 (28:55):
We just we just signed a guy that played for
Lou three and forty pounds, you know.
Speaker 3 (29:00):
And I.
Speaker 2 (29:02):
Think with Lou, just like with me in the old days,
you're gonna see more Sarah Gusa type, more more stuffersah
and let people run around them than just pure athletes
running the gaps.
Speaker 4 (29:14):
Last thing here before I wrap up. You're old school guy, right,
you can't bs Rick Venturi? What are some things that
you want to see that will lead hopefully to this
team getting off to a little bit of a faster start, right,
haven't won Week one since twenty thirteen? Closing seasons better?
You know you're five and nine record wise in Week
(29:34):
sixteen through eighteen since twenty twenty, trying to win close games.
The Colts played thirteen one score games last season. What
are some things that you want to see out of
this camp that will produce better results in those key
areas for the Colts that have to a decent degree
kept them out.
Speaker 1 (29:52):
Of the playoffs.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Well, I would say number one, number one, and it's
I don't know if it's an intangible bull or it's
it's not. You can't measure it numbers wise. We have
to we have to.
Speaker 3 (30:05):
Bring toughness to the picture. I mean, our padded practices
have to be tough.
Speaker 2 (30:12):
It's it's not bad for the first two days, mis
Scott improved.
Speaker 3 (30:16):
I I along with that.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
I want to see our starters play more in the
preseason games because that's the only time you're going to tackle.
And I don't bitch to me in September that we're
missing tackles when you never practice tackling.
Speaker 3 (30:30):
I mean you have to do it. I think that
the tone of toughness.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
I'm not a big believer in these in these rest days,
I'll tell you unfiltered because I think you establish toughness,
you don't talk about it.
Speaker 3 (30:43):
Uh. I was talking with Casey earlier today.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
I worked for six of the toughest NFL coaches of
all times. Not a one of them ever talked toughness.
Speaker 3 (30:52):
But we practice lived it. Toughness. We lived it. Toughness
was a way of life.
Speaker 2 (30:57):
Or you could hit the road, you could get on
the bus, and I think we need to establish that.
I think beyond that, it goes back to those numbers
I talked about with you before quarterbacking. I think we've
got to get from that twenty seventh twenty eight QBR
up to fifteen. Let's get us in the top half
on QBR defense. You know the Anairumo handprint. Let's get
(31:22):
us from twenty nine. Just get us to fifteen. Don't
get it, you know, I'm not asking realistic to be
in the top three. Get us to fifteen, and then
get that turnover ratio, which right now is a minus four,
which is in the bottom twelve. You get us up
in the top ten. If you look at the NFL
over years, the top ten turnover ratio teams are always
(31:43):
in the playoffs. There's an outlier, like the Greatest Show
on Turf was an outlier, but there's not many.
Speaker 3 (31:49):
But there's scoring thirty eight exactly exactly.
Speaker 2 (31:51):
It's an outlier, you know. And you know the minus four.
We were always pretty good here and we really took
a step back. So if you get those three areas,
you know, and then you know, I don't you know,
he seems okay. I hope our place kicking is okay.
You know, we never talk about that, do we miss one,
you know, you know, and and then I think, you know,
(32:12):
you know, I think it's Shane. I don't know how
to put this other tactfully. It's Shane's growth as a
head coach and that that comes in toughness, personnel decisions,
game management.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
You know, game management is one of the most underrated
things in football.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
We talk about it in basketball all the time, but
game management is everything in football as well.
Speaker 4 (32:30):
That's the great Rick van Turry and that's our first
installment of Inside Football here Training Camp twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
Like I said earlier, we are so back. We are back.
Speaker 3 (32:41):
We are back.
Speaker 4 (32:42):
No no hiccups, no hitches, Yes, sir, that ball's coming
out on time when Rick Van Turrey's on the podcast,
no question about it, all right. So reminder that the
Cults are going to host that night practice tomorrow, that
is Thursday night this week from six to eight. They're
going to have an off day on Friday, then return
to work back to back over the weekend, working out
(33:03):
Saturday and Sunday here at Grand Park. And for that
complete camp schedule, all you gotta do head to colts
dot com slash Camp download your tickets there. It's a
one stop shop for everything you need to know about
training camp up at Graham Park. Rick Van Turrey bringing
the heat as he always does, right out of the gate.
I'm Matt Taylor. Thanks for listening to this first installment
(33:24):
here in twenty twenty five in training camp of Inside Football,
and we will talk to you next week
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